Kenny MacAskill

6 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made regarding any economic effect on tourist and business flights to Scotland from the USA of the Civil Aviation Authority's "sum of sector" policy; when and to whom any such representations were made; whether any such representations have requested an abando…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive, through its ongoing regular contacts with the UK Government, will relay its support for policies which are to the advantage of the United Kingdom and which would be of direct benefit for Scottish travellers.

6 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many members of its staff are dedicated specifically to tourism.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The are a number of officials in my Department with a wide range of duties including tourism policy.

6 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people took (a) sailing/cruising, (b) nature, (c) geneaology, (d) adventure, (e) golfing, (f) snow sports, (g) mountaineering/climbing, (h) fishing, (i) hunting/shooting, (j) walking and (k) coach holidays in Scotland in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Exact details of the numbers of visitors who participated in these activities are not available. Visitscotland's estimates of the numbers participating annually are as follows:<OL TYPE="a"><LI>sailing/cruising - sailing 300,000, cruising 90,000</LI><LI>nature…

6 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the value to the economy of people taking (a) sailing/cruising, (b) nature, (c) geneaology, (d) adventure, (e) golfing, (f) snow sports, (g) mountaineering/climbing, (h) fishing, (i) hunting/shooting, (j) walking and (k) coach holidays in Scotland was in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Information for 1995-98 is not available. For 1999, visitscotland estimate that the spend was as follows:<OL TYPE="a"><LI>sailing/cruising - £10 million sailing, £15 million cruising</LI><LI>nature - interpreted as wildlife watching, the figure is £57 million…

6 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government requesting that the Executive be represented at the discussions between the USA and the UK on the Bermuda II negotiations on international aviation in June 2001 in order to contribute regarding the potential impact on the e…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: No formal air service talks between the UK and the US are currently scheduled. Officials from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) may, however, meet their US counterparts for informal talks within the next couple of months to d…

6 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or plans to make to the Scotland Office to bring forward the commencement of the operation of the Rosyth European Ferry.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: No specific procedural assistance is required from the Scotland Office in relation to the possible introduction of a Rosyth European Ferry.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made and to whom to bring forward the possible introduction of direct flights from Edinburgh to the USA.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive recently met representatives of Continental Airlines and Scottish Airports Ltd when the possibility of the introduction of direct flights from Edinburgh to New York (Newark) was discussed.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland in promoting golfing activities in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728 on 17 April 2001.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees of the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland attended Tartan Day in the USA in 2000 and how many are attending in 2001.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728 on 17 April 2001.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728 on 17 April 2001.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland on marketing in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728 on 17 April 2001.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in each tourist information centre in each year since 1995, broken down by area tourist board.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for the Area Tourist Boards.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local enterprise company will receive from the #5 million allocated for the tourist industry as a result of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is a matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to determine.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what directions and guidance it has given to local enterprise companies regarding the expenditure of the #5 million allocated to the tourist industry as a result of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Direction of the local enterprise companies is a matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made and to whom to secure new direct flights into Scotland to address the effect of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak on the tourism sector.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: No representations have been made specifically in response to the foot and mouth outbreak. The need is for immediate and practical measures to help affected businesses. On 28 March, I announced additional funding for visitscotland and for the Enterprise Netwo…

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hotels and guest houses, have a rateable value of less than #12,000 and what percentage this represents of the total number of hotels and guest houses, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The information requested is shown in the following table.<B><FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Hotels, Boarding Houses etc on the Valuation Roll as at 1 April 2000</B><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="38%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>…

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland on (a) staff, (b) marketing and (c) accommodation in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728.

5 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the additional #5 million for visitscotland for marketing purposes will be made available.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The additional funding is available now.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had and with whom relating to the closure of the Drambuie factory, Kirkliston prior to this announcement of closure and what action it intends to take regarding the proposed closure.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: There were no recent discussions between the Scottish Executive, its agencies and Drambuie prior to the closure announcement. Drambuie have now undertaken to keep the Scottish Executive aware of any developments relating to the closure of their factory. In th…

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors to Scotland were from (a) the USA, (b) Canada, (c) Germany, (d) Italy, (e) France, (f) the Netherlands and (g) Belgium, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information is as follows:<U><P>Number of Tourists to Scotland (000) 1995-99</U><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 BORDERCOLOR="#000000" CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=394><TR><TD WIDTH="26%" VALIGN="TOP"> </TD><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P ALIG…

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland in marketing Scotland in (a) the USA, (b) Canada, (c) Germany, (d) Italy, (e) France, (f) the Netherlands and (g) Belgium, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland in (a) the USA, (b) Canada, (c) Germany, (d) Italy, (e) France, (f) the Netherlands and (g) Belgium, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland in promoting direct air routes into Scotland on low cost or other carriers and what routes were involved, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by the Scottish Tourist Board and visitscotland in promoting cruise ship visits to Scotland, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for visitscotland.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors from (a) Norway and (b) Scandinavia visited Scotland and how many of these came via ferry to Newcastle, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The numbers of tourists from Norway and Scandinavia is noted in the table below. Data on entry by specific ferry port is not available.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 BORDERCOLOR="#000000" CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=470><TR><TD WIDTH="22%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD WI…

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its targets are for the introduction of (a) solar heating and (b) solar electricity generation (photovoltaics).

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Whilst the Executive is committed to increasing the proportion of electricity in Scotland accounted for by renewable energy, it is not our policy to set specific targets for any individual technology.<P>As part of its research and development programme, the D…

29 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council's proposals for redistributing funding among institutions and subjects in its recent interim report on teaching funding are consistent with the Executive's policy objectives, in particular those relating to the development of the knowl…

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council issued a consultation paper with its proposals for teaching funding on 19 December and a further paper providing more information on 9 February. It has not issued an interim report on teaching funding. The consult…

29 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13883 by Mr Jack McConnell on 23 March 2001, how many students started a secondary teacher training course with technological education as their main subject at each institution in each year since 1997-98.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Entrants to Technical Education Teacher Training courses 1997-98 to 1999-2000<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=531><TR><TD WIDTH="57%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><P></TD><TD WIDTH="14%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><P ALIGN="CENTER">1997-98</TD><TD WIDTH=…

27 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there were for the post of chair of visitscotland.

Answer · Alasdair Morrison: There were 27 applicants for this post.

27 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants were interviewed for the post of chair of visitscotland.

Answer · Alasdair Morrison: Five applicants were interviewed for this post.