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: S1W-27454

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many summary complaints have been dealt with at (a) Lochmaddy, (b) Tain, (c) Dingwall, and (d) Portree sheriff courts, whether proceeding to trial or otherwise, in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02 and (iv) 2002-03.

The information provided by the Scottish Court Service for the number of summary complaints dealt with at each of the courts requested is set out in the following table:Sheriff Court - Summary Criminal

	1990-2000	2000-01	2001-02	April-June2002
Summary Complaints Registered
Lochmaddy	89	99	87	17
Tain	557	497	618	157
Dingwall	513	435	471	129
Portree	50	90	77	18
Summary Complaints Concluded
Lochmaddy	98	90	84	15
Tain	542	485	585	151
Dingwall	441	464	462	113
Portree	58	73	83	18
Summary Trials Evidence Led
Lochmaddy	4	4	8	5
Tain	41	31	26	7
Dingwall	27	17	28	12
Portree	7	8	6	2

Question reference: S1W-27458

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the council offices at Rosetta Road, Peebles, would provide suitable alternative accommodation for a sheriff courthouse.

Question reference: S1W-27457

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on the refurbishment of Jedburgh Sheriff Court in each of the last five years.

I have been advised by the Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service that it is not possible to provide a separate figure for refurbishment since some of the general maintenance expenditure on the court can include an element of refurbishment. The total spent on the maintenance and refurbishment of Jedburgh Sheriff Court in each of the last five years is set out in the following table. The expenditure in 2001-02 included a general redecoration of the court and provision of a new fire detection system.

Jedburgh Sheriff CourtMaintenance and Refurbishment Expenditure	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
	£3,800	£28,700	£18,739	£14,600	£161,985

Question reference: S1W-27447

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any policy within the children's hearings system in respect of cases not being brought to a panel hearing because the means of disposal, such as secure accommodation or fostering provision, is not available.

Question reference: S1W-27459

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected population is of the Peebles area for each of the next 10 years and whether such projections were taken into account when considering renovation or new build of the Peebles courthouse.

Population projections for areas smaller than council areas are not available. The latest, 2000 based, population projections up to the year 2016 for council areas within Scotland is published by the Registrar General in Table 1 of the booklet Population Projections, Scotland (2000 based). A copy of the booklet is available in the Parliament's Information Centre. This publication predicts a consistently decreasing population size for the Borders after 2003.Information on population trends was considered by the Scottish Court Service when examining the case for renovating Peebles Courthouse, but it was concluded did not materially affect the viability of Peebles Sheriff Courthouse.

Question reference: S1W-27252

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 31 July 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, applications which have qualified under its central heating installation programme have not yet had central heating installed, categorised by the month in which the application qualified in each of the last six months and broken down by local authority area.

In the period 1 January to 1 July 2002 there were a total of 5,301 applications for the central heating programme, as administered by Eaga. Four thousand, six hundred and fifty-nine of those applicants, or 88% of the total, are eligible for the programme. In the same period Eaga completed 3,651 central heating installations, of which 400 related to applications submitted after 1 January 2002. The remaining 3,251 installations related to applications submitted in 2001. Eaga do not collect figures on a local authority basis.

Question reference: S1W-27251

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 31 July 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time was under its central heating installation programme (a) between an application qualifying and being passed to the surveyor; (b) for an application being passed from the surveyor to the heating company and (c) from an application reaching the heating company to completion of work in the period from January to June 2002 inclusive, broken down by local authority area.

The terms of the question do not reflect the procedures under the central heating programme, as administered by Eaga. An application does not qualify until after a surveyor has visited the home to verify that the terms and conditions of the programme are met.When eligibility is confirmed, Eaga pass the applicant's details to a heating company. Details are generally passed on in the order in which applicants are confirmed as eligible. The period between determining eligibility and giving the applicant's name to a heating company will vary between parts of Scotland and over the duration of the programme. There are no figures by local authority area. When the heating company is authorised to proceed, the central heating is normally installed within three months.

Question reference: S1W-26127

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 30 July 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to extend the 50% rates relief scheme available to post offices in rural areas to those in deprived urban areas and which local authorities currently operate an additional 50% relief scheme for post offices in rural areas.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to extend the scope of the existing rural (village shop) rate relief scheme to post offices in deprived urban areas. Post offices in deprived urban areas may be eligible for rate relief under the small business rate relief scheme announced by Andy Kerr on 11 December 2001.The level of discretionary rate relief granted by local authorities under the rural (village shop) scheme is entirely a matter for each local authority. Information on the level of discretionary rate relief granted specifically to post offices by each local authority is not held centrally.

Question reference: S1W-26128

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 30 July 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to (a) ensure that the rules and applications for 50% rates relief for rural post offices are uniformly applied across Scotland and (b) establish a uniform definition of what constitutes a rural post office for the purposes of the scheme.

Responsibility for interpreting the legislative framework within which local authorities are required to operate rests with the individual authority and subsequently, where a ratepayer disagrees with that interpretation, the Courts.The Non Domestic Rating (Rural Areas and Rateable Values Limits) (Scotland) Order 1997 designates rural areas for the purposes of the rural (village shop) rate relief scheme. The method used is based on the General Register Office for Scotland post code method of urban/rural classification.

Question reference: S1W-26173

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2002
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 30 July 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reached any agreement with regard to a loan to Scottish Borders Council and, if so, whether it will detail the amount of the loan and any conditions attached to it.