- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7855 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 May 2004, why it does not set targets for those they expect to be in full-time employment upon completion of their modern apprenticeship scheme and, in the absence of such targets, how it measures the success of the scheme.
Answer
We have set targets for the numberof modern apprentices in training and we are currently working with the enterprisenetworks to set targets for completion of the MA programme.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5676 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 January 2004, at what stage the review of its Diversity Strategy is and, if the review is complete, what its findings were.
Answer
The review of the Executive’sDiversity Strategy Positive about You has now been completed. It confirmsthat much of its five year programme of work has been achieved and that, generally,good progress has been made towards the targets set for under-represented groups.However, we recognise that further progress can still be made, and a new DiversityStrategy is currently under consideration.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5676 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 January 2004, at what stage the review of its policy for all Scottish Executive staff retiring at 60 is and, if the review is complete, what its findings were.
Answer
The policy review of all Scottish Executive staff retiring at the age of 60 is on-going. We are considering both issuesrelated to age and also what further steps we might take as an organisation in helpingour staff, who are approaching retirement age, prepare for their retirement.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for newly qualified nurses in each NHS board area.
Answer
Information on all nursingvacancies is held centrally, however, this does not differentiate thosevacancies suitable for newly qualified nurses.
NHS employers remainresponsible for the recruitment and selection procedure within their localarea.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for newly-qualified paediatric nurses in each NHS board area.
Answer
Information on all nursingvacancies is held centrally, however this does not differentiate thosevacancies suitable for newly qualified paediatric nurses.
NHS employers remainresponsible for the recruitment and selection procedure within their localarea.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the revision of gross domestic product (GDP) and gross value added (GVA) figures has on its estimates of government expenditure and revenue in Scotland for the period covered by the GDP/GVA revisions.
Answer
The GVA figures used in Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) are those published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which are used to apportion certain items to Scotland based on share of UK GVA.
New estimates of regional GVA were published by ONS on 30th April this year. A comparison of the Scottish percentage of UK GVA derived from the previous publication in August 2003 (used in the latest GERS calculations) with these latest ONS figures is shown in the table below. This shows that the revisions are very small, and will not have a significant effect on the estimates in GERS.
Scottish GVA as a Percentage of UK, 1995–2002
| | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| August 03 publication | 9.05% | 8.96% | 8.82% | 8.64% | 8.50% | 8.42% | 8.31% | |
| April 04 publication | 9.06% | 8.96% | 8.81% | 8.62% | 8.50% | 8.41% | 8.28% | 8.26% |
Source: ONS
A full analysis for the most recent five years based on the most up-to-date information, including the most recent ONS GVA estimates, will be given in the GERS publication in December 2004.
As stated in answers to S2W-6394 and S2W-6395 on 29 April 2004, the revisions to the Scottish Executive GDP index are not relevant as they are not used in the GERS analysis.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4485 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 December 2003, what Scottish GDP would currently be had it increased at the same rate as the UK average since 1997, using the revised version of GDP.
Answer
Based on the latest data availablefrom the Office for National Statistics for the value of Scottish Gross Value Added(GVA), if Scottish growth had matched the UK average (excluding extra-regio) between 1997 and 2002,the estimated level of Scottish GVA in 2002 would have been £77.9 billion.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 26 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7853 by Lewis Macdonald on 11 May 2004, how much the research project awarded to DTZ Pieda Consulting and the Science, Technology and Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex will cost.
Answer
The total cost of the contractawarded to DTZ Pieda Consulting and the Science, Technology and Policy ResearchUnit at the University of Sussex for this research was £50,115 excluding VAT.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5794 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 February 2004, whether any information has been made available to the US authorities in connection with visa applications on an indirect basis.
Answer
Neither the Scottish Executive nor the Scottish Criminal Record Office makes available either directlyor indirectly information to the US authorities in connection with visa applications. Asindicated, however, in the answer I gave to question S2W‑5794, individualsmay obtain information about themselves under the Police Act 1997 and the Data ProtectionAct 1998. The individuals concerned do not need to state the purpose for which theinformation is required. Some may require it for visa purposes and the informationmay be passed on by the individuals to the US authorities in that connection.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many members of staff are employed by Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for undertaking its responsibilities as outlined in its contract with the Scottish Prison Service.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
In a contract which is outputbased, the question of how many members of staff are employed is an operationalmatter for the contractor. As a result, the requirement is that Reliance ensuresthat staffing levels are appropriate at all times for the full range of duties setout in the contract.
