- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 20 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9662 by Sarah Boyack on 3 October 2000, how many individual responses were made and how far from the nearest wind farm each respondent lived.
Answer
The results of the research, Public Attitudes to Wind Farms in Scotland, was based on a total of 430 interviews with individuals in households living within 20km of wind farms in Scotland. Of these, 215 individuals lived within 5km of a wind farm, 108 lived over 5km but less than 10km from a wind farm and 107 lived over 10km but less than 20km from a wind farm. This information is contained in the full report available in the Parliament's Reference Centre or on the Scottish Executive website at
www.scotland.gov.uk/cru.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 27 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to raise schoolchildren's awareness of vocational opportunities in business and of business issues in general.
Answer
Careers Service Companies throughout Scotland work with school pupils offering careers guidance, local labour market information and helping to arrange work placements and job fairs with local businesses.
The Executive supports a range of education for work and enterprise programmes through the enterprise network, Education Business Partnerships and other organisations. These programmes are intended to introduce young people to patterns of employment, offer them direct experience of the world of work and highlight opportunities, including those for self-employment and within business and commerce.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 26 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to seek recovery of any overspends in the year 1999-2000 from hospital Trusts.
Answer
NHS Trusts which overspent in 1999-2000 have been asked to produce financial plans, which demonstrate how recurring financial balance will be achieved and which will also recover cumulative overspends. Maintaining sound finances is a prerequisite of delivering effective health care which the substantial additional resources for the NHS in Scotland, this year and in the next three years, are designed to facilitate.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 26 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money it owed its suppliers at the end of the 1999-2000 financial year and how much of that money was more than 30 days overdue.
Answer
The Scottish Executive aims to pay all valid invoices within 30 days of receipt, or within other agreed contractual terms. At the end of the 1999-2000 financial year the Executive, including its executive agencies and associated departments, held unpaid invoices totalling £21.6 million. Of these, it is estimated that invoices which were overdue amounted to less than £10,000 of the overall total.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 24 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation of any late payment of central resources to hospital Trusts throughout Scotland in 1999-2000 and the current year to date.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not make payment of central resources to NHS Trusts. Where appropriate, central resources are allocated to health boards and this is done at the earliest opportunity.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive to list the sectors of the economy in which it considers there to be a skills shortage.
Answer
Current indications are that the main sectors of the Scottish economy experiencing skills shortages are:
- information technology/electronics;
- financial services;
- construction;
- engineering;
- hospitality/tourism;
- call centre operations; and
- oil/gas.
Robust labour market information and intelligence systems are essential if sectoral skills shortages are to be forecast accurately and timeously. The Scottish Labour Market Intelligence Unit is presently being established to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the information needed to inform decisions about steps needed to address current and future sectoral skills shortages. The new unit should be fully operational by spring 2001.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 3 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will commit to the setting up of a task force to assist the Peterhead economy given the rundown of activity at RAF Buchan, the potential closure of Peterhead Prison and the number of business closures and job losses which have taken place over the last year.
Answer
Support for those in areas affected by economic and labour market change is provided in accordance with the principles set out in our PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) document launched in March.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 3 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct research into the implications for the Peterhead economy of the rundown of activity at RAF Buchan by 2004.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-1962.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 3 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the names and addresses of those people living within five kilometres of a wind farm who were referred to in its Press Release SE2329/2000 as responding favourably to wind farms, following the recent survey into public attitude towards such farms.
Answer
As is normal practice in government social research, respondents who participated in this survey did so on the basis that their individual responses would be confidential. As such, disclosure of their names and addresses would be a breach of that commitment and be contrary to the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by John Home Robertson on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the proposals for 'onal management proposed by the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations.
Answer
I support wholeheartedly the principle of enhancing the regional dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy that is set out in the report entitled Zonal Management - A new vision for Europe's Fisheries produced by the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations. However, I cannot sign up to all of the detail. In particular I cannot support proposals that would entail fundamental changes to the existing Treaty provisions.
