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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1840 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S1W-06576

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on gathering reliable information about income levels by local authority areas, including both West and East Dunbartonshire.

The Scottish Household Survey will provide information on household income by local authority area after the first full sweep of the survey (i.e. after two years) - the results of which are likely to be made available in the summer of 2001.

Discussions are also underway with the Department for Social Security and the Office for National Statistics to investigate the use of nationwide surveys (such as the Family Expenditure Survey, Family Resource Survey and General Household Survey) to provide information which allow us to produce analysis of income at local authority level for Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-06580

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much capital debt each local authority currently owes, expressed as (a) a total amount, (b) a per capita amount and (c) a per household amount.

The requested figures for the most recent available year (1998-99) are provided in the following table.

Local Authority Capital Debt 1998-99

	Outstanding Capital Debt	Capital Debt Per Capita	Capital Debt Per Household
	£ million	£	£
Aberdeen City	370	1,738	3,726
Aberdeenshire	361	1,596	4,058
Angus	100	910	2,159
Argyll & Bute	223	2,480	5,858
Clackmannanshire	72	1,488	3,559
Dumfries & Galloway	275	1,868	4,369
Dundee City	275	1,875	4,118
East Ayrshire	188	1,549	3,707
East Dunbartonshire	122	1,114	2,935
East Lothian	143	1,596	3,844
East Renfrewshire	87	987	2,570
Edinburgh, City of	835	1,854	4,136
Eilean Siar	167	5,989	14,303
Falkirk	198	1,374	3,256
Fife	480	1,375	3,244
Glasgow City	2,098	3,385	7,659
Highland	540	2,594	6,147
Inverclyde	218	2,552	5,781
Midlothian	95	1,175	3,026
Moray	146	1,702	4,116
North Ayrshire	204	1,457	3,479
North Lanarkshire	477	1,461	3,655
Orkney Islands	19	949	2,263
Perth & Kinross	145	1,091	2,577
Renfrewshire	291	1,639	3,814
Scottish Borders	208	1,954	4,546
Shetland Islands	60	2,626	6,686
South Ayrshire	157	1,376	3,267
South Lanarkshire	483	1,575	3,892
Stirling	146	1,758	4,311
West Dunbartonshire	188	1,983	4,501
West Lothian	207	1,351	3,314
All Scotland	9,899	1,933	4,562

Sources:

1. The information on capital debt is taken from the Capital Debt Outstanding return which is completed annually by councils. This includes debt for General Fund Services and Trading Services and Housing Revenue Account debt. These figures may be revised as a result of audit requirements.

2. Population information is based on the Registrar General's mid-year estimates of total population in 1998.

3. Household information is based on Scottish Executive Housing Statistics mid-year estimates of total households in 1998 (excluding vacant dwellings, second homes etc.).

Question reference: S1W-06577

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many announcements involving new jobs in Dunbartonshire it has been involved in since May 1999, listed in date order; how many jobs each announcement referred to; which constituency the jobs in each case are to be located in, and by what date the jobs in each announcement are expected to be filled.

The Scottish Executive has been involved in two projects where public announcements involving new jobs in Dunbartonshire have been made since May 1999. The specific details requested are shown in the table below:

Date	Company	No of Jobs Announced	Constituency in which jobs are to be located	Period over which jobs are to be created
10/09/1999	Polaroid	250	Dumbarton	31/12/2000
14/02/2000	Pressac - John McGavigans	Over 400	Strathkelvin & Bearsden	2003

Question reference: S1W-06586

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time taken to process a breach of (a) a probation order and (b) a community service order is in Dumbarton Sheriff Court and how many outstanding breaches of probation and community service orders are currently waiting to be dealt with in Dumbarton Sheriff Court.

The average length of time taken to process a breach of (a) a probation order and (b) a community service order at Dumbarton Sheriff Court is (a) 14 weeks and (b) 17 weeks. The figures relate to actions initiated during 1999 and are the period between receipt at court and final disposal by the Sheriff. The period includes continuations for proof and any further reports required as well as the time allowed for accused persons to be cited or arrested.

There are currently nine outstanding probation breach reports and six for community service in respect of cases submitted during 1999.

Question reference: S1W-06578

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it is anticipated that data from the next census will be made available to researchers interested in analysing social and economic indicators.

The Registrar General for Scotland intends to produce the main national and local results of the 2001 Census to a pre-announced timetable.

This timetable is still being considered in the light of work on processing the Census Rehearsal data. Estimates are being made of the time taken for each of the various processes between enumeration and output production including editing mistakes in form completion and correcting for any under-enumeration. However, the current planning assumption is for the Registrar General:

- to release mid-year population estimates for 2001 based on the 2001 Census by August 2002

- to release more detailed output with the full range of data collected in the Census and consistent with the mid-2001 population estimates by March 2003.

Question reference: S1W-06581

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much housing debt each local authority currently owes, expressed as (a) a total amount and (b) an amount per council house owned by the authority.

The latest available information requested is shown in the table below.

Council	Estimated HRA Debt as at 31 March 2000 £ million	Estimated Debt per House as at 31 March 2000 £
Aberdeen City	120	4,289
Aberdeenshire	151	9,408
Angus	31	3,095
Argyll and Bute	52	7,523
Clackmannanshire	26	4,128
Dumfries and Galloway	104	7,842
Dundee City	110	5,281
East Ayrshire	79	4,400
East Dunbartonshire	41	6,583
East Lothian	36	3,572
East Renfrewshire	25	5,841
Edinburgh, City of	275	9,469
Eilean Siar	42	20,965
Falkirk	88	4,116
Fife	197	4,888
Glasgow City	870	9,436
Highland	210	11,484
Inverclyde	93	8,098
Midlothian	21	2,727
Moray	49	6,666
North Ayrshire	85	4,812
North Lanarkshire	200	4,083
Orkney	3	3,454
Perth & Kinross	45	4,533
Renfrewshire	141	6,744
Scottish Borders	67	8,772
Shetland Islands	59	27,074
South Ayrshire	59	5,448
South Lanarkshire	207	5,834
Stirling	38	4,807
West Dunbartonshire	91	6,226
West Lothian	59	3,463
Scotland	3,674	6,517

Source: Local authorities 2000-01 Housing Revenue Account returns.

Question reference: S1W-06583

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new jobs created in each of the last five years in (a) Lothian, (b) Lanarkshire, (c) Fife, (d) Glasgow and (e) Dunbartonshire are attributable to the work of Locate in Scotland.

The following details are available of planned jobs announced for the areas specified over the last five years; arising from projects attracted by Locate in Scotland:

	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
Lothian	1,005	1,481	2,548	3,149	1,505
Lanarkshire	1,774	4,342	2,847	6,992	763
Fife	1,551	1,606	506	439	625
Glasgow	1,404	424	514	1,491	1,507
Dunbartonshire	52	103	141	120	140

A recent analysis suggests that, on average, 73% of planned jobs actually materialise.

Locate in Scotland results for the year 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 will be published in June 2000, however, I can tell you that information already publicly announced by companies for the year to 31 March 2000 in the areas specified are:

Lothian	3,080 planned new jobs
Lanarkshire	2,200 planned new jobs
Fife	1,200 planned new jobs
Glasgow	3,025 planned new jobs
Dunbartonshire	650 planned new jobs

Question reference: S1W-06584

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any sites in West Dunbartonshire have been put forward to potential inward investors by Scottish Enterprise or Locate in Scotland as possible locations for new investment during the last five years and, if so, what type of project and how many potential jobs were involved in each case.

Question reference: S1W-06095

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 9 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have carried out asbestos removal operations from (a) their housing stock and (b) those public buildings for which they have responsibility such as schools, libraries and leisure facilities, and whether it will detail the total amount of asbestos removed and this amount as a proportion of known asbestos in (i) housing stock and (ii) public buildings, broken down for each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Question reference: S1W-06096

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 4 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual costs were to each local authority for the removal of asbestos from (a) their housing stock and (b) those public buildings for which it has responsibility, broken down for each of the last three years for which figures are available.

The table below sets out the annual cost to each local authority for the removal or encapsulation of asbestos from council owned housing stock over the past three years from 1997, including an estimated figure for 1999-2000. The Scottish Executive does not hold information centrally about the extent of similar work carried out to public buildings.ASBESTOS REMOVAL / ENCAPSULATION IN LOCAL AUTHORITY HOUSING

	£ million
	1997-98		1998-99		1999-2000 Estimate
	No. of Dwellings	Outturn	No. of Dwellings	Outturn	No. of Dwellings	Outturn
Scotland	99	0.500	237	0.123	885	1.045
Aberdeen City	-	-	-	-	-	-
Aberdeenshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Angus	-	-	-	-	-	-
Argyll and Bute	-	-	-	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	-	-	-	-	-	0.060
Comharlie	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	-	43	0.665
Dundee City	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	-	-	-	-	65	0.050
East Dunbartonshire	3	0.002	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
City of Edinburgh	-	-	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	-	-	-	-	-	-
Glasgow City	-	-	-	-	576	0.150
Highland	-	-	-	-	-	-
Inverclyde	-	-	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	-	-	-	-	-	0.015
Moray	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross	-	-	-	-	-	-
Renfrewshire	-	-	1	0.005	1	0.005
Scottish Borders	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	96	0.476	236	0.118	200	0.100
South Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stirling	-	-	-	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	-	0.022	-	-	-	-
West Lothian	-	-	-	-	-	-

Source: Housing Capital Programme returns 1998-99 and 1999-2000.