Parliamentary questions

Jim Mather

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

28 Oct 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the new practice of re-indexing GDP performance at the year 2001 facilitates and improves the long-term comparison of Scottish economic performance with other countries and other parts of the United Kingdom.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Re-indexing GDP performance to the year 2001 is an integral part of the chain-linking methodology whereby industry weights are updated on an annual basis. Chain-linking methodology is recommended by Eurostat as the preferred methodology for calculation…

13 Oct 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Table 0.01 of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008, what the Total Managed Expenditure was broken down also into the budgets for (a) Justice, (b) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, (c) Education and Young People, (d) Tourism, Culture and …

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information for 2002-03 and 2003-04 is given in the Draft Budget 2005-06, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s reference centre (Bib. number 34133) or the Scottish Executive web-site <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/">www.scotland.g…

4 Oct 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cyclists have been killed or injured in each of the last five years and, of these, how many have been killed or injured on trunk roads.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The numbers of pedal cyclists killed or injured in each of the last five years appear in Table 23 of Road Accidents Scotland 2002 and Table 6 of Key 2003 Road Accident, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. num…

10 Sep 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what a successful outcome would be in respect of Scottish population numbers at the end of 2006-07.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Under our Fresh Talent initiative we aim to maintain the Scottish population at a stable level. This is, however, a long-term policy in response to long term demographic trends and the Scottish Executive does not intend to set population targets for specific …

10 Sep 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary question to question S2O-3116 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 September 2004, whether the reversal of demographic trends to encourage more people to stay and work in Scotland is now its implicit target and to what extent it expects to improve on cu…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Population forecasts on the basis of current demographic trends indicate that, in the absence of a policy response to address this, the Scottish population is likely to fall in coming years. Through the Fresh Talent initiative to encourage talented individual…

6 Sep 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9921 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 September 2004 regarding the Executives focus on competitiveness and in light of the IMD report, World Competitiveness Yearbook, and the Robert Higgins Associates Report, The European Competitiveness Index, on Scotla…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The recently published Framework for Economic Development in Scotland (FEDS) and the Background Analysis to FEDS set out in detail the Executive’s strategic approach and priorities for raising economic growth through increasing productivity and …

24 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will produce an analysis of goods and services purchased by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in respect of (a) printing, (b) construction, including PFI/PPP projects, (c) ICT, (d) public relations, (e) advertising, (f) recruitment, (g) consultancy and (h) audit and accountancy …

Answer · Jim Wallace: This is an operational matter for Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

24 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will produce an analysis of goods and services purchased by Scottish Enterprise in respect of (a) printing, (b) construction, including PFI/PPP projects, (c) ICT, (d) public relations, (e) advertising, (f) recruitment, (g) consultancy and (h) audit and accountancy in each year …

Answer · Jim Wallace: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

24 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will produce an analysis of goods and services purchased by it in respect of (a) printing, (b) construction, including PFI/PPP projects, (c) ICT, (d) public relations, (e) advertising, (f) recruitment, (g) consultancy and (h) audit and accountancy in each year from 1999 to 2003…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring that its procurement procedures offer fair opportunities, transparency and non-discrimination for suppliers bidding for Scottish Executive contracts. Contracts are awarded on a value for money basis and under EU…

18 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any publicly funded entities and/or jobs are included under private sector activity in its Corporate Sector Tables.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Corporate Sector Statistics are based on extracts of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) provided to us by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The database holds information on legal status (including whether an entity is …

18 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of recent adjustments to its Corporate Sector Tables, it will restate the data from earlier years to allow comparison with more recent data which no longer include NHS primary and acute care as private sector activity.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced on 2 July 2003 its decision to classify NHS trusts as central government, in order to make the coding consistent with international conventions.The Scottish Executive has taken the decision not to …

12 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to attract major employers to Scotland, in light of the reduction in the number of jobs available with such employers in 2003.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Through our international economicdevelopment agency, Scottish Development International, the Scottish Executive istargeting high-value, knowledge intensive inward investment that complements Scotland’skey strengths. SDI’s global sales force works from their …

12 Aug 2004 · Written Question

Answer · Jim Wallace: Table 1 Total Employment (Seasonally Adjusted), Scotland1<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> </td> <td> Total Employment (000) </td> </tr> </thead> <tr> <td> Spring 1996 </td> …

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps will be taken to avoid a demographic skew towards older people, especially in rural Scotland, in light of the recent population forecast by the Office of National Statistics.

Answer · Andy Kerr: In reference to population and age structure generally, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-9926 on 30 August 2004, all answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be fou…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps will be taken to reverse population decline in light of the recent population forecast by the Office of National Statistics

Answer · Andy Kerr: Population levels are the result of birth rates, death rates and patterns of migration. Birth rates reflect decisions which are for individuals rather than government. Where people do decide to have children the Scottish Executive is providing support through…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, what new steps it will take to help Scotland close the competitiveness gap on the rest of the United Kingdom and Estonia in light of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and the Robert Huggins Associates report, The European Competitiveness Index.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-9885 on 7 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.uk/webap…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of Scottish Low Pay Unit data, what new steps it will take to boost the economy and address the employed poverty trap.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive’s top priority is growing the economy and our policies are directed to that end. Our focus is on competitiveness through high value, high skills activity. On 12 July 2004, Margaret Curran announced six high-level objectives which are driving ant…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps it will take to increase individual and national self-esteem, in light of the Scotecon and Demos reports on self-esteem.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I am committed to promoting confidence and self-esteem in individuals and at all levels of Scottish life. This commitment informs a wide range of our policies – including the promotion of, for example, ambition and an enterprising attitude in our children and…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps it will take to increase Scotland's freedom to compete, in light of the Fraser Institute of Canada's report, Economic Freedom of the World - 2004 Annual Report.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The report only provides an assessment of the UK position, which is ranked third, together with New Zealand, Switzerland and the US, behind Hong Kong and Singapore. This high ranking is encouraging, and represents a considerableimprovement since 1980, when th…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps it will take to create a bigger pipeline of medium-si'ed companies, in light of the Federation of Small Businesses' report, Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Business: Scotland.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Growing businesses is a key theme in A Smart, Successful Scotland (SSS). Information such as that in the Federation of Small Businesses’ report helps inform our understanding of how the challenges facing the Scottish economy have evolved since S…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps it will take to help create new major companies in Scotland, in light of the Royal Bank of Scotland's report, Wealth Creation in Scotland - A Study of Scotland's Top 100 Companies

Answer · Jim Wallace: Growing businesses is a key theme in A Smart, Successful Scotland (SSS). Information such as that in the Royal Bank of Scotland report helps inform our understanding of how the challenges facing the Scottish economy have evolved since SSS was fi…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps it will take to increase the business birth rate, in light of recent VAT registration data.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is committed to improving the business birth rate, although direct support for new and existing businesses in Scotland is largely a matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise launched their …

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for Scotland's economic growth being lower than the rest of the United Kingdom and what new steps it will take to remedy the situation.

Answer · Jim Wallace: From 1998 to 2000 there was a significant gap of growth rates between the UK and Scotland. This gap narrowed from 2001, and in 2002 Scotland actually recorded a higher growth rate than the UK. In 2003, the rate of expansion in Scotland lagged that of the UK b…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook which stated that the United Kingdom was 16.05% more competitive than Scotland, what new steps it will take to quantify the gap in competitiveness between Scotland and London and the south east of England and to use such data to i…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The measure of competitiveness in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is a weighted index of several indicators. From this only a ranking of countries and regions can be inferred. It does not measure the absolute size of a competitiveness gap. <…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to reduce the gap of 16.05% between Scotland's score of 62.026 and the United Kingdom's score of 72.186 as set out in the recent IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-9885 answered on 7 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…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to improve Scotland's ranking of 39th out of 60 national and regional economies in the recent IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for the extent to which government policies were conducive to the competitiveness of the economy.

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to improve Scotland's ranking of 38th out of 60 national and regional economies in the recent IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for conditions in our macro-economic domestic economy.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Improvements in Scotland’s competitiveness fundamentally depend on raising productivity in the private and public sectors.As outlined in the recently published Framework for Economic Development in Scotland, the Executive’s efforts to raise prod…

6 Aug 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will liaise with Her Majesty's Government to set and publish macro-level targets for Scotland on issues such as economic growth, population and average life expectancy and, if so, when it will do so and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a range of matters of relevance to the people of Scotland. We work together to stimulate economic growth. This is the right approach. There are no current plans to publish any joint target…

26 Jul 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average weekly income was in each area served by (a) Argyll and the Isles Enterprise, (b) Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, (c) Inverness and Nairn Enterprise, (d) Lochaber Enterprise, (e) Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise, (f) Orkney Enterprise, (g) Ross and Cromarty …

Answer · Jim Wallace: Average weekly income figures are not available at the level of Enterprise area. Some information on Gross Average Weekly Earnings is available by Enterprise area. The following table show Gross Average Weekly Earning for full-time employees on adult r…

26 Jul 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were economically active in each area served by (a) Argyll and the Isles Enterprise, (b) Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, (c) Inverness and Nairn Enterprise, (d) Lochaber Enterprise, (e) Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise, (f) Orkney Enterprise, (g) Ross and Cro…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The number of people economically active in the areas you requested are shown in the following table:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=454> <thead> <tr> <td> </td> <td> 2000 </td> <td> <p align=…