Parliamentary questions

Mr Keith Harding

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

12 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release SE5013/2001 on 11 December 2001, what financial impact the changes will have on the non-domestic rates burden of (a) Fife Constabulary, (b) NHS Fife and (c) Fife Council.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The poundage supplement for ratepayers occupying property with a rateable value in excess of £25,000 will be fixed when the poundage figure is set for 2003-04. A provisional poundage figure for 2003-04 is likely to be announced in December 2003 and confirmed …

29 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of publishing, printing and distributing the Scottish Executive's Annual Report on Drug Misuse.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The Annual Report on Drug Misuse cost £2,366 to publish, £4,373 to print, and £2,173 to distribute, giving an overall cost of £8,912.

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Education and Young People will consider visiting Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, Fife in the near future.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I hope that it may be possible to visit the school at some point in the future should the opportunity to do so arise.

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19542 by Jackie Baillie on 26 November 2001, which external consultants were employed to help establish Communities Scotland; what specific help the consultants provided, and whether the consultants gained the contract through open competition.

Answer · Iain Gray: I have asked Bob Millar, chief executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:The following consultants were employed to help establish Communities Scotland for the purposes shown: Sunrise Solutions Scotland - To design and create…

28 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19542 by Jackie Baillie on 26 November 2001, what the breakdown was of the #70,000 spent on establishing Communities Scotland, including payments to outside consultants.

Answer · Iain Gray: I have asked Bob Millar, chief executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:The expenditure on establishing Communities Scotland amounted to £69,756.65 made up as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=321><TR><…

28 Nov 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether incidence of breathing-related illness is higher than the national average in the communities of Ballingry and Lochore in Fife.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information about the incidence of breathing related illness specific to the communities of Ballingry and Lochore is not held centrally. However, lung disease represents one of the major elements of the care provided by NHSScotland. Smoking is the greatest…

16 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4905 by Lewis Macdonald on 15 November 2001, whether it has received any representations from organisations in, or residents of, Stirling, Clackmannanshire or Perth and Kinross regarding its consultation document Review of Strategic Planning.

Answer · Iain Gray: Yes. We have received four representations from the Stirling area; two from Clackmannanshire, and five from Perth and Kinross on the proposals in the Review of Strategic Planning consultation paper.All responses are available for viewing in the Parl…

16 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to lower the current age limit of 21 years for those standing for election to local authorities.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Lowering the age limit for standing for local authority elections is included among the Kerley recommendations, which are currently being considered by the Ministerial Working Group.

16 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will address the recommendation in page 31, paragraph 33 of The Report of the Renewing Local Democracy Working Group regarding a review of legislation to allow local authorities to use information and communication technologies to streamline the conduct of council business.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This and the other Kerley recommendations are currently being considered by the Ministerial Working Group.

15 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total costs were of the publication, including the design, photocopying, printing, internet connection of text, distribution and launch of Benefits from the Warm Deal in Scotland 2000-01: A Report by the Scottish Executive and how many copies were distributed.

Answer · Iain Gray: The cost was £1,800. Eight hundred copies were distributed and a further 200 are available to meet requests.

8 Nov 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-19461 on 12 November 2001, what the total costs were of publishing, printing and distributing the Scottish Parliament Annual Report 2000 to 2001 in languages other than English.

Answer · David Steel: A further 1,000 copies of the Annual Report were published in Gaelic. These were distributed among various Gaelic organisations as well as schools, colleges and universities who use the document as part of their teaching programme. The total cost of publishin…

7 Nov 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from organisations or residents of Fife regarding its consultation document Review of Strategic Planning.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Yes. We have received just over 150 responses from Fife on the proposals in the consultation paper Review of Strategic Planning.All letters are available for viewing in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

1 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reduce the number of local authorities.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The next statutory review of local authority boundaries is scheduled to take place between 2004 and 2008.

1 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to alter the geographical boundaries of local authorities.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Some minor boundary re-alignments may be implemented as a result of reports submitted by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland earlier this year. Under the provisions of section 14 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the next statutor…

31 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what the full costs were of establishing Communities Scotland, including the costs of any external consultants for design purposes and (b) what the full costs will be of winding up Scottish Homes.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The full costs of establishing Communities Scotland, including the costs of employing external consultants, was £70,000. No date has yet been set for the winding up of Scottish Homes and therefore it is not at this stage possible to predict what costs, if any…

31 Oct 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to amend the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to allow the practice of co-option of student representatives to council committees which cover the education functions of local authorities.

Answer · Peter Peacock: We do not believe that this legislation disallows student representatives being co-opted to council committees and therefore we have no plans to amend it.

29 Oct 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the total cost was of publishing, printing and distributing the Scottish Parliament Annual Report 2000 to 2001 and how many copies have been produced.

Answer · David Steel: The total cost of publishing and printing the English version of the Scottish Parliament Annual Report 2000 to 2001 was £30,862. The distribution costs were £2,450. The number of reports published was 2,500. Reports were distributed widely and, for exa…

25 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of the publication, including the design, photocopying, printing, internet connection of text, distribution and launch, of Preliminary Report on the Equality Strategy and how many copies were produced.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The total cost of the Preliminary Report on the Equality Strategy was approximately £7,500. 1,500 copies were produced.

25 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of publishing, printing and distributing its document, A Policy on Architecture for Scotland.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The costs of publishing, printing and distributing the document A Policy on Architecture for Scotland are shown in the table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=378><TR><TD WIDTH="75%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIF…

19 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16777 by Rhona Brankin on 9 August 2001, what attempts have been made to inform local authorities and others of the need to comply with the 31 December 2001 deadline for removing all o'one depleting substances from refrigerators prior to their dispos…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Following discussions at official level with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities over the Summer, the Environment and Rural Affairs Department wrote on 14 September 2001 to local authorities, electrical retailers, second hand goods retailers, charita…

19 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial and other support it provides to the Association of Scottish Community Councils.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is providing funding of £81,000 over a three-year period from 2000-01 for the Association of Community Councils core activities.

16 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what power local authorities have to make contributions to Nuclear Free Local Authorities and what information it has on the level of any such contributions made in each of the last three years.

Answer · Peter Peacock: It is for local authorities to satisfy themselves, and their auditors, that any expenditure they incur is within their powers. The Scottish Executive holds no information on any contributions made by local authorities to Nuclear Free Local Authorities in the …

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14589 by Mr Tom McCabe on 15 May 2001, whether it has now completed the competitive tendering process for its Question Time events and, if so, which organisations have been successful.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Scottish Executive officials have sought bids from private sector bodies for a possible series of further Question Time events, but no decision has yet been taken to proceed with this initiative. If such a decision is taken, I shall write to the member.

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W -13759 by Mr Tom McCabe on 14 March 2001, whether any further meetings have been held or are planned as part of the public meetings exercise involving the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No such "Question and Answer" meetings have been held since Mr McCabe's last response and there are no immediate plans for further meetings of this type. The First Minister and Deputy First Minister as well as other Scottish Executive ministers, nevertheless,…

11 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides any financial or administrative assistance to Nuclear Free Local Authorities.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive provides no financial or administrative assistance to Nuclear Free Local Authorities.

5 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total costs were of the publication, including the design, photocopying, printing, internet connection of text, distribution and launch of Victims of Crime: Information leaflet, and how many copies have been distributed.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The cost for the design and printing of 150,000 copies of the Victim Information Leaflet was £17,028. This includes preparation for publishing it on the internet. There were no additional costs associated in the launch of the leaflet.As at 18 October, 138,…

5 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3826 by Angus MacKay on 27 September 2001, what specific measures will be introduced later this year for local elections to make it easier for the visually impaired to vote and under which legislation this will be done.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Section 13 of the Representation of the People Act 2000 provides for the display of a large-print version of the ballot paper and provision of a template to assist blind and partially sighted voters. These provisions currently apply to parliamentary elections…

3 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the expected financial impact will be on local authorities of the introduction of the proposed aggregates tax in April 2002 and whether it has made additional monies available to local authorities in its financial allocation for the next two years.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The financial impact for individual local authorities will depend on their purchasing policies. It is hoped that the tax will encourage all those who purchase aggregates, including local authorities, to use recycled aggregates and other alternative materials.…

27 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to launch, publish and distribute the Fisheries Research Services' Statistical Bulletin Scottish Salmon and Sea Trout Catches 2000 and how many copies of the document have been sold to the public.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Seven hundred copies of the report were published this year at a cost of £1406.00. Distribution costs were £183.91. HMSO sales to date are 43.

25 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of any television advertising it has undertaken since 1 July 1999.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The cost of television advertising undertaken by the Scottish Executive since 1 July 1999 to date is shown in the following table.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=276><TR><TD WIDTH="18%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=17>Year </TD><TD WI…