- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 24 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, children it estimates will be living in poverty in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2020-21, (i) before and (ii) after housing costs, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Executive does not makeprojections or forecasts of the numbers and percentages of children living inlow income poverty. The Executive iscommitted to eradicating child poverty in a generation.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 24 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost was in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002 and (e) 2003 of raising a child to the age of 18.
Answer
There is no reliable informationon these costs.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 22 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken, and will take, to prevent possible infection from imported potatoes affecting the Scottish potato industry.
Answer
No seed potatoes fromoutwith the EU (and Switzerland) are permitted to be marketed or planted in Scotland.Ware (i.e. for consumption) potatoes may be imported from a number of Europeanand Mediterranean countries provided they are certified by the competentauthorities in the country of origin and meet specified plant healthrequirements. There is freedom of movement of potatoes within the EU.
In 2001 following concernsabout potato ring rot in German potatoes the Executive introduced a statutorynotification requirement on the movement of potatoes into Scotlandfrom Germany. In addition the Executive operates a voluntarynotification and testing arrangement in respect of the movement of seedpotatoes from other member states. This arrangement is applied on relativelyfew occasions as the Scottish potato industry operates a voluntary ban on seedpotato movements into Scotland. Potato ring rot and brown rot have never been foundin any potato movements into Scotland, apart from in material tested in the UK PotatoQuarantine Unit.
In the light of the recentring rot outbreak in Wales we are considering with the other UKadministrations and with potato representative organisations what furtheraction should be taken in order to protect our potato production.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 17 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000, what discussions were held with representative bodies of seafood processors prior to the drafting of the regulations and whether the issue of seasonality was raised during these discussions.
Answer
The Scottish Executive consulted a wide range of trade associations and other organisationsbefore the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 weremade. Consultees included representatives of the fish processing industry. Atotal of five consultations were carried out. No responses to any of theseconsultations raised seasonality as an issue.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 17 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000, what account was taken of the seasonal nature of food processing plants dealing with (a) agricultural produce, (b) horticultural produce and (c) pelagic fish species.
Answer
Seasonality was notspecifically discussed prior to the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland)Regulations 2000 being introduced. Nor was this issue raised by industry duringthe consultation process.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 17 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000, whether it is appropriate for pelagic fish processing factories that operate for around six months of the year to meet the full cost of a Scottish Environment Protection Agency licence/permit and the cost of annual renewals of that licence/permit.
Answer
The level of charges for permitsissued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is based on the cost ofprocessing applications. In the case of an application for a permit under thePollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000, the resources required todetermine the application are exactly the same irrespective of whether the siteoperates for only part of the year. Both the application fee and annualsubsistence charges are based on average costs within the relevant industrialsector.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 15 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) personal and (b) company bankruptcies there were in each of the last three years for which records are available.
Answer
The Accountant in Bankruptcypublishes the information in the agency’s annual report which can be accessedat www.aib.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 15 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many postgraduate students have declared themselves bankrupt in each year since 1995.
Answer
Information on the number ofdebtors subject to sequestrationproceedings who are postgraduates is notheld centrally.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 01 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 15 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of national lottery funding has been, and is projected to be, received by Scotland in each of the (a) last five and (b) next three years and what comparable information it has on lottery funding for England and Wales.
Answer
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility for National Lottery Funding. DCMS’s database at
www.lottery.culture.gov.uk givesfigures for Lottery awards in Scotland as set out in the following table.
| | Number of Awards | £ million |
| 1998-99 | 3,057 | 102 |
| 1999-2000 | 3,080 | 116 |
| 2000-01 | 2,153 | 93 |
| 2001-02 | 2,654 | 172 |
| 2002-03 | 3,381 | 163 |
Scotland’s future share of UK Lottery funds is expected tocontinue to be 8.9% for arts, 8.1% for sportscotland (excluding UKSport) and 11.5% for Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) fatal, (b) serious and (c) slight casualties there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available in (i) road and (ii) other transport accidents involving illegal alcohol levels and what the percentage change was for each category between each year.
Answer
Estimates of the numbers ofcasualties in road accidents involving illegal alcohol levels in each of thelast five years for which figures are available were published in
RoadAccidents Scotland 2002, copies of which are available in the Parliament’sReference Centre (Bib. number 30447).
The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to the collection of statistics on rail,air and marine accidents.
