- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28167 by Mr Tom McCabe on 20 September 2006, how many people are employed by the Relocation Advisory Service.
Answer
At the time of its launch inlate October 2005, the Relocation Advisory Service had six people, includingtwo immigration specialists seconded from the Home Office and Immigration AdvisoryService.
The staff numbers in the RelocationAdvisory Service have increased since the initial launch to incorporate a businessunit which provides information and advice to Scottish employers. An additional2.5 staff have been recruited/seconded to the business unit (including a full-timesecondee from Scottish Enterprise and a part-time secondee in partnership with Highlandsand Islands Enterprise). This means that the Relocation Advisory Service currentlyhas 8.5 members of staff.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28167 by Mr Tom McCabe on 20 September 2006, what the total expenditure has been on the Relocation Advisory Service.
Answer
With regard to the followingcosts; the initial start up phase of the Relocation Advisory Service incurred someone-off set-up costs, and there are on-going costs relating to the day to day provisionof the service:
One-Off Costs
Developing the software for theRelocation Advisory Service to support delivery of the service by face to face meeting,phone and email
Developing the information packsto support provision of the service (e.g. information on all aspects of living andworking in Scotland)
Developing the staff trainingmanuals
On-Going Costs
Staff costs
Support and maintenance of thesoftware
Use of Language Line to enablesimultaneous translation of customer enquiries
Use of NARIC to match internationalqualifications to UK equivalent.
The higher costs in the firstyears reflect the inclusion of these one-off costs.
2004-05 = £504,676.95
2005-06 = £300,577.85
2006- end of September 2006 =£135,922.09.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28167 by Mr Tom McCabe on 20 September 2006, on what issues the Relocation Advisory Service offers advice.
Answer
The advice which the RelocationAdvisory Service (RAS) offers covers all aspects of living, working, studying anddoing business in Scotland, including how to find a job, the immigration and workpermits process, finding accommodation, accessing education, health care, how tobe self-employed, etc. In addition, RAS can offer businesses advice on employingstudents and workers, from both the EU and outwith the EU. RAS will attempt to helpwith any enquiry from anyone interested in living, working and studying in Scotland.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional revenue would be raised if empty properties were subject to council tax payments.
Answer
At 4 September 2006 there were 103,105dwellings exempt from council tax liability, of which 44,339 were classed as unoccupied.
Categories of unoccupied dwellingsinclude new properties not yet occupied, dwellings under repair, dwellings withdeceased owners, dwellings awaiting demolition etc.
No information, however, is held centrally regarding what revenue would be generated should these properties be subjectto council tax payments.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional revenue would be raised if the council tax on second homes was paid in full with no discount.
Answer
The additional revenue that wouldbe raised if there was no second homes discount is estimated to be £5.2 millionfor 2006-07.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered merging the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Learning and Teaching Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Qualifications Authorityand Learning and Teaching Scotland have distinctly different roles to perform butcollaborate closely on key issues and increasingly share services through the co-locationof their offices in Glasgow. Ministers have no plans to merge the two bodies.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses it has received to its consultation on the future position of Careers Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has received144 responses to its consultation on the future position of Careers Scotland.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total intake of students to medical schools has been in each year since 1997 and how many of these students graduated with a medical degree.
Answer
The numbers of students entering first degree courses in pre-clinical medicine at Scottish Higher Education Institutions and the number of students graduating from first degree level courses in clinical medicine at Scottish Higher Education Institutions are given in the following tables for the years 1997-98 to 2004-05. Graduates who had transferred from St Andrews to Manchester University are included for the years 2002-03 to 2004-05.
Entrants to First Degree Pre-Clinical Medicine Courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions, 1997-98 to 2004-05.
| Year of Entry | Number of Entrants |
| 1997-98 | 955 |
| 1998-99 | 965 |
| 1999-2000 | 900 |
| 2000-01 | 920 |
| 2001-02 | 925 |
| 2002-03 | 975 |
| 2003-04 | 1045 |
| 2004-05 | 1060 |
Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Note:
1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five to protect confidentiality.
2. Numbers relate to entrants at first degree level.
Graduates of first degree clinical medicine courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions, 1997-98 to 2004-05 (including transfers to Manchester for 2002-03 to 2004-05).
| Year of Graduation | Number of Graduates |
| 1997-98 | 720 |
| 1998-99 | 745 |
| 1999-00 | 735 |
| 2000-01 | 680 |
| 2001-02 | 800 |
| 2002-03* | 840 |
| 2003-04* | 875 |
| 2004-05* | 920 |
Sources: Higher Education Statistics Agency and (*) Manchester University for 2002-03 to 2004-05 only.
Note:
1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five to protect confidentiality.
2. Numbers relate to graduates at first degree level.
The data reported above contains entrants from St Andrews University each year.
Students who enter pre-clinical medicine courses at St Andrews University will traditionally complete their clinical medicine course at Manchester University – although they are free to continue elsewhere. The graduate data reported above from 2002-03 onwards contains graduates from Manchester University that originally studied pre-clinical medicine at St Andrews University. This information was provided by Manchester University.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what programmes and services its Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department delivers directly and what the current annual budget is for each.
Answer
The following table details theprogrammes and services of the Enterprise Transport and Lifelong Learning Departmentwhich it will deliver directly in 2006-07.
| Budget Heading | Purpose | 2006-07 Budget (£000) |
| Regional Selective Assistance | The Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) scheme contributes directly to the Executive’s aim of raising the long-term sustainable growth rate of the Scottish economy through encouraging investment projects which improve productivity, increase competitiveness and support employment in the assisted areas. In 2006-07 it is planned that accepted RSA offers will lead to the creation and safeguarding of 6,000 jobs in relatively underperforming parts of Scotland helping to improve business performance and close the opportunity gap in employment in these areas. | 45,209 |
| Innovation Support | Innovation Support is largely delivered via the SMART/SPUR grant scheme, which helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to improve their competitiveness by supporting early stage research and development of innovative products/processes. The remainder of the budget assists with a variety of other innovation initiatives with a national dimension; These include the SCORE (SME Collaborative Research) grants to support R&D projects, jointly undertaken between SMEs and public sector research bodies; the SEEKIT (Scottish Executive Expertise, Knowledge and Innovation Transfer) programme, for projects that improve the ability of Scotland’s science base to work with business, and support for companies in marketing and product launch. | 12,599 |
| Energy Efficiency | In the Executive’s continued commitment to lowering carbon emissions within the public sector, the Energy Efficiency Unit will provide £1.43m in 2006/7 to Scottish local authorities as a part of the Central Energy Efficiency Fund, which has been running since December 2004. | 1,430 |
| Renewable Energy | The Executive is committed to promoting a wide range of renewable energy technologies, and has set a target that 40% of Scotland’s electricity should come from renewable sources by 2020. The bulk of that spend is delivered on our behalf, e.g. the Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative and continued support for the European Marine Energy Centre on Orkney. A direct grant of £400,000 is being made this year towards the cost of installing a biomass boiler at Queen Margaret University. | 400 |
| Green Jobs | As part of their commitment to developing renewables, Ministers have made clear their wish to support as diverse a range of technologies as possible; this will help Scotland obtain the maximum economic potential from these sectors, particularly in the manufacture, installation and export of the components and technologies in question. In 2006, this will include grant expenditure of over £2.5 million towards Talisman Energy’s deepwater offshore wind demonstrator in the Moray Firth. | 2,650 |
| European Regional Structural Funds -European Regional Development Fund -European Social Fund | Grants are issued to recipients from both the public and voluntary sectors for projects that have been approved by Scottish Ministers, following consideration by the partnership-based appraisal structures, under the supervision of the Programme Monitoring Committees, to make sure that they meet the criteria of the programmes. | 103,216 67,083 |
| Freight Grant Scheme | The Scottish Executive operates four freight grant schemes aimed at making transport more sustainable:- the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG), Waterborne Freight Grant (WFG), Track Access Grant (TAG) and the Company Neutral Revenue Support Grant (CNRS) schemes. They all support the partnership agreement commitment of encouraging the transfer of freight from road to rail and/or water and are based on the generation of environmental benefits by companies transferring freight from the road. FFG contributes to the capital costs of equipment and facilities for rail, inland waterway and sea freight. WFG assists with the operating costs of shipping projects and is aimed at new waterborne traffic but is also available to current operations where without WFG support freight will revert to road. TAG provides revenue support to offset track access charges on the rail network. CNRS provides revenue assistance for intermodal freight by rail, such as containers to and from sea ports, and goods moved between inland rail terminals. | 13,900 |
| Road Safety Scotland | Road Safety Scotland produces national road safety education resources, many for use in schools, and national publicity messages aimed at various groups. Education resources are distributed to schools and other target groups through local authority and police Road Safety Units, whose function is to undertake road safety education and publicity at local level. | 1,766 |
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive why, when and by whom the decision to appoint a civil servant as the Chief Scientific Adviser was taken.
Answer
The decision to create this postwas taken by the Executive’s Management Group and followed consultation with theChair of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee and the President of the RoyalSociety of Edinburgh. The Permanent Secretary notified ministers of this decisionon 4 August 2005, and the post was openly advertised on 25 November. Applicationswere invited from practising scientists or technologists of international reputation,who would be required to maintain active links with the research community onceappointed. Professor Anne Glover was appointed after the standard boarding processon a four year secondment from Aberdeen University and she took up post on 1 August.The creation of this post within the Scottish Executive will enable the ScottishExecutive to develop and implement its science strategy more effectively. The rolewill involve co-ordinating and strengthening the management of science across theExecutive’s Departments; enhancing the use of science in policy making; developingbetter links with Whitehall science; developing the science profession within theExecutive, and championing and promoting science across Scotland.
