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.

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Question reference: S2W-16375

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to police forces regarding the recruitment of female police officers.

Question reference: S2W-16376

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies have been made of the effects of exposure to advertising on children; whether any action is planned as a result of such studies, and, if no such studies have been undertaken, whether any are planned.

Question reference: S2W-16438

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the employment levels in the aquaculture sector are currently and have been in each of the last six years.

The information requested is provided in the following table.

Salmon Production	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Staff Full-time	1,117	1,036	1,141	1,066	1,083	1,066	N/A**
Staff Part-time	192	268	256	191	223	151	N/A**
Total	1,309	1,304	1,397	1,257	1,306	1,217	N/A**
Smolt Production
Staff Full-time	318	300	341	317	312	291	N/A**
Staff Part-time	96	124	103	111	93	82	N/A**
Total	414	424	444	428	405	373	N/A**
Rainbow Trout Production
Staff Full-time	137	126	121	118	114	107	N/A**
Staff Part-time	49	51	47	41	46	41	N/A**
Total	186	177	168	159	160	148	N/A**
Other Species Production (fin-fish)
Staff Full-time	N/A*	54	73	75	69	73	N/A**
Staff Part-time	N/A*	18	25	22	30	24	N/A**
Total	N/A*	72	98	97	99	97	N/A**
Shellfish Production (all species)
Staff Full-time	116	118	138	137	128	146	149
Staff Part-time	127	114	135	146	134	144	170
Staff Casual	60	76	90	89	85	74	83
Total	303	308	363	372	347	364	402

Source: Fisheries Research Services Annual Production Survey (1998-2004).

Notes:

*Data not available – other species production data not available before 1999.

**Data not available – 2004 fin-fish production data is still being collected and verified. Annual survey results are published retrospectively.

Question reference: S2O-06741

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to assess the impact on rural areas and industries such as agriculture and fisheries of rising road fuel prices.

Question reference: S2W-16044

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 11 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests have been submitted to each minister under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and whether it will provide details for each minister in respect of the percentage (a) disclosed, (b) refused, (c) where the initial appeal was successful and (d) where a subsequent appeal to the Information Commissioner was successful.

Question reference: S2W-16226

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 10 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive which responsibilities in relation to the regulation of carbon sequestration and capture are (a) devolved and (b) reserved.

The Scottish Executive does not currently regulate carbon sequestration and capture.

There is a mixture of reserved and devolved responsibilities for policies and functions that have an influence on carbon sequestration. In general terms, fiscal policies that may influence carbon sequestration or capture, and offshore capture, are reserved. Land-based policies on matters such as agriculture or forestry, that may influence sequestration or capture, are devolved.

Question reference: S2W-16121

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fisheries officer posts there were in each of the last five years, broken down by port and taking into account unfilled and new vacancies, also showing year-on-year percentage changes and expressed where possible as a ratio of the number of relevant registered vessels.

The figures requested are shown as follows:

Eastern Area		Aberdeen	Buckie	Eyemouth	Fraserburgh	Pittenweem	Peterhead
2000-01	Enforcement Staff	7	2	2	10	2	14
	Var. (%+/-)	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Reg. vessels	105	101	120	276	117	144
	Ratio to reg. vessels	15.00	50.50	60.00	27.60	58.50	10.29
2001-02	Enforcement Staff	6	2	2	9	2	16
	Var. (%+/-)	-14.29%	0%	0%	-10.00%	0%	+14.29%
	Reg. vessels	102	100	114	270	115	133
	Ratio to reg. vessels	17.00	50.00	57.00	30.00	57.50	8.31
2002-03	Enforcement Staff	5	2	2	3	2	23
	Var. (%+/-)	-16.67%	0%	0%	-66.67%	0%	+43.75%
	Reg. vessels	99	90	112	246	109	122
	Ratio to reg. vessels	19.80	45.00	56.00	82.00	54.50	5.30
2003-04	Enforcement Staff	5	2	2	4	2	22
	Var. (%+/-)	0%	0%	0%	+33.33%	0%	-4.35%
	Reg. vessels	90	82	106	215	109	104
	Ratio to reg. vessels	18.00	41.00	91.00	53.75	54.50	4.73
2004-05	Enforcement Staff	4	2	2	4	2	22
	Var. (%+/-)	-20.00%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
	Reg. vessels	92	79	108	222	111	104
	Ratio to reg. vessels	23.00	39.50	54.00	55.50	55.50	4.73

Question reference: S2W-16082

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that its Environment and Rural Affairs Department's information systems are compatible with those of the British Cattle Movement Service.

Question reference: S2W-16079

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals were (a) lodged with the EU agricultural subsidies appeals procedure in each year since it was adopted and (b) successful in each year following the (i) internal and (ii) external review, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of appeals.

The information requested is set out in the following tables. In stage 2 appeals the external panel make a recommendation to me with its findings.

Number of Appeals Lodged:

	Stage 1	Stage 2
2000	17	0
2001*	84	16
2002*	271	32
2003	252	45
2004	120	5
2005	116	0

Note: *Coverage of Agri Environment Schemes was added in June 2001. Figures in 2001 were low due to foot-and-mouth disease. This resulted in an upsurge in 2002.

The Number of Appeals Upheld By Panel and as a Percentage of the Number Determined

	Internal	External
2000	0	0
2001	12 (21%)	1 (16%)
2002	18 (15%)	5 (35%)
2003	15 (10%)	0
2004	4 ( 2%)	2 ( 8%)

Note: Determination may not have taken place the same year as the appeal was received.

In addition, some appeals have been resolved outwith the panel setting.

Stage 3 (Scottish Land Court Hearings Lodged)

2003: 3

2004: 2

2005: 2

Decisions not yet taken for these cases, with the exception of one case settled out of court.

Question reference: S2W-16081

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any economic impact assessment of the impact of rising fuel costs on the agriculture sector has been carried out, or is under way, and, if so, whether it will provide details of the findings.

Whilst the agriculture sector benefits from reduced duty on red diesel, worth over 40 pence per litre compared to most other industries and private motorists, the Executive is aware of the issues surrounding the rising cost of fuel, as it impacts on both the price paid for diesel by farmers and the transportation costs of their suppliers and customers. However, given that fuel costs affect all sectors of the economy and are determined by factors outwith Scotland, more detailed analysis of specific sectoral impacts has not been undertaken.