Parliamentary questions

Jim Mather

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

2 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been unsuccessful in applying for a Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme visa.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The requested information is as follows. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td>  </td> <td> Unsuccessful Applications Made in UK</td> </tr> </thead> <tr> <td> Refused</td> …

2 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-18125 and S2W-18859 by Mr Tom McCabe on 24 August and 26 September 2005 respectively, on what date it will publish details of application numbers, origin of applicants, origin of applications and final location of applicants to the Fresh Talent: Wo…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Data on numbers of successful applicants has now been passed to the Scottish Executive from the Home Office and UKVisas. This shows that there have been a total of 586 successful applications to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme since the scheme we…

2 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-18125 and S2W-18859 by Mr Tom McCabe on 24 August and 26 September 2005 respectively regarding the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme visas, how many individuals have successfully applied for such a visa and, of these, how many are now reside…

Answer · Tom McCabe: The following table shows the number of successful applications since the scheme went live on 22 June, broken down by those who applied from overseas and those who applied from within the UK. This data is based on internal management Information from the Home…

2 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-18125 and S2W-18859 by Mr Tom McCabe on 24 August and 26 September 2005 respectively, whether it has begun to compile information on the number of people applying for visas under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, both successfully and u…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on the number of people applying for leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme is being collated by the Home Office and UKVisas. The Home Office and UKVisas are passing details of all those who ha…

24 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of business investment in research and development in Scotland is from (a) non-Scottish, (b) non-UK and (c) non-EU companies.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Of the £521 million spent onbusiness enterprise research and development (BERD) in Scotland in2003, 71% (£367 million) was performed by non-Scottish firms, 63% (£326million) was performed by non-UK firms and 53% (£277 million) was performed bynon-EU firms.

24 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual date for publication of Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04 will be.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland 2003-04 publication is planned to be published in mid-December. A definitive date has not been set yet.

21 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Transport and Telecommunications and/or any previous Ministers for Transport have ever expressed a view that a Users Charter, signed by Western Ferries guaranteeing fares and levels of services on the Gourock-Dunoon route, would be a legally binding document and, …

Answer · Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19986 on 17 November 2005. 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.uk/weba…

21 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed the prospect of creating a Users Charter with any current or potential ferry operators and, if so, which operators were involved and when the discussions took place.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Proposals for a Users Charter relating to the services provided by Western Ferries between Inverclyde and Cowal were submitted to the Scottish Executive and Argyll and Bute Council by Western Ferries in 2004 and were the subject of subsequent discussions. The…

19 Oct 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to maximise the economic and job opportunities that will flow from oil and gas exploration and exploitation on the west coast of Scotland in the next 10 years.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International continue to work with the industry to maximise opportunities for Scotland. The Scottish Executive will also continue to participate in PILOT, the joint industry and government programme, to sec…

12 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will prioritise the A82 and A9 for bilingual signage in the run up to the Highland year of culture in 2007.

Answer · Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-19819 answered on 3 November 2005. 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.parl…

12 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the planned bilingual signage programme on trunk roads will be completed.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has completed bilingual signing on the A87, A887, A830 and the A835. Bilingual signing projects on the A828 and A85 are programmed for completion in 2006-07. The A83 between Tarbet and Kennacraig and the A82 between Tarbet and In…

7 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has carried out of the demand for housing in remote and rural areas and the different types of demand, for example for second homes, key workers, socially rented accommodation and family accommodation.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive’s comprehensivereview of affordable housing in 2003-04 provided a clear picture of housing supplyand need across Scotland in both urban and rural areas. The review directly informedthe wide range of actions we are now taking on a broad …

7 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure an increase in the supply of socially rented housing in remote and rural areas.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive recognises thevital part affordable housing has to play in ensuring the sustainability of communitiesin remote and rural areas. That is why we have made a significant increase in thelevel of investment in rural housing and are developing innovat…

7 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has conducted, or will conduct, into the likely impact on the availability of affordable housing in remote and rural areas of new tax rules which allow property to be placed in pension funds, in light of the research published by Communities Scotland, The impact of second …

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The new pension rules being introducedfrom April 2006 are reserved to the UK Government. Its Regulatory Impact Assessmentconcluded that it was unlikely that there will be a significant inflow of pensioncapital to the residential property market when the chang…

7 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the research published by Communities Scotland, The impact of second and holiday homes on rural communities in Scotland, it will urge HM Treasury to reconsider the implementation of new tax rules on 1 April 2006 which would allow second homes to be placed in pension f…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: One of the conclusions of therecent research was that specific policiesto control second homes would not address the broader housing pressures on ruralcommunities.The new pension rules being introducedfrom April 2006 are reserved to the UK Government. …

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the response it submitted to the UK Government's consultation in respect of a national reform programme for growth and jobs has been approved by the Parliament, in light of the EU Presidency conclusions of March 2005 which committed EU member states to draw up national reform prog…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W 18777 on 27 September 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at: <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.u…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which stakeholders in Scotland it has consulted regarding its submission to the UK Government's consultation on a national reform programme for growth and jobs.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The UKgovernment, in preparation of its national reform programme (NRP), held an openstakeholder dialogue from 8 July to the 12 August 2005,inviting comments and input from all stakeholders across the United Kingdomon the proposals for structural economic ref…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to undertake any detailed analysis assessing the implications for Scotland of the implementation of each of the different components of the Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: As set out in the answer toquestion S2W-18774 on 27 September 2005, the newguidelines established in the revised Lisbon Strategy, which focus greaterattention on productivity and employment, align the Lisbonpolicy priorities closely with those that currently …

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to join the Lisbon Regions network and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Lisbon Regions Networkis a consortium of regional offices in Brussels who come together periodically to provide workshopsrelating to Lisbon. The structure of this particular Lisbon network,which we are not formally part of, means that we can participate a…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to develop the setting of its own targets for meeting each of the revised Lisbon agenda indicators.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The refocused LisbonStrategy contains only two EU level targets; national expenditure on researchand development (R&D) and the national employment rate (both for 2008 and2010). The Commission recommends R&D investment should be at least 3% ofGDP and t…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-18774 and S2W-18775 by Nicol Stephen on 27 September 2005, whether, in answering the questions in this manner, the Executive has determined that there is no benefit to Scotland from engagement with the Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs; if so, on w…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Lisbonagenda for growth and jobs is very important for Scotland. My replies toS2W-18774 and S2W-18775 of 27 September 2005 set out the clear overlap betweenthe Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs and the Executive’s economic priorities,as set out in our lon…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18777 by Nicol Stephen on 27 September 2005, whether the Scottish Parliament was directly consulted by the Executive or the UK Government on the UK Government's production of a national reform programme for growth and jobs in accordance with the Euro…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The UK Government consultswidely with national, regional, local and sectoral stakeholders in developingproposals for structural economic reform. Many of the reforms necessary to meetthe Lisbon objectives had previously been implemented in the UK and in Scotla…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18780 by Nicol Stephen on 27 September 2005, which of the 23 integrated guidelines for growth and jobs, produced by the European Commission, it has discussed with the UK Government and what policy and budgetary actions it will take in respect of thos…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: As noted in my answer of 27 September 2005(S2W-18780), the European Commission’s Integrated Guidelines for Growth andJobs (2005-2008) set out a broad package of policy measures for member states.From which, Member States including the UK, have now compiled th…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scotland was one of the regional authorities represented at the meeting of national growth and jobs co-ordinators in Brussels on 6 October 2005; by whom Scotland was represented as a regional authority; which of the social partners in Scotland was invited to attend, and, if Scotla…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The meeting of national growth and job co-ordinators in Brussels on 6 October 2005 was for members states. Scotland was represented at the meeting by senior officials from the UK Cabinet Office who were representing the shared UK and Scottish position.

28 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Minister for Environment and Rural Development's recent announcement that the greenhouse gas inventory for Scotland has shown a steady decline in emissions, to what extent this has been achieved through a reduction in manufacturing and engineering capacity in line with th…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Sectoral emissions trends are reported in Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 1990-2003 (Bib. number 37621). Manufacturing and engineering is not a sector defined in the inventory, and it is therefore not possib…

28 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Minister for Environment and Rural Development's recent announcement that the greenhouse gas inventory for Scotland has shown a steady decline in emissions, what information it has on how this decline compares with equivalent trends in England and Wales.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Table ES1 in Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 1990-2003 (Bib. number 37621) provides a summary of greenhouse gas emission trends for the UK and its constituent countries.

28 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the Minister for Environment and Rural Development's recent announcement that the greenhouse gas inventory for Scotland has shown a steady decline in emissions, with emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, having fallen by eight per cent since 1990, it c…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Chapter 3 of Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 1990-2003, (Bib. number 37621) copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, provides a commentary on emission trends in Scotland a…

28 Sep 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will produce the baseline and output measures required to enable the appraisal and audit of the effectiveness of its efficient government plan, in line with the recommendations of Professor Arthur Midwinter.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I answered this questionlast week during my discussion with the Finance Committee on EfficientGovernment, but I am happy to restate my answer for Parliament. As Audit Scotland saidin their letter of 10 August to Peter Russell, Head of Efficient GovernmentDeli…

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who holds editorial responsibility for the production of Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland (GERS) reports and whether there are any plans to change this arrangement.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Editorial responsibility forthe Executive’s annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS)publication resides with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, which is partof the Office of the Permanent Secretary’s Department. There are no …

15 Sep 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has been in breach of the National Statistics Code of Practice in respect of the production of statistics in each year since 1999.

Answer · Tom McCabe: National Statistics came into force in June 2000 and the Code of Practice was issued in 2002. Information on breaches of the Code of Practice are published each year in the Chief Statistician’s Annual Report, which can be accessed via the links below. Six bre…