Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-13052

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether levels of rural home ownership grant awards are altered to reflect fluctuations in property prices.

Question reference: S2W-10752

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 5 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what cabinet sub-committees have been established since 1999, detailing for each sub-committee (a) the dates of each meeting, (b) its membership, (c) when it was established and (d) where it meets.

There have been 10 cabinet sub-committees established since 1999. All meetings have been held in Edinburgh. The remaining information requested is set out in the following tables.

Title/Ministerial Members	Established	Date of Meetings
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Children’s Services (CSCCS) First Minister (Chair) Minister for Education and Young People (Deputy Chair) Minister for Health and Community Care Deputy Minister for Education and Young People Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services Deputy Minister for Justice Deputy Minister for Social Justice	19-12-2001 to March 2003	13-03-2002 01-05-2002 18-06-2002 24-09-2002 17-12-2002
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Renewing Local Democracy (CSCRLD) First Minister (Chair) Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice Minister for Education and Young People Minister for Environment and Rural Development Minister for Finance and Public Services Minister for Parliamentary Business	22-01-2002 to March 2003	23-01-2002 25-02-2002 12-03-2002 17-09-2002
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Development (CSCRD) Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Chair) Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Minister for Finance and Public Services Minister for Social Justice Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport	23-01-2002 to March 2003	22-01-2002 15-05-2002 04-09-2002 05-02-2003
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Social Justice (CSCSJ) Minister for Social Justice (Chair) Minister for Education and Young People Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Minister for Finance and Public Services Minister for Health and Community Care Deputy Minister for Social Justice Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business	13-03-2002 to March 2003	13-03-2002 01-05-2002 18-06-2002 24-09-2002 17-12-2002
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Tackling Drug Misuse (CSCTDM) Deputy First Minister (Chair) Minister for Education and Young People Deputy Minister (Mulligan) for Health and Community Care Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Deputy Minister for Justice Deputy Minister for Social Justice External Members Mr Jim Orr, Director of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency Mr Ian Ross, Drugs Action Teams Association	27-03-2002 to March 2003	27-03-2002 12-06-2002 03-09-2002 11-12-2002 18-02-2003
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Best Value and Budget Review (CSCBVBR) Minister for Finance and Public Services (Chair) Minister for Environment and Rural Development Minister for Parliamentary Business Minister for Social Justice Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services	25-04-2001 to 13-11-2001	25-04-2001 17-05-2001 30-05-2001 18-06-2001 04-07-2001 28-08-2001 24-10-2001 13-11-2001
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation (CSCL) First Minister (Chair) Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice Minister for Parliamentary Business (Deputy Chair) Lord Advocate Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business	06-03-2002 to March 2003 21-05-2003 to present	06-03-2002 30-04-2002 09-10-2002 08-01-2003 25-02-2003 27-05-2003 25-06-2003 13-08-2003 19-11-2003 24-03-2004 11-05-2004 09-06-2004
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland (CSCSS) First Minister (Chair) Deputy First Minister Minister for Environment and Rural Development Minister for Transport Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development Deputy Minister for Communities External Members Professor Jan Bebbington, Professor of Accounting and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews Mr Kevin Dunion, Director, Friends of the Earth Scotland (until January 2003) Mr Mark Hope, Director of External Affairs, Shell Expro (until March 2003) Simon Pepper, Director of WWF Scotland (from March 2004) Ian Good, Chair and Chief Executive of the Edrington Group (from March 2004)	05-02-2002 to March 2003 25-06-2003 to present	05-02-2002 26-03-2002 21-05-2002 26-06-2002 02-10-2002 15-01-2003 05-11-2003 10-03-2004 08-06-2004
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Criminal Justice (CSCCJ) First Minister Deputy First Minister (Chair) Minister for Justice Minister for Communities Lord Advocate Deputy Minister for Education and Young People Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services Solicitor General	25-06-2003 to present	04-11-2003 20-01-2004 01-06-2004
Cabinet Sub-Committee on Local Government (CSCLG) First Minister Deputy First Minister (Chair) Minister for Finance and Public Services Minister for Education and Young People Minister for Transport Minister for Justice Minister for Communities Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services	25-06-2003 to present	08-10-2003 31-03-2004 26-05-2004

Title/Ministerial Members

Established

Date of Meetings

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Children’s Services (CSCCS)

First Minister (Chair)

Minister for Education and Young People (Deputy Chair)

Minister for Health and Community Care

Deputy Minister for Education and Young People

Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services

Deputy Minister for Justice

Deputy Minister for Social Justice

19-12-2001 to March 2003

13-03-2002

01-05-2002

18-06-2002

24-09-2002

17-12-2002

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Renewing Local Democracy (CSCRLD)

First Minister (Chair)

Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice

Minister for Education and Young People

Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Minister for Finance and Public Services

Minister for Parliamentary Business

22-01-2002 to March 2003

23-01-2002

25-02-2002

12-03-2002

17-09-2002

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Development (CSCRD)

Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Chair)

Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning

Minister for Finance and Public Services

Minister for Social Justice

Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport

23-01-2002 to March 2003

22-01-2002

15-05-2002

04-09-2002

05-02-2003

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Social Justice (CSCSJ)

Minister for Social Justice (Chair)

Minister for Education and Young People

Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning

Minister for Finance and Public Services

Minister for Health and Community Care

Deputy Minister for Social Justice

Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business

13-03-2002 to March 2003

13-03-2002

01-05-2002

18-06-2002

24-09-2002

17-12-2002

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Tackling Drug Misuse (CSCTDM)

Deputy First Minister (Chair)

Minister for Education and Young People

Deputy Minister (Mulligan) for Health and Community Care

Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning

Deputy Minister for Justice

Deputy Minister for Social Justice

External Members

Mr Jim Orr, Director of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency

Mr Ian Ross, Drugs Action Teams Association

27-03-2002 to March 2003

27-03-2002

12-06-2002

03-09-2002

11-12-2002

18-02-2003

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Best Value and Budget Review (CSCBVBR)

Minister for Finance and Public Services (Chair)

Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Minister for Parliamentary Business

Minister for Social Justice

Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services

25-04-2001 to

13-11-2001

25-04-2001

17-05-2001

30-05-2001

18-06-2001

04-07-2001

28-08-2001

24-10-2001

13-11-2001

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation (CSCL)

First Minister (Chair)

Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice

Minister for Parliamentary Business (Deputy Chair)

Lord Advocate

Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business

06-03-2002 to March 2003

21-05-2003 to present

06-03-2002

30-04-2002

09-10-2002

08-01-2003

25-02-2003

27-05-2003

25-06-2003

13-08-2003

19-11-2003

24-03-2004

11-05-2004

09-06-2004

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland (CSCSS)

First Minister (Chair)

Deputy First Minister

Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Minister for Transport

Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services

Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development

Deputy Minister for Communities

External Members

Professor Jan Bebbington, Professor of Accounting and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews

Mr Kevin Dunion, Director, Friends of the Earth Scotland (until January 2003)

Mr Mark Hope, Director of External Affairs, Shell Expro (until March 2003)

Simon Pepper, Director of WWF Scotland (from March 2004)

Ian Good, Chair and Chief Executive of the Edrington Group (from March 2004)

05-02-2002 to March 2003

25-06-2003 to present

05-02-2002

26-03-2002

21-05-2002

26-06-2002

02-10-2002

15-01-2003

05-11-2003

10-03-2004

08-06-2004

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Criminal Justice (CSCCJ)

First Minister

Deputy First Minister (Chair)

Minister for Justice

Minister for Communities

Lord Advocate

Deputy Minister for Education and Young People

Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services

Solicitor General

25-06-2003 to present

04-11-2003

20-01-2004

01-06-2004

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Local Government (CSCLG)

First Minister

Deputy First Minister (Chair)

Minister for Finance and Public Services

Minister for Education and Young People

Minister for Transport

Minister for Justice

Minister for Communities

Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care

Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services

25-06-2003 to present

08-10-2003

31-03-2004

26-05-2004

Question reference: S2W-12900

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 23 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11132 by Hugh Henry on 8 November 2004, what information it now has on waiting times for drug misuse treatment programmes from the national waiting times information framework for drugs services.

Information is collected on the length of wait that clients experience from referral to assessment, and from an agreed care plan to one or more of four different types of intervention (i.e. preparatory and motivational intervention, prescribed drug treatment, community rehabilitation, and residential detoxification). The length of wait is collated in blocks of time i.e. the number of people who wait for less than one week, less than two weeks, and so forth.

The first set of provisional reports from the information available is shown on the Drug Misuse Information Scotland website at http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/wtpilot/waiting.htm.

Question reference: S2O-04709

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 23 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the provision of support for the development of renewable technologies.

We recently announced a renewable energy budget of £12 million for the next three years, and a £22 million Green Jobs Fund over the same period, which will support opportunities for Scottish renewable energy businesses. Our investment of £150 million over 10 years, through Scottish Enterprise, in the Energy Intermediary Technology Institute will also help foster the commercialisation of research into renewable energy.

The Department of Trade and Industry has made available £500 million between 2002 and 2008 for emerging renewable and low carbon technologies.

Question reference: S2W-12507

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all its publications are available in large print, Braille and audio format.

Question reference: S2W-12887

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the results of any research that has been commissioned into how much of each pound spent on groceries is received by farmers, as referred to by Nora Radcliffe MSP on 25 November 2004 (Official Report, col 12270).

Question reference: S2W-12872

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many energy-related civil service jobs there are, broken down by (a) department and (b) section and giving their location in each case.

In Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning department there are 24 energy-related civil service jobs in the Energy & Telecommunications Division, all located in Glasgow.

In Environment and Rural Affairs department there are 4.5 full-time equivalent energy-related civil service jobs in the Climate Change Team (located in Edinburgh).

In the Development department there are two full-time equivalent energy-related civil service jobs in the Fuel Poverty Strategy team, and 1.5 full-time equivalent energy-related civil service jobs in the Planning and Building Standards division (all located in Edinburgh).

Question reference: S2W-12842

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs there have been in the (a) fish processing and (b) catching sector in each year since 1979, also broken down by (i) region and (ii) constituency and expressed per capita, outlining the methodology used to classify the jobs.

Information about the numbers of persons employed in the sea fisheries catching sector are compiled annually by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. Each person employed is classified as regularly employed if employment in the catching sector is their main or only source of income. All other persons employed in the catching sector are classified as being irregularly employed. The geographical location of those employed is associated with the port that they work from as opposed to their place of residence.

Table 1 shows employment in the catching sector over the period 1979-2003 (inclusive) and also presents catching sector employment as a percentage of the working age population. These latter statistics are based upon the mid-year population estimates produced by the General Register Office for Scotland.

Table 1: Number of Persons Employed in the Catching-Sector since 1979 in Scotland

Year	Regularly Employed	Irregularly Employed/Crofters	Total	Percentage of the Working Age Population
1979	7,613	1,211	8,824	0.3%
1980	7,561	1,138	8,699	0.3%
1981	7,376	1,085	8,461	0.3%
1982	7,247	937	8,184	0.3%
1983	7,173	902	8,075	0.3%
1984	7,198	902	8,100	0.3%
1985	7,170	932	8,102	0.3%
1986	7,244	992	8,236	0.3%
1987	7,522	970	8,492	0.3%
1988	7,672	1,039	8,711	0.3%
1989	7,862	920	8,782	0.3%
1990	7,550	890	8,440	0.3%
1991	7,300	880	8,180	0.3%
1992	7,180	960	8,140	0.3%
1993	8,060	1,360	9,420	0.3%
1994	7,160	1,450	8,610	0.3%
1995	6,889	1,506	8,395	0.3%
1996	6,689	1,395	8,084	0.3%
1997	6,729	1,465	8,194	0.3%
1998	6,395	1,376	7,771	0.2%
1999	6,042	1,288	7,330	0.2%
2000	5,594	1,308	6,902	0.2%
2001	5,353	1,284	6,637	0.2%
2002	4,369	1,338	5,707	0.2%
2003	3,968	1,308	5,276	0.2%

Sources: Number of persons employed in the catching sector: Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

Percentage of the working age population: based on GROS revised mid-year population estimates.

Table 2 shows employment in the Scottish sea fish catching sector over the period 1995-2003. The figures below are not presented on a per-capita basis as population estimates for electoral regions are not currently available. A complete record of employment by port is not held electronically prior to 1995; consequently it has not been possible to calculate employment by electoral region for these earlier years at this time.

Employment statistics for the sea fish catching sector are not currently available at the constituency level.

Table 2: Number of Fishermen Employed by Electoral Region (1995-2003)

Electoral Region	Data	Year
1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Highlands and Islands	Regularly Employed	3,218	3,138	3,091	2,969	2,744	2,632	2,560	2,145	2,084
Irregularly Employed	847	800	919	810	798	799	767	793	847
Crofters	83	60	50	42	46	48	81	105	70
All Persons	4,148	3,998	4,060	3,821	3,588	3,479	3,408	3,043	3,001
Lothians	Regularly Employed	161	168	151	125	131	97	71	50	50
Irregularly Employed	52	52	28	18	13	8	14	11	10
Crofters	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
All Persons	213	220	179	143	144	105	85	61	60
Mid-Scotland and Fife	Regularly Employed	209	191	191	137	162	127	158	117	103
Irregularly Employed	54	46	49	64	20	37	24	36	25
Crofters	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
All Persons	263	237	240	201	182	164	182	153	128
North East Scotland	Regularly Employed	2,412	2,281	2,394	2,311	2,157	1,839	1,769	1,451	1,156
Irregularly Employed	272	230	219	256	220	236	247	247	219
Crofters	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
All Persons	2,684	2,511	2,613	2,567	2,377	2,075	2,016	1,698	1,375
South of Scotland	Regularly Employed	504	470	455	423	424	480	445	303	298
Irregularly Employed	164	183	173	162	166	152	122	96	96
Crofters	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
All Persons	668	653	628	585	590	632	567	399	394
West of Scotland	Regularly Employed	385	441	447	430	424	419	350	303	277
Irregularly Employed	34	24	27	24	25	28	29	50	41
Crofters	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
All Persons	419	465	474	454	449	447	379	353	318
Total Regularly employed	6,889	6,689	6,729	6,395	6,042	5,594	5,353	4,369	3,968
Total Irregularly employed	1,423	1,335	1,415	1,334	1,242	1,260	1,203	1,233	1,238
Total Crofters	83	60	50	42	46	48	81	105	70
Total All persons	8,395	8,084	8,194	7,771	7,330	6,902	6,637	5,707	5,276

Source: Number of persons employed in the catching sector: Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

There are a number of sources of employment data for the fish processing industry in Scotland although very few allow the examination of employment regionally.

The Sea Fish Industry Authority periodically conducts a survey of the entire fish processing sector in the UK. The survey specifically aims to capture information about those persons who are employed seasonally or casually in the industry and uses this information to calculate a full-time equivalent employment figure for each company surveyed. An additional benefit of this survey is that it is possible to differentiate between companies primarily involved in the processing of either marine fish or salmon.

Table 3 shows employment in companies primarily involved in marine fish processing in 2004 at the county level. To protect the confidentiality of individual companies, it has been necessary to group together a number of counties containing less than five fish processing companies. These statistics may not be released at the constituency level.

Table 3: Employment in Processing of Marine Fish (Full-Time Equivalent), 2004

County	Full-Time Equivalent Employees
Aberdeenshire	3,952
Angus	166
Argyll and Bute	167
Dumfries and Galloway/Dumfriesshire	609
Highland/Sutherland	332
Lanarkshire/Ayrshire	524
Lothian	183
Moray	250
Orkney/Shetland	301
Scottish Borders	120
Western Isles	156
Fife/Perth and Kinross	85
Grand Total	6,846

Source: Sea Fish Industry Authority.

Comparable figures for 1995 and 2000 are not available at this level of geographical detail however total full-time equivalent employment was estimated during those years to be: 7,889 (2000) and 7,595 (1995).

Question reference: S2W-12826

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many single surveys have now been carried out in each pilot area, expressed also as a percentage of all surveys purchased in each area.

Question reference: S2O-04606

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding events to be held in Scotland as part of the UK Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

The Scottish Executive is working closely with UK Government to ensure that Scotland contributes fully to the UK Presidency of the EU – both in terms of identifying priorities in the UK-Luxembourg Operational Programme, which was adopted on 13 December, and in bringing related events and meetings to Scotland.

The overall co-ordination of the UK Presidency is discussed at meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe) which I attend, and at the regular meetings of the UK Presidency Co-ordinators Group at which the Executive is represented by officials from Europe Division.

There are currently some 25 Presidency events planned to take place in Scotland, providing an excellent opportunity to showcase Scotland and to contribute positively to the development of EU policy initiatives.

Chamber and committees