Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-02393

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when and where it expects the first regional advisory council proposed under the recent Common Fisheries Policy review to be established; what form it will take, and what its impact will be on the Scottish fishing industry.

We understand that theCommission are likely to publish a formal proposal for a Council Regulation inthe near future. Unless this proposal meets with unexpected opposition, we canexpect a Council decision establishing the first Regional Advisory Councils(RAC) in the course of 2004.

There are groups ofstakeholders interested in developing RAC proposals for the North Sea,the Irish Sea and the South West.

We expect the proposedregulation enabling the establishment of RACs to fix only very fundamentalprinciples, leaving significant decisions to be taken by individual RACs as totheir own structures and operation.

RACsshould be bodies in which all stakeholders with interests in fisheriesmanagement can develop ways forward to which all parties can subscribe. Thiswill be of direct benefit to the industry as it will influence policy atEuropean level.

Question reference: S2W-01983

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 8 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has received (a) in total and (b) per capita for sports development from (i) the National Lottery, (ii) central government and (iii) other sources, in each of the last three years.

The only informationavailable to this level of detail is the funding provided by sportscotlanddirect to local authorities. For the purpose of drawing together thisinformation, we have presumed that sports development covers grant funding forlocal authority posts and Lottery Sports Fund awards under the SportsFacilities, TOPS and School Sports Co-ordinators Programmes. The breakdown isset out in the following tables (based on 2001 census population figures).

The revenue grant providedby the Executive to local authorities is essentially unhypothecated and it isup to each authority how it allocates these resources to meet its local needsand priorities. Details of how much each authority has received can be found inthe local government finance circulars 9/1999, 3/2001 and 7/2002 which areavailable in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 8310, 20316, and26111 respectively).

Local authorities alsobenefit from the £87 million made available under the New Opportunities Fund PE and Sportin Schools Programme. Each local authority area hasbeen given a provisional allocation.

Table 1

Grant Funding for LocalAuthority Posts

District	Financial Year
2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Amount (£)	Per Capita	Amount (£)	Per Capita	Amount (£)	Per Capita
Aberdeen	3,000	0.01	25,000	0.12	30,000	0.14
Angus	15,500	0.14	55,000	0.51	65,000	0.60
Argyll and Bute	0	0.00	8,000	0.09	16,000	0.18
Borders Council	0	0.00	60,000	0.56	65,000	0.61
Clackmannanshire	0	0.00	55,000	1.14	30000	0.62
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0.00	50,000	0.34	50,000	0.34
Dundee	43,250	0.30	60,000	0.41	65,000	0.45
East Ayrshire	0	0.00	25,000	0.21	30,000	0.25
East Lothian	25,000	0.28	53,000	0.59	63,000	0.70
Edinburgh City of	12,719	0.03	110,500	0.25	97,550	0.22
Falkirk	4,000	0.03	42,583	0.29	58,971	0.41
Fife Council	0	0.00	55,000	0.16	0	0.00
Glasgow	56,000	0.10	85,000	0.15	12,000	0.02
Highland Council	0	0.00	45,000	0.22	126,000	0.60
Inverclyde	25,000	0.30	50,000	0.59	60,000	0.71
Midlothian	6,000	0.07	0	0.00	0	0.00
North Ayrshire	0	0.00	25,000	0.18	30,000	0.22
North Lanarkshire	15,000	0.05	80,000	0.25	95,000	0.30
Perth and Kinross	25,000	0.19	75,000	0.56	79,600	0.59
Renfrewshire	0	0.00	55,000	0.32	0	0.00
Shetland Islands	0	0.00	25,000	1.14	30,000	1.37
South Ayrshire	0	0.00	25,000	0.22	30,000	0.27
South Lanarkshire	23,000	0.08	95,000	0.31	100,000	0.33
Stirling	70,000	0.81	179,000	2.08	170,000	1.97
West Lothian	70,000	0.44	155,000	0.97	130,000	0.82
Western Isles (Islands Forum)	0	0.00	40,000	1.51	0	0.00
Total	393,469		1,533,083		1,433,121

Table 2

Sportscotland Lottery Fund

Summary of Awards WhereLocal Authority is the Recipient

Local Authority	Financial Year
2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Total (£)	Per Capita	Total (£)	Per Capita	Total (£)	Per Capita
Aberdeen City	144,552	0.68	83,880	0.40	202,974	0.96
Aberdeenshire	0	0.00	238,124	1.05	144,264	0.64
Angus	79,870	0.74	7,340	0.07	47,040	0.43
Argyll and Bute	496,332	5.44	0	0.00	94,948	1.04
City of Edinburgh	0	0.00	149,180	0.33	1,042,947	2.32
Clackmannanshire	0	0.00	34,630	0.72	39,000	0.81
Dumfries and Galloway	651,720	4.41	30,000	0.20	411,350	2.78
Dundee City	54,940	0.38	40,269	0.28	212,189	1.46
East Ayrshire	75,940	0.63	0	0.00	195,020	1.62
East Dunbartonshire	49,660	0.46	0	0.00	0	0.00
East Lothian	0	0.00	45,850	0.51	29,882	0.33
East Renfrewshire	500,000	5.59	196,000	2.19	753,609	8.43
Eilean Siar	122,500	4.63	0	0.00	1,516,730	57.34
Falkirk	0	0.00	1,111,605	7.65	200,566	1.38
Fife	1,203,504	3.44	676,453	1.93	191,157	0.55
Glasgow City	326,440	0.56	5,487,000	9.48	451,388	0.78
Highland	1,597,026	7.64	592,860	2.84	665,414	3.19
Inverclyde	66,076	0.79	12,690	0.15	700,000	8.32
Midlothian	121,740	1.50	1,216,718	15.03	80,229	0.99
Moray	0	0.00	0	0.00	60,220	0.69
North Ayrshire	0	0.00	564,119	4.15	0	0.00
North Lanarkshire	31,320	0.10	539,131	1.68	195,500	0.61
Orkney Islands	100,800	5.24	28,740	1.50	0	0.00
Perth and Kinross	0	0.00	669,280	4.96	84,033	0.62
Renfrewshire	146,160	0.85	1,073,320	6.21	92,480	0.54
Scottish Borders	93,050	0.87	108,167	1.01	92,753	0.87
Shetland Islands	74,680	3.40	0	0.00	28,603	1.30
South Ayrshire	0	0.00	554,230	4.94	60,700	0.54
South Lanarkshire	236,550	0.78	51,380	0.17	1,221,819	4.04
Stirling	133,300	1.55	0	0.00	21,000	0.24
West Dunbartonshire	300,000	3.21	0	0.00	224,366	2.40
West Lothian	929,826	5.85	500,000	3.14	94,080	0.59
Total	7,535,986		14,010,966		9,154,261

Question reference: S2W-01688

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 8 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the report on the joint Scottish Football Association and Football Association of Ireland bid to host the European Football Championships in 2008 will be published and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Question reference: S2W-01930

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for cycle routes by each local authority in each of the last three years, expressed also on a per capita basis.

Allocations have been madefor wider cycling, walking and safer streets (CWSS) projects which can includework on safer routes to school. Details of the allocations are set out in thetable.

	Population	Allocation 2001-02 (1000)	Spending 2001-02 per Capita	Allocation 2002-03 (1000)	Spending 2002-03 per Capita	Allocation 2003-04 (1000)	Spending 2003-04 per Capita
Aberdeen City	211,910	£111	£0.52	£171	£0.81	£300	£1.42
Aberdeenshire	226,940	£118	£0.52	£182	£0.80	£316	£1.39
Angus	108,370	£65	£0.60	£100	£0.92	£175	£1.61
Argyll and Bute	91,300	£58	£0.64	£90	£0.99	£157	£1.72
Clackmannanshire	48,070	£29	£0.60	£44	£0.92	£76	£1.58
Dumfries and Galloway	147,780	£79	£0.53	£121	£0.82	£211	£1.43
Dundee City	145,460	£82	£0.56	£125	£0.86	£218	£1.50
East Ayrshire	120,310	£71	£0.59	£109	£0.91	£189	£1.57
East Dunbartonshire	108,250	£66	£0.61	£101	£0.93	£176	£1.63
East Lothian	90,180	£55	£0.61	£85	£0.94	£148	£1.64
East Renfrewshire	89,410	£53	£0.59	£81	£0.91	£142	£1.59
Edinburgh, City of	449,020	£277	£0.62	£425	£0.95	£739	£1.65
Eilean Siar	26,450	£19	£0.72	£29	£1.10	£50	£1.89
Falkirk	145,270	£85	£0.59	£130	£0.89	£227	£1.56
Fife	349,770	£204	£0.58	£313	£0.89	£544	£1.56
Glasgow City	578,710	£372	£0.64	£570	£0.98	£991	£1.71
Highland	208,920	£112	£0.54	£172	£0.82	£299	£1.43
Inverclyde	84,150	£51	£0.61	£78	£0.93	£135	£1.60
Midlothian	80,950	£50	£0.62	£77	£0.95	£134	£1.66
Moray	87,000	£44	£0.51	£68	£0.78	£118	£1.36
North Ayrshire	135,820	£82	£0.60	£125	£0.92	£217	£1.60
North Lanarkshire	321,180	£196	£0.61	£300	£0.93	£521	£1.62
Orkney	19,220	£15	£0.78	£23	£1.20	£40	£2.08
Perth and Kinross	134,950	£80	£0.59	£123	£0.91	£213	£1.58
Renfrewshire	172,850	£106	£0.61	£162	£0.94	£282	£1.63
Scottish Borders	106,950	£62	£0.58	£94	£0.88	£164	£1.53
Shetland	21,960	£0	£0.00	£0	£0.00	£0	£0.00
South Ayrshire	112,160	£67	£0.60	£103	£0.92	£178	£1.59
South Lanarkshire	302,340	£189	£0.63	£289	£0.96	£503	£1.66
Stirling	86,200	£50	£0.58	£77	£0.89	£133	£1.54
West Dunbartonshire	93,320	£57	£0.61	£87	£0.93	£151	£1.62
West Lothian	159,030	£95	£0.60	£146	£0.92	£253	£1.59

Question reference: S2W-01929

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent in each of the last three years on promoting road safety, specifically amongst (a) motorists, (b) cyclists, (c) motorcyclists and (d) pedestrians.

Information is not availablein the format requested.

The Scottish Executiveprovides funding to the Scottish Road Safety Campaign for the development ofkey road safety education initiatives and publicity messages aimed at all roadusers. Details of the campaign’s expenditure is contained in its annual report.Copies of this document for the years 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 areavailable in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 6783, 21011 and27891).

Question reference: S2W-01928

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents there were that resulted in death or injury to cyclists in the last three years in each police force area, broken down into accidents that resulted in (a) fatalities, (b) serious injuries and (c) slight injuries, expressed as a ratio to population in each area.

Data about injury roadaccidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executiveusing the STATS 19 statistical report form.

The table gives the numberof road accidents that resulted in death or injury to cyclists in the lastthree years by police force area, severity and rate per hundred thousand of thepopulation. Where an accident involved more than one cyclist casualty theseverity of the accident has been graded according to the highest severity ofcyclist casualty.

It should be noted that thestatistics given are based upon the data which are held in the central statisticaldatabase and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident andsubsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures whichthe local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of anysubsequent changes or corrections that the local authority may have made to thestatistical information, for use at a local level, about the location of eachaccident, based upon its knowledge of the road and area concerned.

Police Force	Accident Severity	Numbers	Rates Per 100,000 Population
2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Northern	Fatal	3	0	2	1.1	0.0	0.7
Serious	9	9	11	3.2	3.3	4.0
Slight	35	41	36	12.6	14.8	13.1
Grampian	Fatal	2	2	1	0.4	0.4	0.2
Serious	5	15	11	0.9	2.9	2.1
Slight	70	58	64	13.3	11.0	12.2
Tayside	Fatal	0	3	0	0.0	0.8	0.0
Serious	14	13	12	3.6	3.3	3.1
Slight	47	55	50	12.0	14.1	12.9
Fife	Fatal	1	0	2	0.3	0.0	0.6
Serious	11	8	5	3.2	2.3	1.4
Slight	32	40	21	9.2	11.4	6.0
Lothian and Borders	Fatal	2	2	0	0.2	0.2	0.0
Serious	34	38	32	3.9	4.3	3.6
Slight	231	226	230	26.2	25.5	25.9
Central	Fatal	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Serious	11	13	9	3.9	4.7	3.2
Slight	33	36	25	11.8	12.9	8.9
Strathclyde	Fatal	3	2	2	0.1	0.1	0.1
Serious	75	57	58	3.4	2.6	2.6
Slight	231	261	219	10.5	11.8	9.9
Dumfries and Galloway	Fatal	1	1	1	0.7	0.7	0.7
Serious	4	5	4	2.7	3.4	2.7
Slight	17	21	15	11.5	14.2	10.2
Scotland	Fatal	12	10	8	0.2	0.2	0.2
Serious	163	158	142	3.2	3.1	2.8
Slight	696	738	660	13.7	14.6	13.1

Question reference: S2W-01931

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to promote cycling, and what budgets have been allocated for this purpose, in each of the last four years and what further steps and budget allocations are planned in the next three years.

The Executive is promotingcycling by a number of means, including financial support for local authoritiesand the voluntary sector. Nearly £21 million has been allocated to localauthorities over the period 2000-04 for cycling, walking and safer streetsprojects including safer routes to school. In addition, the Executive hasprovided over £1.5 million to the cycling charity Sustrans for improvements to theNational Cycle Network in Scotland. The Executive is also core-funding a new “CyclingScotland” delivery organisation, with £300,000 being provided in its first fullyear of operation. I hope to announce shortly what future support for cyclingwill be made.

Question reference: S2O-00323

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the European Commission regarding any possible ban on cod fishing.

There is no proposal for a ban on cod fishing. However, the Commission has presented a revised proposal for cod recovery that envisages reduced fishing activity.

This more general question of cod recovery was discussed in general terms at the Council of Ministers on 22 July, and will now be discussed in detail in the Council working group, which reconvenes on 11 September.

The Executive participates in these Council working groups, which afford on-going opportunities for informal discussion with officials from the Commission and other member states. In addition, we participate in more formal bilateral discussions with the Commission and other member states.

Executive officials most recently participated in formal meetings with Commission officials on 24 June and 17 July.

Question reference: S2W-01541

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 3 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the allocation of European funding has on public expenditure in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-01982

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 29 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the performance of the drugs courts have been since their establishment; what evidence it has to support such conclusions; what plans it has to extend these courts to other areas, in particular the Grampian area, and what the timetable is for any such extension.

The formative and process evaluations of the first six months of the pilot drugs courts in Glasgow (11 November 2002 ) and Fife (6 August 2003) concluded that it was still too early to determine the impact the pilots have had on drug misuse and associated offending but a number of positive results were reported.Decisions on the future of drugs courts in Grampian or elsewhere in Scotland will be informed by the results of the independent evaluation.

Chamber and committees