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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: S1W-12013

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 3 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many tonnes of raw materials the paper manufacturing industry imported in each of the last three years and what the value of such imports was in each of these years.

Latest available figures on paper manufacturing imports are from the 1996 Scottish Input-Output Tables. The total value of imports by the paper manufacturing industry was £403 million in 1996. This includes both imports from the rest of the UK (£228 million) and imports from the rest of the world (£175 million). Figures include imports of all goods and services required for the production process.

Data are not held centrally on the quantity of imports in tonnes.

Question reference: S1W-10324

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9352 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 September 2000, whether it will provide information on the number of persons with a charge proved in sheriff and district courts and the number of these where the main offence involved was aggravated by having been committed while the offender was on bail for (a) Tayside and (b) the whole of Scotland in (i) 1997 and (ii) 1998 and when the 1999 figures will be made available.

The information requested is given in the following table. Summary data for 1999 on criminal proceedings in Scottish courts are expected to be published by the end of this year.

Number of persons with a charge proved in sheriff and district¹ courts, 1997 and 1998

SEJD Crime	All persons with a charge proved		Persons with a bail aggravation⁴
Category²	1997	1998	1997	1998
Scotland
Total	149,387	138,833	9,891	9,848
Housebreaking	3,267	2,959	597	574
Robbery	491	446	112	97
Drug offences	6,700	6,656	356	434
Other offences	138,929	128,772	8,826	8,743
Tayside³
Total	12,861	12,762	857	892
Housebreaking	272	222	48	43
Robbery	29	31	10	4
Drug offences	432	432	17	20
Other offences	12,128	12,077	782	825

Notes:

1. Includes stipendiary magistrates court.

2. Main offence.

3. Includes Arbroath, Dundee, Forfar and Perth Sheriff Courts; Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross District Courts.

4. The offence was aggravated by having been committed while the offender was on bail.

Question reference: S1W-11713

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients diagnosed with mild to moderate Al'heimer's disease are currently on waiting lists to receive Aricept, Rivastigmine or Galantamine, broken down by health board area.

Question reference: S1W-11712

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Al'heimer's patients are currently receiving treatment with Aricept, Rivastigmine or Galantamine, broken down by health board area, and what percentage of patients diagnosed with mild to moderate Al'heimer's disease this represents in each health board area.

Question reference: S1W-11707

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of the Dental Action Plan Support Group is based in Aberdeen or elsewhere in the North East Scotland parliamentary region.

Question reference: S1W-11661

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 14 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to assist fire brigades to recruit retained fire fighters or to improve rural fire services generally.

We recognise the importance of ensuring that retained units are kept up to strength. The Scottish Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council (SCFBAC) will shortly be considering the plans of HM Inspectorate of Fire Services to carry out a thematic review to assist in the development of strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of retained, auxiliary and volunteer firefighters. The improvement of fire services in rural areas is an ongoing process which will be greatly assisted by the increased provision for the fire service announced in the recent financial statement.

Question reference: S1W-11662

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 14 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average response times for emergency fire services have been in each brigade area covering rural communities in each of the last three years.

Average response times in remote rural areas, where provided by fire brigades, are given in Table 1b of Comparing the Response of Scottish Councils: Police and Fire, published by the Accounts Commission for Scotland in January 2000, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 7717). The table covers 1998-99, 1997-98 and 1996-97. Figures for 1999-2000 are expected to be published in mid-January 2001.

Question reference: S1W-11658

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 14 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how the current level of vacancies for retained fire fighters compares with each of the last three years, broken down by brigade.

The latest information available is the number of vacancies on 31 March 2000. Figures for that year and the preceding three years are as follows:Retained personnel (all ranks) of Scottish fire brigades:Shortfall between established posts and staff in post on 31 March

Brigade	1997	1998	1999	2000
Central Scotland	16	17	6	0
Dumfries and Galloway	10	1	0	0
Fife	16	17	10	8
Grampian	47	39	54	46
Highland and Islands	283*	52	49	47
Lothian and Borders	6	2	23	23
Strathclyde	59	23	56	49
Tayside	18	26	17	21

Source: statistical returns to HM Inspectorate of Fire Services.

* Reflects increase in establishment by 274 posts over figure for previous year, consequent upon re-grading of volunteer posts.

Question reference: S1W-11659

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 14 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make available funding to make rural fire stations suitable for the employment of women as retained fire fighters.

Question reference: S1W-11638

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 13 December 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the extent is of any shortage of available labour with the necessary skills to work in the offshore oil and gas industry.

The Oil Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO), which is the National Training Organisation (NTO) for the oil and gas industry, recently commissioned from the Robert Gordon University an employment and skills foresight analysis for the industry. The report, published in March, identified current recruitment problems across all sizes of company in the oil and gas sector, particularly for people with technical and managerial experience. Action to address these problems is being taken by OPITO and by the industry itself.