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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: S1O-03411

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 10 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what Regional Selective Assistance funding has been provided to companies in the Scottish Borders since October 2000.

In the period 1 October 2000 to 30 April 2001, 10 companies were offered Regional Selective Assistance totalling £4.0 million.This included four companies who were offered Invest for Growth (which is a streamlined version of RSA) amounting to £248,000. The projects attracting these offers involved planned capital investment of £21.5 million by firms in the Scottish Borders and the planned creation and safeguarding there of some 940 jobs.

Question reference: S1W-15158

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14773 by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001, whether it will provide on a weekly basis figures for the numbers of animals slaughtered under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme and whether it will provide the figures now for those slaughtered from 9 April 2001 to 18 April 2001.

In the period 9 to 18 April, 92 cattle, 12,120 sheep and 5,840 pigs were slaughtered in abattoirs in Scotland under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme. These figures exclude any livestock unfit to travel that would have been slaughtered on farm and do not allow for stock that may have been slaughtered south of the border. As of 24 April a total of 32,575 animals have been slaughtered in abattoirs in Scotland under the scheme.

Question reference: S1W-15163

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Abbatoir at Hawick has applied for certification as a suitable slaughterhouse under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme and, if so, when the application was received by the Intervention Board, whether a determination has been made and, if it has not, when it will be made.

Abattoirs engaged in the slaughter of livestock under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme do so under a contractual arrangement with the Intervention Board Executive Agency (IBEA) who operate the scheme, subject to certain licensing requirements as enforced by the Food Standards Agency. I am advised by IBEA that a tender was received from the owners of Hawick abattoir on 20 March but no contractual agreement has been agreed. With four abattoirs in Scotland now contracted to IBEA, significant slaughter capacity is now available to enable the progression of the scheme.

Question reference: S1W-15159

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive which abattoirs which have applied for approval by the Intervention Board for slaughter purposes under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme still await a determination, giving the date when the application was lodged for each abattoir.

Question reference: S1W-15162

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14775 by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001, of the 582 applications under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme received by 9 April 2001, (a) how many had been processed, (b) how many had been rejected and (c) how many of those passed for slaughter had been slaughtered, as at 18 April 2001.

Since 17 April, the Intervention Board Executive Agency have entered all applications to the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme on to a database which has enabled duplicate applications to be identified. Consequently, I am now advised by IBEA that there were a total of 405 applications to the scheme in Scotland as of 17 April. These applications have been processed; none have been rejected although supporting veterinary information has been requested for a number of applications to confirm the existence of a welfare problem. As of 24 April, a total of 32,575 animals had been slaughtered in abattoirs in Scotland under the scheme. Officials from my department have since been working with the Intervention Board Executive Agency in the processing of Scottish applications. This will help to speed up the processing of claims.

Question reference: S1W-15161

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14773 by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001, whether the Intervention Board is meeting the target of making payments to farmers under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme within 21 days of slaughter and, if not, what timescales it is achieving.

Question reference: S1W-15160

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14776 by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001, why separate figures are not available for Scotland regarding the number of slaughtered animals under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme and whether it will ensure that separate figures are made available.

The Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme is operated by the Intervention Board Executive Agency on behalf of the GB Agriculture Departments. In the initial phases of the scheme, the main priorities within the Intervention Board lay in establishing the operation of the scheme - including tasks such as creating the call centre and securing slaughtering and rendering capacity. For the most recent statistics regarding the numbers of animals disposed in Scotland I refer to the answer given to question S1W-15158.

Question reference: S1W-15300

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 8 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many timber merchants were contacted by it to provide information on stock levels of railway sleepers and other timber material between November 2000 and February 2001.

The Scottish Executive and the Forestry Commission, from time to time, may carry out surveys of timber merchants for a variety of reasons including timber marketing and contingency planning for (inter alia) foot-and-mouth disease. Marketing surveys may be carried out at a local level.No such contingency exercise was carried out during the period referred to. As far as can be ascertained, neither the Forestry Commission nor the Scottish Executive carried out any survey for marketing purposes during that period.

Question reference: S1W-15299

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 8 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive which of the timber merchants asked to provide information on timber stock levels between November 2000 and February 2001 had never been asked to provide such information to it prior to November 2000.

Question reference: S1W-15298

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2001
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 8 May 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose was of seeking information on timber stock levels from timber merchants between November 2000 and February 2001.