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: S2W-29281

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated to promote and represent Scottish interests in the United States of America in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Executive representsand promotes Scotland in the USA through the Scottish Affairs Office based in the BritishEmbassy in Washington DC. That office was established in October 2001. The budgetspend for that office since 1999 is as follows:

Financial Year	Budget for Scottish Affairs Office
1999–2000	N/A
2000–01	N/A
2001–02	£150,000
2002–03	£155,000
2003–04	£195,000
2004–05	£247,000
2005–06	£236,000
2006–07	£264,000

The Executive has also allocatedfunds separately to support Tartan Week in the USA since 2002. Those allocationsare as follows:

Tartan Week	Budget
2002	£220,000
2003	£30,000
2004	£200,000
2005	£480,000
2006	£660,000
2007	£500,000

Question reference: S2W-30035

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 6 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22434 by Allan Wilson on 27 January 2006, whether it will provide an update on the level of debt (a) in total and (b) on average which people using the Debt Arrangement Scheme have had since it came into force, broken down by local authority area.

Local Authority Area	Total Debt to 27 November 2006	Average Debt per DPP to 27 November 2006
Aberdeen City	0	Nil
Aberdeenshire	0	Nil
Angus	0	Nil
Argyll and Bute	£524,140.05	£26,207.01
Clackmannanshire	£28,481.60	£9,493.87
Dumfries and Galloway	£368,661.88	£14,746.48
Dundee City	0	Nil
East Ayrshire	0	Nil
East Dunbartonshire	£18,374.74	£18,374.74
East Lothian	£142,982.61	£71,491.31
East Renfrewshire	£268,469.95	£26,846.99
Edinburgh City	£69,673.87	£8,709.23
Falkirk	£35,131.49	£35,131.49
Fife	£66,451.20	£13,290.24
Glasgow City	£299,311.89	£27,210.17
Highland	£94,534.94	£31,511.65
Inverclyde	£3,204.00	£3,204.00
Midlothian	0	Nil
Moray	£19,736.00	£19,736.00
North Ayrshire	£137,387.06	£34,346.77
North Lanarkshire	£1,000,108.90	£7,693.15
Orkney	0	Nil
Perth and Kinross	£18,881.30	£18,881.30
Renfrewshire	£27,940.96	£13,970.48
Scottish Borders	0	Nil
Shetland	0	Nil
South Ayrshire	0	Nil
South Lanarkshire	£93,522.06	£9,352.21
Stirling	0	Nil
West Dunbartonshire	0	Nil
West Lothian	0	Nil
Western Isles	0	Nil
Scotland	£3,216,995.50	£13,516.79

Question reference: S2W-30009

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29336 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 November 2006, what the unitary cost of HM Prison Addiewell will be.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The net present value of theHM Prison Addiewell contract is estimated to be £369 million which equates to about£15 million per annum over the 25-year life of the contract. On the same basis,the annual cost, or unitary cost, for a prisoner place equates to around £21,000for each of the 700 prisoner places at HM Prison Addiewell.

Question reference: S2W-30033

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 5 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22430 by Allan Wilson on 27 January 2006, whether it will provide an up-to-date breakdown of the number of approved money advisers for the Debt Arrangement Scheme by local authority area.

Local Authority Area	Number of DAS Approved Money Advisers on 27 November 2006
Aberdeen City	2
Aberdeenshire	1
Angus	3
Argyll and Bute	1
Clackmannanshire	3
Dumfries and Galloway	4
Dundee City	1
East Ayrshire	3
East Dunbartonshire	2
East Lothian	0
East Renfrewshire	4
Edinburgh City	5
Falkirk	5
Fife	9
Glasgow City	5
Highland	5
Inverclyde	1
Midlothian	0
Moray	1
North Ayrshire	6
North Lanarkshire Council	5
Orkney	1
Perth and Kinross	0
Renfrewshire	2
Scottish Borders	0
Shetland	0
South Ayrshire Council	2
South Lanarkshire Council	7
Stirling	1
West Dunbartonshire	1
West Lothian	1
Western Isles	1
Scotland	82

Question reference: S2W-30034

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 5 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22432 by Allan Wilson on 27 January 2006, whether it will provide an update on the number of people who have been placed on a debt payment programme since the Debt Arrangement Scheme was created, broken down by local authority area.

Local Authority Area	DAS Debt Payment Programmes to 27 November 2006
Aberdeen City	Nil
Aberdeenshire	Nil
Angus	Nil
Argyll and Bute	20
East Ayrshire	Nil
North Ayrshire	4
South Ayrshire	Nil
Clackmannanshire	3
Dumfries and Galloway	25
Dundee City	Nil
East Dunbartonshire	1
West Dunbartonshire	Nil
Edinburgh City	8
Falkirk	1
Fife	5
Glasgow City	11
Highland	3
Inverclyde	1
North Lanarkshire	130
South Lanarkshire	10
East Lothian	2
Midlothian	Nil
West Lothian	Nil
Moray	1
Orkney	Nil
Renfrewshire	2
East Renfrewshire	10
Perth and Kinross	1
Scottish Borders	Nil
Shetland	Nil
Stirling	Nil
Western Isles	Nil
Scotland	238

Question reference: S2W-29969

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations on behalf of people on low and middle incomes in Scotland to the Financial Services Authority regarding the recent announcement by First Direct that it will charge customers who deposit less than £1,500 per month into their account a £10 monthly fee to operate a current account.

Question reference: S2W-29968

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to investigate the impact on people on low and middle incomes of the recent announcement by First Direct that it will charge customers who deposit less than £1,500 per month into their account a £10 monthly fee to operate a current account.

Question reference: S2W-29967

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the impact on people on low and middle incomes of the recent announcement by First Direct that it will charge customers who deposit less than £1,500 per month into their account a £10 monthly fee to operate a current account.

This is a commercial decisiontaken by a financial services firm, which does not contravene the regulatory frameworkgoverned by the Financial Services Authority. It is for financial services firmsto decide what products they wish to offer to their customers and to determine whichmarkets they wish to target. Customers have a wide range of financial products availableto them and are best placed to determine the one appropriate to their needs.

Our Financial Inclusion ActionPlan includes measures to encourage products for low income customers, includingthrough credit unions and basic bank accounts.

Question reference: S2W-30013

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent buying the land on which HM Prison Addiewell will be built.

Question reference: S2W-30024

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to announce the results of its consultation on the flood defence plan around the Water of Leith and, in particular the Murrayfield area, and when it intends that the implementation of the new defence plan will begin.

Our consideration of the Waterof Leith Flood Prevention Scheme has presented the Executive with many challengesin seeking to confirm a scheme which will deliver the maximum resilience againstflooding in a way which is fair to all. Following our public consultation in autumn2005 we have been working to resolve the complex issues involved. Our considerationof these issues is nearing completion and we will conclude this as quickly as wecan. Implementation of the scheme thereafter will be for the City of Edinburgh Council.