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.

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Question reference: S2W-32092

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 12 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with UK ministers anent the encouragement and expansion of community-based credit unions in Scotland.

We are in regular contact withthe UK government to ensure Scotland benefits from UK government activity in respect of the credit union movement.Most recently liaison with UK Departments has focused on reviewing credit unionlegislation and the operation of the Growth Fund administered by the Departmentfor Work and Pensions. The Executive’s own programmes, including the AssistanceFund and the Service of General Economic Interest approval scheme and associatedfunding, also encourage and support Scottish credit unions.

Question reference: S2W-32131

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether discussions have taken place with ministers and officials at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) anent the construction of a lightly-armed fisheries protection vessel under the aegis of the MoD which, when in service, would be operationally managed by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

Question reference: S2W-31784

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 9 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has anent the average daily flow of traffic crossing the Erskine Bridge since the tolls were removed compared with the average daily flow of such traffic in the comparable period prior to the removal of the tolls.

Tolls were removed from the Erskine Bridge on 1 April 2006.

Average daily traffic flows forthe Erskine Bridge for comparable months are as follows:

	2005 (Tolls)	2006 (Post Tolls)	Increase
April	27,907	32,876	4,969
August	28,276	37,061	8,785
December	24,534	29,996	5,462

Transport Scotland has operationalresponsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.

Question reference: S2W-32089

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) beds, (b) day care places and (c) residential facilities there are for individuals suffering from chronic eating disorders, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-31787

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 26 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-31570 by Rhona Brankin on 12 February 2007, whether the £56,000 which is to be spent on Warm Deal measures in council-owned properties in Inverclyde in 2007-08 will be re-allocated to houses that are to be transferred from Inverclyde Council to River Clyde Homes in October 2007 following the ballot of council house tenants.

Question reference: S2W-31786

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 26 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) Scottish fishermen have lost their lives while working, (b) Scottish fishing vessels have been lost and (c) fatal accident inquiries concerning such fatalities have taken place in each of the last 10 years.

Information in relation to accidentsinvolving fishing vessels and their crews is maintained on a UK basis by theMarine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) of the Department for Transport. MAIBhave provided the following details in relation to Scottish registered fishing vesselswhich have been lost and the resulting crew fatalities. Records held by MAIB donot show the nationality of deceased persons to separately identify Scottish fishermen.Details for the UK overall are also shown. Information for 2006 is, at this stage,still provisional.

	UK Registered Fishing Vessels Lost	Scottish Registered Fishing Vessels Lost	Fatalities from UK Registered Fishing Vessels	Fatalities from Scottish Registered Fishing Vessels
1997	23	14	29	11
1998	21	13	26	11
1999	33	24	9	6
2000	40	19	32	14
2001	34	20	10	5
2002	18	11	9	5
2003	28	17	11	8
2004	25	14	10	4
2005	34	19	9	4
2006	16	5	17	8

Fatal accident inquiries (FAIs)fall within the responsibility of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service(COPFS). Statistical information is kept by COPFS about the number of FAIs heldbut this data does not include details about the circumstances of the deaths beinginvestigated to identify those related to fishing vessel fatalities.

Question reference: S2W-31785

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 22 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed on vessels operated by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency; where they received their training before joining their ships, and which organisation is responsible for their terms and conditions of employment.

The Scottish Fisheries ProtectionAgency employs 133 persons to man their vessels.

Individuals will have receivedmarine training under the auspices of their previous employers. In the case of officersit will have been either at nautical colleges through their shipping companies orthrough the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. A similar position exists with the ratings whowill also have attended nautical colleges to receive their marine training.

Fisheries training for officersand ratings is delivered “in house” through a mixture of specialised training coursesand the shadowing of experienced officers carrying out their enforcement duties.

The Scottish Fisheries ProtectionAgency is responsible for their terms and conditions of employment.

Question reference: S2W-31788

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has anent the number of (a) foreign and (b) UK registered fishing vessels apprehended and escorted into Scottish ports by Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency vessels because of fishing offences in each of the last 10 years, and what range of penalties was imposed in the sheriff courts where the skippers of these vessels were convicted of illegal practices.

The Scottish Fisheries ProtectionAgency does not keep a specific record of when fishing vessels are escorted to port.When an infringement is detected at sea it is sometimes necessary to escort a vesselto port to secure the necessary evidence for any subsequent court proceedings. Incases involving foreign nationals, escort to and detention in port, is necessaryto ensure an accused person is available to answer in court to any charges thatare brought as a result of the agency’s investigations.

The breakdown of foreign andUKregistered vessels prosecuted for fisheries infringements, and the range of finesimposed by the courts in these cases, in each of the last 10 years is shown in thefollowing table. It should be noted that the agency records on prosecutions statisticsare kept by the financial year and reported as such in the agency’s annual report.

Financial Year	Foreign Vessels	Range of Fines	UK Vessels	Range of Fines
1997-98	4	£1,000-£79,000	104	£100-£74,000
1998-99	3	£5,000-£7,000	96	£200-£8,000
1999-2000	4	£2,500-£5,000	68	£100-£15,000
2000-01	0	-	57	£100-£8,000
2001-02	4	£3,500-£17,500	58	£250-£7,000
2002-03	0	-	58	£150-£8,000
2003-04	1	£20,000	33	£250-£12,500
2004-05	8	£500-£50,000	66	£300-£20,000
2005-06	9	£600-£17,500	81	£300-£1,080,000
2006-07	8	£600-£17,000	21	£100-£45000

Note: 2006-07 – Information givenas at 19 February 2007 for cases concluded in court.

Question reference: S2W-30902

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 15 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance is given to local authorities and other interested parties involved in the housing of, care for and assistance with the employment of former members of the armed services who have been discharged because of injuries received in the course of their duties.

Provision for former membersof the armed services on discharge is primarily the responsibility of theMinistry of Defence and it has contributed to the following information.

No financial assistance isgiven to local authorities or other interested parties for provision of housingfor this specific group. However, entitlement to occupy service accommodationat service rates is extended for a period of 93 days after discharge because ofinjuries received in the course of duty.

When service personnel leavethe armed forces, responsibility for their healthcare is transferred from theDefence Medical Services to the National Health Service (as has been the casesince 1948). Priority treatment of war pensioners is an NHS provision and decisionson the allocation of treatment to individuals are made by the clinician incharge.

In addition, the ScottishExecutive Health Department offered Combat Stress (formerly known as theEx-Services Mental Welfare Society) a total capital grant of £100,000 over 2005-06and 2006-07, to support Combat Stress’s refurbishment of, and new build at,their Hollybush House care home in Ayrshire, to help them comply with therelevant National Care standards. The Scottish Executive is also providingtotal revenue grant funding of £54,000 between 2004-2007 to help support theCombat Stress welfare team in its community outreach work.

Local authorities receive noadditional funding in respect of the employment of ex-service personnel. Thereare, however, several service charities which receive Ministry of Defenceand/or other government funding. These charities may choose to spend thisfunding on employment or training matters but are not required to do so. TheMinistry of Defence assists ex-service personnel directly with findingemployment including making grants towards training costs. All service memberswho are medically discharged are entitled to a full package of support offeredby its resettlement service, the Career Transition Partnership.

Question reference: S2W-30901

Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 15 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish local authorities have any statutory obligation, in respect of houses owned by the Ministry of Defence and occupied by members of the armed services, to ensure that they are of a tolerable standard and on a par with local authority and housing association properties.

Under the Housing (Scotland)Act 1987, a Scottish local authority has the statutory power to require that ahouse owned by the Ministry of Defence be brought up to the tolerable standard,but only if the Ministry of Defence consents to the service of an improvement orderin respect of the house. Once the relevant provisions of the Housing (Scotland)Act 2006 are brought into force, a local authority will have the statutoryobligation and power to require that such a house be brought up to thetolerable standard, with no need to seek consent.

There is no statutoryobligation on local authorities to ensure that houses owned by the Ministry ofDefence meet the same standards as houses owned by local authorities andhousing associations. The Ministry of Defenceoperates its own four-tier accommodation standard. Although this is notdirectly comparable to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, we understandthat all or the vast majority of service families accommodation meets the criteriadefined in the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.