Parliamentary questions
Richard Lochhead
2,448 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
30 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the meetings that have taken place between Scottish ministers and representatives of the nuclear industry in the last 12 months, giving details and dates of each meeting and broken down by minister.
Answer · Allan Wilson: I visited Hunterston B Power Station on 18 August 2005 in order to tour the station and meet the Chief Executive of British Energy, Bill Coley.</p>
23 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there have been for the single farm payment and, of these, how many have (a) had their payment confirmed but not yet paid and (b) received payment, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Ross Finnie: As at 1 December, 21,924 claims have been submitted and of these, my officials estimate that 11,175 producers (51%) have been confirmed in the sense of passing eligibility checks. My department has not made any payments under the Single Farm Payment Scheme as…
23 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers will receive the single farm payment during (a) November 2005, (b) 1 to 15 December 2005, (c) 16 to 31 December 2005, (d) January 2006 and (e) after 31 January 2006.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Development Department will commence payments in December. As at 1 December, my officials estimate that around 11,000 producers (51%) will receive payment by 21 December. This is in line with our published target.</p> …
21 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many large companies have their corporate headquarters in Scotland, broken down by sector, expressed also per head of population, and what information it has on how this position compares with the United States of America, France, Germany and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: It is not possible to answer this question from the data held centrally. The Executive’s firm-level database (Inter-Departmental Business Register) contains data on employment and turnover for all enterprises (including large companies) located in Scotland, b…
21 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which environmental organisations it funds, showing (a) the amount of funding in each case and (b) whether each organisation is wholly or part-funded by the Executive.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive has offered the following funding in 2005-06 to support core or developmental work:</p> <p>Forward Scotland - £381,389</p><p>Scottish Environment LINK - £25,000</p><p>Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society - £16,500</p><p>National Society for…
21 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to ensure that fishing quotas are held by, and benefit only, active fishermen, rather than retired or shore-based former fishermen; how many fishermen are currently allocated quotas but no longer possess a fishing vessel licence, and how much quota is held in each…
Answer · Ross Finnie: There are a number of important issues to be examined during the course of the quota management change programme which commenced earlier this year. No decisions have yet been taken on the specific changes needed. That will only happen after in-depth consultat…
21 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made towards assisting the fishing fleet cope with rising fuel costs and to what extent the impact of such costs has been investigated.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is in regular dialogue with the Scottish fishing industry on various issues including fuel costs. We monitor fuel costs alongside other costs in partnership with the Seafish Industry Authority through the fleet forecast work it underta…
17 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Workforce Information Strategic System (SWISS) project has set timescales for implementing (a) phase 3 and (b) phase 4 of the national Workforce Information Repository and, if not, when it expects timescales to be set.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Workforce Information Strategic System (SWISS) Project Board was formed in early 2002. Its initial remit was “to commission a strategic system study with the objective of identifying model(s) which have the potential for addressing future workfor…
17 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Workforce Information Strategic System (SWISS) project has achieved a national database holding over 60% of core data set workforce information.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS) Project Board was formed in early 2002. Its initial remit was “to commission a strategic system study with the objective of identifying model(s) which have the potential for addressing future workforc…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission research into the likely impact on fuel poverty levels and the number of households affected by fuel poverty of the electricity and gas price increases announced by energy providers throughout 2005.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The impact of price rises on fuel poverty depends on a number of factors including the energy efficiency of the home and household income. The Fuel Poverty in Scotland Report for the Scottish House Condition Survey estimates that an across the board rise of 5…
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any steps have been taken to build links between Scotland’s energy sector and Africa in respect of capacity building and international development and, if so, what these steps are.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The First Minister officially handed over a Scottish and Southern Energy “Sustainable Energy Module” to the President of Malawi during his recent visit to Scotland. The Module harnesses wind and solar energy and can be used as a vaccination centre, a birthing…
10 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the number of dental training places available is sufficient to satisfy the level of applications to dental schools.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring a consistent supply of the best-quality dental graduates to deliver first-rate patient care.</p> <p>The number of applications to study dentistry in Scotland regularly exceeds the number of available places. The…
10 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19898 by Lewis Macdonald on 2 November 2005, what the eight areas are which have been classed as designated for placing dentists recruited from overseas and whether any weighting has been used to identify areas of priority within the designated areas.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The eight areas in Scotland which are classed as designated for the purposes of recruitment and retentions allowances are Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Grampian, Highland, Orkney, Shetland and Westerns Isles NHS Board areas and within the area of Argyll and…
7 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of the results of any investigations into geothermal energy as a potential future energy source.
Answer · Allan Wilson: No investigations into geothermal energy have been carried out by the Executive.</p> <p>The Executive has, however, funded a number of geothermal related projects. Through the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative, we have supported 177 hou…
2 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome has been of any radioactivity monitoring carried out in relation to issues other than the Chernobyl incident in the last six years.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Environmental monitoring for radioactivity is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The results of this monitoring are published annually in the <i>Radioactivity in Food and the Environment reports</i> (RIFE). A copy of the RIF…
1 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual NHS staff costs were in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of each NHS board’s total budget and showing year-on-year changes, broken down by board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: We are committed to NHSScotland being an exemplar employer. Enhancements to staff terms and conditions provide benefits to staff by recognising their contribution through fair pay, greater flexibility and improved development opportunities; they also help del…
27 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been deregistered from the NHS by general dental practitioners in each (a) NHS board and (b) local authority area in each of the last three years and in this year to date, expressed in each case as a percentage of all patients.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is provided in the tables: NHS patients whose registration status indicates “withdrawn”, copies of which have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37973).</p>
27 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many general dental practitioners have delivered NHS work for (a) adults and (b) children in each (i) NHS board and (ii) local authority area in each of the last three years, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of general dental practitioners in each case and showing ye…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is provided in the tables: The number and percentage of GDPs that have delivered NHS work by NHS Board and Local Authority in the last three years, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. n…
26 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the level of funding awarded to each local authority area from each lottery fund in each of the last five years, expressed also on a per capita basis.
Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-5587 on 28 January 2004. 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.uk/webapp/wa…
26 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken, and what further steps will be taken, to ensure that contractors co-ordinate the timing of roadworks in areas of close proximity with a view to minimising the impact on local commuters.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Utility companies employing contractors to carry out work on their behalf have a duty to give advance notice of non-emergency works to the roads authority. The roads authority then has a duty to ensure that works are co-ordinated. Roads authorities have power…
26 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of police funding has been in each of the last two years, broken down by police force, and what the projected levels are for the next two years, showing year-on-year percentage changes and, in each case, expressed also on a per capita basis.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information is shown in the following tables.</p> <p>Police GAE (£ Million)</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Force</p></td> <td> <p align=center>2004-05</p></td> <td> <p align=center>2005-06</p>…
24 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many locum consultant physicians have been employed in each of the last three years, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital, showing year-on-year percentage increases and the overall total.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The following tables showthe number (headcount and whole-time equivalent (WTE)) of locum consultantsworking in medical specialties employed by NHS Scotland at 30<sup> </sup>Septemberin each of the last three years, broken down by NHS Board. Year-on-yearpercen…
24 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on locum consultant physicians in each of the last three years, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital, showing year-on-year percentage increases and the overall total.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on theexpenditure on locum consultant physicians by NHS board is not collectedcentrally. However, information on the total cost of all locum consultants byNHS board is available and shown in the table for the years ended 31 March 2003 to2005. Info…
18 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it views as the (a) short, (b) medium and (c) long-term solutions to the current shortages of NHS dentists.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: <i>An Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland</i> includes a number of short, medium and long-term solutions to improving dental workforce.</p>
18 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has identified any areas of Scotland as being priority areas for placing dentists recruited from overseas.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: There are eight areas in Scotland which are classed as designated. These and other NHS board areas were offered the opportunity of placing the dentists who are currently being recruited from overseas. Those boards which have chosen not to take up the opportun…
18 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive from which European nations it has made efforts to attract dentists.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Responsibility for recruiting dentists lies with the health boards and independent practitioners. The Scottish Executive is aware that health boards have in the past made efforts to recruit from outside Scotland, such as Northern Ireland, Eire, Sweden and Fin…
10 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements are planned for the Edinburgh/Glasgow to Aberdeen and the Aberdeen to Inverness rail links and what the estimated timescales are.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Executive has initiated a range of work to inform decisions on changes to the network and services in future. We have commissioned a Scottish Planning Assessment to consider where the demand for rail services is likely to grow over the next 10 to 20 years…
10 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the North Sea fishing effort was made by Scotland since the 65% target for reduction in cod mortality was introduced by the European Commission and what information it has on the equivalent figures for the United Kingdom and each of the other countries that fish the Nor…
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive does not currently have effort data for other member states that fish in the North Sea. We understand that the European Commission is currently seeking this information.</p> <p>The following table shows the proportion of the UK’s North …
4 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average heating bill was for households which use (a) gas, (b) oil and (c) renewable sources as their source of heating in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area and showing the year-on-year percentage changes.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The information requested is not available centrally.</p>
4 Oct 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have relied on (a) gas, (b) oil and (c) renewable sources for heating in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The precise information requested is unavailable centrally. The Department of Trade and Industry have published estimates of the number of domestic consumers supplied with gas in each local authority area for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003, but do not identify…