Chamber and committees

Any changes to current terms and conditions for NHS staff, including subsistence rates, would be discussed on a UK-wide basis between health service trades unions and staff representative groups, NHS employers and UK health departments through the relevant negotiating machinery. No such discussions are currently taking place.

Subsistence rates for all non-medical staff are specified within Agenda for Change terms and conditions. Rates for medical staff are covered by the terms and conditions for their particular staff group.

The information is contained in the following table. The column headed Basic Employer gives the percentage of total local authority expenditure relating to employers'' contributions for existing members. The column headed Additional Employer gives the percentage of local authority expenditure in cases where a member has been given early retirement and as a consequence councils have paid a strain cost to the relevant Local Government Pension Fund.

Employer Contributions as a % of Local Authority Gross Expenditure ^1,2,3,4

	2003-04		2004-05		2005-06		2006-07
	Basic Employer	Additional Employer	Basic Employer	Additional Employer	Basic Employer	Additional Employer	Basic Employer	Additional Employer
Aberdeen City	3.05%	0.04%	3.15%	0.07%	3.14%	0.14%	3.21%	0.24%
Aberdeenshire	2.78%	0.04%	2.96%	0.05%	2.93%	0.04%	3.14%	0.08%
Angus	3.16%	0.03%	3.30%	0.00%	3.37%	0.02%	3.68%	0.30%
Argyll and Bute	2.42%	0.13%	2.56%	0.10%	2.52%	0.04%	2.72%	0.09%
Clackmannanshire	2.21%	0.01%	2.44%	0.15%	2.68%	0.15%	3.18%	0.21%
Dumfries and Galloway	2.83%	0.03%	2.93%	0.12%	3.17%	0.13%	3.26%	0.48%
Dundee City	4.54%	0.05%	4.87%	0.01%	4.72%	0.40%	5.06%	0.08%
East Ayrshire	2.62%	0.14%	3.16%	0.25%	3.24%	0.21%	3.11%	0.08%
East Dunbartonshire	2.55%	0.12%	2.79%	0.21%	2.83%	0.20%	2.93%	0.60%
East Lothian	3.20%	0.14%	3.23%	0.11%	3.46%	0.08%	3.60%	0.05%
East Renfrewshire	2.56%	0.04%	2.74%	0.08%	2.89%	0.11%	2.93%	0.41%
Edinburgh, City of	3.00%	0.09%	3.23%	0.08%	3.29%	0.07%	3.34%	0.07%
Eilean Siar	2.48%	0.08%	2.67%	0.00%	2.87%	0.12%	3.25%	0.07%
Falkirk	2.08%	0.02%	2.33%	0.14%	2.54%	0.08%	2.92%	0.12%
Fife	2.99%	0.16%	3.41%	0.16%	3.64%	0.12%	3.82%	0.25%
Glasgow City	2.07%	0.25%	2.06%	0.07%	2.16%	0.10%	2.28%	0.23%
Highland	2.32%	0.10%	2.49%	0.09%	2.59%	0.07%	2.86%	0.06%
Inverclyde	2.20%	0.19%	2.25%	0.40%	2.37%	0.18%	2.71%	0.20%
Midlothian	2.94%	0.00%	3.22%	0.01%	3.46%	0.02%	3.43%	0.10%
Moray	2.89%	0.02%	2.98%	0.02%	3.14%	0.03%	3.31%	0.02%
North Ayrshire	2.49%	0.01%	2.72%	0.07%	2.69%	0.05%	2.94%	0.10%
North Lanarkshire	2.58%	0.06%	2.72%	0.01%	2.66%	0.04%	2.83%	0.03%
Orkney Islands	4.00%	0.00%	4.30%	0.00%	4.96%	0.02%	4.98%	0.00%
Perth and Kinross	2.73%	0.25%	2.98%	0.13%	2.98%	0.25%	3.24%	0.31%
Renfrewshire	2.77%	0.08%	2.88%	0.14%	2.89%	0.08%	3.08%	0.26%
Scottish Borders	2.86%	0.07%	3.08%	0.44%	3.26%	0.13%	3.47%	0.06%
Shetland Islands	5.14%	0.14%	4.72%	0.15%	5.25%	0.48%	4.81%	0.31%
South Ayrshire	2.77%	0.02%	2.92%	0.09%	2.89%	0.28%	2.86%	0.21%
South Lanarkshire	2.80%	0.19%	3.03%	0.19%	3.08%	0.24%	3.29%	0.42%
Stirling	2.10%	0.16%	2.40%	0.14%	2.63%	0.12%	2.96%	0.40%
West Dunbartonshire	2.65%	0.13%	2.88%	0.15%	3.06%	0.26%	3.19%	0.36%
West Lothian	3.23%	0.00%	3.45%	0.02%	3.66%	0.05%	4.12%	0.01%

Source: Local Financial Returns and local authority pension authorities

Note on pensions data:

1. Additional employer costs - This strain cost is calculated by the fund actuary to take account of the fact that a benefit is being paid out of the fund earlier (and therefore for longer) than would otherwise have been the case.

Notes on basis of LA gross expenditure used to calculate %:

2. Police and fire and council tax and non-domestic valuation expenditure is apportioned to councils using the amount that the Police, Fire and Valuation Joint Boards requisition from them.

3. For 2006-07 only, Regional Transport Partnerships expenditure is apportioned to councils by population (GRO 2006 mid year estimates)

General note:

4. The table contains all readily available data for the last five years. Returns for 2007-08 are collected in September 2008 and completed in November 2008.

The Scottish House Condition Survey provides survey estimates of household gas and electricity expenditure for the years 1996, 2002, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06.

The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform provides data for Scotland going back to 1990 for gas and electricity expenditure but only broken down by payment method – with no total.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/statistics/publications/prices/tables/page18125.html

The same Departmental site also provides UK expenditure on domestic electricity and gas going back to 1974 (Table 2.6.2 Average Expenditure Each Week on Fuel per Consuming Household). A comparison of levels of expenditure in Scotland and the UK can be made where statistics exist from both data sources for a particular year.

From the average ratio of these comparisons, the average annual domestic expenditure on (a) gas and (b) electricity can be constructed for Scotland back to 1974.

“Average” household income figures are very skewed by high income earners. Their incomes distort the average household income figure. Therefore the “Median” household income is the preferred central measure. It is available for Scotland from the Department of Work and Pensions Households Below Average Income data series for the period 1994-95 to 2006-07.

Therefore, on a consistent basis, using median household disposable income, the proportion of household income spent on (a) gas and (b) electricity is available for the period 1994-95 to 2006-07. The figures for these measures are shown in the following table.

Average Household Expenditure on (a) Gas (b) Electricity, Median Household Income and Gas and Electricity Costs as a Proportion of Household Income: Scotland 1994-95 to 2006-07

Year	Average Annual Household Expenditure Gas (£)	Average Annual Household Expenditure Electricity (£)	Median Annual Household income for Scotland (£)	Proportion of Expenditure
				On Gas	On Electricity
1994-95	440	540	11,300	0.039	0.047
1995-96	440	540	11,500	0.038	0.047
1966-97	470	520	12,200	0.039	0.043
1997-98	470	520	12,800	0.037	0.041
1998-99	430	520	13,600	0.031	0.038
1999-2000	410	500	13,500	0.031	0.037
2000-01	430	520	14,100	0.030	0.037
2001-02	430	520	15,100	0.028	0.034
2002-03	450	520	15,400	0.029	0.034
2003-04	440	530	16,500	0.027	0.032
2004-05	470	570	17,300	0.027	0.033
2005-06	520	600	17,800	0.029	0.034
2006-07	560	650	18,100	0.031	0.036

 

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SCHS) provides survey estimates of household gas and electricity expenditure for the years 1996, 2002, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06.

The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) provides data for Scotland going back to 1990 for gas and electricity expenditure but only broken down by payment method – with no total. http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/statistics/publications/prices/tables/page18125.html

The same departmental site also provides UK expenditure on domestic electricity and gas going back to 1974 (table 2.6.2 Average Expenditure Each Week on Fuel per Consuming Household). A comparison of levels of expenditure in Scotland and the UK can be made where statistics exist from both data sources for a particular year.

The Office for National Statistics Family and Expenditure Survey, “Family Spending”, also provides average weekly household expenditure on gas and electricity for Scotland back to 1999.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=361

From the average ratio of these comparisons, the average annual domestic expenditure on (a) gas and (b) electricity can be constructed for Scotland back to 1974.

Average Estimated and Projected Annual Household Expenditure on (a) Gas (b) Electricity: Scotland 1974-2006 (figures in bold from SHCS)

Year	Gas (£)	Electricity (£)
1974	70	90
1975	80	120
1976	90	140
1977	120	170
1978	130	180
1979	140	200
1980	160	240
1981	210	290
1982	260	310
1983	310	340
1984	310	340
1985	340	360
1986	370	380
1987	370	390
1988	350	390
1989	340	420
1990	360	450
1991	420	490
1992	430	520
1993-94	440	540
1994-95	440	540
1995-96	440	540
1996-97	470	520
1997-98	470	520
1998-99	430	520
1999-2000	410	500
2000-01	430	520
2001-02	430	520
2002-03	450	520
2003-04	440	530
2004-051	470	570
2005-061	520	600
20061	560	650

Note: 1 The BERR data is for financial years April to March, the SHCS data is for the year October to September. Therefore 2003-04 SHCS data is closest to the 2004-05 financial year.

I refer the member to the Foreign Secretary’s written statement to the House of Commons on 3 July (Hansard 58WS). The Scottish Government welcomes confirmation by the US Authorities that there has been no use of Scottish airports for rendition flights since September 2001, and their confirmation that there will be no use of UK territories by such flights in future without the express permission of the UK Government. As you will see, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed that such permission would only be granted if the UK Government was satisfied that the rendition would accord with UK law and our international obligations. The Scottish Government remains firmly opposed to rendition flights and believes that they could never be in accordance with domestic or international law. Therefore, we continue to expect that there will be no use of Scottish territory for this purpose under any circumstances.

The information given in the following table has been provided from the Index of Exempted Dogs, which is maintained by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dogs in Scotland Placed on the Index of Exempted Dogs 1998-2007

Year	Number
1998	0
1999	0
2000	0
2001	0
2002	0
2003	0
2004	0
2005	0
2006	0
2007	3

 

Information on the number of dogs seized is not held centrally.

The terms and conditions under which privately owned and run car parks operate are a matter for the owner and operator of the car park.

Privately operated car parks are not subject to the provisions of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 but they do come within the scope of the Trade Descriptions Act 1988 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987, which protect motorists from false trade descriptions about the provision of car parking and also from misleading indications of the costs of car parking.

In disputed cases, legal advice should be sought: the basis for imposing or purporting to impose any sort of charge will differ according to the specific situation under consideration.

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual police forces.