Chamber and committees

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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-07886

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average level of debt held after leaving university by students was from (a) a lower, (b) a middle and (c) an upper income background in 2002-03.

Question reference: S2W-07882

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of (a) male, (b) female and (c) full-time workers in (i) Scotland and (ii) each local authority area received hourly gross earnings, (1) including and (2) excluding overtime of below (A) #7.58, (B) #5.68 and (C) #4.20.

The information you requested is not held centrally. However, information on earnings from the New Earnings Survey is published by the Office for National Statistics.

The distribution of earnings is calculated on a weekly basis and the thresholds are the percentage who earned under £250, £350 and £460 per week. The information contained in the following tables is for full-time employees on adult rates whose pay period was not affected by absence. Data are not available for all local authority areas as the sample sizes are too small and the data are suppressed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The average gross weekly earnings and overtime pay is also included in the tables. Overtime pay is included in the distribution of earnings, but ONS do not publish similar figures that exclude overtime.

Full-Time Employees on Adult Rates 2003

	Average Gross Weekly Earnings		Distribution of Weekly Earnings, Percentage Who Earned Under:			Average Hourly Earnings (Excluding Overtime) (Pence)
	Total (£)	Of Which Overtime Pay (£)
	Total (£)	Of Which Overtime Pay (£)	£250	£350	£460
Scotland	436.8	19.8	18.7	45.1	65.4	1,101
Aberdeen City	524.7	22.8	14.2	34.6	52.8	1,271
Aberdeenshire	422.2	31.4	18.6	44.8	65.2	1,006
Angus	398.3	26.8	21.2	56.4	70.3	983
Argyll and Bute	381.2	23.0	18.2	49.6	73.6	929
Clackmannanshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Dumfries and Galloway	381.6	18.6	29.0	55.7	75.1	949
Dundee City	436.8	16.2	19.2	42.3	64.4	1,126
East Ayrshire	425.7	23.1	22.5	43.1	61.3	1,067
East Dunbartonshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Lothian	394.8	17.3	15.8	48.5	70.3	1,014
East Renfrewshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Edinburgh, City of	467.0	12.6	16.3	40.7	60.8	1,221
Eilean Siar	..	..	..	..	..	..
Falkirk	412.9	24.0	20.4	47.8	69.0	1,024
Fife	409.7	21.8	18.7	49.2	68.6	1,022
Glasgow City	437.9	17.9	17.1	45.5	65.1	1,127
Highland	419.6	18.5	22.3	50.4	70.8	1,034
Inverclyde	379.7	13.1	19.1	58.8	77.1	947
Midlothian	409.1	15.0	19.2	40.4	60.6	1,051
Moray	..	..	..	..	..	..
North Ayrshire	409.3	17.5	18.3	45.0	69.8	1,044
North Lanarkshire	444.1	27.8	17.2	44.7	65.3	1,098
Orkney Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..
Perth and Kinross	405.5	15.7	22.0	46.2	70.8	1,027
Renfrewshire	439.7	20.1	20.7	42.9	63.3	1,116
Scottish Borders	355.6	14.7	28.4	62.1	78.7	893
Shetland Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..
South Ayrshire	442.5	22.7	15.6	40.0	58.5	1,119
South Lanarkshire	421.8	16.8	20.1	42.6	68.0	1,052
Stirling	429.8	32.4	18.3	42.9	65.1	..
West Dunbartonshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
West Lothian	423	29.8	18	46.1	69.8	1,024

Full-Time Males on Adult Rates 2003

	Average Gross Weekly Earnings		Distribution of Weekly Earnings, Percentage Who Earned Under:			Average Hourly Earnings (Excluding Overtime) (Pence)
	Total (£)	Of Which Overtime Pay (£)
	Total (£)	Of Which Overtime Pay (£)	£250	£350	£460
Scotland	483.7	28.7	13.2	37.2	59.1	1,176
Aberdeen City	591.4	33.1	11.2	27.4	43.6	1,366
Aberdeenshire	479.3	48.9	9.0	33.5	56.9	1,069
Angus	..	..	..	..	..	..
Argyll and Bute	400.1	32.5	12.3	42.5	74.0	916
Clackmannanshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Dumfries and Galloway	407.6	30.0	20.0	47.2	72.0	..
Dundee City	482.4	24.5	13.8	34.7	61.2	1,210
East Ayrshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Dunbartonshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Lothian	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Renfrewshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Edinburgh, City of	509.0	16.4	14.9	34.3	53.6	1,310
Eilean Siar	..	..	..	..	..	..
Falkirk	..	..	..	..	..	..
Fife	455.7	32.6	10.6	38.1	63.0	1,085
Glasgow City	489.1	24.5	13.8	37.4	56.7	1,235
Highland	471.2	27.8	15.3	45.5	63.5	..
Inverclyde	..	..	..	..	..	..
Midlothian	429.0	23.4	13.3	35.0	58.3	..
Moray	..	..	..	..	..	..
North Ayrshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
North Lanarkshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Orkney Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..
Perth and Kinross	..	..	..	..	..	..
Renfrewshire	476.2	27.9	15.1	38.2	59.8	1,167
Scottish Borders	..	..	..	..	..	..
Shetland Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..
South Ayrshire	479.3	32.2	9.4	29.9	52.1	..
South Lanarkshire	479.8	26.4	11.3	32.0	58.3	1,144
Stirling	..	..	..	..	..	..
West Dunbartonshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
West Lothian	459.7	40.4	10.1	37.8	64.9	1,073

Full-Time Females on Adult Rates 2003

	Average Gross Weekly Earnings		Distribution of Weekly Earnings, Percentage Who Earned Under:			Average Hourly Earnings (Excluding Overtime) (Pence)
	Total (£)	Of Which Overtime Pay (£)
	Total (£)	Of Which Overtime Pay (£)	£250	£350	£460
Scotland	372.4	7.7	26.1	55.8	74.0	993
Aberdeen City	417.7	6.2	19.1	46.2	67.6	1,108
Aberdeenshire	336.9	5.2	33.0	61.6	77.7	903
Angus	344.1	10.1	29.5	64.1	78.2	911
Argyll and Bute	..	..	..	..	..	..
Clackmannanshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Dumfries and Galloway	..	..	..	..	..	..
Dundee City	376.0	5.2	26.5	52.4	68.7	1,011
East Ayrshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Dunbartonshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Lothian	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Renfrewshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
Edinburgh, City of	409.2	7.4	18.1	49.5	70.7	1,097
Eilean Siar	..	..	..	..	..	..
Falkirk	359.6	6.4	24.5	63.6	76.4	958
Fife	345.7	6.8	30.0	64.6	76.3	929
Glasgow City	374.7	9.8	21.2	55.6	75.5	992
Highland	345.7	5.1	32.3	57.4	81.3	906
Inverclyde	333.6	9.8	26.3	66.7	82.5	..
Midlothian	..	..	..	..	..	..
Moray	..	..	..	..	..	..
North Ayrshire	359.8	13.0	30.6	52.8	72.2	..
North Lanarkshire	376.6	7.8	26.6	55.7	70.4	1,010
Orkney Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..
Perth and Kinross	353.3	6.1	31.1	57.3	76.7	935
Renfrewshire	381.6	7.7	29.6	50.4	68.8	1,029
Scottish Borders	..	..	..	..	..	..
Shetland Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..
South Ayrshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
South Lanarkshire	346.9	4.4	31.6	56.3	80.6	924
Stirling	..	..	..	..	..	..
West Dunbartonshire	..	..	..	..	..	..
West Lothian	..	..	..	..	..	..

Question reference: S2W-07885

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of students from (a) lower, (b) middle and (c) upper income backgrounds (i) hold a part-time job during term-time, (ii) live with their parents during term-time and (iii) attend a university close to their home, and what changes there have been in these statistics since 1999.

(i) Information for the percentageof students who hold a part-time job during term-time for the three income groupsrequested is not available.

However, the proportion of allworking age full-time students in higher and further education who were in part-timeemployment for the spring quarter in years 1999-2003 is shown in the following table.

Year	Proportion
Mar-May 1999	29%
Mar-May 2000	37%
Mar-May 2001	35%
Mar-May 2002	37%
Mar-May 2003	42%

(ii) Information for the numberof students who live with their parents during term time for the three income groupsrequested is not available.

(iii) This information is notheld centrally.

Question reference: S2W-07547

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the introduction of scallop conservation measures in terms of (a) their economic impact on scallop fishermen and (b) the practical and economic consequences of the measures for processing firms and supporting onshore industries and what steps it will take to offset any impacts.

The conservation measures whichcame into force in September 2003 were developed in detailed consultation with allsectors of the industry and a Regulatory Impact Assessment was produced as partof that process. The measures are due for review in 2005.

The Seafish Industry Authorityhas been asked to prepare a project specification for a detailed study into thescallop industry, including the economic situation. The study will help inform the Scottish Scallop Advisory Committee develop a long-term strategy for the scallopsector, with the objective of achieving a sustainable fishery.

Question reference: S2W-07548

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address industry safety concerns that have emerged as a result of the introduction of scallop conservation measures.

Question reference: S2W-07550

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review or refine the scallop conservation measures as introduced.

Question reference: S2W-07549

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what effect scallop conservation measures have had on scallop stocks since their introduction.

Question reference: S2W-07496

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend the resources available to primary healthcare providers for the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Question reference: S2W-07493

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people there are with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) in (a) Scotland and (b) each parliamentary constituency.

Exact information is notavailable centrally. Information from samples of GP records in practices acrossScotland, whose population is nationally representative, suggests thatapproximately 6,700 patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis were seen by GPs inthe year ended December 2003. However, this complex condition may be recordedin different ways by GPs, which might lead to some significant undercounting.The Executive’s Short Life Working Group, on the basis of published prevalencerates and population figures, estimated that at least 10,000 people in Scotlandwere likely to be affected by ME.

Question reference: S2W-07495

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to concerns about current treatment and resource provision in respect of myalgic encephalomyelitis, as referred to in a recent report published by the 25% M.E. Group, Severely Affected M.E. Analysis Report on Questionnaire Issues January 2004.