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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: S2W-16438

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the employment levels in the aquaculture sector are currently and have been in each of the last six years.

The information requested is provided in the following table.

Salmon Production	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Staff Full-time	1,117	1,036	1,141	1,066	1,083	1,066	N/A**
Staff Part-time	192	268	256	191	223	151	N/A**
Total	1,309	1,304	1,397	1,257	1,306	1,217	N/A**
Smolt Production
Staff Full-time	318	300	341	317	312	291	N/A**
Staff Part-time	96	124	103	111	93	82	N/A**
Total	414	424	444	428	405	373	N/A**
Rainbow Trout Production
Staff Full-time	137	126	121	118	114	107	N/A**
Staff Part-time	49	51	47	41	46	41	N/A**
Total	186	177	168	159	160	148	N/A**
Other Species Production (fin-fish)
Staff Full-time	N/A*	54	73	75	69	73	N/A**
Staff Part-time	N/A*	18	25	22	30	24	N/A**
Total	N/A*	72	98	97	99	97	N/A**
Shellfish Production (all species)
Staff Full-time	116	118	138	137	128	146	149
Staff Part-time	127	114	135	146	134	144	170
Staff Casual	60	76	90	89	85	74	83
Total	303	308	363	372	347	364	402

Source: Fisheries Research Services Annual Production Survey (1998-2004).

Notes:

*Data not available – other species production data not available before 1999.

**Data not available – 2004 fin-fish production data is still being collected and verified. Annual survey results are published retrospectively.

Question reference: S2W-16375

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to police forces regarding the recruitment of female police officers.

Question reference: S2W-16376

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies have been made of the effects of exposure to advertising on children; whether any action is planned as a result of such studies, and, if no such studies have been undertaken, whether any are planned.

Question reference: S2W-16374

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to police forces regarding the recruitment of police officers from minority backgrounds.

The recruitment and appointment of police officers is the responsibility of chief constables. The Scottish police service is committed to encouraging people from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible to join the service. In April 2004, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) launched a Diversity Strategy for the Police Service in Scotland. This strategy provides a framework for developing and sustaining a diverse workforce within an environment which is both supportive and inclusive.

Question reference: S2W-16044

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 11 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests have been submitted to each minister under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and whether it will provide details for each minister in respect of the percentage (a) disclosed, (b) refused, (c) where the initial appeal was successful and (d) where a subsequent appeal to the Information Commissioner was successful.

Question reference: S2W-16226

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 10 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive which responsibilities in relation to the regulation of carbon sequestration and capture are (a) devolved and (b) reserved.

The Scottish Executive does not currently regulate carbon sequestration and capture.

There is a mixture of reserved and devolved responsibilities for policies and functions that have an influence on carbon sequestration. In general terms, fiscal policies that may influence carbon sequestration or capture, and offshore capture, are reserved. Land-based policies on matters such as agriculture or forestry, that may influence sequestration or capture, are devolved.

Question reference: S2W-16121

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 May 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fisheries officer posts there were in each of the last five years, broken down by port and taking into account unfilled and new vacancies, also showing year-on-year percentage changes and expressed where possible as a ratio of the number of relevant registered vessels.

The figures requested are shown as follows:

Eastern Area		Aberdeen	Buckie	Eyemouth	Fraserburgh	Pittenweem	Peterhead
2000-01	Enforcement Staff	7	2	2	10	2	14
	Var. (%+/-)	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Reg. vessels	105	101	120	276	117	144
	Ratio to reg. vessels	15.00	50.50	60.00	27.60	58.50	10.29
2001-02	Enforcement Staff	6	2	2	9	2	16
	Var. (%+/-)	-14.29%	0%	0%	-10.00%	0%	+14.29%
	Reg. vessels	102	100	114	270	115	133
	Ratio to reg. vessels	17.00	50.00	57.00	30.00	57.50	8.31
2002-03	Enforcement Staff	5	2	2	3	2	23
	Var. (%+/-)	-16.67%	0%	0%	-66.67%	0%	+43.75%
	Reg. vessels	99	90	112	246	109	122
	Ratio to reg. vessels	19.80	45.00	56.00	82.00	54.50	5.30
2003-04	Enforcement Staff	5	2	2	4	2	22
	Var. (%+/-)	0%	0%	0%	+33.33%	0%	-4.35%
	Reg. vessels	90	82	106	215	109	104
	Ratio to reg. vessels	18.00	41.00	91.00	53.75	54.50	4.73
2004-05	Enforcement Staff	4	2	2	4	2	22
	Var. (%+/-)	-20.00%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
	Reg. vessels	92	79	108	222	111	104
	Ratio to reg. vessels	23.00	39.50	54.00	55.50	55.50	4.73

Question reference: S2O-06491

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 28 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address the shortage of skills in the oil and gas industry.

The Executive is committed to addressing skills issues within the sector in close partnership with all key stakeholders.

We are contributing to the work that PILOT, the government and industry taskforce for the oil and gas industry, is undertaking to develop a cohesive framework for collective action to attract, retain and encourage skills development within the industry.

The Executive is closely involved in the UK development of the various Sector Skills Councils. Cogent, the Sector Skills Council for the UK’s Oil, Gas and Polymer industries, have recently commenced Stage One of their Sector Skills Agreement (SSA). This is a sophisticated assessment of their sectors’ long, medium and short-term skills needs and the mapping of the drivers of change.

The Enterprise Network are also involved in a number of initiatives which assist the oil and gas sector.

In addition, the Fresh Talent initiative announced by the First Minister will bring talented, hard working people who can make a positive contribution to both the oil and gas sector and the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S2W-16080

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any analysis into appeals lodged through the agricultural subsidies appeals procedure has been carried out and, if so, what the findings were.

My officials record and monitor appeals lodged by scheme, scheme issues (e.g. livestock record keeping) and the grounds of appeal. They also monitor appeal outcomes. This information allows them to determine whether any changes are required to our scheme management and administrative procedures or to the appeals procedure.

The procedure has to date not identified any serious shortcomings in our systems, although at times backlogs of appeals have built up and it has taken us longer to process cases than we would like.

Question reference: S2W-16082

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that its Environment and Rural Affairs Department's information systems are compatible with those of the British Cattle Movement Service.