- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 22 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding the Scottish Tourist Board has given each area tourist board in the current financial year and whether it will show these amounts expressed both as a percentage of the total overall funding given to area tourist boards and per capita.
Answer
Levels of grants awarded to area tourist boards by visitscotland are an operational matter for visitscotland itself. The remainder of the information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 22 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what specific assistance is available to agricultural businesses which wish to diversify into tourism-related activities and whether it wishes to encourage such diversification.
Answer
The Executive is keen to support those involved in agricultural business who wish to diversify. Grant schemes have been available to assist those businesses with a wide range of diversification options, including tourism-related activities. Earlier this year, I launched the Agricultural Business Development Scheme, an element of which provides support for diversification activities in rural areas in the Highlands and Islands. I hope to launch the Farm Business Development Scheme shortly to provide similar support for rural areas outwith the Highlands and Islands.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much VAT has been paid and how much has been recovered by each water authority in each of the last five years.
Answer
Details of VAT paid and recovered by each of the water authorities over the past five years is as follows (figures are in pounds sterling):
| West of Scotland Water |
| Input | Output | Claimed |
| 2000-01 | 41,698,649.20 | 5,762,046.12 | 35,936,603.08 |
| 1999-2000 | 40,043,194.50 | 5,065,880.98 | 34,977,313.52 |
| 1998-99 | 36,135,925.50 | 5,252,633.75 | 30,883,291.75 |
| 1997-98 | 25,222,582.99 | 5,274,734.23 | 19,947,848.76 |
| 1996-97 | 23,438,271.90 | 5,184,733.59 | 18,253,538.31 |
| 166,538,624.09 | 26,540,028.67 | 139,998,595.42 |
| East of Scotland Water |
| Input | Output | Claimed |
| 2000-01 | 30,235,671.53 | 6,565,152.54 | 23,670,518.99 |
| 1999-2000 | 30,261,924.12 | 6,760,417.25 | 23,501,506.87 |
| 1998-99 | 23,933,266.11 | 6,014,650.01 | 17,918,616.10 |
| 1997-98 | 21,036,027.33 | 5,189,766.57 | 15,846,260.76 |
| 1996-97 | 17,409,458.75 | 4,819,631.48 | 12,589,827.27 |
| 122,876,347.84 | 29,349,617.85 | 93,526,729.99 |
| North of Scotland Water |
| Input | Output | Claimed |
| 2000-01 | 28,518,898.53 | 2,253,506.75 | 26,265,391.78 |
| 1999-2000 | 19,373,000.44 | 2,094,605.48 | 17,278,394.96 |
| 1998-99 | 19,331,762.91 | 2,158,103.88 | 17,173,659.03 |
| 1997-98 | 13,870,184.88 | 2,371,925.99 | 11,498,258.89 |
| 1996-97 | 12,313,818.10 | 1,906,108.41 | 10,407,709.69 |
| 93,407,664.86 | 10,784,250.51 | 82,623,414.35 |
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all disposals of land, riparian interests or buildings since vesting date made by each water authority until the most recent date for which information is available, giving the date of disposal, the hectarage of land involved and the sum realised by each and every such disposal.
Answer
This information is a matter for the water authorities and not held centrally.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings each minister has had with MSPs from each party to discuss constituency issues and what percentage of the total number of such meetings which each minister has had each of these figures represents.
Answer
Ministers have many meetings with MSPs on a range of subjects, including constituency matters. The number of meetings on such matters is dependent on the number of requests received in any given period, but it is not possible to provide information in the form requested.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 21 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail (a) the targets set for the ratio between the projected elderly population and available sheltered and very sheltered housing and any changes made to these targets, (b) the level of borrowing consent for sheltered and very sheltered housing per 1,000 elderly population and (c) the ratio between borrowing consent and local government funding for sheltered housing funding, in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01 and (iii) 2001-02, broken down by local authority.
Answer
Guidance issued in 1991 by the then Scottish Office indicates that there should be 20 very sheltered and 46 sheltered dwellings per 1,000 people aged 65 or over within a local authority area. These guidelines are advisory, not mandatory, and should be tailored to suit local circumstances. Local authorities are not expected to meet them alone but together with other housing providers such as Scottish Homes and the housing association movement.Information is not available on the ratio between borrowing consent and local government funding for very sheltered and sheltered housing per 1,000 elderly population because borrowing consent allocations are not earmarked for specific purposes.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of respondents to its consultation paper, Affordability of Water and Sewerage Charges, suggested alternative or amended schemes.
Answer
22 submissions representing 45% of respondents to the Executive consultation paper on affordability of water and sewerage charges suggested alternative or amended schemes. Of these respondents only a small number suggested any practical details as to how those alternatives could work and many involved expenditure considerably in excess of the funds available.Within the considerable legal and financial constraints, the Executive responded to these suggestions as far as was possible. Full details are set out in the affordability consultation report that is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 13187), the Executive Library and on the Executive website at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/environment/conreport3.pdf.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many households currently qualify for the scheme to help lower income households pay their water and sewerage charges and what the estimated cost of the scheme is for each of the next three years, broken down by local authority.
Answer
We anticipate that approximately 180,000 households will qualify in this first year of the scheme.£24,000,000 is available to fund the reduction scheme over three years from April 2001 including the cost of implementation and administration of the scheme. It is not possible, at this stage, to break down spending by local authority.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any changes it made to its original proposals following its consultation paper, Affordability of Water and Sewerage Charges.
Answer
The affordability consultation report details changes made to the Executive's original proposals to address the affordability of water and sewerage charges. This report may be obtained from the Parliament Reference Centre, the Executive Library and the Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/environment/conreport3.pdf.The main provisions of the scheme are set out in the Domestic Water and Sewerage Charges (Reduction) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and supporting guidance which is held by the Parliament Reference Centre (Bib. no. 13187).
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Davidson on 17 May 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases were prepared by each procurator fiscal's office under the 110-day rule in each of the last five years.
Answer
The information requested is not available.
