- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 1 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive why the eligibility criteria for the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme do not include post-graduate diplomas.
Answer
Initial focus and priority has been on the successful launch of the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme. Initially eligibility for the scheme will be restricted to students who graduate with an HND, first degree, Masters or PhD from a Scottish University or College, and who have lived in Scotland while they are studying.
As we evaluate the scheme we will consider carefully with the Home Office how we can develop the scheme.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 1 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme to include students at universities overseas taking courses conducted in partnership with Scottish universities.
Answer
It is an important element of the scheme that applicants under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme should have lived in Scotland for an appropriate period of time before they can apply. Students whose course of study is undertaken exclusively outside of Scotland will not be eligible and we have no wish to extend the scheme in this way.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 30 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many food retail premises there were in Scotland in (a) 1980 and (b) 2004.
Answer
(a) The number of food retail premises in 1980 is not held centrally.
(b) The number of food retail premises in 2004 was 6,830.
Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) which is produced by the Office for National Statistics.
Note: The IDBR was set up in 1996 and information of reasonable quality was not available until 1998. No comparable data is available prior to 1998.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-16268 and S2W-16451 by Mr Tom McCabe on 11 and 26 May 2005, whether it was aware of a specific launch date for The Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme on 11 and 26 May; if it was aware, why the information was not provided at these times, and when it was made aware by the Home Office, or when it expects to be informed, of a specific launch date.
Answer
The Home Office and the Scottish Executive have been working closely together in recent months to ensure that thescheme would come into effect by the original target of summer 2005. On 24 May,the Home Office agreed that we could commit to introducing the scheme beforethe end of June. An exact date could not be confirmed until the necessary ruleschanges had been laid before the UK Parliament. Home Office officials confirmedon 15 June that the changes to the Immigration Rules had been laid on that day,and this is when the launch date of 22 June was announced.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total outstanding commitment of (a) it, (b) local authorities and (c) non-departmental public bodies is to annual payments under PFI and PPP schemes in each year from 2005-06 to 2019-20.
Answer
The following table shows estimatedpayments under PPP contracts in operational and signed deals by the ScottishExecutive, local authorities and non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) in eachyear from 2005-06 to 2019-20:
| Year | Scottish Executive (£ Million) | Local Authorities (£ Million) | NDPBs (£ Million) |
| 2005-06 | 44.6 | 136.8 | 6.7 |
| 2006-07 | 49.1 | 142.5 | 6.8 |
| 2007-08 | 54.2 | 153.9 | 6.4 |
| 2008-09 | 54.9 | 153.0 | 6.4 |
| 2009-10 | 54.5 | 155.5 | 6.0 |
| 2010-11 | 56.8 | 158.6 | 4.1 |
| 2011-12 | 57.5 | 161.1 | 4.1 |
| 2012-13 | 60.4 | 163.7 | 4.1 |
| 2013-14 | 60.4 | 162.8 | 4.0 |
| 2014-15 | 68.0 | 165.3 | 3.9 |
| 2015-16 | 79.9 | 167.8 | 3.8 |
| 2016-17 | 75.2 | 170.1 | 3.7 |
| 2017-18 | 79.1 | 173.2 | 3.7 |
| 2018-19 | 79.2 | 176.0 | 3.6 |
| 2019-20 | 73.2 | 178.9 | 3.5 |
Note: Figures taken from HMTreasury Returns March 2005.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 22 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what value of land and buildings in Scotland is owned by (a) individuals, businesses and organisations, including government, that are resident and/or registered in Scotland and (b) individuals, businesses and organisations that are resident and/or registered outwith Scotland.
Answer
This information is not availablecentrally.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the availability of affordable housing after changes in the rules that allow self-invested pensions to invest in residential property come into force.
Answer
The UK Government’s Regulatory Impact Assessment
Simplifying the Taxation of Pensions was published in April 2004 and can be found at
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ria/simplifying-pensions.pdf. The assessment concluded that it is unlikely that there will be a significant inflow of pension capital into the residential property market when the changes to pension rules are introduced in 2006. The Executive does not, therefore, expect that the changes will have a significant effect on the availability of affordable housing in Scotland.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what it the impact will be on the availability of affordable housing when changes in the rules that allow self-invested pensions to invest in residential property come into force.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17187 on 20 June 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents have occurred between Tarbet and Ardlui on the A82 in each year since 1999.
Answer
The number of road accidents that have occurred on the A82 between Tarbet and Ardlui in each year since 1999 (from January 1999 to December 2004), broken down by level of severity is as follows:
A82 Tarbet to Ardlui
| Year | Fatal | Serious | Slight | Total |
| 1999 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| 2000 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 2001 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 2002 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| 2003 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 15 |
| 2004 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 3 | 23 | 39 | 65 |
We do not hold records of non-injury accidents.
- Asked by: Jim Mather, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many fatalities have occurred as a result of road traffic accidents between Tarbet and Ardlui on the A82 in each year since 1999.
Answer
The number of fatalities that have occurred as a result of road accidents on the A82 between Tarbet and Ardlui in each year since 1999 (from January 1999 to December 2004), is as follows:
A82 Tarbet to Ardlui
| Year | Fatalities |
| 1999 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2003 | 3 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| Total | 3 |
