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 2611 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S1W-15548

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 16 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the report by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC), Realising their Potential - Report of the Contract Research Staff Initiative, and what guidance it has given to the SHEFC in the light of the report's recommendations.

I have already emphasised to SHEFC, in my guidance letter of November 2000, that improvement in human resource policies and management should be a priority for the sector. This report makes a helpful contribution to taking this agenda forward in the case of contract researchers. While the issues raised are primarily for those responsible for the employment and management of contract researchers, I expect that the report's findings will also assist SHEFC in promoting good employment practice.

Question reference: S1W-15525

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 16 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to extend the fuel duty rebate scheme to cover non-registered coach journeys and coach holidays and whether it has any plans to extend the scheme in this way.

Statutory powers are included in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 to enable the Scottish Executive to amend the basis for grants to bus operators, including a power to make regulations as to the classes of bus service for which grant might be paid, and the method of calculation.The Commission for Integrated Transport is currently reviewing subsidies to the bus industry. The Executive is considering an interim recommendation that Fuel Duty Rebate be extended to scheduled coach services.

Question reference: S1W-15262

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 16 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14935 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 20 April 2001, how many staff have responsibility for tourism policy in the Enterprise Networks and Tourism Division of its Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department and how many officials in Historic Scotland have policy responsibility for tourism promotion.

Question reference: S1W-15490

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 15 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to post a civil servant to the UK Embassy in Washington and, if so, what level of civil service post it will be, to whom the post will be accountable, how it will interact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of Trade and Industry, whether it will have an allocated budget and, if so, from what department or cost centre this will come.

Question reference: S1W-15488

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 15 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduates there were from each university engineering faculty in each year since 1995 and how many of these were from (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the UK, (c) another EU country and (d) a non-EU country.

Information is not collected by faculty. However, available data by subject group for those graduating from higher education institutions in Scotland is as follows:

Graduates from Scottish Higher Education Institutions with Engineering & Technology as main subject

1994-95
Institution	Scotland	Rest UK	EU	Non EU	Total
University of Abertay	192	13	3	6	214
Glasgow School of Art	10	4	0	0	14
The Scottish College of Textiles	83	24	4	1	112
The Robert Gordon University	208	16	4	15	243
University of Paisley	310	5	26	10	351
Glasgow Caledonian University	142	1	0	1	144
Napier University	328	21	21	13	383
The University of Edinburgh	100	77	8	19	204
The University of Glasgow	198	29	55	180	462
The University of Strathclyde	344	67	35	107	553
The University of Aberdeen	87	26	5	56	174
Heriot-Watt University	227	107	32	53	419
The University of Dundee	111	40	0	0	151
Total	2,340	430	193	461	3,424

1995-96Institution	Scotland	Rest UK	EU	Non EU	Total
University of Abertay	371	26	23	20	440
Glasgow School of Art	11	2	1	0	14
The Scottish College of Textiles	55	26	2	1	84
The Robert Gordon University	210	13	11	14	248
University of Paisley	274	4	35	9	322
Glasgow Caledonian University	311	9	0	4	324
Napier University	369	22	37	7	435
The University of Edinburgh	84	72	10	51	217
The University of Glasgow	165	39	34	178	416
The University of Strathclyde	482	62	50	129	723
The University of Aberdeen	69	13	8	76	166
Heriot-Watt University	256	126	33	87	502
The University of Dundee	59	36	36	39	170
Total	2,716	450	280	615	4,061

1996-97Institution	Scotland	Rest UK	EU	Non EU	Total
University of Abertay	300	25	28	12	365
Glasgow School of Art	0	0	0	0	0
The Scottish College of Textiles	70	23	4	4	101
The Robert Gordon University	200	18	10	33	261
University of Paisley	155	1	32	7	195
Glasgow Caledonian University	192	6	4	2	204
Napier University	212	16	62	10	300
The University of Edinburgh	103	71	21	51	246
The University of Glasgow	129	32	36	178	375
The University of Strathclyde	447	55	92	135	729
The University of Aberdeen	97	15	5	97	214
Heriot-Watt University	227	128	48	72	475
The University of Dundee	41	29	43	39	152
Total	2,173	419	385	640	3,617

1997-98Institution	Scotland	Rest UK	EU	Non EU	Total
University of Abertay	163	14	18	18	213
Glasgow School of Art	0	0	0	0	0
The Scottish College of Textiles	100	26	2	6	134
The Robert Gordon University	267	21	12	49	349
University of Paisley	213	5	36	8	262
Glasgow Caledonian University	266	5	11	7	289
Napier University	176	16	56	1	249
The University of Edinburgh	110	83	20	57	270
The University of Glasgow	184	32	47	105	368
The University of Strathclyde	409	34	75	113	631
The University of Aberdeen	111	7	3	51	172
Heriot-Watt University	230	105	66	84	485
The University of Dundee	37	26	35	40	138
Total	2,266	374	381	539	3,560

1998-99Institution	Scotland	Rest UK	EU	Non EU	Total
University of Abertay	87	3	21	18	129
Glasgow School of Art	0	0	0	0	0
The Robert Gordon University	248	11	9	60	328
University of Paisley	184	6	46	8	244
Glasgow Caledonian University	211	9	10	4	234
Napier University	154	13	56	7	230
The University of Edinburgh	109	61	8	43	221
The University of Glasgow	161	27	42	128	358
The University of Strathclyde	413	35	68	93	609
The University of Aberdeen	100	17	8	62	187
Heriot-Watt University	351	121	107	127	706
The University of Dundee	44	17	46	23	130
Total	2,062	320	421	573	3,376

The Scottish College of Textiles merged with Heriot-Watt University on 1/10/98

1999-2000Institution	Scotland	Rest UK	EU	Non EU	Total
University of Abertay	45	1	26	18	90
Glasgow School of Art	0	0	0	0	0
The Robert Gordon University	271	16	13	81	381
University of Paisley	176	3	43	10	232
Glasgow Caledonian University	213	7	21	14	255
Napier University	193	15	63	9	280
The University of Edinburgh	123	31	16	23	193
The University of Glasgow	140	24	33	88	285
The University of Strathclyde	402	35	74	88	599
The University of Aberdeen	93	13	9	39	154
Heriot-Watt University	314	99	84	114	611
The University of Dundee	33	16	36	29	114
Total	2,003	260	418	513	3,194

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Question reference: S1W-14611

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 15 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13883 by Mr Jack McConnell on 23 March 2001, how many students started a secondary teacher training course with technological education as their main subject at each institution in each year since 1997-98.

Question reference: S1W-13699

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new standard grade course in Technological Studies will proceed in the coming academic year and, if this matter is still under consideration, when a decision will be announced.

Question reference: S1W-13410

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2001
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that planning regulations address the telecommunications needs of the 21st century.

The Executive recognises the importance of the telecommunications sector to Scotland. As an example, the recent consultation package on "Planning and Radio Telecommunications", prompted by concerns about mobile phone masts, was drawn up in consultation with the telecommunications industry, among others. The revised planning controls for mobile phone masts should be in place by the middle of the year.

Question reference: S1W-13411

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2001
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to amend the planning system to make it a requirement that fibre optic telecommunications are installed in new industrial parks and housing estates.

Question reference: S1W-12736

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2001
Current Status: Answered by Angus MacKay on 14 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how much EQUAL funding will be allocated to Scotland on an annual basis, in total and broken down by project.

The allocated resources available to support the EQUAL Community Initiative for the years 2001 to 2006 amount to €365 million (approximately £234 million) for Great Britain as a whole. A separate Scottish allocation amounting to €31,730 million (approximately £20 million) has been agreed for the seven thematic priorities which will be administered by the Scottish Executive as Managing Authority. Scottish organisations will also have access to the asylum seekers thematic priority, which will be administered at the UK level.

It is not possible to identify the estimated annual expenditure, as expenditure will vary from year to year depending upon the nature of the activities to be supported.The detail of financial allocations to individual projects will depend upon the Development Partnerships which come forward in the call for applications which is expected to be issued in June 2001.

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Total	90	57	50
Moray House¹	31	0	0
University of Edinburgh	0	19	12
Northern College of Education	6	7	7
University of Glasgow	26	21	16
University of Strathclyde	27	10	15