Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

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-14916

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 19 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how the figures quoted by the Deputy Minister for Rural Development in Parliament on 4 April 2001 (Official Report, col. 1249) in relation to the cost to the voluntary sector of the removal of water rates reliefs were calculated, whether any check was made of their accuracy and whether any assessment of the economic impact of the proposals was carried out.

Question reference: S1W-14829

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to order an investigation into the conduct of the Head of the Fisheries Group.

Question reference: S1W-14828

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice is given to civil servants regarding the maintenance of impartiality.

Question reference: S1W-14831

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 18 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it had prior knowledge of any correspondence it received from fishing industry organisations following the announcement of the recent fisheries aid package and, if so, how was that knowledge acquired in relation to each letter received.

Question reference: S1W-14832

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any action is to be taken following recent press allegations concerning contact made by the Head of the Fisheries Group with fishermen's organisations regarding a letter to be sent from them in relation to the dispute over the fisheries aid package.

Question reference: S1W-13591

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2001
Current Status: Answered by Angus MacKay on 17 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many UK regulatory bodies have offices dispersed to Scotland, what these bodies are and how many staff are employed in their offices.

The Scottish Executive has no general function in relation to the location of UK regulatory bodies in Scotland or the number of staff employed within their offices. The Executive does not hold records regarding the location of regulatory bodies sponsored by UK Government Departments.One exception is in the case of the Food Standards Agency in Scotland (employing 57 staff in Aberdeen). Food safety and standards are devolved matters and legislation for Scotland is determined by the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S1W-14666

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified vets there currently are in Scotland and how many have been employed by government agencies in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S1W-14672

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 12 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive which geographic areas will not be included in the first wave of broadband technology.

Infrastructure may allow the technical possibility of broadband connections but companies can be expected to provide connections and services according to the likely level of demand and return on investment. This has tended to favour urban areas.We are currently investigating how the aggregation of public sector demand for broadband could stimulate wider supply by the industry. As well as identifying public sector demand, we are considering whether different procurement strategies for public sector services could improve general access to broadband.

Question reference: S1W-14668

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 12 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fishing vessels, broken down by sector, will be decommissioned under the #25 million decommissioning package recently announced.

Question reference: S1W-14670

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 12 April 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministerial responsibility for the water industry was offered to the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning following the resignation of the Minister for Environment, Sport and Culture and, if so, what her response was.