- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 3 April 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each grant paid to (a) Aberdeenshire Council, (b) Aberdeen City Council and (c) Dundee City Council within aggregate external finance, broken down for each year since 1997-98.
Answer
Finance Circulars for each year since 1997-98, detailing all the grants within Aggregate External Finance (AEF) paid to local authorities, are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Finance Circulars and respective Bib. numbers are listed).
| Finance Circular | Title | Bib. No. |
| 31/1996 | 1997-98 Aggregate External Finance Distribution Proposals | 20051 |
| 20/1997 | 1998-99 Aggregate External Finance Distribution Proposals | 20052 |
| 19/1998 | 1999-00 Local Government Finance Settlement | 20053 |
| 9/1999 | 2000-01 Local Government Finance Settlement | 8310 |
| 13/2000 | Local Government Finance Settlement: 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 | 20054 |
| 8/2001 | Local Government Finance Settlement: 2002-03, 2003-04 | 17961 |
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken steps to promote the European Sixth Framework Research and Technological Development Programme amongst universities.
Answer
Practical assistance with proposals for the European Framework Programmes is provided by Innovation Relay Centres (IRC) Scotland. IRCs in Scotland are jointly funded by the European Commission and Scottish Enterprise, and work with Scottish universities and SMEs providing assistance and advice on the preparation of proposals for the programmes. The IRCs also help find suitable collaborative partners for proposals and encourage universities to partner with Scottish companies. A Scottish FP6 Focus Group has been formed by the Scottish Executive with representation from Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scotland Europa, Scottish Enterprise Cluster Teams and Innovation Relay Centres Scotland. The aim of the focus group is to develop and implement a Scottish framework for FP6 promotion and support in order to maximise Scottish involvement in FP6 projects. Scottish universities are one of a number of organisations who are expected to benefit from this initiative.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much Interreg (a) (b) and (c) funding it has received since 2000 and how much it is due to receive during the current structural fund programme for 2000-06.
Answer
The INTERREG III Community Initiative has three strands. Strand A concerns cross-border co-operation; B trans-national; and C inter-regional, through small pilot projects.Scotland can participate in IIIB and IIIC. Programmes have either only recently been approved by the European Commission or await approval. As such, no awards of grant have yet been made, nor have specific projects been identified for funding.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what current projects (a) receive and (b) are due to receive Interreg funding during the current structural fund programme for 2000-06.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23785.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vessels have been decommissioned under the European Union's current scheme.
Answer
There is currently no centrally run European Union fishing vessel decommissioning scheme. However, as of 11 March, 102 Scottish vessels have been offered a decommissioning grant under the Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning) (Scotland) Scheme 2001 - 13 have completed the process and have been scrapped. Similar decommissioning schemes are also being run in England and Northern Ireland.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the European Commission with regard to negotiations with the World Trade Organisation.
Answer
The regulation of international trade is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Department of Trade and Industry on trade issues including negotiations with the World Trade Organisation, and how these may impact on the Executive's responsibilities.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive who administers the European Interreg funding programme.
Answer
Scotland participates in four INTERREG IIIB (Trans-national co-operation) programmes. Each is administered by a programme secretariat based in the programme area.Details are as follows:Atlantic Area, Programme Secretariat, Poitiers, FranceNorthern Periphery Secretariat, CopenhagenNorth Sea Region Secretariat, Viborg, DenmarkNorth West Europe, Programme Secretariat, Lille, FranceScotland may also participate in INTERREG IIIC, which is designed to allow areas not eligible for IIIB funding, to participate in inter-regional co-operation. The Secretariat is also in Lille.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it had in developing a partnership between the Strathclyde European Partnership and its equivalent in Saxony-Arnhalt, Germany.
Answer
There is no formal relationship between Strathclyde European Partnership and Saxony-Anhalt. Officials in Saxony-Anhalt have approached a number of other regional bodies, including Strathclyde European Partnership, with a view to developing an application, under INTERREG III C, on the themes of Innovation and the Information Society. The proposal is at a very early stage. The Scottish Executive has had no involvement in this development to date.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has in place to monitor the decommissioning programme for fishing vessels.
Answer
The physical process of decommissioning fishing vessels under the Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning) (Scotland) Scheme 2001 is monitored through site visits/inspections by officers authorised under the scheme, in consultation with environmental interests and control authorities in other member states where appropriate. Financial aspects of the scheme are subject to normal Executive audit procedures and European Commission scrutiny.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what current figures are available on the incidence of suicide and attempted suicide in the community.
Answer
Figures on the incidence of suicide are as follows:Table 1 - Suicide and Undetermined Deaths, by Age and Sex, Scotland - 1970, 1990-2000
| Year | All Ages |
| Total | M | F |
| 1970 | 618 | 364 | 254 |
| 1990 | 749 | 566 | 183 |
| 1991 | 706 | 523 | 183 |
| 1992 | 793 | 576 | 217 |
| 1993 | 912 | 679 | 233 |
| 1994 | 834 | 611 | 223 |
| 1995 | 836 | 625 | 211 |
| 1996 | 846 | 620 | 226 |
| 1997 | 874 | 655 | 219 |
| 1998 | 878 | 650 | 228 |
| 1999 | 874 | 663 | 211 |
| 2000 | 878 | 674 | 204 |
Source: General Register Office for Scotland.Table 2 - Death by Suicide and Self Inflicted Injury, by Age and Sex, Scotland - 1970, 1990-2000
| Year | All Ages |
| T | M | F |
| 1970 | 397 | 236 | 161 |
| 1990 | 535 | 415 | 120 |
| 1991 | 525 | 394 | 131 |
| 1992 | 569 | 418 | 151 |
| 1993 | 615 | 473 | 142 |
| 1994 | 624 | 463 | 161 |
| 1995 | 623 | 476 | 147 |
| 1996 | 597 | 435 | 162 |
| 1997 | 599 | 451 | 148 |
| 1998 | 649 | 486 | 163 |
| 1999 | 637 | 500 | 137 |
| 2000 | 648 | 512 | 136 |
Source: General Register Office for Scotland.Table 3 - Death by Injury Undetermined whether Accidentally or Purposely Inflicted, by Age and Sex, Scotland 1970, 1990-2000
| Year | All Ages |
| T | M | F |
| 1970 | 221 | 128 | 93 |
| 1990 | 214 | 151 | 63 |
| 1991 | 181 | 129 | 52 |
| 1992 | 224 | 158 | 66 |
| 1993 | 297 | 206 | 91 |
| 1994 | 210 | 148 | 62 |
| 1995 | 213 | 149 | 64 |
| 1996 | 249 | 185 | 64 |
| 1997 | 275 | 204 | 71 |
| 1998 | 229 | 164 | 65 |
| 1999 | 237 | 163 | 74 |
| 2000 | 230 | 162 | 68 |
Source: General Register Office for Scotland.Note: In considering deaths from suicide it is usual to add deaths where it is undetermined whether an injury was accidentally or purposely inflicted.Overall totals are given in Table 1. Table 2 covers suicide and self-inflicted injury.Table 3 covers injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted.Source: ISD Scotland.Information on the number of attempted suicides in the community is not available centrally. However, an estimate of the number of attempted suicides can be obtained from hospital discharge records. In 2000 there were 11,644 people admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of "suicide/self-inflicted injury". For comparison, the figures for 1981 and 1991 were 8,570 and 9,022 respectively.
