Chamber and committees

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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-06652

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 23 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much non-domestic rating income (a) it calculated should be distributed to and (b) was collected by each local authority in each of the last five years.

The amounts of non-domestic rate income distributed to local authorities in each of the last five years, and collected by local authorities for years 1996-97 to 1998-99 are shown in the following table. Figures are not yet available for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 collections:

Council	1996-97		1997-98		1998-99
	Distributed	Collected	Distributed	Collected	Distributed	Collected
Aberdeen City	56,050,000	86,909,230	56,571,000	92,077,265	59,112,000	101,318,328
Aberdeenshire	57,834,000	44,835,817	58,484,000	45,794,645	61,879,000	49,466,288
Angus	28,589,000	17,881,385	28,856,000	17,667,960	30,141,000	19,568,920
Argyll & Bute	23,409,000	24,905,858	23,574,000	23,925,238	24,716,000	28,299,338
Clackmannanshire	12,497,000	10,409,625	12,604,000	10,604,813	13,280,000	10,495,047
Dumfries & Galloway	37,812,000	27,831,687	38,184,000	31,037,389	40,159,000	31,789,211
Dundee City	38,695,000	39,584,602	38,987,000	39,377,604	40,880,000	42,071,071
East Ayrshire	31,608,000	16,508,548	31,784,000	20,644,896	33,289,000	21,876,160
East Dunbartonshire	28,308,000	14,695,817	28,691,000	14,936,428	30,133,000	14,797,539
East Lothian	22,206,000	24,079,491	22,624,000	24,224,075	23,981,000	24,911,565
East Renfrewshire	22,314,000	9,699,357	22,758,000	8,102,884	23,965,000	10,126,348
Edinburgh, City of	113,487,000	169,526,631	115,545,000	179,348,233	122,123,000	186,151,389
Eilean Siar	7,498,000	4,482,845	7,497,000	4,636,830	7,858,000	4,632,944
Falkirk	36,464,000	45,196,145	36,867,000	41,533,242	38,918,000	44,466,106
Fife	90,079,000	99,952,162	90,774,000	93,983,725	95,038,000	101,297,014
Glasgow City	159,507,000	219,409,650	159,662,000	203,939,379	167,718,000	231,326,059
Highland	53,085,000	51,131,606	53,777,000	50,237,633	56,783,000	53,075,991
Inverclyde*	22,866,000	14,111,817	22,897,000	15,684,943	23,698,000	16,455,511
Midlothian	20,469,000	11,729,201	20,623,000	11,998,115	21,777,000	12,994,938
Moray	22,347,000	18,100,377	22,500,000	19,300,029	23,538,000	19,672,200
North Ayrshire	35,584,000	34,462,286	36,020,000	35,580,437	37,961,000	36,854,012
North Lanarkshire*	83,596,000	63,138,676	84,355,000	56,933,088	88,682,000	68,164,545
Orkney	5,068,000	5,962,906	5,130,000	5,639,008	5,387,000	6,209,691
Perth & Kinross	33,770,000	31,684,643	34,290,000	32,776,628	36,070,000	32,924,976
Renfrewshire*	45,318,000	43,513,331	46,042,000	44,499,634	48,580,000	46,023,557
Scottish Borders	27,042,000	16,299,596	27,418,000	17,340,330	28,868,000	18,548,281
Shetland	5,853,000	15,915,411	5,961,000	14,235,802	6,263,000	12,351,868
South Ayrshire	29,257,000	25,664,737	29,579,000	26,253,041	31,189,000	28,296,107
South Lanarkshire	78,671,000	63,847,135	79,367,000	57,732,714	83,651,000	69,496,242
Stirling	20,983,000	23,350,956	21,242,000	23,435,752	22,515,000	26,955,963
West Dunbartonshire*	24,857,000	20,572,119	24,859,000	22,853,790	26,054,000	22,396,416
West Lothian	37,912,000	36,658,220	38,607,000	40,843,193	41,022,000	44,096,478

* 1998-99 audited figures not yet available - figures based on most recent estimate of NDR collected by councils.

Council	1999-2000	2000-01
	Distributed	Distributed
Aberdeen City	60,723,000	69,193,000
Aberdeenshire	63,678,000	73,477,000
Angus	30,998,000	35,745,000
Argyll & Bute	25,464,000	29,221,000
Clackmannanshire	13,726,000	15,770,000
Dumfries & Galloway	41,423,000	47,835,000
Dundee City	41,879,000	47,637,000
East Ayrshire	34,266,000	39,391,000
East Dunbartonshire	31,178,000	35,582,000
East Lothian	25,028,000	29,087,000
East Renfrewshire	24,916,000	28,571,000
Edinburgh, City of	126,547,000	146,193,000
Eilean Siar	7,942,000	9,073,000
Falkirk	40,273,000	46,799,000
Fife	97,975,000	113,303,000
Glasgow City	172,008,000	201,238,000
Highland	58,661,000	67,644,000
Inverclyde	24,325,000	27,733,000
Midlothian	22,688,000	26,259,000
Moray	24,193,000	27,886,000
North Ayrshire	39,308,000	45,354,000
North Lanarkshire	91,822,000	106,100,000
Orkney	5,579,000	6,349,000
Perth & Kinross	37,472,000	43,204,000
Renfrewshire	50,129,000	57,749,000
Scottish Borders	29,865,000	34,520,000
Shetland	6,474,000	7,440,000
South Ayrshire	32,303,000	37,164,000
South Lanarkshire	86,431,000	99,651,000
Stirling	23,504,000	29,996,000
West Dunbartonshire	26,909,000	30,812,000
West Lothian	42,835,000	49,715,000

Question reference: S1W-06421

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 22 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, if it established a Highlands and Islands transport authority, it would be possible to enable it to purchase petrol and diesel for resale to motor vehicle users in the Highlands and Islands; if so, whether it would give the authority such a function and what budget it would make available to enable the authority to fulfil this function.

Question reference: S1W-06653

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 22 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government about the bringing into force of legislation shielding personal pensions from vesting in the event of the policy holder becoming bankrupt, and how many people in Scotland it estimates will lose their personal pensions between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2001 if such legislation is not brought into place by the end of that year.

Question reference: S1W-01650

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 22 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the future of British Waterways in Scotland, and whether it has any plans to change the role of (a) the board of management of British Waterways and (b) British Waterways as they affect Scotland.

I would refer to my answer to question S1W-1652. It is proposed that British Waterways (BW) should continue to manage, subject to satisfactory performance, the Scottish canal network as it does at present and that, subject to the agreement of the Scottish and Westminster Parliaments, a number of new and distinctive features will be introduced to ensure appropriate accountability to the Scottish Executive in its future role as Government sponsor of BW's activities in Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-06471

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 19 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that there is no decrease in the 2000-01 budget for Highlands and Island Enterprise and that there is a real terms increase in its budget of the same percentage as that for Scottish Enterprise and on what grounds Scottish Enterprise will receive a real term budget increase while Highlands and Islands Enterprise will receive a decrease.

The grant-in-aid allocated to Highlands and Islands Enterprise for financial year 2000-01 amounts to £66.761 million. This represents an increase of £1.371 million over the equivalent figure for 1999-2000.

Decisions on Highlands and Islands Enterprise's and Scottish Enterprise's budgets are considered separately and in response to their respective functions and needs. The budgets are kept under constant review.

Question reference: S1W-06608

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will (a) consider introducing any measures to regulate the ownership of land, in particular large landed estates owned by non-residents and (b) consider a requirement on such non-resident landowners based in a foreign jurisdiction to appoint a mandatory to represent their interests locally.

The matter of principal importance as regards ownership of land by non-residents, as for resident owners, is that ownership should be exercised responsibly. Rather than regulate the ownership of land, we think it better to set out the standards we expect in the Code of Good Practice on Rural Landownership which we intend to publish later in the year. The matter of local representation will also be addressed in the code.

Question reference: S1W-06610

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the reduced availability of private sector housing grants within Highland Council area has had upon the quantity of stock in that sector and how many houses it estimates would have received grants had the total sum spent been maintained in real terms at the 1995-96 level in each subsequent year.

The vast majority of private sector grants are for the improvement or repair of existing houses. It is therefore unlikely that their availability has much bearing on the quantity of stock in the private sector. The amount of grant payable depends on the nature of the works and so can vary considerably between cases. It is therefore not possible to make an estimate of grants which Highland Council might have awarded since 1 April 1996 had the budget for the years concerned been as described.

Question reference: S1W-06546

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered compensating sufferers of organophosphate poisoning who became ill after complying with compulsory dipping orders.

Question reference: S1W-06609

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much non-domestic rating income it estimates each local authority is due to receive in financial year 2000-01.

The amount of non-domestic rate income expected to be distributed to each local authority in 2000-01 is shown in the following table.

Council	Distributable Amount of Non-Domestic Rate Income
	£ million
Aberdeen City	69.193
Aberdeenshire	73.477
Angus	35.745
Argyll & Bute	29.221
Clackmannanshire	15.770
Dumfries & Galloway	47.835
Dundee City	47.637
East Ayrshire	39.391
East Dunbartonshire	35.582
East Lothian	29.087
East Renfrewshire	28.571
Edinburgh, City of	146.193
Eilean Siar	9.073
Falkirk	46.799
Fife	113.303
Glasgow City	201.238
Highland	67.644
Inverclyde	27.733
Midlothian	26.259
Moray	27.886
North Ayrshire	45.354
North Lanarkshire	106.100
Orkney	6.349
Perth & Kinross	43.204
Renfrewshire	57.749
Scottish Borders	34.520
Shetland	7.440
South Ayrshire	37.164
South Lanarkshire	99.651
Stirling	26.996
West Dunbartonshire	30.812
West Lothian	49.715

Question reference: S1W-06611

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 May 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much traffic uses the A82 from Tarbet to North of Inverarnan on a daily basis; whether this stretch of the A82 is in need of improvement to the same standard as the section of the A82 lying between Balloch and Tarbet and what impact it anticipates the passage of the National Parks (Scotland) Bill and the designation of inter alia this section of the A82 as lying within a National Park area will have upon the prospects for such improvement.

The average daily traffic flow on the A82 trunk road between Tarbet and north of Inverarnan is 3,000 vehicles compared to 12,000 vehicles between Balloch and Tarbet. The Scottish Executive is aware that the section between Tarbet and north of Inverarnan requires upgrading and has included two improvement schemes on this section within the current three-year road improvement programme.

National Parks are to be designated as "Statutory Consultees" on matters relating to roads and traffic management. In this way they will be invited to comment on any road matters within their area.