Chamber and committees

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

The work on the Scottish EnergyRating Tool (SERT) is currently in progress. If the research work is successfulthen SERT could provide a cost-effective solution to energy performance certificationof dwellings, particularly in the private rental sector. It is anticipated thatwork on rdSAP will be completed before SERT and that rdSAP will be better suitedto the data collection procedures which are associated with the proposed SingleSurvey.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:Proposals for the descriptionand characterisation of “public building” will appear in the forthcoming publicconsultation on Articles 7, 8 and 9. This consultation is proposed for May 2006,will have a duration of 12 weeks and will be accessible from the SBSA website www.sbsa.gov.uk.

I have asked Dr. PaulStollard, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), toanswer. His response is as follows:

It is proposed that assetratings are adopted for the purpose of implementing Article 7.

To rely solely on the use ofoperational ratings would make it very difficult to compare the energyperformance of the “built form” of different buildings. To allow the option ofeither an asset or an operational rating would again make it very difficult tocompare the energy performance of the “built form” of different buildings.Neither of these two approaches would be useful to prospective owners and tenants,nor visitors to buildings.

To require both asset andoperational ratings would be considered as over-implementation of theDirective.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

The SBSA works closely with theOffice of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive (OSSE) on all matters concerningScottish building legislation.

Proposals for the descriptionand characterisation of “public building” will appear in the forthcoming publicconsultation on Articles 7, 8 and 9. This consultation is proposed for May 2006,will have a duration of 12 weeks and will be accessible from the SBSA website www.sbsa.gov.uk.

I am advised by the Food StandardsAgency that the following table indicates the number of farms in Scotland whichhave been subject to restrictions as a result of the Chernobyl accidentin each year since 1995.

Date	Number of Farms Subject to Restrictions
1995	41
1996	36
1997	28
1998	23
1999	20
2000	19
2001	18
2002	18
2003	16
2004	14
2005	11
2006	10

 

Farm numbers are approximate since part-farms may have restrictionsremoved; also farms and part-farms may be split and/or amalgamated. Accordingly,restrictions are defined in The Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivityin Sheep) Order 1991 No. 20 (as amended) in consistent terms of defined boundariesrather than as individual farms. The remaining farms are located in the East Ayrshireand Stirling Council areas, although established policy is not to identify individualholdings without the consent of the farm owner.

Officials meet regularly todiscuss the future of the post office network. I have recently metrepresentatives from Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd, on 14 February 2006,to hear about their trials of innovative methods for postal service provision:and Barry Gardiner MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Departmentof Trade and Industry, on 6 March 2006 to discuss a range of issues relating topost offices. No decision has yet been reached across Government on thefuture of the post office network.

The future of the postoffice network beyond 2008 is the subject of on-going consideration acrossGovernment. No decisions have yet been taken and it would be premature tospeculate about what might be done.

None. It is for local authoritiesand schools to consider how and by whom careers advice should be offered to pupils.

The Executive does not hold informationon armed forces recruiting activity by community which would be required in orderto provide the analysis requested.

The information requested,where available, is shown in the following table:

CouncilTax Benefit Recipients Aged 60 and Over (Thousands)

Local Authority Area	May 1999	May 2000	May 2001	May 2002	May 2003	May 2004	May 2005
Scotland	299.0	275.0	281.0	284.0	275.0	275.4	278.0
Aberdeen						8.3	8.4
Aberdeenshire						7.2	7.5
Angus						5.2	5.4
Argyll and Bute						4.5	4.5
Clackmannanshire						2.3	2.4
Dumfries and Galloway						7.6	7.5
Dundee						9.9	9.6
East Ayrshire						7.9	8.0
East Dunbartonshire						3.4	3.5
East Lothian						4.5	4.6
East Renfrewshire						2.7	2.8
Edinburgh						18.1	18.5
Eilean Siar						2.1	2.2
Falkirk						7.7	7.9
Fife						16.1	15.8
Glasgow						51.3	50.1
Highland						9.7	10.1
Inverclyde						5.8	5.9
Midlothian						3.7	3.7
Moray						3.5	3.7
North Ayrshire						8.0	8.3
North Lanarkshire						20.7	21.1
Orkney						0.8	0.8
Perth and Kinross						5.3	5.5
Renfrewshire						10.3	10.5
Scottish Borders						5.4	5.5
Shetland						0.7	0.8
South Ayrshire						5.9	6.1
South Lanarkshire						18.3	18.8
Stirling						3.4	3.5
West Dunbartonshire						7.4	6.9
West Lothian						7.8	8.0

Notes:

1. 1999-2003figures are based on a 1% sample and are therefore subject to a degree ofsampling variation.

2. The datarefers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.

3. Data below Scotland level is not available prior to May 2004.

4. 2004-05figures for non-responding authorities have been estimated.

5. Council TaxBenefit totals exclude any Second Adult Rebate cases.

6. “Aged 60 andover” is defined as benefit units where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60and over therefore figures will contain some claimants under 60 where there isa partner aged over 60 years.