Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-30264

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 13 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding has been allocated to each education authority for (a) primary and (b) secondary education in each of the last five years, expressed also per pupil and per capita of population.

The information requested, basedon shares of Grant Aided Expenditure allocations, is shown in the following tables.

Primary	2002-03			2003-04
	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)
Aberdeen City	24,147	119	1,825	26,229	130	1,982
Aberdeenshire	38,165	162	1,907	41,232	175	2,060
Angus	16,791	154	1,838	18,312	168	2,004
Argyll and Bute	14,190	156	2,042	15,233	168	2,192
Clackmannanshire	7,266	149	1,781	7,950	163	1,948
Dumfries and Galloway	23,578	159	2,011	25,658	173	2,189
Dundee City	18,477	130	1,788	20,011	141	1,936
East Ayrshire	17,520	147	1,775	18,895	158	1,914
East Dunbartonshire	16,909	160	1,786	17,969	170	1,898
East Lothian	13,686	149	1,760	15,088	164	1,941
East Renfrewshire	13,950	156	1,608	15,070	168	1,737
Edinburgh, City of	47,841	104	1,827	52,511	115	2,006
Eilean Siar	4,948	188	2,358	5,233	198	2,494
Falkirk	20,836	140	1,734	22,931	154	1,908
Fife	49,010	137	1,734	53,063	149	1,877
Glasgow City	72,855	126	1,797	79,695	138	1,965
Highland	35,307	165	1,988	38,398	180	2,162
Inverclyde	11,894	145	1,832	12,791	156	1,970
Midlothian	12,008	152	1,794	13,093	165	1,956
Moray	13,502	153	1,764	14,718	167	1,923
North Ayrshire	19,990	147	1,752	21,793	160	1,910
North Lanarkshire	47,278	146	1,689	52,035	161	1,859
Orkney	3,411	174	2,025	3,654	187	2,170
Perth and Kinross	18,918	137	1,809	20,780	150	1,987
Renfrewshire	24,616	145	1,768	26,998	159	1,939
Scottish Borders	16,414	150	1,893	18,024	164	2,078
Shetland	4,287	195	2,180	4,626	210	2,352
South Ayrshire	15,196	136	1,808	16,331	146	1,943
South Lanarkshire	43,493	142	1,737	47,402	155	1,893
Stirling	12,119	139	1,739	13,304	153	1,909
West Dunbartonshire	13,451	147	1,782	14,597	160	1,933
West Lothian	24,773	151	1,675	27,293	167	1,845
Scotland	716,828	141	1,802	780,918	153	1,963

Primary	2004-05			2005-06
	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)
Aberdeen City	26,732	132	2,020	27,932	138	2,111
Aberdeenshire	43,790	186	2,188	45,708	194	2,283
Angus	19,213	176	2,103	19,992	183	2,188
Argyll and Bute	16,394	180	2,359	16,971	187	2,442
Clackmannanshire	8,810	181	2,159	9,180	189	2,249
Dumfries and Galloway	27,316	184	2,330	28,397	191	2,422
Dundee City	20,716	146	2,004	21,543	152	2,084
East Ayrshire	19,716	165	1,997	20,428	171	2,069
East Dunbartonshire	19,106	180	2,018	19,964	188	2,108
East Lothian	15,898	173	2,045	16,710	182	2,149
East Renfrewshire	16,848	188	1,942	17,801	199	2,052
Edinburgh, City of	53,233	116	2,033	56,092	123	2,142
Eilean Siar	5,607	213	2,672	5,919	224	2,821
Falkirk	23,952	161	1,993	25,251	169	2,101
Fife	56,741	159	2,007	59,579	167	2,108
Glasgow City	81,317	140	2,005	84,153	145	2,075
Highland	40,777	191	2,296	42,757	200	2,407
Inverclyde	13,123	160	2,021	13,725	167	2,114
Midlothian	13,682	173	2,044	14,536	184	2,171
Moray	16,008	182	2,092	16,716	190	2,184
North Ayrshire	23,062	170	2,021	23,997	177	2,103
North Lanarkshire	55,315	171	1,976	58,651	181	2,096
Orkney	3,862	197	2,294	3,981	203	2,364
Perth and Kinross	22,339	161	2,136	23,465	170	2,244
Renfrewshire	27,843	164	1,999	29,215	172	2,098
Scottish Borders	18,863	172	2,175	19,896	181	2,294
Shetland	4,848	220	2,465	5,008	228	2,546
South Ayrshire	17,398	156	2,069	18,233	163	2,169
South Lanarkshire	50,248	164	2,006	52,443	171	2,094
Stirling	14,323	165	2,056	15,238	175	2,187
West Dunbartonshire	15,461	169	2,048	16,156	177	2,140
West Lothian	29,355	179	1,985	31,157	190	2,107
Scotland	821,895	161	2,066	860,793	169	2,164

Primary	2006-07
	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)
Aberdeen City	27,380	135	2,069
Aberdeenshire	48,422	206	2,419
Angus	21,116	193	2,311
Argyll and Bute	17,929	197	2,580
Clackmannanshire	8,574	176	2,101
Dumfries and Galloway	29,524	199	2,518
Dundee City	21,338	150	2,065
East Ayrshire	20,947	175	2,122
East Dunbartonshire	19,561	185	2,066
East Lothian	17,017	185	2,189
East Renfrewshire	18,117	202	2,088
Edinburgh, City of	54,390	119	2,077
Eilean Siar	6,985	265	3,330
Falkirk	25,856	173	2,151
Fife	61,280	172	2,168
Glasgow City	84,428	146	2,082
Highland	44,652	209	2,514
Inverclyde	13,447	164	2,071
Midlothian	14,863	188	2,220
Moray	17,411	198	2,275
North Ayrshire	24,138	178	2,116
North Lanarkshire	59,245	183	2,117
Orkney	4,539	232	2,695
Perth and Kinross	24,544	177	2,347
Renfrewshire	29,156	172	2,094
Scottish Borders	20,501	187	2,364
Shetland	5,719	260	2,907
South Ayrshire	18,505	166	2,201
South Lanarkshire	54,350	177	2,170
Stirling	15,635	180	2,244
West Dunbartonshire	15,649	171	2,073
West Lothian	31,695	194	2,143
Scotland	876,913	172	2,204

Secondary	2002-03			2003-04
	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)
Aberdeen City	31,221	154	2,986	34,304	170	3,280
Aberdeenshire	43,126	183	2,716	47,024	200	2,961
Angus	20,285	186	2,864	21,936	201	3,097
Argyll and Bute	15,260	168	2,641	16,337	180	2,828
Clackmannanshire	8,619	177	2,661	9,371	193	2,893
Dumfries and Galloway	27,666	187	2,886	30,237	204	3,155
Dundee City	25,023	176	2,944	27,079	190	3,185
East Ayrshire	22,812	191	2,764	24,799	208	3,005
East Dunbartonshire	24,715	233	2,844	26,787	253	3,082
East Lothian	15,209	166	2,625	16,842	183	2,907
East Renfrewshire	20,820	232	2,730	22,904	256	3,003
Edinburgh, City of	58,283	127	2,894	64,259	140	3,191
Eilean Siar	6,959	264	3,619	7,519	285	3,910
Falkirk	23,953	161	2,617	26,242	176	2,867
Fife	65,623	184	2,927	71,298	200	3,180
Glasgow City	82,683	143	2,854	90,325	156	3,117
Highland	41,480	194	2,777	44,980	211	3,012
Inverclyde	16,199	197	2,908	17,540	214	3,148
Midlothian	16,043	203	2,887	17,427	220	3,137
Moray	16,162	183	2,684	17,803	202	2,957
North Ayrshire	25,930	191	2,817	28,190	208	3,063
North Lanarkshire	63,573	197	2,843	68,604	212	3,068
Orkney	4,907	250	3,438	5,297	270	3,712
Perth and Kinross	21,875	158	2,762	23,506	170	2,968
Renfrewshire	33,730	198	2,894	37,227	219	3,193
Scottish Borders	18,895	172	2,702	20,714	189	2,963
Shetland	5,973	272	3,579	6,540	297	3,918
South Ayrshire	22,050	197	2,986	24,097	216	3,263
South Lanarkshire	57,380	187	2,866	61,965	202	3,095
Stirling	16,120	185	2,668	17,682	203	2,926
West Dunbartonshire	19,344	212	3,024	20,927	229	3,271
West Lothian	29,765	182	2,745	32,540	199	3,001
Scotland	901,684	177	2,840	982,303	193	3,094

Secondary	2004-05			2005-06
Secondary	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)
Aberdeen City	34,497	170	3,299	36,382	180	3,479
Aberdeenshire	50,380	214	3,172	52,515	223	3,307
Angus	22,892	210	3,232	24,124	221	3,406
Argyll and Bute	18,233	201	3,156	18,752	206	3,245
Clackmannanshire	9,764	201	3,014	10,330	212	3,189
Dumfries and Galloway	31,242	211	3,260	32,558	219	3,397
Dundee City	27,820	196	3,273	28,726	202	3,379
East Ayrshire	26,260	220	3,182	27,452	230	3,327
East Dunbartonshire	28,468	269	3,276	29,376	277	3,380
East Lothian	18,126	197	3,129	19,283	210	3,329
East Renfrewshire	24,207	270	3,174	25,295	282	3,316
Edinburgh, City of	67,251	147	3,339	70,921	155	3,521
Eilean Siar	7,820	297	4,066	7,889	299	4,102
Falkirk	28,588	192	3,124	30,439	204	3,326
Fife	73,996	207	3,301	77,107	216	3,439
Glasgow City	95,136	164	3,283	99,841	173	3,446
Highland	47,830	224	3,203	50,091	235	3,354
Inverclyde	18,207	222	3,268	18,828	229	3,380
Midlothian	18,531	234	3,335	19,269	243	3,468
Moray	18,887	214	3,137	19,891	226	3,304
North Ayrshire	29,945	220	3,253	31,230	230	3,393
North Lanarkshire	72,734	225	3,252	76,143	235	3,405
Orkney	5,916	302	4,146	6,031	308	4,226
Perth and Kinross	25,223	182	3,185	26,555	192	3,353
Renfrewshire	38,515	227	3,304	40,475	238	3,472
Scottish Borders	22,569	206	3,228	23,914	218	3,420
Shetland	6,966	317	4,173	7,319	333	4,385
South Ayrshire	24,206	217	3,278	25,253	226	3,420
South Lanarkshire	64,377	210	3,216	67,903	222	3,392
Stirling	19,169	221	3,172	20,197	232	3,342
West Dunbartonshire	21,214	232	3,316	22,115	242	3,457
West Lothian	34,877	213	3,217	36,572	223	3,373
Scotland	1,033,847	203	3,256	1,082,775	213	3,410

Secondary	2006-07
	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocation (£000)	Per Head (£)	Per Pupil (£)
Aberdeen City	35,361	175	3,382
Aberdeenshire	55,620	236	3,502
Angus	24,726	226	3,491
Argyll and Bute	19,904	219	3,445
Clackmannanshire	11,207	230	3,460
Dumfries and Galloway	33,201	224	3,464
Dundee City	29,127	205	3,426
East Ayrshire	28,361	238	3,437
East Dunbartonshire	29,758	281	3,424
East Lothian	20,419	222	3,525
East Renfrewshire	27,031	302	3,544
Edinburgh, City of	70,162	153	3,484
Eilean Siar	8,090	307	4,207
Falkirk	32,090	215	3,506
Fife	77,284	217	3,447
Glasgow City	99,010	171	3,417
Highland	51,975	243	3,480
Inverclyde	19,101	233	3,429
Midlothian	19,390	245	3,490
Moray	21,010	238	3,489
North Ayrshire	31,792	234	3,454
North Lanarkshire	77,439	239	3,463
Orkney	6,079	310	4,260
Perth and Kinross	27,833	201	3,514
Renfrewshire	40,136	236	3,443
Scottish Borders	24,516	223	3,506
Shetland	7,188	327	4,307
South Ayrshire	25,446	228	3,446
South Lanarkshire	69,189	226	3,456
Stirling	20,868	240	3,453
West Dunbartonshire	21,880	239	3,420
West Lothian	37,853	231	3,491
Scotland	1,103,045	217	3,474

Notes: (i) Sourcesfor Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) are the GAE Green Books for 2002-03 to 2006-07;for population numbers usedto calculate the per head column are the most recent mid-year estimates (covering2005-06) from General Register Office for Scotland, and for pupil numbers used tocalculate the per pupil column the 2005-06 GAE Green Book which formed the baseyear calculation for Spending Review 2004.

(ii) The allocationsgiven above are neither budgets nor spending targets for an individual service (i.e.primary or secondary education) but a means of distributing the total block grantthat the Executive provides to local authorities. It is for local authorities todecide how best to allocate the resources available to them, based on their localneeds and priorities.

Question reference: S2W-30260

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 13 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated the impact of the London Olympics on planned construction projects in Scotland in respect of (a) cost and (b) availability of construction workers and materials and, if so, what these estimates are and, if not, whether it intends to undertake such estimates.

A paper submitted jointly byCITB-ConstructionSkills and Summit Skills to the National Skills Forum in November2005 estimated that, at its peak in 2010, construction activity generated by theGames will account for 3.7% of total Greater London output in any one year. Theshare of the Olympics construction employment for 2010 is estimated at 2.7% of thetotal Greater London employment.

The Construction Skills NetworkObservatory, involving CITB-ConstructionSkills, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow andother relevant bodies, meets regularly to review future skills availability in Scotlandin the light of research conducted by external consultants. This research takesinto account demand both from within Scotland and from the wider UK market, includingthe London Olympics.

Question reference: S2W-30250

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 11 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many officers have been deployed on traffic-related duties in each of the last three years, broken down by police force and also expressed (a) as a ratio of all police officers and (b) on a per capita basis in each police force area and showing year-on-year changes.

Question reference: S2W-30047

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many empty homes there are in the (a) public and (b) private sector in each local authority area.

The following table gives theavailable information. Information is not held centrally on vacant private sectorstock.

The General Register Office forScotland provide annual estimates of the total number of occupied and unoccupiedproperties, derived from council tax billing information. These estimates are availableon the GRO(S) website at:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/household-estimates-projections/household-estimates-for-scotland-by-local-authority-1991-to-2005/tables-and-charts.html.

VacantLocal Authority and Housing Association Stock at 31 March 2006

Local Authority Area	Local Authority Stock		Housing Association Stock⁴
Local Authority Area	Normal Letting Stock	Other Vacant Dwellings ¹	Housing Association Stock⁴
Aberdeen City	694	677	55
Aberdeenshire²	186	33	51
Angus²	83	129	68
Argyll and Bute	51	193	35
Clackmannanshire	126	47	21
Dumfries and Galloway			152
Dundee City	35	623	388
East Ayrshire	279	430	39
East Dunbartonshire	22	13	26
East Lothian	83	16	17
East Renfrewshire	79	51	6
Edinburgh, City of	188	647	275
Eilean Siar²	17	5	2
Falkirk	192	312	41
Fife	575	652	99
Glasgow City			6,873
Highland	180	107	95
Inverclyde²	152	1,012	84
Midlothian²	26	11	20
Moray	27	4	14
North Ayrshire	51	0	41
North Lanarkshire	141	371	135
Orkney	8	10	2
Perth and Kinross³	245	268	28
Renfrewshire	151	1,045	128
Scottish Borders, The			415
Shetland	79	16	0
South Ayrshire	74	71	8
South Lanarkshire	183	405	69
Stirling	52	257	10
West Dunbartonshire	185	563	285
West Lothian²	28	104	67
Scotland	4,192	8,072	9,549

Sources:

Stock1 and Stock2 returns bylocal authorities to the Scottish Executive Development Department: Analytical ServicesDivision (Housing Statistics).

Annual Performance StatisticalReturn by housing associations to Communities Scotland.

Notes:

1. Includes dwellings used as temporary accommodation forthe homeless, dwellings that are awaiting demolition, dwellings that are part ofa modernisation scheme, and dwellings identified as being in a low demand area.

2. Estimates for vacant dwellingsbased on March 2005 figures due to outstanding returns.

3. Estimates for vacant dwellingsbased on March 2004 figures due to outstanding returns.

4. Vacant housing association stock includes normal lettingsstock, dwellings in low demand areas, those held for demolition, and those usedas decants.

Question reference: S2W-29728

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it intends to make available for the Moray 2020 economic strategy and whether it will detail the funding streams to be made available.

Question reference: S2W-29891

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 27 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in each prison were sentenced for drug-related offences, including offences to fund drug habits (a) in total and (b) broken down by category of offence in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of all prisoners in each category.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

(a) The available informationis given in the following table:

Number of Sentenced Prisonerson 30 June 2005 where the Main Offence was Drugs-Related

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Aberdeen	30	30	28	28	35
Barlinnie	88	87	87	74	135
Castle Huntly	50	49	64	56	49
Cornton Vale	48	57	49	48	48
Dumfries	1	11	30	16	8
Edinburgh	59	69	71	82	118
Glenochil	94	128	125	127	83
Greenock	3	10	22	36	32
Inverness	11	12	18	21	19
Kilmarnock	84	85	82	87	93
Low Moss	51	35	45	32	57
Noranside	28	37	49	49	52
Perth	88	111	113	103	66
Peterhead	0	1	1	0	0
Polmont	15	23	19	14	17
Shotts	97	64	47	72	56

(b) Information on offences tofund drug habits and the category is not available.

Question reference: S2W-29187

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response was to the latest recommendation from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea that a total ban on cod catching in Scottish waters be implemented by the European Union.

The situation on cod remainsserious. However, the latest scientific advice does suggest that for North Sea codfishing mortality has declined and the stock can recover. The European Commissionhas already indicated that it will propose significant across the board cuts intotal allowable catches and days at sea. We believe that such cuts would be disproportionateand that a more targeted approach is necessary. This approach should include measureswhich shift the burden of further efforts to secure cod recovery away from the mainwhitefish fleet to the secondary cod fisheries where the problems of discardingremain significant.

Question reference: S2W-29727

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 17 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected expenditure by local authorities on preparing business cases for PPP projects is in 2006 and how much was spent on preparing such business cases in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S2O-11075

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 16 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome has been of any representations it has made about the future of the post office network and what assessment it has made of how any decision to close local post offices is likely to impact on community development priorities.

Question reference: S2W-29183

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 16 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much expenditure was incurred operating the review process for agricultural subsidies appeals in each of the last three years and is projected for the current year, giving the number of appeals considered at each stage for each year and showing the number of successful and unsuccessful appeals in each case.

The EU AgriculturalSubsidies Appeals procedure became operational in November 2000. Theinformation requested is set out below.

The expenditure represents ScottishExecutive Environment and Rural Development Department Appeals Secretariat staffcosts, the fees and travel costs paid to Stage 2 external panel members and,for 2005-06 and 2006-07, the legal costs associated with Scottish Land Court hearingsat Stage 3.

There is also input to theappeals process from staff in local area offices and scheme managers in PentlandHouse headquarters which they undertake as part of their main duties.

The years shown in theAppeals tables represent the year the appeal was dealt with which can differfrom the year it was received.

EUAgricultural Subsidies Appeals Procedure – Expenditure

2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07 (estimated outturn)
£127,101	£179,181	£240,513	£265,200

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

(estimated outturn)

£127,101

£179,181

£240,513

£265,200

Stage 1Appeals

	Rejected	Upheld	Partial Upheld	Resolved Pre-Panel	Total
2003	28	14	1	62	105
2004	136	13	2	11	162
2005	149	14	1	18	182
2006	101	7	0	14	122

Stage 2Appeals

	Rejected	Upheld	Partial Upheld	Resolved Pre -Panel	Total
2003	16	1	1	1	19
2004	22	2	1	0	25
2005	21	3	3	0	27
2006	31	6	1	1	39

Stage 3Appeals

	Rejected	Upheld	Partial Upheld	Resolved	Total
2006	3	2	0	0	5

Stage 1Challenge/National Reserve Appeals **

	Rejected	Upheld	Partial Upheld	Resolved/Withdrawn	Total
2005	33	4	0	29	66
2006	183	3	0	57	243

Stage 2Challenge National/Reserve Appeals*

	Rejected	Upheld	Partial Upheld	Resolved	Total
2005
2006

Notes:

**Arising from the reform ofCAP in 2005.

*64 appeals received - eightcases reviewed, recommendations being prepared for minister to make decisions.No decisions to reject or uphold appeals at this stage have been taken as yet.

Chamber and committees