- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many officers in Lothian and Borders Police are in funded posts and by whom the posts are funded.
Answer
The information requested isshown in the following table.
Funded Police Officer Posts inLothian and Borders
| Sponsor | No. of Posts |
| The City of Edinburgh Council | 75 |
| Scottish Borders Council | 3 |
| Midlothian Council | 1 |
| East Lothian Council | 1 |
| West Lothian Council | 1 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote or support fast ferries or other such maritime links in the Firth of Forth.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has agreedto contribute towards the £15,000 costs of a hovercraft demonstration on the Firthof Forth due to be held in 2007. It is too early to comment on further potentialsupport in the absence of more detailed proposals.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available for port infrastructure improvements in Edinburgh or Fife to promote fast ferries or other maritime links.
Answer
Government funding is not generallyavailable for port infrastructure improvements, although freight grants may be availabledepending on the nature of the project proposed. The Scottish Executive has receivedno detailed proposals involving fast ferries or other maritime links between Edinburgh andFife.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated average cost of purchasing a house has been in terms of legal fees, surveys and other associated costs in each year since 1997.
Answer
The Executive does not holdinformation on the costs of house buying over time. Research conducted in 2002suggested that the average cost of house buying in Scotland,excluding Stamp Duty was £1,377 at that time. Average solicitors’ costs werejust over £1,000 and total average spend on valuations was £299. Althoughvaluation and survey costs were a small component of overall buying costs,costs rose substantially when a series of valuations/ surveys were required. Anaverage of £340 was spent on valuations/ surveys that did not lead to purchase.
The full report is availableon the Scottish Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2002/07/15011/8235.and a summary at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2002/07/15012/8257.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average house price has been in Edinburgh in each year since 1997.
Answer
The following table givesthe total number of sales, median and mean price for house sales within theCity of Edinburgh local authority area in each year between 1997 and2005. The analysis uses information provided by the Land Value Information Unit(LVIU) at Paisley University. LVIU in turn source their data from Registers ofScotland. The mean value excludes all sales with a value of less than £20,000and over £1 million with the aim of excluding non market sales and nonresidential sales.
Table: Number, Median and Mean Price of House Sales in theCity of Edinburgh by Year
| Year | Number of sales | Median | Mean |
| 1997 | 14,526 | £59,000 | £76,147 |
| 1998 | 14,870 | £63,473 | £83,288 |
| 1999 | 14,834 | £70,000 | £91,305 |
| 2000 | 14,606 | £73,000 | £98,525 |
| 2001 | 15,447 | £80,000 | £106,303 |
| 2002 | 15,800 | £96,787 | £126,992 |
| 2003 | 16,495 | £115,000 | £143,009 |
| 2004 | 16,349 | £135,000 | £162,018 |
| 2005 | 16,267 | £137,200 | £174,728 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many overseas Scottish societies it communicates with on a regular basis by electronic or paper newsletters.
Answer
The Scottish Executive engageswith the Scottish diaspora to further Scotland’s interests for the long-term benefit of our economyand society.We communicate regularly withthe diaspora, alumni and people with an affinity towards Scotland electronicallythrough regular updates. An e-magazine -
Scotland Now (
www.scotland-now.com) – was launched inMarch 2006 which is specifically aimed at the diaspora audience.Electronic newsletters are issuedto subscribers who register to receive updates on an individual basis. We do notroutinely gather background details on organisations to which subscribers belong.The weblink to Scotland Now is issued to over 70,000 individuals.
We are in the process of identifyingScottish associations and diaspora groups overseas in order to effectively targetthem with information on modern Scotland.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 4 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on promoting Scotland as a cruise liner destination in each year since 1999.
Answer
VisitScotland very actively promotesScotland as a visitor destination, although not as a cruise liner destination assuch. However, cruise liners bring a significant number of visitors to particularareas of Scotland during the year. That is why VisitScotland, with fundingfrom Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians, has recently commissioned researchinto the scope and potential of the cruise market for Scotland. Thiswill enable VisitScotland and its partners to consider an appropriate strategy fordeveloping Scotland as a cruise destination.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 4 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what its current strategy is for promoting Scotland as a cruise liner destination.
Answer
Cruise liners bring a significantnumber of visitors to particular areas of Scotland during the year. Accordingly, VisitScotland, with contributoryfunding from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians, has commissioned researchinto the scope and potential of the cruise market for Scotland, inorder to enable VisitScotland and its partners to consider an appropriate strategyfor further developing Scotland as a cruise destination.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive to which Scottish organisations it sends greetings on St Andrew’s Day.
Answer
A message will also be sent outto the Global Friends of Scotland and the Globalscot networks. A greeting will beincluded in the St Andrew’s Day edition of
Scotland Now which will be releasedon Thursday 30 November.
Scotland Now is a quarterly e-magazine that is distributedto Diaspora, alumni and people who have an affinity to Scotland.
The Scottish Executive sendsout a St Andrew’s Day message to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office embassies andconsulates.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 29 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cruise liners have visited Scotland in each year since 1999, broken down by port.
Answer
The numbers of cruise ships visitingScotland over the period 1999 to 2005 are as follows:
| Port | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Aberdeen | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Ardrishaig | | | | | | 1 | |
| Ardrossan | | | | | | | 1 |
| Ayr | | | | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Baltasound | | | 1 | | | | |
| Campbeltown | | | | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| Colonsay | | | | | | 3 | |
| Dundee | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
| Dunvegan | 1 | | | | | | |
| Fair Isle | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Fairlie | | | | | | 1 | |
| Fraserburgh | | | | | | 1 | |
| Garelochhead | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
| Glasgow | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 2 |
| Greenock | 9 | 7 | 32 | 16 | 21 | 28 | 19 |
| Helensburgh | | | | | | 1 | |
| Hound Point | | | | | 1 | | |
| Hunterston | | | | | | | 1 |
| Inveraray | 2 | | | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Invergordon | 10 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 38 | 38 |
| Inverness | 1 | 2 | | 4 | 1 | | |
| Islay Island | | | | | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Kirkwall | 52 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 45 | 48 | 58 |
| Leith | 31 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 26 | 19 | 31 |
| Lerwick | 39 | 31 | 42 | 35 | 40 | 48 | 41 |
| Lochinver | 1 | | | | | | |
| Oban | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 10 |
| Peterhead | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Port Ellen | | | | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Portree | 1 | 3 | 2 | | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| Rosyth | 15 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 19 | 15 |
| Rothesay | | 1 | | | 2 | 2 | |
| Scalloway | 1 | | | | | | |
| Scapa Flow | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| Scrabster | | | | | | 2 | |
| Shapinsay | 2 | | | | | | 1 |
| St Kilda | 3 | | | | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Stornoway | 10 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 12 |
| Stromness | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | | |
| Tarbert | 1 | | 1 | 2 | | 2 | 1 |
| Tiree Island | 1 | | | | | | |
| Tobermory | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | | 7 | 2 |
| Troon | | | | | | 3 | 1 |
| Ullapool | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | | 6 | 3 |
| Total | 229 | 185 | 199 | 198 | 238 | 303 | 269 |
Note: Cruise ships of 100 grosstonnes or more arriving at Scottish ports on day visits or for longer periods. Thefigures may include repeated voyages by the same vessel arriving at port.
