Richard Lochhead

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-related crimes were committed in each police force area in each of the last three years expressed per capita and as a percentage of all crimes committed in each area.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table. The category of "drug" crimes recorded by the police only includes crimes involving the importation, cultivation, supply or possession of drugs. Other types of crime e.g. crimes of dishonest…

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many regulations were (a) revoked and (b) simplified in order to reduce bureaucracy by each of its departments in each of the last three years.

Answer · Iain Gray: Regulations can be revoked or simplified both by specific instruments addressing these regulations and by elements contained in more wide-ranging instruments. It is therefore not possible to give figures for reductions in bureaucracy. The Executive works to e…

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to encourage more multi-national companies to establish their headquarters in Scotland and what incentives are available to them.

Answer · Iain Gray: As part of the Global Connections Strategy launched in October 2001, the Executive stated its aim of attracting high value economic activity to Scotland and stressed the importance of helping anchor companies in Scotland. Scottish Development International of…

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what grant schemes are available to recycling companies; how many successful applications there have been under each scheme in each of the last three years, and what the value of each (a) grant and (b) application was.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive provides support to the UK-wide Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). WRAP has established a Business Development Service which aims to assist businesses which sell, buy, process or collect recycled glass, paper, wood or plastic …

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the development of broadband services in rural communities and what the (a) current and (b) anticipated levels of coverage are under present targets.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive set out its broadband strategy last year in <I>Connecting Scotland: Our Broadband Future</I> and our vision was to make broadband connections more affordable and pervasive across the country, including in rural areas. <P>As part of that…

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many national lottery funding awards have been made to date in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area broken down by national lottery fund and expressed (i) per capita and (ii) as a percentage of the overall total number of awards made.

Answer · Elaine Murray: The statistics requested are not held centrally by the Scottish Executive but the Department for Culture, Media and Sport maintains a database of National Lottery awards on their website which sets out the number and amount of awards, by local authority area …

21 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in outlets owned by overseas companies operating in the fast food retail sector was in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28475 on 12 September 2002.

21 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in supermarkets was in each of the last 10 years per capita in each local authority area (a) in total and (b) broken down by company.

Answer · Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28440 on 11 September 2002.

20 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of prison inmates tested positive for drugs at reception into prison in each quarter in each of the last three years, broken down by prison.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Readily available information on reception drug test results are published annually in the Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland annual bulletin. The…

20 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sniffer dogs are employed by the Scottish Prison Service; where such dogs are based, and how much this service costs.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Twelve dogs are based at Cornton Vale at a current annual cost of about £370,000.

20 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) inspections Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons has carried out and (b) reports have been issued for each prison in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Clive Fairweather, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The number of inspections carried out and reports issued from 1998 to August 2002, (excluding inspections of Legalised Police Cells), is shown in the follo…

20 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made for drug misusers at each local prison when they leave custody.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Prisoners subject to statutory throughcare are supervised post-release by Criminal Justice Social Work Services. Short-term prisoners with subs…

20 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made in each local prison for inmates that misuse drugs; how many (a) Scottish Prison Service and (b) outside agency staff are engaged in drugs work, and (i) what the current staff complement is and (ii) how many vacancies there currently are in respect of such posts in …

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Each prison provides a range of interventions appropriate to the needs of its population for prisoners who misuse drugs (and other substa…

19 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the advantages and disadvantages of globalisation for the (a) economy, (b) promotion of Scottish culture and (c) turnout at local government and Scottish Parliament elections.

Answer · Iain Gray: For Scotland to thrive rather than simply survive in the rapidly evolving, knowledge driven, global economy we need to be more fully integrated within it: to be well connected physically, digitally and intellectually with the rest of the world. The Scottish E…

16 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many outlets owned by overseas companies operating in the fast food retail sector there were in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Iain Gray: The following table shows the number of take-away food shop units, without restaurant, and take-away food mobile stands registered for VAT or PAYE:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=94><TR><TD WIDTH="40%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=17><P>Year</TD><TD WI…

15 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it made any representations to (a) the European Commission and (b) Her Majesty's Government in respect of the merging of the European councils on fisheries and agriculture and, if so, what the nature of any such representations was and what the response was.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of European issues. We will work closely with the UK Government in ensuring that Scotland's interests are taken fully into account in the merged Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

15 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many supermarkets there (a) are currently and (b) have been in each of the last 10 years per capita in each local authority area, broken down by company.

Answer · Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally.

15 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on advertising (a) in total and (b) on average per student by each further and higher education institution in each of the last five years.

Answer · Iain Gray: This is a matter for individual institutions. The information requested is not held centrally.

15 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operational staff there were in each water authority in each year since 1996 and what percentage of overall employees this represented.

Answer · Ross Finnie: North, East and West of Scotland Water Authorities ceased to operate from 1 April 2002 and were formally wound up on 29 June 2002. Employee information by service for the years 1996 to 2002 is contained in their published annual reports and accounts - availab…

15 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the operational budget was for each water authority in each year since 1996, expressed as (a) a monetary value and (b) a percentage of the overall budget.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The figures requested are given in each of the water authorities' published accounts. Copies of their accounts as laid before the Scottish Parliament and, pre-devolution, the Westminster Parliament, back to 1996-97 are held in the Parliament's Reference Centr…

9 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it ceased payments to Aberdeen City Council from 31 March 2002 in respect of the Education Action Plan.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Time limited support for Education Action Plans was provided under a special programme of the Excellence Fund to help local authorities to raise standards in schools facing major challenge. A total of £15 million was made available under the programme over th…

9 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any local authorities have sought additional resources to implement the national concessionary travel scheme because of anticipated shortfalls and, if so, how much each local authority has sought and what the estimated shortfall is.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Issues about the allocation of grant funding within the local government settlement are discussed with local authorities on a collective basis through COSLA. Following discussions with COSLA about the funding implications of implementing the enhanced concessi…

8 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many multi-national companies there currently are in Scotland and how many there were in each of the last 10 years, detailing in each case whether the company located its headquarters in Scotland.

Answer · Iain Gray: This information is not held centrally.

8 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how reliant the economy has been on foreign trade in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Iain Gray: The following table shows estimates of the annual current price exports and imports figures between Scotland, other parts of the United Kingdom and locations outwith the United Kingdom (Rest of the World) for the years 1992 to 1999. Figures in italics show th…

8 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of companies conduct the majority of their business on the internet and how this percentage compares with other (a) European nations and (b) countries in the rest of the world.

Answer · Iain Gray: According to Scottish Enterprise's e-business benchmarking survey for Scotland, 20% of Scottish businesses are trading online, but figures are not available for the percentage of these that do more than 50% of all their transactions online. However, it can be…

8 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of businesses have websites and how this percentage compares with businesses in (a) the rest of Europe and (b) other countries in the rest of the world.

Answer · Iain Gray: The latest international e-business benchmarking figures (weighted by number of employees) show that 76% of Scottish businesses have a website, which is on a par with comparable countries. The survey covered nine other countries, plus the UK as a whole and th…

8 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the population have access to an e-mail address at (a) home and (b) work and how these percentages compare with (i) the rest of Europe and (ii) other countries in the rest of the world.

Answer · Hugh Henry: There are no statistics available for the percentage of the population with access to an e-mail address, at home at work, in Scotland or in other countries. Theoretically, anyone can have access to an e-mail address if they have access to the internet via a v…

8 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households are connected to the internet and how this percentage compares with other countries in the rest of the world.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The latest statistics for Scotland as a whole show that over the financial year 2001-02, 36%<B> </B>of households had access to the internet from home. This compares with 41% of households in England, 31% of households in Wales, 31% of households in Northern …

7 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) civilian employees and (b) serving police officers there were per capita in each of the last five years, broken down by rank and police force.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information, relating to the number of civilian employees and serving police officers in each of the last five years, is shown in the following tables.<P>Total Civilian Employees Per 1,000 Population<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR>…

1 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of its officials attended the Working Party on Internal Fisheries Policy in Brussels on 25 July 2002.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Two Scottish Executive officials attended this meeting as part of the UK delegation.