Chamber and committees

Information on the number ofhouseholds in temporary accommodation at 31 March each year is available on the Scottish Executive website at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/PubHomelessTable 12 of the publication HSG 2001/5 1989-90 to 1999-2000provides information on numbers of households in temporary accommodation by typeof accommodation from March 1990 to March 2000. Table 23 of the publication HSG/2006/6 Operationof the Homeless Persons legislation in Scotland: national and local authority analyses2005-06 provides the same information for March 1995 to March 2006.

Prior to March 2001 statisticson numbers in temporary accommodation did not distinguish households with childrenwithin the total number of households in temporary accommodation. Table 23 in thesecond publication provides information on numbers of households with children intemporary accommodation in each year from March 2001.

The following table gives estimatesof numbers of first-time buyers in Scotland in each year and the number of sales to first-time buyersas a percentage of all mortgage completions. Sales with a mortgage account for around80% of all sales of residential properties.

	Number of Sales to First-Time Buyers	Sale to First-Time Buyers as % of All Mortgage Completions
1996	33,300	50
1997	35,400	50
1998	35,500	53
1999	38,100	50
2000	41,200	49
2001	47,500	41
2002	49,900	34
2003	38,700	27
2004	31,500	22
2005	34,500	32

Source: Regulated Mortgage Surveyof the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

I refer the member to thequestion S2W-30071 answered on 7 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website the search facility forwhich can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Scottish Prison Service(SPS) is an established Scottish Executive agency. In line with standardprocedures, Senior Civil Service posts within the Executive, and its agencies,can be filled through external recruitment, internal promotion or managed movedepending on the skills required and the availability of staff. On thisoccasion it was decided to fill the SPS Chief Executive post through a managedmove and no external candidates were considered.

In keeping with anappointment of this level, a decision on the succession arrangements was takenwell in advance and an announcement was made as soon as ministers had beeninformed. The Nolan principles apply specifically to public appointments ratherthan Senior Civil Service appointments. All those involved in the managed moveprocess were civil servants bound by the Civil Service Code.

I refer the member to thequestion S2W-30071 answered on 7 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website the search facility for whichcan be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to thequestion S2W-30071 answered on 7 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website the search facility forwhich can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Airwave is a cellular systemwhich does not rely on individual base stations remaining operational at all times.If one base station is busy or goes down the terminal is automatically re-routedthrough another. O2, the service provider, is contracted to provide guaranteed radiocoverage rather than a set number of base stations. All 632 Airwave sites in Scotlandhave a backup battery that provides power for a minimum of five hours in the eventof a mains power cut. In addition around 50% of Scottish sites have permanent back-upgenerators that will provide power for a minimum of seven days. This is expectedto increase to 60% of sites by the end of 2007. I am advised that this provisionis sufficient to maintain full nationwide coverage and operational effectiveness.

The Airwave network was completedin April 2005 and currently has 632 sites in Scotland. I do not expect this numberto change in 2007 or 2008.

The Airwave Network was installedin line with UK Resilience.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30082 on 6 December 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.