- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 April 2001
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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.
Answer
SQA has developed new General and Credit Standard Grade courses in technological studies which will be available from session 2001-02. The Foundation level course will be discontinued and pupils directed into courses more appropriate for their needs. A letter was issued on 2 May to presenting centres informing them of these arrangements.
- 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 Iain Gray on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of fuel for fire service vehicles was, broken down by fire board, for the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
Answer
Information from fire authorities is as follows:
| 1999-2000 | 2000-01 |
| Central Scotland Fire Brigade | £108,236 | £108,860 |
| Dumfries and Galloway Fire Brigade | £35,264 | £39,642 |
| Fife Fire and Rescue Service | £84,250 | £97,445 |
| Grampian Fire Brigade | £120,534 | £121,493 |
| Highlands and Islands Fire Brigade | £95,965 | £110,220 |
| Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade | £214,551 | £251,555 |
| Strathclyde Fire Brigade | £555,973 | £666,166 |
| Tayside Fire Brigade | £110,129 | £130,425 |
- 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 Wendy Alexander on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many call centres there were in each year since 1997.
Answer
The table below gives estimates of the number of call centres in Scotland each year since 1997.
Call centres in Scotland 1997-2000| Year | Call centres | Employees | Source |
| 1997 | 119 | 16,000 | Taylor & Bain, 1997 |
| 1998 | 159 | 21,000 | Locate in Scotland |
| 1999 | 170 | 30,000 | Bain & Taylor, 1999 |
| 2000 | 220 | 46,000 | Taylor & Bain, 2000 |
Source: Call Centre Association.
- 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 Jim Wallace on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of fuel for police vehicles was, broken down by police force, for the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
Answer
The cost of fuel for police vehicles for each police force in 1999-2000 is shown in the following table. Figures for 2000-01 are not yet available.
| Force | 1999-2000 |
| Central | £280,580 |
| Dumfries & Galloway | £260,547 |
| Fife | £334,836 |
| Grampian | £511,891 |
| Lothian & Borders | £801,331 |
| Northern | £368,205 |
| Strathclyde | £2,220,938 |
| Tayside | £427,450 |
- 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 Wendy Alexander on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a strategy to enhance the skills of call centre staff and what arrangements it has with call centre employers to improve the skills and knowledge of their staff.
Answer
The strategy for enterprise "A Smart Successful Scotland" places skills and learning at the heart of the activities of the Enterprise Networks. This strategic focus on raising skills levels and better matching skills and opportunities is relevant in all sectors and industries, including the call centre sector. Higher and further education institutions offer a wide range of learning opportunities and skills training designed to respond to current and future labour market needs.In addition, a number of further education colleges offer tailored call centre training and Local Enterprise Companies use a range of training providers to meet the training needs of call centre employers. This includes specialised training, such as voice coaching, and a professional development award for call centres and employability skills, such as confidence building, team working, and IT skills. Higher education institutions provide language courses and some provide tailored courses for business and industry supporting a wide range of skill requirements. This includes provision aimed at the call centre market linking language and IT training with customer care and technical telephone skills.
- 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 Wendy Alexander on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it estimates there will be in call centres in each year until 2005.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not produce forecasts of the levels of employment by sector.
- 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 Susan Deacon on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of fuel for ambulance service vehicles was, broken down by health board area, for the financial year 2000-01.
Answer
The cost of fuel for ambulance service vehicles across Scotland for the financial year 2000-01 was £3.38 million. The information is not collected by health board area.
- 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 Wendy Alexander on 14 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what regional selective assistance has been given to call centre employers on an annual basis since 1997 and what criteria and qualifications have been attached to any such assistance.
Answer
The following amounts of Regional Selective Assistance have been paid to call centre projects for the financial years noted below:
| 1997-98 | £1,150,000 |
| 1998-99 | £9,932,000 |
| 1999-2000 | £4,890,000 |
| 2000-01 | £4,009,400 |
Grant offers to call centre projects are subject to the normal criteria of the Regional Selective Assistance grant scheme including location, investment, jobs, need, viability and private sector investment. However, grant offers in respect of call centre projects will typically require the assisted jobs to be maintained for longer periods than are specified for other types of projects assisted under the scheme.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2001
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 11 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of the recruitment of a new Chief Executive of visitscotland, whether a limit will be set for this expenditure on this and which budget will cover the cost of the recruitment.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15295 on 8 May 2001. visitscotland will cover the cost of the recruitment.
