Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-06439

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many small and medium-sized enterprises in (a) Central Scotland parliamentary region, (b) each parliamentary constituency in Central Scotland parliamentary region, (c) North Lanarkshire local authority area, (d) South Lanarkshire local authority area and (e) Falkirk local authority area will benefit from the proposal to introduce the small business bonus package, as outlined in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007.

Information on smalland medium-sized enterprises in the form requested is not held centrally. However,information on the number and rateable value of non-domestic properties which maybe eligible for relief under the Small Business Bonus scheme is available for eachof the local authority areas concerned on the Scottish Assessors Portal (www.saa.gov.uk). This information is shown asfollows:

Number of Properties by Local Authority Area	Rateable Value of Property
Number of Properties by Local Authority Area	Up to £8,000	£8,001-£10,000	£10,001-£15,000	Total up to £15,000
East Ayrshire	2,573	230	351	3,154
East Dunbartonshire	1,146	197	260	1,603
Falkirk	2,816	281	406	3,503
North Lanarkshire	4,531	626	881	6,038
South Lanarkshire	4,968	626	905	6,499

Notes:

(i) The rateable valueranges shown in the table correspond to those on page 12 of the Scottish Budget:Spending Review 2007.

(ii) The table showsthe number of non-domestic properties with rateable values of up to £15,000 in North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk. Information is also given for all of East Ayrshire andEast Dunbartonshire, as parts of these local authority areas alsofall within the Central Scotland parliamentary region.

(iii) The number ofeligible businesses will be lower than the number of non-domestic properties ineach area, because some businesses have more than one property. This may affecteligibility for relief under the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which will dependon:

- the combined rateable valueof all properties in Scotland which a business owns, leases or is otherwiseentitled to occupy;

- whether the property iseligible for one of the existing rates relief schemes, and

the level of otherpublic sector assistance received by the business.

Question reference: S3W-06711

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is of imprisoning individuals serving custodial sentences for non-payment of fines and what the average level of unpaid fine is in such instances.

I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS does not keepcost data specific to fine defaulters.

In 2006-07, therewas an average daily population of 46 fine defaulters and the average annual costper prisoner place was £30,989. So an estimated cost of imprisoning people for non-paymentof fines in 2006-07 would be around £1.4 million.

In 2006-07, therewere 5,963 fine default receptions and the average fine outstanding per receptionwas £277.

Question reference: S3W-06607

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 22 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children will benefit from the extension of free school meals to all primary 1 to primary 3 pupils in 2010, as set out in Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007, in (a) Central Scotland parliamentary region, (b) each Scottish parliamentary constituency in the Central Scotland region and (c) each local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-06324

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 22 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will be involved in the joint bid by North and South Lanarkshire councils to host the 2011 International Children’s Games.

Question reference: S3W-05929

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 November 2007

Deaths toinfluenza are likely to be under reported when simply looking at the number ofcases where “influenza” is recorded on death certificates as more people willnormally die from complications arising as a result of influenza rather thansimply flu itself. However, information recorded by the General Register Officefor Scotland where cause of death was recorded as “Influenza”is detailed in the following table.

Deaths in Scotland: Influenza as the Underlying Cause of Death

Year	Deaths
1950	386
1960	104
1970	733
1980	117
1990	126
1991	28
1992	29
1993	127
1994	11
1995	33
1996	45
1997	83
1998	12
1999	62
2000	131
2001	5
2002	6
2003	15
2004	3
2005	11
2006	2

Question reference: S3W-05930

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many influenza vaccinations have been administered in each year since 1980, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) age group.

This information isavailable broken down by those aged 65 and over and those under the age of 65.

For those aged 65and over figures are available from the year 2000. Information for the years 2000-05is given in the table Flu Vaccination Uptake for the period 2000-05, a copyof which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 37783). Information for years 2005-06 and 2006-07 can be found in the followingtables.

NHS Board	2005-06 Vaccinations	2006-07 Vaccinations
Ayrshire and Arran	51,695	51,049
Argyll and Clyde	52,185	n/a
Borders	15,750	15,174
Dumfries and Galloway	23,125	22,611
Fife	42,274	40,786
Forth Valley	34,747	34,394
Greater Glasgow	101,222	135,979
Grampian	54,212	52,357
Highland	27,958	33,495
Lanarkshire	59,718	58,336
Lothian	71,804	69,082
Orkney	1,382	1,385
Shetland	171	171
Tayside	56,392	53,386
Western Isles	3,508	3,365
Scotland	596,143	571,570

Note: Figures takenfrom the Practitioner Services Division claims for payment for vaccinating 65s andover under the GMS contract. Figures do not include a small number of Section 17cand salaried GP practices.

Estimates on flu vaccineuptake for the under 65s is available for the last two years and is detailed inthe following table:

NHS Board	2005-06 Uptake¹	2006-07 Uptake²
Ayrshire and Arran	8,157	14,597
Argyll and Clyde	10,414	n/a
Borders	3,159	2,869
Dumfries and Galloway	2,202	5,004
Fife	8,030	12,585
Forth Valley	5,920	8,928
Greater Glasgow	19,649	40,870
Grampian	12,481	14,979
Highland	4,842	9,049
Lanarkshire	9,618	14,406
Lothian	15,333	21,266
Orkney	525	589
Shetland	272	541
Tayside	6,613	9,141
Western Isles	778	1,142
Scotland	107,993	155,966

Notes:

Figures taken fromreturns made to Health Protection Scotland by approximately 60% of GP practices.

1. Information receivedfrom 401 practices.

2. Information receivedfrom 676 practices.

Question reference: S3W-05926

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners on remand in each year since 1980 did not subsequently serve custodial sentences for the offences for which they were remanded.

Question reference: S3W-05925

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners on remand in each year since 1980 were not subsequently convicted of the offences for which they were remanded.

Question reference: S3W-02393

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 12 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what investment in renewables technology has been in each year since 1999 and what the comparative levels have been for (a) the United Kingdom, (b) each EU member state and (c) each OECD nation.

The information requestedin parts (a), (b) and (c) is not held centrally.

Scottish Governmentdirect expenditure:

A separate ScottishGovernment budget for renewable energy was introduced in 2003-04. Expenditure fromthis budget, by year is shown in the following table.

2003-04	£2,669,070
2004-05	£3,871,158
2005-06	£3,931,733
2006-07	£8,634,287
2007-08	(to end of September) £4,175,380

This includes:

expenditure on the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI);

support for the constructionof wave and tidal device testing facilities at the European Marine Energy Centre(EMEC);

support for the developmentof a deep water offshore wind farm demonstrator project in the Moray Firth,

and the allocationof funds to assist Queen Margaret College with the development of a biomass heatingproject.

Some of the expenditurein the current year is part of a £25 million package of funds, which we expect tobe spent in 2007-08 and 2008-09, aimed at supporting the development of emergingtechnologies, currently supporting wave and tidal, biomass and hydrogen projectsacross Scotland.

Wider public sectorexpenditure on Renewables:

A wide range of publicsector bodies and sources provide support for the development of renewables in Scotland. For instance, Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) hasprovided funding of around £1.2 million between 2004-05 and 2006-07 to support renewablesprojects.

European StructuralFunds support a range of renewable energy projects;

Objective 1 of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has supported renewable energy projects issuing grant payments of approximately £2.5 million (£2,524,170 at last count) (includes the PURE project on Unst and the Hydrogen Lab at Lews Castle College).
In the East of Scotland Programme of ERDF, grant payment total approximately £2.7 million have been paid to renewable energy projects (£2,713,259 at last count) (includes Sigma Sustainable Energies Fund and Fife Energy Park).
European Social Fund payments to renewable energy projects total around £193,000 (includes IGNITE wood fuel training programme).

Innovation fundingis delivered through the SMART and SPUR programmes, which have provided in excessof £600,000 in support of projects in the renewable energy sector since April 2002.

In addition, the ScottishGovernment has allocated £1 million over 2006-08 to carry out a pilot programmeto explore the potential for including renewable energy technologies in future fuelpoverty programmes.

The Scottish Governmentalso supports the work of the Enterprise Networks in Scotland. These sources have invested over £30 million in renewables over the lastfour years, through such vehicles as Scottish Enterprise’s Proof of Concept Programmeand Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s leading role andinvestment in the development of the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney (alsofunded by Orkney Island Council, the Carbon Trust, UK Government and Scottish Enterprise).

UK Government:

The main provisionof support to the renewable sector in the UKcomes from the Renewables Obligation mechanisms. In terms of direct UK Governmentexpenditure, over £500 million has been allocated (to projects across the UK andincluding in Scotland) between 2002 and 2008, comprising research and developmentfunding plus capital grants for the development of wave, tidal, biomass, offshorewind and solar photovoltaics.

Question reference: S3W-05931

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 12 November 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the alternative route for non-motorway traffic will be once the online upgrade of the A80 to motorway status is complete and whether this will be the alternative route in the event of the closure of the upgraded A80/M80 route as a consequence of accidents.