Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 2411 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S3W-09246

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 21 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the First Minister on 30 January 2008, when the Scottish Industrial Development Advisory Board will cease to operate.

Question reference: S3W-09396

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received for supported borrowing in each year of the 2004 spending review.

The table below shows the supported borrowing (non-cash) allocations for each local authority for the period 2005-06 to 2007-08:

(all values in £000)	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeen City	10,061	9,157	9,386
Aberdeenshire	10,477	10,109	10,362
Angus	5,642	5,973	6,122
Argyll and Bute	11,137	11,789	12,084
Clackmannanshire	3,116	3,299	3,381
Dumfries and Galloway	9,560	9,865	10,112
Dundee City	7,832	8,042	8,243
East Ayrshire	5,994	6,026	6,176
East Dunbartonshire	5,563	5,472	5,609
East Lothian	5,211	5,238	5,369
East Renfrewshire	4,648	4,920	5,043
Edinburgh, City of	25,089	20,883	21,406
Eilean Siar	10,428	11,039	11,315
Falkirk	7,267	7,345	7,528
Fife	15,766	16,149	16,552
Glasgow	39,906	33,976	34,826
Highland	18,692	19,786	20,281
Inverclyde	6,740	7,135	7,313
Midlothian	4,609	4,340	4,449
Moray	4,786	5,066	5,193
North Ayrshire	8,421	8,914	9,137
North Lanarkshire	15,748	14,807	15,177
Orkney Islands	3,990	4,224	4,329
Perth and Kinross	8,181	8,660	8,877
Renfrewshire	9,602	9,285	9,517
Scottish Borders	7,567	8,010	8,211
Shetland Islands¹	0*	0*	0*
South Ayrshire	5,529	5,512	5,650
South Lanarkshire	14,941	15,130	15,509
Stirling	5,354	5,475	5,612
West Dunbartonshire	5,018	5,029	5,155
West Lothian	6,923	7,057	7,233
Total²	303,800	297,713	305,156

Notes:

1. Shetland currently does not receive a separate calculable level of support for new in-year borrowing. Instead, under a historical agreement, they receive a percentage of the total Scotland loan charge support which incorporates support for all their debt types. From 2008-09, they will receive a separate element of support for new in-year borrowing under a new distribution agreement.

2. Minor roundings discrepancy from individual local authority split to the total. The amounts specified are actuals correct to each local authority.

These figures outline the levels of local authority borrowing for which the Scottish Government will provide revenue funding to support the costs associated with the on-going debt servicing charges (annual repayments of principal, interest and loans fund expenses).

Question reference: S3W-09376

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received to provide social work training in each year of the 2004 spending review.

The allocation of £5.5 million specific grant funding for social work training to local authorities in each year of the 2004 spending review was:

	£000
Aberdeen City	225
Aberdeenshire	168
Angus	116
Argyll and Bute	116
Clackmannanshire	61
Dumfries and Galloway	116
Dundee City	168
East Ayrshire	116
East Dunbartonshire	61
East Lothian	116
East Renfrewshire	61
Edinburgh, City of	500
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar	61
Falkirk	168
Fife	332
Glasgow City	940
Highland	225
Inverclyde	116
Midlothian	61
Moray	61
North Ayrshire	168
North Lanarkshire	332
Orkney	61
Perth and Kinross	116
Renfrewshire	168
Scottish Borders	116
Shetland	61
South Ayrshire	116
South Lanarkshire	281
Stirling	61
West Dunbartonshire	116
West Lothian	116

Question reference: S3W-09370

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received for private landlord registration in each year of the 2004 spending review.

The breakdown of grant funding for landlord registration for each year of the 2004 spending review is shown in the following table.

Local Authority	Grant Distribution 2005-06 (£)	Grant Distribution 2006-07 (£)	Grant Distribution 2007-08 (£)
Aberdeen City Council	68,585	108,365	108,365
Aberdeenshire Council	50,540	79,853	79,853
Angus Council	33,896	53,556	53,556
Argyll and Bute Council	35,701	56,407	56,407
City of Edinburgh Council	182,337	288,093	288,093
Clackmannanshire Council	12,516	19,775	19,775
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	12,646	19,980	19,980
Dumfries and Galloway Council	51,825	81,884	81,884
Dundee City Council	56,576	89,390	89,390
East Ayrshire Council	18,954	29,948	29,948
East Dunbartonshire Council	13,773	21,762	21,762
East Lothian Council	21,463	33,912	33,912
East Renfrewshire Council	13,097	20,693	20,693
Falkirk Council	19,283	30,466	30,466
Fife Council	63,493	100,319	100,319
Glasgow City Council	149,911	236,859	236,859
Highland Council	60,424	95,470	95,470
Inverclyde Council	19,782	31,255	31,255
Midlothian Council	16,808	26,557	26,557
Moray Council	34,006	53,729	53,729
North Ayrshire Council	23,965	37,864	37,864
North Lanarkshire Council	26,624	42,065	42,065
Orkney Islands Council	12,536	19,807	19,807
Perth and Kinross Council	51,032	80,631	80,631
Renfrewshire Council	29,221	46,169	46,169
Scottish Borders Council	41,360	65,349	65,349
Shetland Islands Council	11,791	18,630	18,630
South Ayrshire Council	25,551	40,370	40,370
South Lanarkshire Council	31,326	49,496	49,496
Stirling Council	25,393	40,121	40,121
West Dunbartonshire Council	13,842	21,870	21,870
West Lothian Council	21,743	34,354	34,354
Total	1,250,000	1,975,000	1,975,000

Question reference: S3W-09157

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether mammals bred and reared in enclosures are considered to be farmed animals and are subject to the same legal protection in respect of their welfare as agricultural animals.

Mammals bred and reared in enclosures would have the same protection as domestic animals under Part 2 of the Animal Heath and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, if the enclosure was of a size that the animals could not be considered to be living in the wild. This act states that an animal is a protected animal if it is of a kind which is commonly domesticated in the British Isles, under the control of man, or not living in a wide state.

Question reference: S3W-09774

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive who was consulted on the recent Net Limitation Order introduced under the River Border Esk Fisheries Byelaw and when the consultation took place.

The recent Net Limitation Order does not form part of the River Esk (Border) Byelaws, which were made under Article 4(2) of the Scotland Act 1998 (Border Rivers) Order 1999. The Net Limitation Order applies only to fisheries in England and was made under the provisions of section 26 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. This Order was made by the Environment Agency, who undertook the consultation required under their statutory obligations. The Environment Agency can provide details of the consultation undertaken prior to the Order being made.

Question reference: S3W-09373

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received to prevent delayed discharge in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Question reference: S3W-09382

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 19 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received under the Specialist Provision Programme - Centres of Excellence in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Funding was allocated to seven local authorities under the Centres of Excellence programme as follows:

Authority	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeen City	£753,000	£771,500	£792,300
East Ayrshire	£404,000	£269,400	£134,700
East Dunbartonshire	£715,000	£732,600	£752,400
City of Edinburgh	£646,000	£661,900	£679,800
Fife	£154,000	£102,700	£51,400
Glasgow City	£2,084,500	£2,010,600	£1,941,900
Highland	£389,500	£399,100	£409,900

Question reference: S3W-09380

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority received from the Changing Children’s Services Fund in each year of the 2004 spending review.

The information requested is provided in the following table. Allocations were made to local authorities to support activities agreed jointly with local partners in the statutory and voluntary sectors. For 2006-07 and 2007-08, the fund was split between specific grant and grant aided expenditure (GAE). The table provides both elements.

Changing Children's Services Fund - Allocations To Local Authorities - 2005-08

Year	2005-06	2006-07	2006-07	2006-07	2007-08	2007-08	2007-08
Local Authority	Specific Grant Total (£)	Specific Grant (£)	GAE (£)	Total (£)	Specific Grant (£)	GAE (£)	Total (£)
Aberdeen City	2,038,000	1,550,000	482,000	2,032,000	936,000	1,125,000	2,061,000
Aberdeenshire	2,758,000	2,183,000	706,000	2,889,000	1,318,000	1,648,000	2,966,000
Angus	1,303,000	1,033,000	299,000	1,332,000	624,000	699,000	1,323,000
Argyll and Bute	1,161,000	942,000	270,000	1,212,000	569,000	629,000	1,198,000
Clackmannanshire	629,000	509,000	140,000	649,000	307,000	327,000	634,000
Dumfries and Galloway	1,986,000	1,525,000	438,000	1,963,000	921,000	1,022,000	1,943,000
Dundee City	2,204,000	1,548,000	408,000	1,956,000	935,000	953,000	1,888,000
East Ayrshire	1,639,000	1,263,000	348,000	1,611,000	763,000	812,000	1,575,000
East Dunbartonshire	886,000	724,000	234,000	958,000	437,000	546,000	983,000
East Lothian	1,035,000	819,000	251,000	1,070,000	495,000	585,000	1,080,000
East Renfrewshire	789,000	634,000	209,000	843,000	383,000	488,000	871,000
Edinburgh, City of	4,727,000	3,441,000	1,102,000	4,543,000	2,078,000	2,571,000	4,649,000
Eilean Siar	407,000	308,000	94,000	402,000	186,000	220,000	406,000
Falkirk	1,702,000	1,345,000	402,000	1,747,000	812,000	938,000	1,750,000
Fife	4,259,000	3,314,000	1,018,000	4,332,000	2,002,000	2,376,000	4,378,000
Glasgow City	10,438,000	7,650,000	2,268,000	9,918,000	4,620,000	5,293,000	9,913,000
Highland	2,927,000	2,322,000	685,000	3,007,000	1,402,000	1,598,000	3,000,000
Inverclyde	1,179,000	919,000	244,000	1,163,000	555,000	570,000	1,125,000
Midlothian	981,000	786,000	224,000	1,010,000	475,000	522,000	997,000
Moray	977,000	762,000	239,000	1,001,000	460,000	558,000	1,018,000
North Ayrshire	1,990,000	1,555,000	411,000	1,966,000	939,000	960,000	1,899,000
North Lanarkshire	4,306,000	3,494,000	1,038,000	4,532,000	2,110,000	2,423,000	4,533,000
Orkney Islands	279,000	206,000	67,000	273,000	125,000	156,000	281,000
Perth and Kinross	1,572,000	1,265,000	384,000	1,649,000	764,000	896,000	1,660,000
Renfrewshire	2,236,000	1,685,000	472,000	2,157,000	1,018,000	1,100,000	2,118,000
Scottish Borders	1,269,000	992,000	312,000	1,304,000	599,000	729,000	1,328,000
Shetland Islands	354,000	275,000	91,000	366,000	166,000	212,000	378,000
South Ayrshire	1,229,000	977,000	275,000	1,252,000	590,000	642,000	1,232,000
South Lanarkshire	3,680,000	2,950,000	881,000	3,831,000	1,782,000	2,056,000	3,838,000
Stirling	1,042,000	798,000	245,000	1,043,000	482,000	571,000	1,053,000
West Dunbartonshire	1,481,000	1,081,000	276,000	1,357,000	653,000	643,000	1,296,000
West Lothian	2,038,000	1,645,000	486,000	2,131,000	993,000	1,133,000	2,126,000
Total	65,500,000	50,500,000	15,000,000	65,500,000	30,500,000	35,000,000	65,500,000

Question reference: S3W-09374

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received under the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in each year of the 2004 spending review.

The National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders came into force on 2 April 2007 and grant funding was provided to local authorities in 2007-08 as set out as follows. No funding was provided in 2005-06 or 2006-07.

Local Authority	Grant
Aberdeen City	£61,715
Aberdeenshire	£63,570
Angus	£49,943
Argyll and Bute	£45,813
Clackmannanshire	£41,589
Dumfries and Galloway	£52,210
Dundee City	£57,620
East Ayrshire	£57,569
East Dunbartonshire	£48,322
East Lothian	£47,881
East Renfrewshire	£44,285
Edinburgh, City of	£117,446
Eilean Siar	£36,962
Falkirk	£58,393
Fife	£87,080
Glasgow City	£159,170
Highland	£70,316
Inverclyde	£44,363
Midlothian	£45,696
Moray	£48,640
North Ayrshire	£51,459
North Lanarkshire	£83,522
Orkney	£32,860
Perth and Kinross	£55,668
Renfrewshire	£62,704
Scottish Borders	£53,876
Shetland	£34,751
South Ayrshire	£47,328
South Lanarkshire	£83,034
Stirling	£46,244
West Dunbartonshire	£49,290
West Lothian	£60,681
Scotland	£1,900,000