Gavin Brown

14 Sep 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met VisitScotland.

12 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs the low-carbon sector supports (a) directly and (b) indirectly and how many it will support in each year until 2020.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Low Carbon Economic Strategy estimated that there were 73,960 people directly employed in the low carbon economy in 2009 rising to 130,000 by 2020. These estimates were derived from Scotland Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services Sector Study pu…

12 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of what it considers to be low-carbon jobs, broken down by sector.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: There is no universally agreed definition of what constitutes a Low Carbon Economy but it is accepted that the concept of low carbon employment occurs throughout the economy. The diverse nature of this employment means that it is not possible to determine le…

1 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it published the "comprehensive document supporting the case for an economic Plan B" referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth in the Scottish Sunday Express on 28 August 2011 and how many pages it contains.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government initially set out its proposals for Plan B in June 2011. These proposals were updated in August and subsequently supplemented with additional supporting material in September. The full proposal contains six pages.

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allow businesses to defer payment of their business rate bill in the event of an appeal.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has no plans to allow businesses to defer payment of their business rates bill in the event of an appeal.

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the East of Scotland Investment Fund has been allocated, broken down by project.

Answer · Alex Neil: The East of Scotland Investment Fund has allocated £320,000 into nine businesses ranging from investments of £30,000 up to the maximum of £50,000. The size of the average loan is £35,556. This investment has levered £1.3 million from other private sector so…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have been eligible for the small business bonus and how many have taken this in each year since it was introduced.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: In 2008-09, 64,179 business properties were in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme. In 2009-10, this number increased to 73,939 properties. Updated take-up figures will be available later this year.

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria the Scottish Loan Fund uses when reviewing applications to the Scottish Investment Bank and what rates it applies to loans.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: A range of criteria is used when reviewing Scottish Loan Fund applications including establishing that the applicant: has an operating base in Scotland; has sustainable operating profits and positive cash generation with an annual turnover of at least £1 mi…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to re-invest additional revenue it receives from business rates in 2011-12 into extending the small business bonus scheme.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Despite an unprecedented £1.3 billion cut in the Scottish Budget by the UK Government in 2011-12, the Scottish Government has re-affirmed its commitment to supporting small businesses by maintaining the thresholds of the Small Business Bonus Scheme in 2011-12…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been submitted to the Scottish Investment Bank's Scottish Loan Fund, and how many have been successful.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Investment Bank is one of six investors in the Scottish Loan Fund, which is managed by an independent fund manager, Maven Capital Partners. At the end of July 2011, 32 companies had submitted formal business plans, of which 24 are still being act…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will increase the notice period for change in business rate liability.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a notice period for changes in rate liability. However, the Scottish Government keeps the entire rating system under regular review.

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to reintroduce proposals for higher business rates for large retail premises.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-00558 on 14 August 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybu…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many ministerial level meetings there have been with the Association of Scottish Community Councils in each of the last five years.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth met Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) representatives in November 2007 and again in November 2008, when the First Minister also attended. Since 2007, Scottish Government officials, on b…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it considers that the Association of Scottish Community Councils requires to function effectively.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Scottish Government funding is one element of the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) total income. As an independent membership body it is for the ASCC to determine its overall business aims and profile its total income to deliver these aims.

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop and strengthen the role of community councils.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government remains committed to growing and strengthening the role of community councils to enable them to make a full and active contribution to the communities that they represent. It will continue to work in partnership with all those who shar…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the announcement by the Association of Scottish Community Councils that it plans to cease operating.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is disappointed by the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) Board announcement that it plans to cease operating, but it respects the decision the board has taken. It is committed to working with the ASCC to deliver its 201…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to the Association of Scottish Community Councils in each year since 2000-01.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Since 2000-01, the Scottish Government has provided the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) the following annual amounts: 2000-01 - £30,000 2001-02 - £27,000 2002-03 - £24,000 2003-04 - £25,100 2004-05 - £25,000 2005-06 - £25,000 2006-07 …

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has proposed a reduction in the Association of Scottish Community Councils' funding for 2011-12 and, if so, what this reduction is compared to 2010-11 expressed as percentage.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: In 2010-11, the Scottish Government awarded the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) £30,000 guaranteed funding plus a maximum of £20,000 match funding on any income the ASCC raised itself. In 2011-12, the Scottish Government offered the ASCC g…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last held a ministerial level meeting with the Association of Scottish Community Councils and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth met with representatives of the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) on 18 November 2008. A range of issues relating to the Scottish Government’s agenda to support comm…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to develop and strengthen the role of community councils in each of the last five years.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the MSP to the Scottish Government’s written response to a Petition lodged with the Petitions Committee in December 2010 (PE1377). This details the programme of work which had been undertaken to develop and strengthen the role of community councils. T…

19 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to next hold a ministerial level meeting with the Association of Scottish Community Councils.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Minister for Local Government and Planning recently wrote to the Association of Scottish Community Councils offering a meeting and a response is awaited.

15 Jun 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for promoting growth in the tourism industry.

13 Jun 2011 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the findings of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's report for Scotland 2010.

13 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have been assessed as homeless where the main applicant was aged 16 in each year since 2007-08, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table provides the information requested.   2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 April to September 2010 Aberdeen City 29 47 36 13 Aberdeenshire 55 55 38 24 Angus 47 65 47 29 Argyll and Bute 35 27 28 15 Clackmannanshire 37 27 37…

13 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have registered as homeless in the Lothian region in each month since September 2008.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following tables give the information requested. Table 1 shows the number of homelessness assessments in local authorities within the Lothian region in each month from September 2008 to September 2010, the latest date for which information is available. T…

8 Jun 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the Council of Economic Advisers.

25 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were charged for possessing (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy, (d) cannabis and (e) amphetamines in the Lothians region in 2010-11, broken down by sheriff court, and what the percentage change was from the previous year.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The statistics held centrally on crimes recorded by the police do not provide information on the number of charges, nor is it possible to break down the drug offences by the type of drug involved. The figures can be broken down by local authority area but not…

25 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hoax calls were made to NHS Lothian in each year since 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not available. NHS Lothian has no mechanism for recording such information. There are over 20,000 telephones throughout NHS Lothian and more than 80% of those can be dialled directly from outside their network.

25 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-40352 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 March 2011, whether it can now confirm how many hoax calls were made to Lothian and Borders (a) Police and (b) Fire and Rescue Service in 2010-11

25 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-40352 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 March 2011, whether it can now confirm how many hoax calls were made to Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service in 2009-10.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The most up to date figures for malicious calls will be published in the statistical bulletin, Fire Statistics Scotland, 2009-10 Final (2010-11 Provisional), available on 21 June 2011 at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Pub…