- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 12 June 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit is of the Energy Saving Trust (EST); to whom the EST is accountable; what funding the EST receives from what sources, and whether it will outline any policies or guidance developed or issued by the EST.
Answer
The Energy Saving Trust's (EST) remit in Scotland is to promote energy efficiency to the domestic energy user and the very small business market. In Scotland, the Trust delivers UK-wide programmes as well as distinctive Scottish schemes developed by the Executive. One example of the latter is a loan scheme for small businesses to help fund energy saving investment. The Trust offers a wide range of practical guidance to domestic and small business energy consumers. It does not develop policy.The Executive's Scottish Energy Efficiency Office approves and funds the EST's annual programme of activities in Scotland as well as monitoring its performance. The EST grant from the Scottish Executive in the current financial year is expected to be £2,200,000.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 12 June 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what European Union funds are available for any aspect of solar energy generation, in particular for the installation of solar energy systems, and how much European funding related to solar energy has been accessed by the Executive in each year since 1997.
Answer
ALTENER is the European Union programme promoting the use of renewable energy sources within the EU, and is the only programme devoted entirely to renewable energy. The ALTENER budget for 2001-02 is around 17.5 million euros.It is a matter for individual organisations to respond to calls for proposals from this programme.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 12 June 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional budget will be made available to visitscotland for marketing in each of the next two financial years.
Answer
The total grant-in-aid budget for visitscotland for 2002-03 is £22.8 million and for 2003-04 is £23.8 million. The proportion that will be allocated to marketing from these budgets is an operational matter for visitscotland.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 11 June 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or plans to make to the Scotland Office to bring forward the commencement of the operation of the Rosyth European Ferry.
Answer
No specific procedural assistance is required from the Scotland Office in relation to the possible introduction of a Rosyth European Ferry.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 5 June 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the report in The Herald on 27 April 2001 of the UK Minister for Transport's plans to create 60,000 jobs in the transport industry, how many of the jobs will be in Scotland, in what sectors these will be and when they will be created.
Answer
The estimate is for jobs generated by the expenditure planned under Transport 2010, the 10-year Plan published by the UK Government last July. An unspecified proportion of these jobs will relate to spending on reserved transport services in Scotland.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 5 June 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on fuel for ministerial cars in each month from July 2000 to April 2001.
Answer
The monthly expenditure on fuel for the Government Car Service (Scotland) (GCS) since July 2000 is shown in the following table (details of expenditure for April 2001 are not yet available as invoices have still to be received):
| Month | Expenditure (£) |
| July 2000 | 2,715 |
| August 2000 | 2,150 |
| September 2000 | 1,378 |
| October 2000 | 1,930 |
| November 2000 | 2,187 |
| December 2000 | 1,261 |
| January 2001 | 1,431 |
| February 2001 | 1,177 |
| March 2001 | 2,450 |
The GCS provides or arranges car transport for the Scottish Ministers, Ministers of UK Government Departments when in Scotland, officials and visiting dignitaries. The same vehicle may be used to transport several different individuals on any given day. It is not therefore possible to identify separately the fuel costs for journeys made by Scottish Ministers.Since 1 August 2000 all GCS cars have been dual fuel which enables them to be run, whenever possible, on liquid petroleum gas (lpg) instead of unleaded petrol. Lpg is a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to unleaded petrol.When demand exceeds available GCS capacity, private hire cars and drivers are engaged from companies with which the GCS has standing arrangements. The cost of fuel is not separately identified within the cost of private hire cars.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 30 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money from Scottish Executive or Scottish Office sources has been committed to the Craigmillar area of Edinburgh in each year from 1997-98 to the present, specifying the recipient organisation in each case.
Answer
Information on Executive spending is not generally attributable to specific neighbourhoods, but the available information is as follows:Identifiable Scottish Office/Scottish Executive spending in Craigmillar
| | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 (plans) |
| | £ million |
| Social Inclusion Partnership Fund | £1.659 | £1.645 | £1.312 | £1.833 |
| CCTV | - | - | £0.040 | - |
| Community Safety | - | - | - | £0.015 |
| New Housing Partnerships Fund | £0.110 | £2.445 | £3.305 | £8.976 |
The recipient organisations were as follows:
City of Edinburgh Council (SIP resources)Thistle Foundation Estate (CCTV 1999-2000)Magdalene Youth Project (community safety 2000-01)City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Homes (NHP resources)
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 23 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what strategy it has to address any decline in visitors to Scotland through rail-based breaks following recent disruptions to the rail network.
Answer
visitscotland are involved in a number of initiatives to promote rail travel to Scotland generally, and are in discussions with ScotRail regarding the foot and mouth recovery programme.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 22 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of any chief executives of Scottish public bodies, other than the Chief Executive of visitscotland, who have other paid renumeration or directorships.
Answer
The information is not held centrally. Public bodies are required to ensure that staff adhere to rules covering private interests and possible conflicts with public duties.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 22 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeship schemes were in operation in each year since 1997 in each local authority area.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
