Parliamentary questions

Richard Lochhead

2,448 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that the necessary skills are available to allow Scotland to benefit from the decommissioning of the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Enterprise Network continues to invest heavily in training and modern apprenticeship schemes in engineering and other disciplines to allow individuals to apply skills in whatever context that may be needed in the future.

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated value to Scotland is of decommissioning work being carried out in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Scottish Enterprise Energy Team report Opportunities for Scottish Based Businesses 2001 and the update to that report in March 2002 concluded that the total estimated value for the entire North Sea decommissioning is likely to be no less than £2…

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that Scotland benefits from the decommissioning of North Sea oil platforms.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Enterprise Energy Team actively supports business engagement within the decommissioning market through focused market assessment reports, workshops for businesses and active engagement with the main oil and gas operators. The team also works clos…

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing funding to local authorities to run similar projects to the Debates Outreach Project being run in North Lanarkshire by the English-Speaking Union Scotland.

Answer · Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive is committed to providing more out of school hours opportunities across a wide range of activities including debating to help young people develop their skills and confidence. We have allocated funding to local authorities under the Stu…

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the performance of First ScotRail.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: First ScotRail must perform well in three key areas: punctuality, service quality and delivery against the committed £40 million of expenditure on improvements. First ScotRail has made good progress in turning around the declining levels of punctuality experi…

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of emissions of (a) greenhouse gas and (b) carbon dioxide come from all buildings in Scotland.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally. However, Scottish greenhouse gas emissions data is available in Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1999-2002, a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’…

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who the members of the Scottish Executive Fuel Poverty Forum are and how (a) the membership is selected and (b) prospective members may apply.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Organisations represented on the Scottish Executive Fuel Poverty Forum are as follows:Age Concern Citizens Advice ScotlandCOSLA West Lothian Council Energy Action Scotland Energy Saving Trust Energywatch <p…

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the status is of the (a) Clean Up, (b) Autogas+ and (c) Powershift programmes aimed at promoting fuel-efficient cars; what future plans it has for each of the programmes, and what the respective roles of the Scottish and UK governments are in relation to these programmes.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Powershift and CleanUp grantsare available across the UK and the programmes are funded by the Scottish Executivewithin Scotland. The UK Government funds the programmes in England. Autogas+is funded by the Scottish Executive and operates only in Scotland. …

25 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of revenue has been (a) raised in Scotland and (b) returned to the Scottish Executive from (i) climate change levy, (ii) landfill tax and (iii) fossil fuel levy.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The exact levels of these taxes raised in Scotland are not available, however they are estimated in the Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) exercise. The estimated amounts raised in 2002-03 were (i) £80 million, (ii) £50 million and (iii) £1…

16 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the division of powers is between it and the UK Government in relation to the location and regulation of offshore wind farms.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Consent for projects proposed within Scottish territorial waters are the responsibility of Scottish ministers in terms of section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Following the introduction of the Energy Act in 2004, the granting of consent under the Electrici…

16 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Natural Heritage's new headquarters in Inverness will use energy from renewable sources.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The procurement of energy in its offices is an operational matter for Scottish Natural Heritage.

9 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has the power to intervene in respect of school closures and, if so, whether this power has been utilised.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, local authorities are responsible for school provision. The Scottish Executive has a role only in some prescribed categories of school closure proposal as set out in that act and the Education (Publication and Consulta…

9 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it consults local authorities over school closures.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, local authorities are responsible for school provision. Under that Act and the Education (Publication and Consultation etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 1981 they are statutorily required to consult parents and school board…

9 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are grounds for exemption from its policy of inclusion of pupils with special needs in schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 requires that an education authority shall provide education in a school other than a special school unless a mainstream setting would not be suited to the ability or aptitude of the child; or wou…

9 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to local authorities about the closure of rural schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive’s Education Department issued Circular 2/2004: Additional Guidance on Local Authority Proposals for the School Estate, Including School Closures in September 2004. The guidance is relevant not just to schools in rural areas. A copy is ava…

9 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools the Minister and Deputy Minister for Education and Young People have visited in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years, detailing each school visited and the date of, and reasons for, each visit.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Ministers and Deputy Ministersfor Education and Young People made the following number of visits to schools inAberdeen City and Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.<table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> …

9 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all primary and secondary school meals provided by local authorities are healthy and nutritious.

Answer · Euan Robson: Through Hungry for Success, local authorities have been awarded substantial additional funding to improve significantly the school meals service in Scotland. Authorities have introduced many new healthier products into their menu planning and are generally in…

7 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) sports centres, (b) libraries, (c) community centres and (d) playing fields there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: This is a matter for local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

7 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has produced for licensees on the responsible promotion of alcohol.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has not yet produced any guidance for licensees on the responsible promotion of alcohol. The Licensing (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 28 February. The bill contains a number of measures that support ministers’ objective…

7 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many licences to sell alcohol have been withdrawn as a result of a breach of the licence in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive does not collect these statistics centrally. The Criminal Justice Statistics Unit within the Scottish Executive does, however, maintain and publish an annual series of Statistical Bulletins on Liquor Licences in Scotland. In 2003, stati…

7 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 18 have been identified as regularly consuming alcohol.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Alcohol consumption figures for children aged under 18 are not available centrally. Information on children aged 13 and 15 is available from the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle & Substance Use Survey. The interim report of the 2004 survey is avai…

7 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been for the supply of alcohol to underage customers in each of the last five years, broken down by police board area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table.Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Sale of Drink to Persons Aged Under 181 by Police Force Area, 1998-02<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=618> <thead> <tr> …

3 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fatal and (b) serious road accidents have occurred in each police board area in each of the last five years involving people aged (i) 17 to 24 (ii) 25 to 40 (iii) 40 to 65 (iv) over 65, expressed also as percentages of the total number of accidents.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Data about injury road accidentsare collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the Stats19 statistical report form. These returns obtain information about the ages of thedrivers and riders involved in accidents, and the ages of the p…

3 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fatal and (b) serious road accidents have occurred in which speed was a significant factor in each police board area in each of the last five years, showing the year-on-year percentage change.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-14076, answered on 22 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <ahref="http://www.scottis…

3 Feb 2005 · Written Question

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the Stats 19 statistical report form. Prior to January 2005, the Stats 19 returns did not record the causes of the accidents. Under a pilot scheme…

31 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps were taken to secure for Scotland the headquarters of the recently-established United Kingdom Energy Research Centre.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive has had no involvement in deciding the location of the headquarters of the United Kingdom Energy Research Centre. This decision was taken by a consortium of the relevant research institutions.

31 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to ensure that fishing quotas are only allocated to active fishermen.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The distribution of fishing quotas is one of a number of issues which will be addressed in a forthcoming review of the UK’s quota management arrangements.

28 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of applications per place has been at each dental school in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Information on the number of applications is not held by the Scottish Executive. These statistics are a matter for the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).The target intake for undergraduate dentistry in universities in Scotland for 200…

28 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what value it places on the role of regional broadcasting in maintaining local culture and identity and what steps it has taken to protect this service.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Broadcasting is a reserved matter. We attach considerable importance to the role that regional broadcasting and programming play in nurturing local culture and identity. We have made our views clear in discussions with the broadcasters, Ofcom and the Departme…

28 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the new beef cattle scheme and when the first payments will be issued.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Following consultation with stakeholders, we have developed a scheme under the national envelope provisions which will be called the Scottish Beef Calf scheme. I will be bringing forward regulations relating to the scheme, shortly. Farmers and crofters have b…