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: S2W-02946

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were offered severance payment, or given the option to work for the Care Commission, when it was set up; what percentage of these accepted severance payments, and what the total cost to the Executive and local authorities was of such payments.

In January 2002, the Scottish Executive offered a severance payment or continued employment with the Care Commissionto all employees of local authority and health board registration and inspectionunits (R&I) who met the following criteria:

1. Any employee who spent 50%or more of their time on registration and inspection duties.

2. Any employee on a temporarycontract or secondment to an R&I unit, even if their contract or secondmentexpired on 31 March 2002, provided they spent 50% or more of their time on R&Iduties.

3. Any employee on secondmentfrom an R&I unit, provided they were spending 50% or more of their time on R&Iduties before their secondment.

4. Any employee who fell belowthe 50% criteria before 1 April 2002 as a result of being transferred to other duties, providedthey spent 50% or more of their time on R&I duties on or after 31 March 2000.

No staff who joined the commission,as distinct from being transferred into it, were eligible for the severance scheme.

The offer of a severance paymentfor those who chose not to transfer to or remain with the Care Commission was openuntil 30 September 2002. Severance payments consisted of a one-off lump sum calculatedon the basis of the number of years completed service and annual salary.

Four hundred and forty-one localauthority and health board staff fell within the criteria above. Twenty-two of themtook up the offer of severance before the commission became operational on 1 April 2002. The remaining419 were listed in the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care(Staff Transfer Scheme) Order 2002 as transferring to the commission. Three of thesestaff subsequently took up the severance offer before transferring, and 17 remainedwith their local authority or health board. Three hundred and ninety-nine stafftransferred to the commission. One hundred and twenty of those staff took up theoffer between 1 April 2002 and the cut-off date of 30 September 2002. By definition,all of those 120 staff had served with the commission itself for six months or less,although they of course had previous service with their local authority or healthboard. In total, 145 of the 441 eligible staff (33%) took up the offer of severance.

The cost to the Executive ofseverance payments was £3.5 million.

Question reference: S2W-02788

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it submitted any evidence or had any research input into the Chancellor of the Exchequer's assessment of the five economic tests for UK membership of the euro, and, if so, whether it will made copies of its submission, available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Question reference: S2W-02770

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 8 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is using to assess the effectiveness of its efforts to reduce social deprivation; what targets it has set for each of these measures, and what action it is taking to achieve them, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.

The Executive measures progressagainst the 29 social justice milestones as reported in the Social Justice AnnualReport 2002, which can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/emsjm-00.asp. Many of these measures can only be achieved in the longterm.

More detailed shorter term targetsacross ministerial portfolios are contained within The Scottish Executive Draft Budget 2004-05, which can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/db05-00.asp.

There is a large range of activitiesin A Partnership for a Better Scotland that will address both the milestonesand budget targets. For example, plans to introduce financial support for all 16-to 19-year-olds from low income families, to allow them to continue their education.

Question reference: S2W-02948

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 8 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it, or any of its agencies, has received any requests in respect of the disposal of toxic waste from ships in Teesside.

Members of the Scottish Parliamentand others have raised concerns about the possible transit of vessels from the US to Teessideto be scrapped. The Scottish Executive has not, however, had any requests concerningthe disposal of toxic waste arising from ships on Teesside. We further understandthat neither Fisheries Research Services nor the Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency have received any such requests.

Question reference: S2W-02791

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made, or will make, available an assessment of whether there is sufficient flexibility within the Scottish economy to deal with issues arising from any asymmetric economic shocks resulting from UK membership of the euro.

Question reference: S2W-02769

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive by how much (a) business start-up rates, (b) business research and development expenditure, (c) manufacturing capital expenditure, (d) business investment per employee and (e) employment rates will have to grow to achieve the same rate as the UK average by 2006.

(a) Business start-up ratesare expressed as the number of new VAT registrations per 10,000 of the adultpopulation. VAT registrations are published annually by the Department forTrade and Industry; the latest figures are for 2001. To reach the current UK rate by2006, the Scottish rate would have to grow by 5.7% per annum between 2001 and2006.

(b)Business research and development (R&D) expenditure is published annuallyby the Office for National Statistics, the latest figures relate to R&Dundertaken during 2001. Converting this again to a rate per adult shows that anincrease of 17% per annum between 2001 and 2006 would be required for Scotland toreach the current UK level by 2006.

(c)Net capital expenditure in the manufacturing sector is published for 2001 bythe Office for National Statistics. As the rate of capital expenditure inmanufacturing per adult is already higher in Scotland no increase isrequired for Scotland to reach the current UK rate by 2006.

(d)The latest data on Scottish business investment (Gross Fixed Capital Formation)is for 1995. The Office for National Statistics intend to publish moreup-to-date figures later this year.

(e) The employment rate fromthe latest ONS Labour Force Survey relates to the three months to July 2003. Toreach the current UK rate by 2006 an increase by 0.03% would be requiredannually during the three years 2003 to 2006.

Question reference: S2W-02792

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made, or will make, an assessment of the likely impact of UK membership of the euro on foreign investment into Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02785

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an assessment of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's five economic tests regarding the impact that UK membership of the euro would have on the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S2W-02787

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact UK entry to the euro would have on the levels of growth, employment and investment in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02786

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact UK entry to the euro would have on the competitive position of Scotland's financial services industry.