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-22070

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the process is for applying for a business learning account and what the eligibility criteria are for participation by (a) companies and (b) employees.

The process for applyingfor a BLA is the same as applying for any other form of financial assistance fromthe enterprise networks. These processes have been approved by Audit Scotland.

Businesses are madeaware of BLAs through a number of means including direct targeting by LEC advisers,through general LEC marketing, through the Business Gateway, through talks givento organisations such as Chambers of Commerce and through discussions with learndirectScotland for Business.

BLAs are available to small businesseswith less than 50 employees which have not received previous support for trainingfrom the Enterprise Networks and which are not public sector organisations. Eligibletraining activities are limited to training that contributes to business growth.

Individual employees cannot applyfor a BLA, therefore there is no eligibility criteria for employees.

Question reference: S2W-22069

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made with the introduction of business learning accounts; how many companies have participated in the scheme, broken down into small, medium or large businesses; how many employees have participated in the scheme, broken down by size of company and Local Enterprise Company (LEC) area; whether it will provide a breakdown and overall totals of the grants awarded; what outcomes such grants have achieved or are expected to achieve; whether there have been any complaints about the design or delivery of the scheme; which LEC areas are covered by the scheme; what budget has been allocated to the scheme in each of the financial years in which it has been operating; how much has actually been spent in each financial year; what budget has been set aside for the scheme in 2006-07; how many consultants have been involved in the scheme in each LEC area; what the total cost of these consultants has been in each financial year; whether the scheme has been evaluated and, if so, what the outcome was; who undertook any such evaluation and at what cost, and what the Executive's plans are for the future of the scheme.

Business learning accounts(BLAs) were piloted for a two year period from autumn 2003 to autumn 2005. The enterprisenetworks are not currently offering any new BLAs but those companies which havealready been awarded a BLA are able to continue implementing training plansuntil the end of March 2006.

There were four BLA pilots, twosectoral and two geographic. The two geographic pilots covered the Ross andCromarty LEC area and the Clyde Valley area - including Renfrewshire, Glasgow andDunbartonshire LECs. The two sectoral pilots were open to businesses in the Manufacturingand Tourism industries and as such, were available across all LEC areas. InApril 2005 BLAs were extended to all LECs in the Highlands and Islands Enterprisearea.

Five hundred and seventysmall businesses have participated in BLAs by undergoing a Training NeedsAnalysis (TNA). Three hundred and forty-four have gone on to be approved forBLA funding. BLAs are only available to small businesses with less than 50employees.

The information requested onnumber of employees which have participated in BLAs is provided in thefollowing tables. It has not been possible to provide a breakdown by LEC area forScottish Enterprise (SE) pilots, however a breakdown by pilot has beenprovided. A breakdown by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) LEC area has been provided.

Pilot	Number of Individual Employees
Tourism ( SE Network–wide)	534
Geographic (SE Renfrewshire; Glasgow; Dunbartonshire)	425
Manufacturing (SE Network – wide)	625
Total	1,584

Number of IndividualEmployees Participating In Blas By HIE LEC Area

LEC	Number of Individuals
Ross and Cromarty	560
Caithness and Sutherland	40
Orkney	53
Shetland	100
Lochaber	52
Skye and Lochalsh	26
Argyll and Islands	29
Western Isles	14
Moray	4
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	54
Total	932

The information requested onthe total funding awarded by pilot and by LEC area is provided in the followingtables.

BLA Funding Awarded for OriginalFour BLA Pilots

Pilot	Funding Awarded
Clyde Valley	£144,734
Ross and Cromarty	£230,000
Manufacturing	£179,353
Tourism	£75,414
Total	£629,501

Funding Awarded by HIE LEC Areasince April 2005

LEC	Funding Awarded
Caithness and Sutherland	£36,100
Orkney	£22,000
Shetland	£53,500
Lochaber	£15,500
Skye and Lochalsh	£18,500
Argyll and Islands	£34,700
Western Isles	£17,750
Moray	£14,500
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	£30,320
Total	£242,870

It is not been possible toprovide data on the return on investment at this stage. A final independentevaluation is due to complete shortly which will identify benefits derived forthe businesses and individuals participating.

We have not had any formalcomplaints about the design or delivery of BLAs. The interim evaluation, whichreported in December 2004, identified some operational issues which may limitthe success of BLAs. These issues were addressed at the time of the evaluation.Informationon the number of contractors is provided in the following table.

Contractors Used in the Deliveryof BLAs by LEC

LECs	Number of Contractors Used
Ayrshire	1
Grampian	1
Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Dunbartonshire (Geographic pilot)	3
Lanarkshire	2
Fife	3
Tayside	3
Dumfries and Galloway	1
Edinburgh and Lothian	3
Forth Valley	2
Ross and Cromarty	5
Caithness and Sutherland	1
Orkney	2
Shetland	1
Lochaber	2
Skye and Lochalsh	1
Argyll and Islands	2
Western Isles	2
Moray	2
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	3

It has not been possible tobreakdown the cost of contractors by LEC area. However the following tableshows the totals spent in the Scottish Enterprise and Highlands andIslands areas.

	2003-4	2004-5	2005-6
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	£17,000	£34,000	£150,220
Scottish Enterprise	£3,375	£168,750	£128,250*

Note: *2005-06 figures areestimated as final expenditure will not be known until April 2006.

The information requested onthe budget and actual spend by the Scottish Executive on BLAs is provided inthe following table.

Budget Allocated and Actual Spendby Scottish Executive on BLAs by financial year.

	2003-4	2004-5	2005-6
Budget Allocated	£264,000	£736,000	£1,000,000
Actual Spend	£264,000	£730,000	£930,000

The Scottish Executive hasnot set aside any budget for BLAs in 2006-07.

An independent evaluation isbeing undertaken by Cambridge Policy Consultants. An interim evaluation waspublished in December 2005 and can be found on the Scottish Executive website www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/enterprise/ell17-00.asp.We are currently awaiting a final evaluation report and we expect to publishthis in early 2006. The total cost of the evaluation will be £88,000.

BLAs are expected toencourage small businesses which do not traditionally invest in training torecognise the benefits of training linked to business growth. It is thereforehoped that businesses will continue to invest in training after receivingsupport through a BLA. The final evaluation report will give us an indicationof what BLAs have achieved.

We are awaiting the finalevaluation report before we take any decision on the future of BLAs.

Question reference: S2W-22145

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the new EU budget 2007-13 will have on Social Fund spending.

Under the agreement reached betweenmember states on the EU budget 2007-13 on 16 December 2005, Structural Funds will continue to be available throughout Scotland. However,this funding will be at levels reduced from what Scotland currently receives. Scotlandas a whole could receive approximately £475 million, or about 45% of what we currentlyreceive. These figures are estimates at this moment and are subject to agreementbetween the UK Government and Devolved Administrations on how to divide UK competitivenessfunding between the nations.

It has yet to be clarified howthis funding will be divided between the European Social Fund (ESF) and the EuropeanRegional Development Fund (ERDF). The Executive is currently proposing four futureprogrammes for Scotland: one ERDF and one ESF programme each for Highlands andIslands and for Lowland and Upland Scotland.

Despite the reduction in fundingit is important to remember that the vast majority of funding for economic developmentin Scotland comes from domestic sources. The Executive is committedto economic development in Scotland but is not reliant on Structural Funds to continue thisagenda.

Question reference: S2W-21669

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any flights by US agencies in which alleged suspected terrorists were carried to countries where the practice of torture is used for the purposes of investigation were in either (a) civil aircraft or (b) state aircraft when such flights stopped at Scottish airports for refuelling.

Question reference: S2W-21635

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances of prisoners in the open estate absconding there have been in the last 25 years compared to the number of instances of prisoners absconding from regular prisons in the same period.

Question reference: S2W-21668

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware whether steps were taken to establish the precise nature of the cargo and passengers on board any planes allegedly carrying suspected terrorists to countries where the practice of torture is used for the purposes of investigation before such planes were given clearance to land at Scottish airports for refuelling.

Question reference: S2W-21667

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to people being forcibly brought into the country against their will, without the right to seek legal representation, before being transported to another country.

Question reference: S2W-21871

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition of abduction is within Scots Law.

Question reference: S2W-21856

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21273 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether this indicates that the new Auchenkilns Junction is an integral part of the plan to undertake an on-line upgrade of the A80 to full motorway status.

Question reference: S2W-21851

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21290 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether, if it accepts the logic of bypassing Muirhead, Chryston and Moodiesburn with the upgraded A80, it considers it logical to bypass Cumbernauld as part of the upgrade as well and what the reasons are for its position on the issue.