Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-30019

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been of providing (a) cleaning and (b) catering services to NHS hospitals in each financial year since 1997-98, broken down by hospital.

Question reference: S2W-30017

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under 16, (b) 16 and 17 and (c) 18 to 21 were in (i) full-time, (ii) part-time and (iii) temporary employment in each year since 1999.

The following table shows thelevel of people in full-time, part-time and temporary employment for 1999-2006 forthose aged 16 to 17 and 18 to 21. Information is not available on employment ofpeople aged below 16.

The estimates are based on asample survey, and as such, are subject to some sampling error. Any changes in theestimates over time may not be statistically significant when sampling error istaken into account.

Table 1 – Full-Time,Part-Time and Temporary Employment, 1999-2006

	Aged 16 and 17			Aged 18 to 21
	Full-Time	Part-Time	Temporary	Full-Time	Part-Time	Temporary
1999	25,000	37,000	12,000	87,000	54,000	17,000
2000	22,000	33,000	*	99,000	57,000	23,000
2001	18,000	34,000	*	104,000	57,000	23,000
2002	19,000	35,000	*	109,000	61,000	19,000
2003	17,000	40,000	*	78,000	70,000	17,000
2004	14,000	37,000	*	95,000	73,000	15,000
2005	20,000	42,000	*	93,000	60,000	18,000
2006	21,000	32,000	*	84,000	71,000	15,000

Source: Labour Force Survey,Spring Quarters (March to May).

Notes:

1. Data have been rounded tothe nearest thousand.

*Data are unreliable.

Question reference: S2W-30132

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive which external consultants were used by each of its (a) departments and (b) agencies on projects relating to (i) private finance initiatives and (ii) public private partnerships in each year since 1999 and what the (1) nature and (2) cost of the consultants’ work was in each case.

The information requested isset out in the following table and covers the Scottish Executive’s own PPP projectsas well as those health and local authority PPP projects where the Scottish Executivehas incurred direct costs. The increasing values over these years reflects the increasedinvestment value of PPP procurements, especially in the schools sector.

The information has not beensplit into PFI and PPP projects as these terms tend to be used interchangeably.PFI is a subset of the wider PPP definition.

Year	PPP Project	SE Department/Agency	Name of External Consultants	Amount Paid (£)	Nature of Work
1999	-	-	-	-	-
2000	-	-	-	-	-
2001	M77	ETLLD	PricewaterhouseCoopers	210,000	Financial advice on tender preparation and issue
	M77	ETLLD	Shepherd and Wedderburn	105,000	Legal advice on tender preparation and issue
2002	M77	ETLLD	PricewaterhouseCoopers	167,491	Financial advice on tender co-ordination, negotiation and award
	M77	ETLLD	Shepherd and Wedderburn	62,603	Legal advice on tender co-ordination, negotiation and award
2003	Argyll and Bute Council’s schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	235,000	Support for development of non-profit distributing organisation model
	Various schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	32,955	Carrying out of Key Stage Review work
	Various schools projects	ED	Burness	19,093	Legal advice on contract derogations
2004	M77	ETLLD	PricewaterhouseCoopers	30,992	Financial advice on contract
	M77	ETLLD	Shepherd and Wedderburn	45,720	Legal advice on contract
	Skye Bridge	ETLLD	Partnerships UK	28,065	Advice related to the buy-out
	Skye Bridge	ETLLD	Commerzbank	209,131	Financial advice in connection with the buy-out
	Skye Bridge	ETLLD	Scott Wilson	10,514	Technical advice in connection with the buy-out
	Skye Bridge	ETLLD	McGrigors	66,738	Legal advice in connection with the buy-out
	Balfron and East Renfrewshire Council’s PPP1 schools projects, NHS Tayside Carseview	ED, HD	Partnerships UK	30,677	SE’s share of advisory costs in connection with situation that arose with a contractor
	Inverness Airport	ETLLD	Partnerships UK	4,109	Work carried out in connection with the buy-out
	East Lothian Council’s schools project	ED	Partnerships UK	16,390	Work carried out in supporting project after a consortium member went into administration
	Argyll and Bute Council’s schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	176,250	Support for development of non-profit distributing organisation model
	Western Isles Council’s schools project	ED	Partnerships UK	29,632	Work on development of hybrid model
	Renfrewshire Council’s schools project	ED	Partnerships UK	21,490	Support work carried out
	Various schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	115,992	Carrying out of Key Stage Review work
	Various health projects	HD	Partnerships UK	19,697	Carrying out of Key Stage Review work
	Various schools projects	ED	Burness	35,250	Legal advice on contract derogations
2005	Balfron and East Renfrewshire Council’s PPP1 schools projects, NHS Tayside Carseview	ED, HD	Partnerships UK	17,408	SE’s share of advisory costs in connection with situation that arose with a contractor
	Inverness Airport	ETLLD	Partnerships UK	2,831	Work carried out in connection with the buy-out
	Argyll and Bute Council’s schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	176,250	Support for development of non-profit distributing organisation model
	Falkirk, Aberdeen City Councils’ schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	46,017	Support for non-profit distributing organisation model
	Western Isles Council’s schools project	ED	Partnerships UK	70,194	Work on development of hybrid model
	North Lanarkshire Council’s schools project	ED	Partnerships UK	1,086	Support work carried out
	Various schools projects	ED	Partnerships UK	139,616	Carrying out of Key Stage Review work
	Various health projects	HD	Partnerships UK	48,025	Carrying out of Key Stage Review work
	NHS Lothian Edinburgh Royal Infirmary	HD	Partnerships UK	15,573	Work carried out on contract
	Various schools projects	ED	Burness	62,569	Legal advice on contract derogations

Question reference: S2W-30030

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 2003, on what guidance it bases its policy for managing breaches of the 5% heifer rule.

We implemented thisparticular rule to comply with the requirements of the EC legislation governingthe Suckler Cow Premium Scheme. We were guided in how we handled breaches by ourinterpretation of the regulations, the advice issued to member states by theEuropean Commission on the implementation of this rule, discussion between the fourpaying agencies administering the scheme in the UK, and legal advice receivedby these agencies.

Question reference: S2W-30031

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 2003, on what date it first received guidance from the European Commission or other EU agency on how to manage breaches of the 5% heifer rule.

Question reference: S2W-30032

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that literature issued by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department on the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 2003 contained all information relevant to scheme participants to which the department had access at that time.

I am satisfied that the 2003scheme literature described the scheme rules clearly and that we provided potentialclaimants with sufficient guidance to participate in the scheme and meet itsvarious conditions of eligibility. The notes for guidance cannot cover everysituation and they do not provide a definitive statement of the law. The notesadvised producers to contact SEERAD if there was anything they did notunderstand or, if they needed specific advice, to contact a professionaladvisor.

Question reference: S2W-30029

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive why those individuals who it considered to be in breach of the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme in 2003 were not notified of this position until January 2005.

I assume that the questionrelates to those Suckler Cow Premium Scheme (SCPS) 2003 claimants who breachedthe 5% minimum heifer rule; we wrote to them on 19 January 2005. This ruleapplied in 2003 only. We identified those who were in breach by analysing thecomposition of every SCPS producer’s claim at the end of their six monthretention period. We did this as a one-off exercise after all the 2003 claimedanimals had completed their retention; the last retention period ended on 30 June 2004. Becausewe used calving information held on the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) to check ifanimals which had completed their retention period were cows or heifers, we hadto allow time for producers to inform the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS)of animals calving in the final days of retention, and for BCMS to update CTS. Wealso decided to delay our 5% minimum heifer checks until we were sure that themajority of claims were unlikely to change following producers’ replies to ourcross check letters which had identified breaches in other scheme rules.

Question reference: S2W-29861

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) adults with children have been temporarily housed in bed and breakfast accommodation since 1997, broken down by (i) quarter and (ii) local authority area, and how many it expects to be housed in this way on 31 December 2006.

The Scottish Executive collectssnapshot data on the number of households in temporary accommodation at the endof each quarter, including information on households in bed and breakfast. Informationdistinguishing households with dependent children, including number of children,has been collected since March 2001. Data on households in bed and breakfast areavailable on-line in the publications section of the housing statistics branch referencesite:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

Information on numbers in temporaryaccommodation on 31 December 2006 will be supplied to the Executive by councils as partof the quarterly homelessness summary return (HL2 return) for quarter 4 2006.

A table providing the availableinformation for each local authority for each quarter from 31 March 1997 to 31 December2001 will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41032).

Question reference: S2W-29695

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average (a) unsecured debt per person and (b) annual income was in each year since 1997.

Information for part (a) is notavailable.

Table 1 contains median annualequivalised net disposable household income estimates from 1996-97 for Scotland. Theseestimates are based on the Department for Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey.

Table 1

	Median Annual Household Income before Housing Costs	Median Annual Household Income after Housing Costs
1996-97	£12,957	£11,330
1997-98	£13,652	£11,966
1998-99	£13,932	£12,153
1999-00	£14,585	£12,830
2000-01	£14,784	£13,036
2001-02	£15,770	£13,970
2002-03	£16,334	£14,691
2003-04	£17,448	£15,897
2004-05	£18,169	£16,294

Source: Households Below AverageIncome, DWP.

Table 2 contains median annual equivalised net disposable household incomeestimates from 1996-97 for Scotland which has been adjusted for inflation.

Table 2 2004-05 Prices

	Median Annual Household Income before Housing Costs	Median Annual Household Income after Housing Costs
1996-97	£14,841	£12,463
1997-98	£15,409	£12,907
1998-99	£15,509	£13,052
1999-2000	£15,810	£13,541
2000-01	£16,110	£13,817
2001-02	£16,955	£14,565
2002-03	£17,233	£15,105
2003-04	£17,970	£16,094
2004-05	£18,169	£16,294

Source: Households Below AverageIncome, DWP.

Notes:

Net disposable householdincome: Total income afterdeductions for income tax, National Insurance Contributions, council tax, pensioncontributions and maintenance payments.

Housing costs: Net disposable income but with rent/mortgagepayments, water charges, structural insurance premiums, ground rent and servicecharges deducted.

Equivalised net disposablehousehold income: “Equivalised”Income is used to allow comparisons of living standards between different householdtypes. Income is adjusted to take into account variations in the size and compositionof the household. This adjustment reflects the fact that a family of several peoplerequires a higher income than a single person in order for both households to enjoya comparable standard of living. The key assumption is that all individuals in thehousehold benefit equally from the combined (equivalised) income of the household.There are distinct equivalence scales used for income before housing costs (BHC)and income after housing costs (AHC).

Current prices: The second tablehas been adjusted for inflation (using the Retail Price Index) and provides medianannual income estimates in the current (latest) year’s prices (2004-05).

Question reference: S2W-30084

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost to the NHS was of hospital-acquired infections in each of the last five years.

Chamber and committees