Richard Lochhead

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all licences which are currently available for the killing of wildlife; what the cost of each licence is, and how many of each have been issued in each of the last three years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: All wild birds and certain species of animals are protected under a variety of wildlife-related legislation including, amongst others, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994; the Protection of Badgers Ac…

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether water authorities would have greater commercial freedom if they were exempted from the Competition Act 1998.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Exemptions from the provisions of the Competition Act 1998 are relevant only in the case of the Act's Chapter I prohibition against agreements between undertakings which have the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition in the Uni…

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) it and (b) each water authority spent on services provided by Water Research Centre Ltd in Medmenham in each of the last three years.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The figures are given in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR><TD WIDTH="43%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD WIDTH="19%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">1998-99</TD><TD WIDTH="19%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">1999-2000</T…

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of each job (a) created and (b) safeguarded by (i) Scottish Enterprise and (ii) Highlands and Islands Enterprise in each of the last three years, broken down by local enterprise company area.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and I have asked their respective Chairmen to reply to the member. Copies of their replies will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the Scottish Enterprise national clusters budget was allocated to each local enterprise company in the latest year for which figures are available.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and I have asked the Chairman to respond direct to the member. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of the total number of requests for police assistance were (a) made to and (b) responded to by each police force in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally.

20 Jun 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve the level of public transport services in rural communities.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Through our Rural Transport Fund we have supported over 400 improved local services, 100 Rural Community Transport projects and 33 rural petrol stations.<P>We also support air and ferry services through record levels of investment in the Highlands and Islands.

20 Jun 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase efficiency within courts.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Court Service is working to improve the efficiency of the courts by investing in the training and development of court staff and the introduction of information technology. The national roll-out to all courts of the Case Management System, which …

19 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were employed specifically to work directly with young offenders in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Iain Gray: Information on the number of people employed specifically to work directly with young offenders is not collected centrally.<P>Information on the number of staff in local authority social work departments is given in the statistical bulletin <I>Staff of Scotti…

11 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to encourage oil and gas companies to increase their expenditure on research and development in Scotland and particularly in the north east.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is a reserved matter and the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry. As Vice-Chair of the Pilot joint oil industry/Government working group, I take a close interest in ensuring that research and development is kept at the top of the indus…

4 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding for (a) Social Inclusion Partnerships, (b) CCTV installation, (c) community safety projects and (d) New Housing Partnerships has been committed to each local authority area or the smallest identifiable geographical area within the North-East Scotland parliamentary region …

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The available information is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=623><TR><TD WIDTH="20%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD WIDTH="80%" VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=6><P ALIGN="CENTER">£000</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="20%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD WIDT…

23 May 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to provide direct assistance to visitor attractions suffering from a downturn in tourism.

Answer · Alasdair Morrison: Assistance has already been provided by way of the emergency relief package announced on 28 March.

22 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many boardings of (a) Scottish vessels and (b) non-Scottish vessels were made by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency during the recent closure of North Sea grounds under the Cod Recovery Plan (i) within the closed area and (ii) outwith the closed area.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: During the recent closure of North Sea grounds, from 14 February to 30 April, under the Cod Recovery Plan, British Sea Fishery Officers of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency undertook boardings at sea of one Scottish vessel and three non-Scottish vessel…

22 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the mesh si'e currently being negotiated within the EU and subsequently to be negotiated with the Norwegians, to be applied in the North Sea to protect cod, will not impact on other species.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: It is impossible to ensure that any change in mesh size will not impact on species other than cod in the mixed demersal fishery. These fish swim together. We are seeking to ensure in these negotiations that such impacts are taken into account.

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether East of Scotland Water Authority plans to enter into any lease arrangements in connection with the Carron Valley reservoir or into any new arrangements for the management of the reservoir and its associated distribution system.

Answer · Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for the East of Scotland Water Authority and I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of ESWA to reply. His response is as follows:<P>East of Scotland Water has no plans to enter into lease arrangements in connection with …

17 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which health Trusts source patient meals from outwith Scotland, specifying in each case the amount spent on such meals on 2000-01 and the proportion of the total budget for patient meals which this figure represents.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

10 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail (a) the level of New Housing Partnership funding allocated, (b) any changes made to these allocations and (c) actual or projected underspend against those allocations in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01 and (iii) 2001-02, both overall and broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Details of the New Housing Partnership funding allocated to councils in February 1999 for the period 1999-2002 are shown in column (2) below, together with any subsequent revisions. Actual or projected variations in spend are shown in columns (3)-(5).<TABLE B…

10 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail (a) the targets set for the ratio between the projected elderly population and available sheltered and very sheltered housing and any changes made to these targets, (b) the level of borrowing consent for sheltered and very sheltered housing per 1,000 elderly populat…

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Guidance issued in 1991 by the then Scottish Office indicates that there should be 20 very sheltered and 46 sheltered dwellings per 1,000 people aged 65 or over within a local authority area. These guidelines are advisory, not mandatory, and should be tailore…

9 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what specific assistance is available to agricultural businesses which wish to diversify into tourism-related activities and whether it wishes to encourage such diversification.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive is keen to support those involved in agricultural business who wish to diversify. Grant schemes have been available to assist those businesses with a wide range of diversification options, including tourism-related activities. Earlier this year,…

9 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding the Scottish Tourist Board has given each area tourist board in the current financial year and whether it will show these amounts expressed both as a percentage of the total overall funding given to area tourist boards and per capita.

Answer · Alasdair Morrison: Levels of grants awarded to area tourist boards by visitscotland are an operational matter for visitscotland itself. The remainder of the information requested is not held centrally.

9 May 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the review of ambulance control rooms to be concluded.

Answer · Susan Deacon: An Outline Business Case covering the Scottish Ambulance Service's recommendations has been received and is being considered by officials in the Health Department. It is anticipated that a decision on whether the service may proceed to develop a Full Business…

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases were prepared by each procurator fiscal's office under the 110-day rule in each of the last five years.

Answer · Neil Davidson: The information requested is not available.

2 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much short-term aid was given to the fishing industry during the 12-week closure of North Sea fishing grounds under the Cod Recovery Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Any aid provided to the industry has to meet the requirements of EC State Aid guidelines. The measures I announced on 8 March, however, included an additional £1 million for collaborative research into more selective fishing gears. This has already benefited …

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings each minister has had with MSPs from each party to discuss constituency issues and what percentage of the total number of such meetings which each minister has had each of these figures represents.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Ministers have many meetings with MSPs on a range of subjects, including constituency matters. The number of meetings on such matters is dependent on the number of requests received in any given period, but it is not possible to provide information in the for…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any changes it made to its original proposals following its consultation paper, Affordability of Water and Sewerage Charges.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The affordability consultation report details changes made to the Executive's original proposals to address the affordability of water and sewerage charges. This report may be obtained from the Parliament Reference Centre, the Executive Library and the Execut…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of respondents to its consultation paper, Affordability of Water and Sewerage Charges, suggested alternative or amended schemes.

Answer · Ross Finnie: 22 submissions representing 45% of respondents to the Executive consultation paper on affordability of water and sewerage charges suggested alternative or amended schemes. Of these respondents only a small number suggested any practical details as to how thos…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households currently qualify for the scheme to help lower income households pay their water and sewerage charges and what the estimated cost of the scheme is for each of the next three years, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Ross Finnie: We anticipate that approximately 180,000 households will qualify in this first year of the scheme.<P>£24,000,000 is available to fund the reduction scheme over three years from April 2001 including the cost of implementation and administration of the scheme. …

25 Apr 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports voluntary and charitable organisations receiving assistance towards their water bills.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive’s views on this issue were fully set out in the Members Debate on 4 April.

24 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist multiple sclerosis (MS) nurses there were in each of the last three years; what the ratio of nurses to sufferers was in each year, broken down by health board and, further to the answer to question S1W-12859 by Susan Deacon on 9 February 2001, when the estimated number…

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information regarding the number and ratio of specialist Multiple Sclerosis nurses is not available centrally. <P>Estimates, based on Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR) data, of the number of Multiple Sclerosis sufferers in Scotland in the year 2000 are now…

24 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much VAT has been paid and how much has been recovered by each water authority in each of the last five years.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Details of VAT paid and recovered by each of the water authorities over the past five years is as follows (figures are in pounds sterling):<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=455><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=4 HEIGHT=17><P>West of Scotland Water</…