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-08820

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 10 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7442 by Sarah Boyack on 18 July 2000, whether it will give this information for each year since the current water authorities were set up.

The information on water authority chairs' salary packages is given in the following tables:

West of Scotland Water Authority
Chair	Year	Salary	Taxable benefit	Pension	Total
John Jameson	1996-97	£41,000		£7,000	£48,000*
	1997-98	£41,000	£1,000	£7,000	£49,000*
	1998-99 (until 8/7/98)	£8,000			£8,000
John Goodwin (Acting Chair)	1998-99 (9/7-1/12/99)	£14,000			£14,000
Alan Alexander	1998-99 (from 1/1/99)	£6,000			£6,000
Alan Alexander	1999-2000	£25,000		£4,000	£29,000

East of Scotland Water Authority
Chair	Year	Salary	Taxable benefit	Pension	Total
Ian Preston	1996-97	£24,720			£24,720
Ian Preston	1997-98	£25,276			£25,276
Robert Cairns	1998-99	£26,035			£26,035
Robert Cairns	1999-2000	£27,025		£3,573	£30,598

North of Scotland Water Authority
Chair	Year	Salary	Taxable benefit	Pension	Total
John Robertson	1996-97	£41,000	£2,000	£6,000	£49,000*
John Robertson	1997-98	£42,000	£3,000	£7,000	£52,000*
Colin Rennie	1998-99	£26,000	£7,000	£3,000	£36,000
Colin Rennie	1999-2000	£27,000	£8,000	£3,000	£38,000

*for 1996-97 and 1997-98 the NoSWA and WoSWA chairmen's salaries relate to two and a half days per week and ESWA's to one and a half days per week. Since April 1998 all three relate to one and a half days per week.

Question reference: S1W-08697

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by John Home Robertson on 9 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive to whom riparian owners are legally required to notify details of annual catches of wild fish such as salmon and whether there are any plans to place a legal obligation on riparian owners to pass such information directly to fishery boards.

Question reference: S1W-08507

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings have been requested with it by members of the UK Parliament who are not members of the Scottish Parliament and how many of these meetings have taken place.

Question reference: S1W-08506

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 9 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive which Ministers have had meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the impact of fuel prices in Scotland, when any such meetings took place and what response was received.

Question reference: S1W-05325

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by John Home Robertson on 9 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many payments at what value have been made to salmon farmers as part of the #9 million funding package announced in September 1999.

Question reference: S1W-08783

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to the police in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Scottish Executive issued guidance to all public authorities, including police authorities, on the Convention Rights entitled A New Era of Rights and Responsibilities: Core Guidance for Public Authorities. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has also produced specific guidance on the practical implications of the Human Rights legislation for police forces. The guidance will be augmented by a Scottish Police College seminar on the Human Rights Act which will supplement the awareness training already provided at force level.

Question reference: S1W-08781

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many accused people appearing in courts in the North East of Scotland were granted bail in each of the last three years and how many of those accused appeared on charges relating to (a) house-breaking, (b) assault and robbery and (c) drug-related offences.

The available information is given in the table.

Number of bail orders involving selected offences,

North East Scotland ^{1, 2}, 1997-99

SEJD crime category	1997	1998	1999
Housebreaking	245	285	158
Robbery	36	67	38
Drug offences	488	609	395

Notes:

1. Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Peterhead and Stonehaven Sheriff Courts; Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray District Courts.

2. If a bail order relates to more than one type of offence, then it is counted once for each type of offence.

Question reference: S1W-08782

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time taken by police to acquire warrants is and how this compares with the average for each of the last three years.

Question reference: S1W-06754

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 7 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its Rural Affairs Department's budget, expressed in percentage and monetary terms, had no linkage to European funding in each of the last five financial years, the current year and projected for next year and what percentage this was and is of the overall spending block.

The table below shows the relevant values and percentages.

£ million

1995-96

Out-turn

1996-97

Out-turn

1997-98

Out-turn

1998-99

Out-turn

1999-2000

Estimated

Out-turn

2000-01

Plan

2001-02

Plan

113

(22%)

120

(20%)

117

(23%)

109

(19%)

112

(21%)

114

(21%)

116

(20%)

Rural Affairs portfolio spending, excluding the environment, was not, pre-devolution, part of the Scottish Block but was negotiated as part of an overall UK Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (AFF) programme. For the years 2000-01 and 2001-02, the sums above constitute 0.68% and 0.65% respectively of the Total Budget.

Question reference: S1W-08696

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by John Home Robertson on 3 August 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many commercial salmon netsmen operate in Scotland; where they are based; how many salmon it is estimated they catch each year, and how they are regulated.

Net and coble fisheries were operated in 1998 (the last year for which data is available) in the following salmon fishery districts:

Tweed, Forth, Tay, Esk, Don, Ythan, Ugie, Lossie, Ness, Conon, Kyle of Sutherland, Caithness, Loch Roag, Loch Long, Crowe and Shiel, Baa (Mull), Creran, Nell, Laggan (Islay), Iorsa (Arran), Cree, Nith.

The number of employees in any given month varied between a minimum of four and a maximum of 168.

Fixed engine fisheries were operated in 1998 (the last year for which data area available) in the following salmon fishery districts:

Tweed, Esk, Dee (Aberdeenshire), Don, Ythan, Conon, Kyle of Sutherland, Caithness, Halladale, Strathy, North and West, Torridon, Lochaber, Baa (Mull), Awe, Add, Loch Fyne, Luce, Bladnoch, Cree, Fleet (Kirkcudbright), Dee (Kirkcudbright), Urr, Nith, Annan.

The number of employees in any given month varied between a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 266.

Salmon netting is regulated under the Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1868; the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Protection) (Scotland) Act 1951; the Salmon Act 1968; and through further subordinate legislation relating to annual close times, definition of methods and construction of nets.