- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 26 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses are projected to be (a) built and (b) renovated in each local authority area in the (i) private and (ii) social rented sector in the next five years.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not hold or compile projections of new building or renovation for the private sector. The table shows the planned number of approvals for new and improved houses for social rent or low cost home ownership funded by the Executive for the next four years for Scotland as a whole.
| 2004-05 | 5,350 |
| 2005-06 | 6,400 |
| 2006-07 | 7,100 |
| 2007-08 | 8,000 |
For details of how many houses the Scottish Executive are projectingto fund for construction in each local authority area in 2004-05, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-7226 on 20 April 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.Specific programme details for 2005-06 to 2007-08 will be developed in the year preceding each target.
As part of their Local Housing Strategies, local authorities have been asked to provide, by April 2005 plans to the Scottish Executive showing how they will achieve the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by 2015. These should provide information on planned new building and renovation.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the original timetable and cost were for the completion of the refurbishment of Parliament House, Edinburgh.
Answer
The original projected cost for the redevelopment of Parliament House was £105 million at 1999 prices. The original timetable was for completion in five phases over 14 to 15 years.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 20 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many books have been lost from the National Library of Scotland in each of the last five years, shown also as a percentage of the library’s book collection.
Answer
The National Library of Scotland’s records show that the following numbers of items could not be located in response to readers’ requests for them:
| Year | Number of Items | % of Total |
| 2000 | 27 | 0.0003 |
| 2001 | 62 | 0.0008 |
| 2002 | 57 | 0.0008 |
| 2003 | 32 | 0.0003 |
| 2004 to date | 8 | 0.0001 |
There are 8 million books and 1.6 million maps in the Library’s collections; the total loss over the five years therefore represents less than 0.003%.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 20 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people attempted to remove materials from the National Library of Scotland in each of the last five years.
Answer
I asked Martyn Wade, the National Librarian, to respond. His response is as follows:
51 readers have been stopped by Library security staff over the last five years with a total of 65 collection items between them. It is unclear, however, whether these were deliberate attempts to remove material from the Library or simply an oversight on their part. The breakdown is as follows:
2000 - 15 people - 17 books
2001 - 7 people - 8 books
2002 - 9 people - 10 books
2003 - 11 people - 14 books
2004 - 9 people 11 books to date.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 20 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many books have been permanently damaged in the National Library of Scotland in each of the last five years, shown also as a percentage of the library’s book collection.
Answer
The National Library of Scotland considers that no book in its collections has been permanently damaged in any of the last five years. Books in the collections are of course susceptible to damage through general wear and tear as readers consult them over the years, but these books are all subject to remedial treatment by the Library’s skilled conservators.
An independent assessment of the Library’s collections by the National Preservation Office showed the following results:
· 98% of library stock were in good condition
· 1.5% of library stock were in fair condition
· 0.5% of library stock were in poor condition
· No books were found to be unusable
The number of items in the Library’s collections receiving treatment (including book-cleaning) over the last 5 years is shown in the following table:
| Year | Number of books | % of total |
| 2000-01 | 122,079 | 1.5 |
| 2001-02 | 190,913 | 2.4 |
| 2002-03 | 203,042 | 2.5 |
| 2003-04 | 23,156 | 0.3 |
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 11 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8206 by Cathy Jamieson on 25 May 2004, when it will complete its consideration of the response to the consultation and deliver its commitment to establish a Scottish human rights commission.
Answer
The Scottish Executive remains committed to establishment of a human rights commission for Scotland. Consideration of the responses to the consultation is under way, and will be completed as soon as possible.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 September 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2716 by Cathy Jamieson on 17 June 2004, what the specific timescale is for introducing legislation to establish an independent police complaints body.
Answer
As the First Minister said when he addressed Parliament on 7 September 2004, we plan in the coming year to consult on a new Scottish Police Bill which will include measures to reform the police complaints system.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers who have retired in each of the last five years worked for 40 years, gaining their full pension entitlement, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of teachers retiring each year.
Answer
The information available is given in the table and is held on a Financial Year basis.
| Year | 40 Years Service | % of Retirements |
| 1999-2000 | 86 | 3.67% |
| 2000-01 | 117 | 4.88% |
| 2001-02 | 120 | 7.45% |
| 2002-03 | 219 | 6.63% |
| 2003-04 | 335 | 17.29% |
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have retired through ill health in the last five years.
Answer
The information available is given in the table, held on a financial year basis. The approved cases include applications which were successful on review.
| Year | Applications Received | Application Approved |
| 1999-2000 | 521 | 400 |
| 2000-01 | 496 | 365 |
| 2001-02 | 461 | 357 |
| 2002-03 | 472 | 327 |
| 2003-04 | 439 | 286 |
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the life expectancy is of a teacher retiring after 40 years service.
Answer
This information is not available.
