Parliamentary questions

Ted Brocklebank

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

20 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the last biodiversity audit was conducted on the state forest and what action Forestry Commission Scotland is taking to address the needs of priority species found on the estate as identified in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The biodiversity work undertaken on Scotland’s national forest estate has recently been subjected to three types of audit procedure. The first is the annual external audit undertaken to satisfy the requirements of the United Kingdom Woodland Assurance Standar…

20 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps Forestry Commission Scotland is taking to further the conservation of black grouse, following recent survey results which indicated a significant decline in their numbers.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) is working closely with partners such as Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB and the Game Conservancy Trust in a co-ordinated approach to conserving black grouse, a wide ranging species that needs a balance of moorland and young…

28 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been to the Allowances Office of dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Answer · Duncan McNeil: From 1 January 2005 to 17 November 2005, the cost of the Allowances Office dealing with requests under the Act is £20,890.

28 Oct 2005 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much overtime has been used by the Allowances Office in dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Answer · Duncan McNeil: From 1 January 2005 to the end of September 2005, the overtime worked in the Allowances Office is 264 hours and 15 minutes.

28 Oct 2005 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many person hours have been spent by the Allowances Office in dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Answer · Duncan McNeil: From 1 January 2005 to 17 November 2005, 1,044.5 hours have been spent by the Allowances Office in dealing with requests under the act.

28 Oct 2005 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many freedom of information requests have been made of the Allowances Office since the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 came into force.

Answer · Duncan McNeil: From 1 January 2005 to 17 November 2005, there have been 101 requests made of the Allowances Office.

27 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why cyclists and horses have been given access rights similar to those of pedestrians to the Lade Braes Walk, a traditional pedestrian footpath within the city of St Andrews, under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Access rights under the LandReform (Scotland ) Act 2003 apply to this path. This legislation cameinto effect on 9 February 2005, and permits the responsible exercise of access rightsunder the terms of that act, and in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Acce…

30 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9099 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 June 2004, how many people worked in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector, broken down by industry, in 2004.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Further to question S2W-9099, table 1 contains the equivalent data for 2004. However, it should be noted that the Office for National Statistics (ONS), who carry out the Labour Force Survey (LFS), acknowledge that the level of public sector employment in the …

22 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7217 by Mr Andy Kerr on 20 April 2004, whether it will provide a breakdown of the full costs, including fuel, drivers' salaries, insurance, road tax and servicing, of providing the ministerial car service for ministerial use and how many cars there w…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Expenditure on fuel, service and repairs, staff costs, contract hire, and the number of vehicles used by the Government Car Service (Scotland) (GCS) for 2004-05 is shownin the following table: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr…

22 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7214 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 April 2004, what the total cost was of employing its special advisers in the last year for which figures are available and how many special advisers were employed.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The total actual cost for the 11 special advisers in post in 2004-05 was £704,790. Details are: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td>  </td> <td> Salary</td> <td> <p align=c…

22 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7213 by Mr Andy Kerr on 20 April 2004, how many full-time equivalent members of staff are employed by it and each of its executive agencies and associated departments.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested iscontained in the following table.Number of PermanentFull-Time Equivalent Staff in the Scottish Executive Core Departments,Agencies and Associated Departments at June 2005<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr>…

22 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7216 by Mr Andy Kerr on 20 April 2004, how many members of staff are employed in its Media and Communications Group, broken down into press officers, support for press office, publicity officers, internal communications, support for internal communic…

Answer · Tom McCabe: There are currently 91.3 (full-timeequivalent) staff employed in the Media and Communications Division, includingfive external marketing secondees. A detailed breakdown is available in the Scottish Executive Business directory, which is available to MSPs.

10 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether confidential information has been, or is being, shredded by it or any Executive agency in order to avoid disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and, if so, why.

Answer · Tom McCabe: No. It would be wholly unacceptable for information to be destroyed simply to avoid disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act or in any other way to evade the obligations of accountability or transparency.Around 98% of records held by …

20 Sep 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9829 by Nicol Stephen on 12 August 2004, what information it has regarding what regular safety checks are made on the structure of the Tay Rail Bridge and how often such checks are made.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive does not keep this information as this is an operational matter for Network Rail.

29 Jul 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage the main organisations invited to respond to its consultation on smoking in public places to ensure that the response form is easily available to the public.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The covering letter which accompaniedthe consultation pack invited the support of organisations and employers to encouragetheir employees, members and customers throughout Scotland to respondto the consultation, for example by publicising the response website…

28 Jul 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage individuals to participate in its consultation on smoking in public places.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9370 on 10 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.u…

28 Jul 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has regarding what regular safety checks are made on the structure of the Tay Bridge and how often such checks are made.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Information on this issue is not held by the Executive. This is a matter for the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board who own and operate the bridge.

23 Jun 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to expand training at Dundee Dental Hospital.

Answer · Tom McCabe: In line with national policy agreements, Dundee Dental School, in agreement with the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, have 64 funded places available for first year dental students in September 2004, an increase of six from 2003.The Scottish …

12 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase discounts for regular users of the Forth Road Bridge.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The level of tolls and any discountsoffered are, in the first instance, a matter for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority(FETA), which owns and operates the Forth Road Bridge. FETA currently offers discountsto drivers of cars, light goods and heavy goods veh…

12 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce discounts for regular users of the Tay Road Bridge.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The level of tolls and any discountsoffered are, in the first instance, a matter for the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board,which owns and operates the Tay Road Bridge.

12 May 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to visit the Faroe Islands to assess how Faroese communities manage their local fishery resources.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I have noplans to visit the Faroes. My officials have regular contacts with the Faroes. Theyalso participated in the preparation of the “Net Benefits” report by the No. 10Strategy Unit, which visited the Faroe Islands and assessed how they managed their local…

11 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations or reviews it (a) has conducted, (b) is conducting and (c) plans in relation to tolls on the Forth Road Bridge and the Tay Bridge.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive is committed toreviewing existing bridge tolls in Scotland, including those at the Forth Road andTay Road Bridges. I shall make an announcement on the terms of reference of thereview in due course.

11 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any land has been purchased by any party for use for a second road bridge over the Forth in the Queensferry area and, if so, when it was purchased, how much land was purchased, how much the land cost and what it is currently being used for.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: In June 1995, 64 acres of landto the west of South Queensferry were purchased for a price of £6.62 million. The landhas been used for the construction of a section of experimental road to exploresustainable construction techniques. The land generally remains …

11 May 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has made in the last five years into the possibility of a second road bridge over the Forth in the Queensferry area.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: None.

22 Apr 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget was for aquaculture research in each of the last eight years and what the budget allocation is for such research for each of the next five years.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The total investment made by the Scottish Executive and Fisheries Research Services in aquaculture research, in each of the last eight years, is provided in the table. The level of investment over the next five years is expected to be similar to that in the m…

11 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has in respect of the number of children being exposed to passive smoking in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The 1998 Scottish Health Surveyshowed that 82% of boys and 85% of girls aged 8 to 15 reported that they often foundthemselves near people who smoke. This included 44% of boys and 40% of girls whoreported often being exposed to smoke at home. The Scottish Heal…

11 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to each NHS board was of smoking-related illnesses in each of the last five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information is not heldcentrally. The precise cost of smoking related disease is difficult toascertain, since cost data collected centrally from the National Health Servicein Scotland cannot be attributed to individual disease. However,the estimated cost …

11 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of smokers who were under 16 in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on the number of smokers aged 13 and 15 for each NHS board is available from the 2002 Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS).The following population estimates relate to the number of 13 and 15 year olds who…

11 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of smokers in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on the number of adult smokers is available from the Scottish Household Survey for each NHS board area from 1999 to 2002.The population estimates in the following table relate to the number of people aged 16 and over who reported smoking ci…

1 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Fife school leavers entered higher or further education in each of the last five years.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested forthe last three years can be found in Table 4 of News Release Destinations ofLeavers from Scottish Schools: 2002-03, published by the Scottish Executive on 10 December 2003, and for the two preceding years in Table 4 of D…