Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-02642

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 15 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average house price has been in each local authority area in each year since 1995.

Question reference: S3W-02396

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to the social enterprise sector.

Our current frameworkfor support to the social enterprise sector is contained in Better business – a strategy and action plan forsocial enterprise in Scotland (Bib. number 42840) which highlights the importantcontribution a social enterprise business model can make to life in Scotland. It also contains a £1.5 million action plan for 2007-08intended to grow and develop social enterprise. We intend to build on the foundationof this strategy in considering the need for further support as part of the forthcomingspending review.

Question reference: S3W-02395

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of Scottish GDP is generated by social enterprises.

Question reference: S3W-02394

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers the role and value of social enterprise is to society and the economy.

Question reference: S3W-02220

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount of uncollected water rates has been in each year since 1995.

The questions raisedare of an operational nature. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of ScottishWater to reply. His response is:

Financial Year	£ Million
1996-97	65.3
1997-98	64.3
1998-99	57.4
1999-2000	61.1
2000-01	78.8
2001-02	101.4
2002-03	100.1
2003-04	90.5
2004-05	67.8
2005-06	31.9

The information istaken from the annual accounts published by Scottish Water and its predecessor organisations.Figures for 2006-07 have yet to be published. The local authorities were responsiblefor the water industry prior to 1996. The information sought from that time is notheld centrally.

Question reference: S3W-02219

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been raised through water rates in each year since 1995.

	£ Million
1996-97	524.8
1997-98	548.6
1998-99	597.5
1999-2000	640.4
2000-01	753.8
2001-02	865.3
2002-03	894.2
2003-04	950.9
2004-05	932.1
2005-06	973

The information istaken from the annual accounts published by Scottish Water and its predecessor organisations.Figures for 2006-07 have yet to be published. The local authorities were responsiblefor the water industry prior to 1996. The information sought from that time is notheld centrally.

Question reference: S3W-02541

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school leavers it estimates have not acquired the basic standards of (a) numeracy and (b) literacy in each year since 1999.

The number and percentageof school leavers who left school without a maths or English qualification at SCQFlevel 3 or better is contained in the following table:

School Year	English		Maths
School Year	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
1998-99	3,744	6.6%	4,012	7.1%
1999-2000	3,472	6.3%	3,666	6.6%
2000-01	3,858	6.7%	3,883	6.8%
2001-02	3,886	6.7%	4,025	7.0%
2002-03	3,847	6.7%	4,404	7.7%
2003-04	3,628	6.2%	4,259	7.3%
2004-05	3,771	6.5%	4,463	7.7%
2005-06	3,615	6.2%	4,125	7.1%

SCQF Level 3 is equivalentto a standard grade foundation pass or an Access 3 cluster.

Question reference: S3W-02540

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion and number of businesses established with the assistance of Business Gateway start-up grants were still in operation beyond the (a) first, (b) second, (c) third, (d) fourth, and (e) fifth year.

Question reference: S3W-02646

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been registered as homeless in each local authority area in each year since 1995.

Question reference: S3W-02645

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 14 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many properties it estimates have not been the primary residence of the owner in each local authority area in each year since 1995.

The following tableprovides estimates of the number of vacant dwellings and second homes by unitarylocal authority area from 1996, the year in which unitary local authorities werecreated. The footnotes to the table explain the derivation of the figures.

Vacant Dwellings andSecond Homes by Local Authority Area 1,2, September 1996-2006

Local Authority	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Scotland	91,251	85,749	88,142	91,714	99,854	104,003	106,463	106,312	104,668	101,734	101,445
Aberdeen City	6,403	3,564	3,647	4,208	4,858	5,304	5,443	5,550	5,259	5,574	4,840
Aberdeenshire	4,582	4,719	4,438	5,040	5,184	5,508	5,322	5,222	4,931	4,681	4,766
Angus	2,169	2,256	2,386	2,572	2,581	2,813	2,876	2,857	2,808	2,756	2,653
Argyll and Bute	3,816	4,176	5,507	4,653	5,794	5,955	5,960	5,402	5,442	5,042	5,085
Clackmannanshire	609	472	554	576	664	671	774	677	735	794	789
Dumfries and Galloway	2,767	3,006	3,292	3,244	3,508	3,753	3,693	3,384	3,484	3,331	3,757
Dundee City	4,443	4,580	4,611	4,646	5,431	5,631	5,507	5,671	5,163	4,822	5,159
East Ayrshire	836	921	917	1,193	1,372	1,437	1,571	1,390	1,267	1,286	1,161
East Dunbartonshire	500	438	520	451	404	410	445	475	482	547	437
East Lothian	1,115	1,067	1,044	1,052	1,109	1,220	1,175	1,342	1,323	1,419	1,386
East Renfrewshire	527	558	799	304	595	636	846	763	907	883	931
Edinburgh, City of	11,897	7,542	6,999	7,470	8,616	8,596	9,020	8,803	9,465	8,734	9,633
Eilean Siar	1,593	1,627	1,705	1,809	1,866	1,865	2,014	2,002	1,985	1,866	1,838
Falkirk	1,918	1,750	1,081	1,170	1,433	1,525	1,445	1,637	1,570	2,069	1,808
Fife	5,705	5,460	5,593	5,657	6,307	6,655	6,801	7,252	7,474	7,122	7,607
Glasgow City³	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395	10,395
Highland	8,370	8,839	8,680	8,587	9,102	9,419	9,631	9,673	9,819	9,444	9,279
Inverclyde	1,402	1,200	1,678	2,046	2,342	2,111	2,447	2,561	2,612	2,368	2,120
Midlothian	545	595	573	574	477	487	480	510	534	522	560
Moray	1,890	2,289	2,100	2,261	2,382	2,367	2,241	2,278	2,116	2,021	1,933
North Ayrshire	1,928	2,100	2,433	2,448	2,686	2,674	3,675	4,695	3,056	2,897	2,875
North Lanarkshire	1,699	1,899	3,393	3,725	3,503	3,162	2,679	2,350	2,184	2,266	2,316
Orkney Isles	926	1,064	1,115	1,192	1,274	1,368	1,406	1,406	846	785	810
Perth and Kinross	3,826	3,642	3,575	3,536	3,763	4,125	4,178	4,030	4,018	3,817	3,393
Renfrewshire	1,732	1,647	1,690	2,461	3,523	4,410	3,672	2,891	3,281	2,909	2,733
Scottish Borders	2,956	3,051	2,897	3,124	3,129	3,402	3,344	3,350	3,285	3,263	3,408
Shetland	677	757	786	839	881	839	884	844	837	768	773
South Ayrshire	1,129	1,116	1,151	1,270	1,262	1,449	1,641	1,570	1,645	1,534	1,679
South Lanarkshire	1,544	1,845	1,884	1,804	1,929	1,997	2,703	3,247	3,605	3,500	3,147
Stirling	1,457	1,393	1,358	1,376	1,445	1,680	1,601	1,486	1,608	1,648	1,594
West Dunbartonshire	760	648	582	1,335	1,193	1,182	1,605	1,675	1,596	1,508	1,304
West Lothian	1,135	1,133	759	696	846	957	989	924	936	1,163	1,276

Notes:

1. Figures include:

- Unoccupied dwellingsthat are exempt from council tax.

- Dwellings subjectto second home or long-term empty property discount (including holiday homes andself-catering accommodation available to let for less than 140 days per year).

- A small number ofdwellings occupied entirely by adults who are ‘disregarded’ for the purpose of payingcouncil tax, such as adults who are severely mentally impaired.

2. The figures recordedmay fluctuate for two main reasons:

- Self-catering holidayaccommodation available to let for less than 140 days per year will be included.If it is let for more than this, it will be included on the non-domestic rates valuationroll instead.

- There can be delaysin the information on council tax systems being updated, or councils may amend theinformation held on their systems.

This is most likelyto lead to fluctuations in areas with high turnover, or high levels of vacanciesor second homes.

Comparable figuresare not available prior to 1996.

3. In 2006, GlasgowCity Council Financial Services moved to a new software system for council tax.This has resulted in a lack of consistency between the figures on the number ofdwellings entitled to discounts and exemptions for 2006, and the figures for earlieryears. In order to overcome this problem, the number of discounts and exemptionsin 1996-2005 were adjusted to be equal to the figures for 2006. This is in linewith other available data, which show little change in the number of vacancies inGlasgow in 2001-06.

Source: GROS householdestimates:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/household-estimates-statistics/household-estimates-for-scotland-2006/index.html.

Chamber and committees