- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase or reduce the number of its staff members in (a) the current year and (b) each of the next three years.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no plans to increase the staffing of the core departments beyond filling existing vacancies in the current year. Decisions on future staffing levels are dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review 2002 exercise which will determine the annual budgets for the administration programme.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the Comprehensive Spending Review funding will be for trunk road improvement in each of the next three years.
Answer
Spending plans for the three years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 will be announced in September.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive why there is no facility to deal with animal health requirements at Rosyth in order to allow passengers on the Superfast ferry link to Europe to take pets with them and when such a facility will be introduced.
Answer
Officials are currently in discussion with representatives of Superfast Ferries regarding the introduction of Pets Travel Scheme (PETS) on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry route. Depending on the progress of these discussions, it may be possible to have an authorised PETS route in Scotland before the end of the year.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had with trade unions about the use of the public/private partnership (PPP) process and whether it will list the outcomes and details of any agreements entered into.
Answer
Two meetings have been held with the STUC in the SE/STUC Working Group I established to examine employment issues in connection with public private partnerships. Two further meetings have taken place this month. The working group has been established in terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Executive and the STUC on 15 April 2002. The working group will make recommendations to me later this year.The PPP process is one of a number of topics that arises in meetings between Executive ministers and the trades unions from time to time.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost would be of restoring funding reductions on NHS boards under the Arbuthnott formula.
Answer
The purpose of the Arbuthnott formula is to ensure that every NHS board in Scotland receives a level of funding that reflects the size of its population, their levels of deprivation and ill health, and the costs of delivering healthcare in remote and rural areas. Distributing resources for healthcare in a fair manner requires some changes in the share of resources going to different NHS boards. However, no board has experienced a funding reduction under the Arbuthnott formula. In fact all boards have received substantial growth in funding since this formula was introduced, with some additional funding targeted on those boards whose share of resources needs to increase.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the average cost of employing civil servants in each of the last five years.
Answer
The average annual salary for permanent staff working in the core departments of the Scottish Executive in each of the past five years is given in the table.
| As at April | Total (£) |
| 1998 | 20,045 |
| 1999 | 20,499 |
| 2000 | 21,022 |
| 2001 | 21,831 |
| 2002 | 22,253 |
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what subsidies are given to renewable energy generating schemes.
Answer
As a demonstration of our strong support for the development of renewable energy, the Executive introduced on 1 April this year the Renewables Obligation (Scotland), which provides a strong market incentive for investment in renewable energy generating schemes.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much public expenditure there has been on renewable energy research and commercialisation in the last three years and how much is planned over the next two years.
Answer
Funding for research and development of renewable energy is a reserved matter, and is the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry. The research funds available through the DTI's Sustainable Energy Programme for projects across the UK in each of the last three years was as follows:1999-2000 - £12.5 million2000-01 - £13.1 million2001-02 - £13.5 millionProvision for research and development through this programme is planned to increase to £19 million in 2002-03. Information in respect of 2003-04 is not yet available.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 25 July 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to identify solutions to any gap in energy generation if nuclear generation ceases in Scotland.
Answer
The issues of energy generation and security of supply are reserved, and were addressed in the recent Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) report on energy policy to the UK Government. The PIU's recommendations now form the basis of a UK-wide consultation exercise. The views expressed will be taken into account in a White Paper which the UK Government intends to issue around the turn of the year setting out its approach to future energy policy.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 25 July 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive which universities and colleges are active in alternative energy research, broken down by field of research and institution.
Answer
Details of research projects in Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges are not collected centrally by the Scottish Executive. However, the Executive has encouraged the development of the Scottish Research Information System, by Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, Universities Scotland and Scottish Enterprise. This provides a searchable database of research in Scotland at Higher Education Institutions and can be accessed at:http://www.scottishresearch.com/.
