Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-01598

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 14 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-568 by Mr Andy Kerr on 12 June 2003, how much non-domestic rates income was received from public sector bodies and what proportion of total non-domestic rates income this represented in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-01414

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 13 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-530 by Ross Finnie on 10 June 2003, whether a decision will be announced during the parliamentary recess regarding technical conservation measures for scallops; whether the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will meet with representatives of the Scallop Association to discuss the impact a weekend ban would have on the scallop industry, and which officials within the Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department have lead responsibility for taking this policy forward.

The Scottish Executive announced a decision on scallop technical conservation on 3 July 2003. The announcement included an undertaking to conduct a study into the potential economic impact of a weekend ban on the scallop industry and all key stakeholders, including the Scallop Association, will have the opportunity to be fully involved in the study. A decision on whether to introduce a weekend ban will be taken after that work is complete.Lead responsibility for taking this policy forward rests with ministers, supported as necessary by a range of officials.

Question reference: S2W-01464

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 7 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether BEAR Scotland has adequately performed its obligations in respect of the management of the millennium cycle route from Drumochter to Dalwhinnie; whether the trunk road maintenance contract provides adequate management of this route; what powers it has to direct BEAR Scotland to carry out additional work on the route, and whether it has used, or plans to use, any such powers.

The trunk road maintenance contracts specify the level of inspection and maintenance required to be undertaken by the operating companies in respect of cycleways. The Scottish Executive believes these requirements to be adequate having due regard to usage and value for money.The contracts require an annual detailed inspection to be carried out on cycleways, with defects recorded from those inspections forming the basis of prioritised planned programmes of work.The performance of all trunk road operators, including BEAR Scotland Ltd, is independently monitored against their contractual obligations by the performance audit group. BEAR Scotland Ltd has managed the Millennium Cycle Route between Drumochter and Dalwhinnie under the terms of the contract.The Scottish Executive has powers to instruct BEAR Scotland Ltd to carry out additional work on cycleways. The Executive has not used and has no plans to use these powers in relation to the cycle route.

Question reference: S2W-01481

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 7 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households are liable to pay council tax for 2003-04 in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area, broken down by council tax band.

The number of households liable to pay council tax for 2003-04 in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area, broken down by council tax band is given in the following table. This is the number of properties on the valuation list on 2 September 2002, the latest date that information is available.Number of Chargeable Dwellings on the Valuation List on 2 September 2002

	Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H	Total
Scotland	547,337	560,957	352,324	271,614	275,437	138,227	91,926	10,181	2,248,003
Aberdeen City	19,584	25,647	16,373	10,287	12,325	7,222	6,453	668	98,559
Aberdeenshire	19,855	15,002	12,645	14,634	16,647	10,104	6,423	399	95,709
Angus	14,719	11,885	6,278	7,120	6,041	2,035	1,005	127	49,210
Argyll and Bute	7,735	9,256	8,629	5,321	6,370	3,354	2,238	201	43,104
Clackmannanshire	6,146	6,871	1,702	2,102	2,416	1,003	577	33	20,850
Dumfries and Galloway	10,817	21,967	10,330	8,671	8,814	3,759	1,795	144	66,297
Dundee City	28,721	15,524	6,786	7,250	5,226	1,664	754	32	65,957
East Ayrshire	26,393	9,294	4,049	5,073	4,885	2,128	414	34	52,270
East Dunbartonshire	1,269	3,686	7,835	6,894	10,599	6,163	5,496	461	42,403
East Lothian	1,124	8,954	13,344	4,754	4,835	3,266	2,766	456	39,499
East Renfrewshire	1,272	4,986	3,786	5,728	7,881	5,741	5,544	655	35,593
Edinburgh, City of	23,392	43,048	38,051	29,873	31,164	20,030	17,648	3,056	206,262
Eilean Siar	4,464	3,478	2,566	1,368	719	118	27	4	12,744
Falkirk	21,945	18,452	5,650	7,157	6,932	2,959	1,174	43	64,312
Fife	40,699	46,598	18,975	16,001	18,530	8,660	4,515	327	154,305
Glasgow City	73,519	70,429	56,692	32,203	21,294	7,909	4,701	582	267,329
Highland	18,915	21,720	19,305	14,655	14,105	6,030	2,817	285	97,832
Inverclyde	21,641	4,674	2,684	2,669	3,070	1,549	1,168	161	37,616
Midlothian	957	11,567	9,505	3,772	3,835	1,833	1,171	144	32,784
Moray	11,402	9,112	5,247	4,805	4,121	1,326	461	51	36,525
North Ayrshire	21,335	18,010	5,860	5,735	7,486	2,390	947	44	61,807
North Lanarkshire	53,177	35,812	16,119	12,766	11,924	4,267	1,571	65	135,701
Orkney Islands	2,505	2,545	1,777	1,337	812	157	16	2	9,151
Perth and Kinross	8,784	14,325	10,090	8,599	10,036	5,549	3,973	512	61,868
Renfrewshire	14,299	24,941	11,773	9,001	9,285	5,019	2,808	187	77,313
Scottish Borders	15,658	12,150	5,940	4,928	5,147	3,396	2,656	343	50,218
Shetland Islands	3,015	1,657	2,402	1,419	904	156	34	1	9,588
South Ayrshire	7,063	12,132	7,920	7,446	8,702	4,173	2,551	214	50,201
South Lanarkshire	35,895	28,603	22,019	16,170	14,778	7,147	4,021	289	128,922
Stirling	6,174	7,996	3,628	3,538	5,398	4,330	4,019	524	35,607
West Dunbartonshire	7,920	17,077	7,112	4,175	4,289	1,264	439	24	42,300
West Lothian	16,943	23,559	7,252	6,163	6,867	3,526	1,744	113	66,167

Note:Source: As reported by local authorities on statistical return CTAXBASE (02)

Question reference: S2W-01480

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 7 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average council tax bill is for 2003-04 in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area, broken down by council tax band.

Council tax by band for each local authority, and the average for Scotland, is given in the following table. This is before the effect of any exemptions, disregarded adults, reductions for disabled band relief, discounts or council tax benefit.Council Tax by Band 2003-04

Council	Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H
Ratio to Band D	6/9	7/9	8/9	1	11/9	13/9	15/9	18/9
	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s
Scotland Average	672.78	784.92	897.05	1,009.18	1,233.44	1,457.70	1,681.96	2,018.35
Aberdeen City	680.04	793.38	906.72	1,020.06	1,246.74	1,473.42	1,700.10	2,040.12
Aberdeenshire	644.00	751.33	858.67	966.00	1,180.67	1,395.33	1,610.00	1,932.00
Angus	622.00	725.67	829.33	933.00	1,140.33	1,347.67	1,555.00	1,866.00
Argyll and Bute	689.33	804.22	919.11	1,034.00	1,263.78	1,493.56	1,723.33	2,068.00
Clackmannanshire	663.33	773.89	884.44	995.00	1,216.11	1,437.22	1,658.33	1,990.00
Dumfries and Galloway	620.67	724.11	827.56	931.00	1,137.89	1,344.78	1,551.67	1,862.00
Dundee City	726.00	847.00	968.00	1,089.00	1,331.00	1,573.00	1,815.00	2,178.00
East Ayrshire	676.20	788.90	901.60	1,014.30	1,239.70	1,465.10	1,690.50	2,028.60
East Dunbartonshire	644.24	751.61	858.99	966.36	1,181.11	1,395.85	1,610.60	1,932.72
East Lothian	662.10	772.45	882.80	993.15	1,213.85	1,434.55	1,655.25	1,986.30
East Renfrewshire	636.67	742.78	848.89	955.00	1,167.22	1,379.44	1,591.67	1,910.00
Edinburgh, City of	694.00	809.67	925.33	1,041.00	1,272.33	1,503.67	1,735.00	2,082.00
Eilean Siar	578.00	674.33	770.67	867.00	1,059.67	1,252.33	1,445.00	1,734.00
Falkirk	604.00	704.67	805.33	906.00	1,107.33	1,308.67	1,510.00	1,812.00
Fife	654.00	763.00	872.00	981.00	1,199.00	1,417.00	1,635.00	1,962.00
Glasgow City	775.33	904.56	1,033.78	1,163.00	1,421.44	1,679.89	1,938.33	2,326.00
Highland	659.33	769.22	879.11	989.00	1,208.78	1,428.56	1,648.33	1,978.00
Inverclyde	726.00	847.00	968.00	1,089.00	1,331.00	1,573.00	1,815.00	2,178.00
Midlothian	714.67	833.78	952.89	1,072.00	1,310.22	1,548.44	1,786.67	2,144.00
Moray	604.93	705.76	806.58	907.40	1,109.04	1,310.69	1,512.33	1,814.80
North Ayrshire	651.33	759.89	868.44	977.00	1,194.11	1,411.22	1,628.33	1,954.00
North Lanarkshire	648.00	756.00	864.00	972.00	1,188.00	1,404.00	1,620.00	1,944.00
Orkney Islands	600.00	700.00	800.00	900.00	1,100.00	1,300.00	1,500.00	1,800.00
Perth and Kinross	655.33	764.56	873.78	983.00	1,201.44	1,419.89	1,638.33	1,966.00
Renfrewshire	658.67	768.44	878.22	988.00	1,207.56	1,427.11	1,646.67	1,976.00
Scottish Borders	623.33	727.22	831.11	935.00	1,142.78	1,350.56	1,558.33	1,870.00
Shetland Islands	582.00	679.00	776.00	873.00	1,067.00	1,261.00	1,455.00	1,746.00
South Ayrshire	642.67	749.78	856.89	964.00	1,178.22	1,392.44	1,606.67	1,928.00
South Lanarkshire	647.33	755.22	863.11	971.00	1,186.78	1,402.56	1,618.33	1,942.00
Stirling	708.00	826.00	944.00	1,062.00	1,298.00	1,534.00	1,770.00	2,124.00
West Dunbartonshire	713.33	832.22	951.11	1,070.00	1,307.78	1,545.56	1,783.33	2,140.00
West Lothian	656.00	765.33	874.67	984.00	1,202.67	1,421.33	1,640.00	1,968.00

Note:Source: As reported by councils on the statistical return, Council Tax Assumptions 2003. Council Tax based on a household with 2 or more adults, excluding water and sewerage charge

Question reference: S2W-00919

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make public the minutes of its cabinet meetings during the first session of the Parliament and all background papers relating to the decision to relocate the headquarters of Scottish Natural Heritage from Edinburgh to Inverness; what the reasons are for its position on this matter; what powers it has, where there are matters of public interest, to publish documents that would normally be kept confidential, and under what circumstances it would use any such powers

The Executive is committed to the release of factual information that informs ministerial decisions. Accordingly, the Executive's refinement and analysis of the discounted costs of the various relocation options identified in the DTZ Pieda study was placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre on 20 March (Bib number 27058).All decisions on whether to publish documents are taken in line with the provisions of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information. The general approach under the code is that information will be released except in cases where disclosure would not be in the public interest. The proceedings of the Scottish cabinet are exempt from disclosure under Part 2 of the Code. This is in line with the longstanding principle that it is not in the public interest to disclose private deliberations of government as disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Question reference: S2W-01315

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 31 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer how many of the 456 design drawings supplied by Flour City in respect of the contract for the MSP block have been used without any alteration by the contractors subsequently appointed to carry out the works.

The design work undertaken by Flour City has provided an important basis upon which further design requirements have been built. I understand that a separate audit, to properly determine the extent of alterations which may have been made to the design work, cannot be carried out at this stage. Such an audit would divert much needed resources onto a non-productive task, to the detriment of the construction programme, with significant cost implications.

Question reference: S2W-01318

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer, with regard to paragraph 19 of The 2001/02 Audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by the Auditor General for Scotland, what companies other than Flour City were assessed; what points each such company scored, and, if it is not possible to disclose the names of the companies, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give the scores awarded to them.

Question reference: S2W-01312

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre unpriced copies of any contract documents between the Parliament and Bovis Lend Lease in respect of the Holyrood building project that existed before the signing of the main contract document in October 1999, including documents relating to the appointment of Bovis Lend Lease in January 1999.

Question reference: S2W-01320

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the decision not to publish documentation in relation to the Holyrood building project on the grounds of commercial confidentiality will now be reviewed and whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give precise details of the legal basis of the decision.

Chamber and committees