- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 5 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30870 by Mr Andy Kerr on 15 September 2002, how much specific business has been generated by its Property Pages website expressed in (a) value and (b) volume.
Answer
On 25 November, the number of properties being advertised through the website was 1,583. The number of public sector organisations using it was 53. The value price or rent achieved on the conclusion of a transaction is not recorded.As most properties are marketed by sale board, leaflet, newspaper, estate agents particulars and the website it would need users to provide the Scottish Executive with returns. This would involve disproportionate costs.The website is a relatively inexpensive, "light touch" facility designed to assist the sale and letting of vacant public sector property in Scotland.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 5 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30863 by Lewis Macdonald on 19 November 2002 giving statistics on the number of page impressions viewed on the Learn to Let Go website, how many single visits the website had over the same period.
Answer
There have been 22,817 single visits to the website since its introduction in June 2001. The monthly figures are as follows:
| 2001 | 2002 |
| June | 286 | January | 1,391 |
| July | 591 | February | 1,256 |
| August | 495 | March | 1,352 |
| September | 1,290 | April | 1,462 |
| October | 1,177 | May | 1,511 |
| November | 1,225 | June | 1,568 |
| December | 1,169 | July | 2,146 |
| August | 2,078 |
| September | 1,919 |
| October | 1,901 |
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 5 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hits the Older People's website has had in (a) total and (b) each month since its inception and how these figures compare to pre-launch projections.
Answer
The activity on the Scottish Executive website is measured in page impressions which is a universally recognised measure of website activity, sometimes referred to as website hits. The Older People's website has had a total of 9,691 hits between its inception on 29 August and 15 November. The monthly breakdown of hits is as follows:
| 29 to 31 August | 166 |
| September | 3,410 |
| October | 4,011 |
| 1 to 15 November | 2,104 |
There were no pre-launch projections for this website.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 5 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to develop the Older People's website and how much has been budgeted to maintain the website inclusive of VAT.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30639 on 31 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa. The answer explained that the costs were being met from within existing departmental running costs.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 4 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-30864 and S1W-30870 by Cathy Jamieson and Mr Andy Kerr on 15 November 2002, whether the statistics on hits to the National Debate on Education website in the answer to question S1W-30864 show the number of (a) hits to the entire site (successful), (b) page impressions or (c) visits (user sessions).
Answer
The statistics on hits to the National Debate website in the answer given to question S1W-30864 show page impressions for the homepages of the discussion and reflection phases of the debate since its launch on 20 March 2002. The following table shows these figures, along with the total number of page impressions per month for the entire site for comparison. The total number of page impressions for the entire site from 20 March to end October was over 53,000.
We do not hold statistics for the number of visits (user sessions) to the site.
| Period | Page Impressions for Discussion and Reflection Homepages | Page Impressions for Entire Site |
| 20/03/2002 to 29/04/2002 | 4,246 | 12,157 |
| 30/04/2002 to 27/05/2002 | 3,860 | 10,526 |
| 28/05/2002 to 24/06/2002 | 3,865 | 9,753 |
| 25/06/2002 to 29/07/2002 | 1,472 | 3,546 |
| 30/07/2002 to 26/08/2002 | 445 | 1,036 |
| 27/08/2002 to 30/09/2002 | 692 | 1,434 |
| 01/10/2002 to 28/10/2002 | 6,626 | 14,771 |
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 3 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24966 by Lewis Macdonald on 13 May 2002, whether it will provide an update on action taken by BEAR Scotland Ltd in respect of erecting road safety signage on the A90 south of Fraserburgh near Invernorth.
Answer
The signs are currently programmed to be erected in December 2002.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 2 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30877 by Lewis Macdonald on 18 November 2002, whether the cost for Changing Speeding Behaviour in Scotland: An Evaluation of the 'Foolsspeed' Campaign is inclusive of VAT.
Answer
Yes.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Qualifications Authority has disregarded any candidate's course work in determining awards in 2002 under Higher Still and, if so, in what subjects and for what proportion of candidates.
Answer
The SQA has advised that it has not disregarded any unit assessment results or, where appropriate, work such as folios that have been submitted for assessment by SQA.This is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Qualifications Authority sets the pass and grade boundary marks for the Higher Still exams for which it is responsible by (a) mapping the distribution of marks actually gained (i) against a normal distribution curve with a single peak, (ii) against a normal distribution curve with two peaks with different "Y" values or (iii) using a different mathematical algorithm and, if so, what the details are, (b) setting and fixing, within a small adjustment range, the expected standard of answer that will earn the necessary marks prior to marking or (c) any other method.
Answer
This is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 27 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost to shipyards of compliance with regulations under Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control.
Answer
The Scottish Executive published a Regulatory and Environmental Impact Assessment (REIA) prior to making the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (PPC) to implement the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (96/61/EC). The REIA considered the costs to industrial sectors from complying with the Directive, and included an assessment of the effect on small businesses. It identified potential costs ranging from a few hundred to several thousand pounds per installation across all sectors. Offsetting benefits were also identified. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (SEPA) application charge for shipyards transferring to the new PPC regime is currently £3,743. It is proposed to increase this to £7,400 during 2003 to allow SEPA to recover its regulatory costs. The cost to yards of preparing a PPC application is estimated to be approximately £23,000. The additional capital cost of complying with PPC will be site specific.The Executive proposes to amend the PPC Regulations by delaying the period when existing shipyards are required to apply for a PPC permit for carrying out organotin coating activities. The proposed amendment will result in substantial savings for existing shipyards.
