Parliamentary questions

Andrew Wilson

771 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

7 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what Scottish per capita spending on health is in the current financial year; what the proportionate per capita difference is in spending compared to the UK average, and whether this proportionate per capita differential will be maintained or will reduce.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The planned net Scottish per capita spending on health for the current year is £964. The planned per capita expenditure for Scotland is about 18% higher than the UK average. Planned per capita expenditure for 2000-01 and 2001-02 is about 18% and 17% higher re…

19 Jan 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was raised last year in payments and charges accruing to Scottish Executive departments and agencies and what share of this was passed to Her Majesty's Treasury.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Receipts in 1998-99 were £1,661 million. Of this £1,374 million was retained by departments.These figures are provisional until the 1998-99 Appropriation Accounts are approved and published by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

17 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2971 by Peter Peacock on 17 December 1999, whether it had received any written representations from Cathy Craigie MSP on the subject of school closures in Cumbernauld before 2 December 1999 and, if so, how many.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I have nothing to add to the answer I gave on 17 December 1999.

14 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it took almost three months to answer question number S1W-1414.

Answer · Donald Dewar: The six-fold increase in the number of parliamentary questions being answered by the Scottish Executive since devolution has placed significant pressures on the organisation and some answers take longer to be processed than we would wish. We are constantly se…

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of police officers is covering each Parliamentary constituency.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information is not available in the form requested.

8 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not provided a substantive answer to question S1W-1414 further to the holding answer on 21 September 1999 and when it expects to do so.

Answer · Donald Dewar: PQ S1W-1414 was answered on 10 December.

7 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the land previously covered by the Ravenscraig Steelworks has been restored to habitable levels.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: British Steel has carried out extensive work on this site, but even now this work is not yet completed and parts of the site are still to some extent contaminated, and may need further remediation. There are however other large parts of the site which were ne…

7 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the incidence of leukaemia by ward in the Motherwell and Wishaw area over the longest annual period for which figures are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I list below the observed and expected incidence of leukaemia for residents of postcode sectors ML1 and ML2, representing the Motherwell and Wishaw areas based on rates for Lanarkshire and Scotland for the period 1981-1996:<P …

6 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to list the costs associated with the running of the office of the First Minister itemised by cost item and with staff costs split into civil service staff and Special Advisers.

Answer · Jack McConnell: We initially sent out over 1,500 documents to a range of private and public individuals and organisations including all MSPs, Council leaders, Chief Executives, secondary schools and libraries. We subsequently received requests for additional copies and the f…

3 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many letters it has received from Cathy Craigie MSP on the issue of school closures in Cumbernauld before 2 December 1999.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Ms Craigie has drawn my attention orally to North Lanarkshire Council's primary school reorganisation proposals for Cumbernauld on a number of occasions and over a period of weeks. These are, of course, matters for the Council.

4 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will (a) describe the term "accruing resources" as specified in its proposed amendment No. 6 to the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Bill and (b) list the description and amount of resources covered by this type in each year for which figures are available in cons…

Answer · Jack McConnell: This term has been selected to encompass all resources which may accrue to the Scottish Ministers (and other directly funded bodies) in the course of a year.As the Executive is moving from a cash to resource accounting regime, num…

4 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which Scottish based banks were invited to tender to the Scottish Executive in connection with the development and provision of its Government Procurement Card.

Answer · Jack McConnell: In October 1998, The Scottish Office invited Government Procurement Card (GPC) service proposals from the banks included in a UK framework arrangement. The banks in question were Barclays Bank, Midland Bank, National Westminster Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland a…

4 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will explain in detail how the method used to deflate the total manufactured export figures (for the latest four quarters compared to the previous four quarters) as published in its press release of 3 November, could transform a small cash term rise in total exports into one te…

Answer · Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive's Scottish manufactured export figures are produced by members of the Government Statistical Service using data collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The series for manufactured exports in real prices …

4 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what factors explain the 30% decrease in the value of manufactured drink exports in the year 1999 Q2 announced in News Release SE1161/1999, and what level of confidence it has in the accuracy of these figures.

Answer · Henry McLeish: A significant factor affecting this decline is likely to have been the decrease in world markets during this period, especially that resulting from the economic crisis in East Asia in 1998. This particularly affected whisky exports, which were especially stro…

1 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received on the issue of a possible "Pesticide Tax" and what assessment it has made of the implications of such a tax for the Scottish agricultural sector.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I have received representations from various sectors of the farming industry expressing concerns about a pesticides tax. These views have been made known in correspondence, and, more recently, at meetings I have had with arable farmers.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE…

1 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each announcement it has made with financial implications since 6 May and the amount of expenditure associated, detailed by item.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Information relating to all significant announcements made by the Scottish Executive since 6 May 1999 can be found on the Scottish Executive web site.

1 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes to the budget plan outlined by the Minister for Finance last month have been made to accommodate subsequent announcements by the Minister for Health and Community Care and the Minister for Communities.

Answer · Jack McConnell: None.

28 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the next edition of Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland.

Answer · Jack McConnell: No firm date has been set for the next publication.

28 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total actual, estimated and planned revenue and capital expenditure is for local authorities between 1997-98 and 2001-02 in 1998-99 prices, and what is the difference between this sum and expenditure if it were fro'en in real terms at the level of expenditure in 1996-97, in value…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The available information on local authority expenditure on General Fund, capital and housing revenue accounts for the years 1997-98 to 1999-2000 is given in the following tables. As local authorities only set their budgets annually it is not possible to give…