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: S1W-05680

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 25 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the change in the level of employment in each sector for which figures are available between 1997 and the present date.

Levels of employment by major industrial division in Scotland are shown in the table below. Figures are given for winter 1997, winter 1999 and the difference between these levels.Employment in Scotland, 1997 and 1999 (000s)

	Winter 1997	Winter 1999	Difference	% Difference
All industries	2,319	2,326	+7	+0.3
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	51	51	0	0
Mining, quarrying	33	33	0	0
Manufacturing	391	344	-47	-12
Electricity, gas and water supply	21	24	+3	+15
Construction	182	188	+6	+3
Wholesale, retail & motor trade	342	335	-7	+2
Hotels, & restaurants	119	129	+10	+9
Transport, storage & comms	144	157	+13	+9
Financial intermediation	99	99	0	0
Real estate, & business	199	189	-10	-5
Public administration & defence	146	160	+14	+9
Education	156	187	+31	+20
Health & social work	298	278	-20	-7
Other community, & social	125	135	+10	+8
Other	13	17	+4	+34

Source: Labour Force Survey, not seasonally adjusted.

Question reference: S1W-06681

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 24 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding the awarding of army uniform contract ST1A/1335 to Feuchter in Germany rather than Macbeans in Cumbernauld.

Question reference: S1W-05678

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 22 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimated proportion of the overall Scottish budget is spent on labour costs.

Question reference: S1W-05771

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 17 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the International Labour Organisation's unemployment level and rate for Scotland was in each month since May 1999.

Question reference: S1W-05682

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 28 April 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the undiscounted cost to the Scottish budget is of servicing each PFI contract which the Executive and its predecessors have entered into over the entirety of each contract, in total and by each contract agreed.

The Scottish Executive has three PFI contracts for which it is responsible. They are:

Skye Bridge
M6 DBFO
Kilmarnock Prison.

The Scottish Executive does not make service payments for Skye Bridge.The undiscounted cost of the PFI service payments (i.e. revenue commitments) in cash terms, excluding VAT and rounded to the nearest £ million for M6DBFO and Kilmarnock Prison areM6DBFO

1997-98	2	2011-12	27	2025-26	9
1998-99	3	2012-13	28	2026-27	9
1999-2000	21	2013-14	29	2027-28	8
2000-01	22	2014-15	31
2001-02	20	2015-16	40
2002-03	21	2016-17	44
2003-04	23	2017-18	37
2004-05	21	2018-19	32
2005-06	20	2019-20	35
2006-07	21	2020-21	35
2007-08	23	2021-22	34
2008-09	20	2022-23	25
2009-10	23	2023-24	7
2010-11	27	2024-25	8

The total undiscounted commitment for M6 DBFO is £705 million.Kilmarnock Prison

1999-2000	17	2013-14	21
2000-01	15	2014-15	21
2001-02	15	2015-16	22
2002-03	15	2016-17	17
2003-04	16	2017-18	18
2004-05	16	2018-19	19
2005-06	16	2019-20	19
2006-07	17	2020-21	20
2007-08	17	2021-22	19
2008-09	18	2022-23	20
2009-10	18	2023-24	20
2010-11	19
2011-12	19
2012-13	20

The total undiscounted commitment for Kilmarnock Prison is £454 million

Question reference: S1W-05770

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 28 April 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average increase in public sector pay has been in cash terms in each year since 1945, or the earliest year for which figures are available.

Average gross weekly earnings of employees working in the Public Sector in Scotland are available from 1986. The following table shows average annual increases since this date. The figures are compiled on a snapshot basis in April each year and estimates of annual changes can be affected by a range of factors including variations in the timing of pay settlements from year to year.

	Increase in gross weekly earnings¹ (£)
1986-87	10.6
1987-88	12.4
1988-89	25.9
1989-90	9.1
1990-91	19.0
1991-92	9.4
1992-93	18.9
1993-94	5.6
1994-95	7.9
1995-96	7.9
1996-97	8.9
1997-98	8.8
1998-99	16.8

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Estimates relate to all employees on adult rates, whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence.

Question reference: S1W-05674

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 13 April 2000

To ask the Presiding Officer what is the total amount of VAT expected to be paid to Her Majesty's Treasury from the latest estimates of the Holyrood Project and what this sum is as a proportion of the overall cost of the project.

Question reference: S1W-05684

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 11 April 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what is the latest estimate of population broken down by local authority area and by constituency in Scotland, and what projections are available on this basis for the future.

The latest, 1998, mid-year estimate of population and 1998-based population projections to the year 2016 for local authority areas within Scotland is published by the Registrar General in Table 1 of the booklet Population Projections, Scotland (1998 based). A copy of the booklet is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Population estimates and projections for constituencies within Scotland are not available.

Question reference: S1W-05681

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 11 April 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new claimants have joined the unemployment claimant register between May 1997 and the latest date for which figures are available and between May 1999 and the latest date for which figures are available.

Question reference: S1O-01424

Asked by: Andrew Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 23 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the expected date is by which local authorities will be required to register land on the contaminated land register regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Local authorities will not be required to register land on a contaminated land register by a specific date. Following implementation of the new contaminated land regime, which, subject to Parliament, we hope to bring into force in Scotland early in June this year, it will be up to each local authority, as the enforcing authority, to identify contaminated land within its area and to record in a public register all regulatory action taken in respect of its remediation. In the case of contaminated land identified as a special site, the enforcing authority will be the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.Local authorities will have 15 months from the date of the commencement of the enabling regulations to produce strategies for inspecting their areas to identify contaminated land.