Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-31486

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals from (a) auditors, (b) contractors, (c) sub-contractors, (d) ministers or (e) officials for inclusion of a contingent liability in the accounts of the Executive, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies were not included in published accounts in each of the last five years.

All contingent liabilities recordedin the accounts of the Executive and its agencies in each of the last five yearscan be found in the notes to the consolidated accounts which are available on the Scottish Executive website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent.The contingent liabilities recorded by the Executive’s non-departmental public bodiesin each of the last five years will be found in the notes to their individual annualaccounts which can be accessed at their websites. A contingent liability will beremoved from the accounts if the circumstances which led to its original inclusionchange and it no longer fits the criteria of a contingent liability.

For the Executive and its agencies,finance teams maintain a record of all contingent liabilities throughout the year.Preparers of accounts will also consider any other information at the year-end andall items which meet the criteria of a contingent liability as outlined in the ScottishPublic Finance Manual and the Government Financial Reporting Manual aredisclosed in the annual accounts. This information is audited for compliance andcompleteness by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Auditor General. Decisions made by non-departmentalpublic bodies are a matter for those bodies. The information requested is not heldcentrally.

Question reference: S2W-31484

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received from the Auditor General for Scotland in respect of the limits on liabilities for which no budget provision is made before special remedial action should be taken.

We are not aware of any specificadvice received from the Auditor General for Scotland in respect of the limit onliabilities for which no budget provision is made before special remedial actionshould be taken. Per the Scottish Public Finance Manual, if a liability maturesthe relevant business area should consider, in consultation with its departmentalFinance Team, whether an immediate report should be made to the Parliament.

Question reference: S2W-31487

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be a prudent limit on contingent liabilities before it should report to the Parliament on the matter.

The Scottish ministers reportto Parliament on such matters in accordance with the Budgeting Process Agreementagreed between the Executive and the Parliament:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/finance/Written%20Agreement%20between%20FC%20and%20Exec%20at%2022.6.05.pdf.

The Scottish ministers must presenttheir proposals to the Finance Committee before granting any guarantees or indemnitiesin excess of £1 million (including those without limit).The Finance Committee will consider the proposal within 20 days and will eitherapprove the proposal or propose an amendment. The Scottish ministers willeither accept the amendment or notify the committee that they disagree and it willthen be for the committee to decide to either allow the Scottish ministers to proceedor to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Bureau for a debate.

The Scottish Public Financeand Accountability Manual (SPFM) sets out additional guidance on reportingcontingent liabilities to Parliament. Per the SPFM contingent liabilitieswhich arise in the normal course of business are not covered by the need for priorparliamentary approval unless expenditure at a later date may be of such a natureor size that the Parliament should be given notice. Considerationof whether to give notice will be on a case-by-case basis and depend on the circumstancesof individual cases. Similarly, if a liability matures in respect of a previouslycontingent liability, ministers will consider whether to make a report to the Parliament.

Question reference: S2W-31494

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-30374 by Ross Finnie on 15 December 2006, why, given that it was received by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department shortly after 21 November 2002, the European Commission Agriculture Directorate General’s Guidance Note 6 on the application of article 36(1) was not included in the guidance issued in the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 2003 pack in July 2003.

It is not customary for my officialsto include guidance notes from the European Commission in scheme information packssent to farmers/crofters. Instead, they ensure that they reflect the guidance, insuch notes, in the notes for guidance (NFG) issued to farmers/crofters on the schemesconcerned. Under the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme (SCPS) 2003, the need to includea minimum of 5% heifers on claims of 14 animals or more was set out in the NFG onpage 2 under “Main Changes” and in section 2.4 under “Heifer/cow limits”. Additionally,the need to replace heifers when the heifer/cow ration fell below 5% was set outin the NFG in section 4.2.3 under “Heifers calving” and in the first paragraph ofsection 4.3 under “Replacement and notification of animals”.

Question reference: S2W-31485

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what contingent liabilities have been recorded in the accounts of the Executive, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years and what triggers led to the removal of any portion of a contingent liability.

All contingent liabilities recordedin the accounts of the Executive and its agencies in each of the last five yearscan be found in the notes to the consolidated accounts which are available on the Scottish Executive website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent.The contingent liabilities recorded by the Executive’s non-departmental public bodiesin each of the last five years will be found in the notes to their individual annualaccounts which can be accessed at their websites. A contingent liability will beremoved from the accounts if the circumstances which led to its original inclusionchange and it no longer fits the criteria of a contingent liability.

For the Executive and its agencies,finance teams maintain a record of all contingent liabilities throughout the year.Preparers of accounts will also consider any other information at the year-end andall items which meet the criteria of a contingent liability as outlined in the ScottishPublic Finance Manual and the Government Financial Reporting Manualare disclosed in the annual accounts. This information is audited for complianceand completeness by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Auditor General. Decisions made by non-departmentalpublic bodies are a matter for those bodies. The information requested is not heldcentrally.

Question reference: S2W-31493

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 6 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the costs to farmers of implementing Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) measures; what representations it has received regarding the costs of implementation, and whether a regulatory impact assessment has been carried out on the application of the IPPC measures to (a) pig and (b) poultry farmers.

The Executive consulted widelyon the implications of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directiveprior to the new controls being introduced in 2000. This included the preparationof a Regulatory Impact Assessment which estimated compliance costs, in general terms,for all industrial sectors falling within the scope of the Directive, includingthe intensive farming sector.

The Executive also participatedin a study in 2006 which estimated the costs incurred by industry during the firstfive years of implementation of the IPPC Directive. This concluded that, in general,pig and poultry farmers incurred costs that were lower than other industrial sitesunder the Directive.

In addition, IPPC compliancecosts have been reduced for intensive farming by the introduction of Standard FarmingInstallation Rules (SFIRs). These are designed to make it simpler for pig and poultryfarmers to meet the requirements of IPPC.

The Executive received a numberof comments about the cost of implementing IPPC. These included representationsfrom pig and poultry farmers, mainly relating to charges introduced by ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency. Charge levels have been substantially reduced forfarms that comply with SFIRs.

Question reference: S2W-31299

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of convictions had a substantial connection to an addiction in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-31246

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of people convicted of a non-violent offence (a) received a custodial sentence, (b) received a custodial sentence of less than three months and (c) served a custodial sentence of less than three months in each of the last five years.

The available information is givenin the following table. All prisoners who are sentenced to custody will serve therequired period of imprisonment, allowing for any time spent on remand and prisonerrelease arrangements.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Non-ViolentOffences^1,2, 2000-01 to 2004-05

	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Total persons with a charge proved	100,957	108,677	113,625	118,673	118,592
Of which received a custodial sentence	13,195	13,945	14,501	13,742	13,653
% of charge proved	14	13	13	12	12
Of which received a custodial sentence < 3 months	4,030	4,336	4,499	4,378	4,714
% of charge proved	4	4	4	4	4

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes all crimes and offences except non-sexual crimesof violence and petty assault.

Question reference: S2W-31298

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much addictions have cost the NHS in each of the last five years.

Alcohol

Alcohol problems are estimatedto cost NHSScotland around £110 million per annum. This includes GP resources andcommunity prescribing, secondary care costs, where the majority of costs relateto hospitalisation days, and NHS resources for voluntary sector services.

Tobacco

Theestimated costs to the NHSScotland of treating smoking related illnesses is £200million per annum.

IllegalDrugs

The Scottish Executive will shortlycommission research on the economic and social costs of illegal drug use in Scotland, includingthe costs of addiction to the NHS and other organisations.

Question reference: S2W-31119

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have reported being victims of identity fraud in each of the last five years, broken down by police force.

Chamber and committees