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: S3W-23179

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 6 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the evaporation of fuel oil held in storage in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-23178

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 5 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the annual consumption of domestic fuel oil in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) parliamentary region and (b) local authority area.

The Scottish House Condition Survey is the source of official figures for domestic fuel oil consumption of occupied dwellings (This does not include holiday homes and second homes and communal establishments).

Figures are available for local authorities for 2002, and combined (because of sample size) for the three year period October 2003 to September 2006 (2003-06) and combined for the three year period October 2004 to December 2007 (2004-07).

Figures are available for Scottish parliamentary regions for 2003-06 and 2004-07. They are not available for 2002 because we no longer hold the sample addresses.

Table 1 shows the survey estimates for the total amount paid, the number of occupied dwellings using domestic fuel and the average bill by Scottish Parliamentary Region for 2003-06 and 2004-07. Table 2 shows the same but for Local Authorities and includes 2002.

Please note that as these figures are based on a survey they are only estimates and each estimate is subject to statistical error.

The relatively high figure for West Dunbartonshire for 2002 is due to a statistical anomaly. In fact only two households in West Dunbartonshire which used domestic fuel oil were included in the survey and both were large oil users.

Table 1: SHCS estimates for amount paid, the number of domestic fuel households and the average bill by Scottish Parliamentary Region - 2003-06 and 2004-07:

Scottish Parliament Region	2003-06			2004-07
Scottish Parliament Region	Total Paid	Domestic Oil users	Average paid	Total Paid	Domestic Oil users	Average paid
Central Scotland	2,561,000	3,000	1,000	3,001,000	3,000	1,000
Glasgow	354,000	1,000	700	341,000	-	700
Highlands and Islands	41,123,000	47,000	900	41,809,000	46,000	900
Lothians	2,874,000	3,000	900	2,698,000	3,000	900
Mid Scotland and Fife	13,919,000	16,000	900	11,859,000	14,000	800
North East Scotland	30,848,000	29,000	1,100	32,616,000	30,000	1,100
South of Scotland	25,540,000	30,000	800	25,147,000	28,000	900
West of Scotland	3,105,000	4,000	800	3,632,000	4,000	900
Unobtainable	256,000	-	1,000	256,000	-	1,000
Scotland	120,580,000	133,000	900	121,359,000	130,000	900

Table 2: SHCS estimates for amount paid, the number of domestic fuel households and the average bill by Local Authority for 2002, 2003-06 and 2004-07:

Council Area	2002			2003-06
Council Area	Total Paid	Domestic Oil Users	Average Cost	Total Paid	Domestic Oil Users	Average Cost
Aberdeen City	375,000	1,000	600	1,364,000	1,000	1,000
Aberdeenshire	10,801,000	18,000	600	25,558,000	24,000	1,000
Angus	1,464,000	3,000	500	4,194,000	4,000	1,000
Argyll and Bute	3,369,000	5,000	700	7,082,000	7,000	1,100
Clackmannan	186,000	-	600	203,000	-	1,000
Dumfries and Galloway	7,011,000	11,000	600	9,490,000	12,000	800
Dundee City		-	-		-	-
East Ayrshire	764,000	1,000	500	1,005,000	1,000	1,200
East Dunbartonshire	123,000	-	700	337,000	-	1,200
East Lothian	683,000	1,000	700	869,000	2,000	500
East Renfrewshire	324,000	-	900	446,000	-	1,200
Edinburgh City	200,000	1,000	300	497,000	1,000	900
Western Isles	2,483,000	4,000	600	4,477,000	5,000	800
Falkirk	411,000	1,000	800	654,000	1,000	900
Fife	2,283,000	3,000	700	3,423,000	4,000	1,000
Glasgow City	95,000	-	600	354,000	1,000	700
Highland	9,473,000	15,000	600	18,717,000	24,000	800
Inverclyde	44,000	-	200	306,000	-	1,000
Midlothian	927,000	1,000	1,000	1,296,000	1,000	1,100
Moray	2,680,000	4,000	600	6,726,000	6,000	1,100
North Ayrshire	717,000	1,000	500	1,159,000	1,000	800
North Lanarkshire	682,000	1,000	800	924,000	1,000	1,300
Orkney	1,840,000	3,000	700	2,767,000	3,000	800
Perth and Kinross	2,794,000	4,000	700	5,893,000	7,000	800
Renfrewshire	172,000	-	400	619,000	1,000	900
Scottish Borders	2,793,000	5,000	500	6,685,000	7,000	1,000
Shetland	1,814,000	3,000	600	2,594,000	3,000	900
South Ayrshire	1,257,000	2,000	700	2,412,000	3,000	800
South Lanarkshire	2,937,000	4,000	800	5,619,000	7,000	800
Stirling	1,726,000	3,000	600	3,309,000	4,000	900
West Dunbartonshire	434,000	-	2,400	76,000	-	400
West Lothian	981,000	1,000	1,000	1,526,000	1,000	1,100
Scotland	61,843,000	97,000	600	120,580,000	133,000	900

Council Area	2004-07
Council Area	Total Paid	Domestic Oil Users	Average Cost
Aberdeen City	1,364,000	1,000	1,000
Aberdeenshire	27,389,000	26,000	1,100
Angus	3,272,000	3,000	1,100
Argyll and Bute	6,436,000	7,000	1,000
Clackmannan	203,000	-	1,000
Dumfries and Galloway	9,290,000	12,000	800
Dundee City		-	-
East Ayrshire	1,121,000	1,000	1,100
East Dunbartonshire	615,000	1,000	1,100
East Lothian	1,341,000	2,000	700
East Renfrewshire	377,000	-	1,900
Edinburgh City	303,000	-	1,200
Western Isles	4,748,000	6,000	800
Falkirk	915,000	1,000	800
Fife	3,811,000	4,000	1,100
Glasgow City	341,000	-	700
Highland	19,405,000	23,000	800
Inverclyde	211,000	-	1,000
Midlothian	1,610,000	1,000	1,100
Moray	6,890,000	5,000	1,300
North Ayrshire	1,934,000	2,000	1,000
North Lanarkshire	1,206,000	1,000	1,200
Orkney	3,202,000	4,000	900
Perth and Kinross	4,831,000	7,000	700
Renfrewshire	474,000	1,000	900
Scottish Borders	5,772,000	6,000	1,000
Shetland	2,709,000	3,000	900
South Ayrshire	2,680,000	3,000	800
South Lanarkshire	5,030,000	5,000	900
Stirling	2,518,000	3,000	900
West Dunbartonshire	76,000	-	200
West Lothian	1,286,000	1,000	1,100
Scotland	121,359,000	130,000	900

Question reference: S3W-22536

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what role it sees for urban design and community involvement in town centre regeneration.

We see urban design and community involvement as having an essential role to play and will actively promote this through our newly launched Town Centres and Local High Streets Learning Network.

Examples of current practice include the work of Irvine Bay Regeneration Company which has committed funding to improve the design quality of public realm and the urban environment of Kilwinning. This has been developed in collaboration with local businesses and has involved extensive community engagement in determining local priorities. And we recently presented a Scottish Award for Quality in Planning to those partners behind the Ellon Masterplan, Pattern Book and Model; a project which was developed using a collaborative planning and public engagement tool and design workshops to ensure that design is placed at the heart of the development process.

Question reference: S3O-06679

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to local authorities to maintain and develop community halls in rural areas.

Question reference: S3W-22506

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to determine eligibility for the Rural Petrol Station Grant Scheme.

Question reference: S3W-22477

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what role it sees for special constables in its plans to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour.

All Scottish Police Forces value the commitment of their Special Constables and continue to invest in recruiting, training and developing the special constabulary. Working alongside regular officers, their local knowledge and awareness of neighbourhood issues is invaluable in dealing with antisocial behaviour as we all strive to make our communities safer and stronger.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) is committed to further enhancing the role that special constables play and is currently developing national standards for the constabulary which will provide improved focus for forces in managing and deploying special constables to best effect. The overall strategy is one of continued expansion and harmonisation with regular officers.

Question reference: S3W-22476

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special constables there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by police force.

Special constables in Scotland, available strength as at 31 March, 1999 to 2008.

Force	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Central Scotland	62	60	53	55	70	75	100	128	131	107
Dumfries and Galloway	187	160	131	96	95	106	87	87	115	93
Fife	102	98	108	99	101	119	118	126	143	134
Grampian	121	120	120	121	91	108	150	147	159	152
Lothian and Borders	198	178	151	113	81	53	75	116	160	172
Northern	482	230	227	211	202	267	246	242	240	237
Strathclyde	310	334	334	302	240	265	257	315	342	323
Tayside	189	156	136	122	111	108	122	159	372	176
Scotland	1,651	1,336	1,260	1,119	991	1,101	1,155	1,320	1,662	1,394

Question reference: S3W-22478

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21912 by Fiona Hyslop on 23 March 2009, whether it expects the declining rate of inflation to result in a lower rate of interest for students repaying debt to the Student Loans Company.

Question reference: S3W-22507

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many petrol stations have benefited from the Rural Petrol Station Grant Scheme in each year since 1999, broken down by parliamentary region.

The numbers of petrol stations benefiting from the Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme between 1998-99 and 2007-08, by local authority area, are set out in the following table. The information is not held by parliamentary region. Full responsibility for the scheme was passed to Highlands and Island Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise from 1 April 2008. Information on the number of stations benefiting from that date is not held centrally.

Local Authority Area	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	7	0	0	2	3	2	2
Aberdeen City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Argyll and Bute	2	0	3	4	0	1	3	5	2	3
City of Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar	0	1	2	1	1	0	0	4	1	3
*Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	2	1	0	7	4	4	3
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
*Highland	2	4	3	5	2	4	9	5	4	5
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
*Orkney Islands	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	8	2	3
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	1	1
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	1	1
*Shetland Islands	0	3	2	0	2	0	1	6	1	1
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	4	10	10	23	6	7	33	38	21	24

Question reference: S3W-22479

Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21912 by Fiona Hyslop on 23 March 2009, what effect it expects a negative inflation rate to have on the rate of interest for students repaying debt to the Student Loans Company.