- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 19 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies have been made of the effects of exposure to advertising on children; whether any action is planned as a result of such studies, and, if no such studies have been undertaken, whether any are planned.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not undertaken any studies of the effects of exposure to advertising on children.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to police forces regarding the recruitment of female police officers.
Answer
Responsibility for the recruitment and appointment of police officers rests with chief constables. In April last year, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) launched a Diversity Strategy for the Police Service in Scotland. This strategy provides a framework for developing and sustaining a diverse workforce within an environment which is both supportive and inclusive.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the employment levels in the aquaculture sector are currently and have been in each of the last six years.
Answer
The information requested is provided in the following table.
| Salmon Production | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Staff Full-time | 1,117 | 1,036 | 1,141 | 1,066 | 1,083 | 1,066 | N/A** |
| Staff Part-time | 192 | 268 | 256 | 191 | 223 | 151 | N/A** |
| Total | 1,309 | 1,304 | 1,397 | 1,257 | 1,306 | 1,217 | N/A** |
| Smolt Production | |
| Staff Full-time | 318 | 300 | 341 | 317 | 312 | 291 | N/A** |
| Staff Part-time | 96 | 124 | 103 | 111 | 93 | 82 | N/A** |
| Total | 414 | 424 | 444 | 428 | 405 | 373 | N/A** |
| Rainbow Trout Production | |
| Staff Full-time | 137 | 126 | 121 | 118 | 114 | 107 | N/A** |
| Staff Part-time | 49 | 51 | 47 | 41 | 46 | 41 | N/A** |
| Total | 186 | 177 | 168 | 159 | 160 | 148 | N/A** |
| Other Species Production (fin-fish) | |
| Staff Full-time | N/A* | 54 | 73 | 75 | 69 | 73 | N/A** |
| Staff Part-time | N/A* | 18 | 25 | 22 | 30 | 24 | N/A** |
| Total | N/A* | 72 | 98 | 97 | 99 | 97 | N/A** |
| Shellfish Production (all species) | |
| Staff Full-time | 116 | 118 | 138 | 137 | 128 | 146 | 149 |
| Staff Part-time | 127 | 114 | 135 | 146 | 134 | 144 | 170 |
| Staff Casual | 60 | 76 | 90 | 89 | 85 | 74 | 83 |
| Total | 303 | 308 | 363 | 372 | 347 | 364 | 402 |
Source: Fisheries Research Services Annual Production Survey (1998-2004).
Notes:
*Data not available – other species production data not available before 1999.
**Data not available – 2004 fin-fish production data is still being collected and verified. Annual survey results are published retrospectively.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 19 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to assess the impact on rural areas and industries such as agriculture and fisheries of rising road fuel prices.
Answer
No detailed impact analysis of a rise in fuel prices has been carried out for specific industries or areas of Scotland. With regard to the agricultural and fisheries industries, both sectors benefit from reduced duty applied to the use of red diesel. This is worth over 40 pence per litre compared to fuel usage by most sectors of industry.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 April 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 11 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests have been submitted to each minister under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and whether it will provide details for each minister in respect of the percentage (a) disclosed, (b) refused, (c) where the initial appeal was successful and (d) where a subsequent appeal to the Information Commissioner was successful.
Answer
Most requests for information are handled routinely and not all are recorded or counted centrally. The information is therefore not available in the format requested.
Some general information about freedom of information (FOI) requests received and responded to by the Scottish Executive is available from the Scottish Executive’s FOI:
website
www.scotland.gov.uk/foi.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 10 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive which responsibilities in relation to the regulation of carbon sequestration and capture are (a) devolved and (b) reserved.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not currently regulate carbon sequestration and capture.
There is a mixture of reserved and devolved responsibilities for policies and functions that have an influence on carbon sequestration. In general terms, fiscal policies that may influence carbon sequestration or capture, and offshore capture, are reserved. Land-based policies on matters such as agriculture or forestry, that may influence sequestration or capture, are devolved.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 May 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many fisheries officer posts there were in each of the last five years, broken down by port and taking into account unfilled and new vacancies, also showing year-on-year percentage changes and expressed where possible as a ratio of the number of relevant registered vessels.
Answer
The figures requested are shown as follows:
| Eastern Area | Aberdeen | Buckie | Eyemouth | Fraserburgh | Pittenweem | Peterhead |
| 2000-01 | Enforcement Staff | 7 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 14 |
| Var. (%+/-) | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Reg. vessels | 105 | 101 | 120 | 276 | 117 | 144 |
| Ratio to reg. vessels | 15.00 | 50.50 | 60.00 | 27.60 | 58.50 | 10.29 |
| 2001-02 | Enforcement Staff | 6 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 16 |
| Var. (%+/-) | -14.29% | 0% | 0% | -10.00% | 0% | +14.29% |
| Reg. vessels | 102 | 100 | 114 | 270 | 115 | 133 |
| Ratio to reg. vessels | 17.00 | 50.00 | 57.00 | 30.00 | 57.50 | 8.31 |
| 2002-03 | Enforcement Staff | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 23 |
| Var. (%+/-) | -16.67% | 0% | 0% | -66.67% | 0% | +43.75% |
| Reg. vessels | 99 | 90 | 112 | 246 | 109 | 122 |
| Ratio to reg. vessels | 19.80 | 45.00 | 56.00 | 82.00 | 54.50 | 5.30 |
| 2003-04 | Enforcement Staff | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 22 |
| Var. (%+/-) | 0% | 0% | 0% | +33.33% | 0% | -4.35% |
| Reg. vessels | 90 | 82 | 106 | 215 | 109 | 104 |
| Ratio to reg. vessels | 18.00 | 41.00 | 91.00 | 53.75 | 54.50 | 4.73 |
| 2004-05 | Enforcement Staff | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 22 |
| Var. (%+/-) | -20.00% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reg. vessels | 92 | 79 | 108 | 222 | 111 | 104 |
| Ratio to reg. vessels | 23.00 | 39.50 | 54.00 | 55.50 | 55.50 | 4.73 |
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that its Environment and Rural Affairs Department's information systems are compatible with those of the British Cattle Movement Service.
Answer
Information is transferred electronically between the systems on a regular basis for disease control and public health purposes, subsidy cross checks and to support policy decisions. This process is currently being reviewed to identify improvements which can be made following the recent up-grade to the system operated by the British Cattle Movement Service.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any changes to the EU agricultural subsidies appeals procedure are planned and, if so, whether it will provide details and the likely timescale for such changes.
Answer
The EU agricultural subsidies appeals procedure has been in operation since November 2000 and I have no plans to make any changes to the structure of the procedure itself. In March this year, the legislation was amended to extend coverage of the procedure to the new Single Farm Payment Scheme and Scottish Beef Calf Scheme. The extension of the procedure to the Land Management Contracts Menu Scheme should take place shortly.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any analysis into appeals lodged through the agricultural subsidies appeals procedure has been carried out and, if so, what the findings were.
Answer
My officials record and monitor appeals lodged by scheme, scheme issues (e.g. livestock record keeping) and the grounds of appeal. They also monitor appeal outcomes. This information allows them to determine whether any changes are required to our scheme management and administrative procedures or to the appeals procedure.
The procedure has to date not identified any serious shortcomings in our systems, although at times backlogs of appeals have built up and it has taken us longer to process cases than we would like.
