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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

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Question reference: S2W-12512

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims of compensation were made against each local authority in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-12511

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for council housing were made in each local authority area in each of the last five years, showing the year-on-year percentage change.

The numbers of new applications on waiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for 2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland.

This data collection began in 2001 and data are not centrally available prior to that date. The numbers reported to the Scottish Executive are for applicant households and do not specify the number of people within each household.

The following tables show new applications to the housing register from 2000-01 to 2003-04 and the percentage year on year change for each local authority.

Table 1: New applicants to housing register: 2000-01 to 2003-04

	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	93,828	104,972	100,123	96,369
Aberdeen City	8,244	..	7,372	9,010
Aberdeenshire	3,435	3,315	3,992	4,014
Angus	2,974	3,270	2,903	2,975
Argyll and Bute	2,417	2,318	2,585	2,709
Clackmannanshire	589	1,099	1,290	1,345
Dumfries and Galloway¹	2,334	2,915	3,434	n/a
Dundee City	6,019	6,505	6,685	6,784
East Ayrshire	864	3,933	4,011	4,151
East Dunbartonshire	665	1,232	1,187	1,185
East Lothian	1,153	957	1,202	1,277
East Renfrewshire	512	583	779	999
City of Edinburgh²	5,093	5,254	5,254	5,254
Eilean Siar	360	445	495	615
Falkirk	3,626	3,906	3,677	3,817
Fife	7,399	8,719	10,340	3,314
Glasgow City¹	10,066	12,629	n/a	n/a
Highland	5,277	5,045	4,835	5,554
Inverclyde	2,735	2,628	..	..
Midlothian	875	686	1,104	963
Moray	1,067	1,168	1,246	2,163
North Ayrshire	..	3,128	2,888	4,107
North Lanarkshire	5,585	10,614	10,996	10,733
Orkney	233	302	246	386
Perth and Kinross	..	2,358	2,526	2,572
Renfrewshire	4,039	4,148	3,782	4,639
Scottish Borders¹	2,174	2,292	n/a	n/a
Shetland	631	538	614	500
South Ayrshire	2,105	2,709	2,504	2,397
South Lanarkshire	4,921	6,355	7,554	7,230
Stirling	784	663	1,710	1,800
West Dunbartonshire	3,264	1,201	452	883
West Lothian	4,388	4,057	4,460	4,993

Notes:

.. Data not availablel.

1. Due to housing stock transfer, figures from Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Scottish Borders are not included.

2. No data available due to outstanding returns. Estimates have been made using 2001-02 data.

Table 2: New Applicants to Housing Register: 2000-01 to 2003-04, Percentage Change

Local Authority	2000-01 to 2001-02	2001-02 to 2002-03	2002-03 to 2003-04
Scotland	12	-5	-4
Aberdeen City	n/a	n/a	22
Aberdeenshire	-3	20	1
Angus	10	-11	2
Argyll and Bute	-4	12	5
Clackmannanshire	87	17	4
Dumfries and Galloway	25	18	n/a
Dundee City	8	3	1
East Ayrshire	355	2	3
East Dunbartonshire	85	-4	0
East Lothian	-17	26	6
East Renfrewshire	14	34	28
City of Edinburgh	3	n/a	n/a
Eilean Siar	24	11	24
Falkirk	8	-6	4
Fife	18	19	-68
Glasgow City	25	n/a	n/a
Highland	-4	-4	15
Inverclyde	-4	n/a	n/a
Midlothian	-22	61	-13
Moray	9	7	74
North Ayrshire	n/a	-8	42
North Lanarkshire	90	4	-2
Orkney	30	-19	57
Perth and Kinross	n/a	7	2
Renfrewshire	3	-9	23
Scottish Borders	5	n/a	n/a
Shetland	-15	14	-19
South Ayrshire	29	-8	-4
South Lanarkshire	29	19	-4
Stirling	-15	158	5
West Dunbartonshire	-63	-62	95
West Lothian	-8	10	12

Question reference: S2W-12510

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many council houses were built in each local authority area in each of the last five years, showing the year-on-year percentage change.

The following tables show the number of local authority dwellings completed each financial year, broken down by local authority area and the percentage year-on-year change for each local authority. Year-on year changes should be treated with caution due to the small numbers of new build local authority dwellings.

Currently, almost all new building of social housing is by housing associations rather than local authorities. Over the next three years (2005-8) the Executive is committed to funding the provision of 21,500 affordable homes.

Table 1: Local Authorities where New Dwellings Completed: 1999-2000 to 2003-04

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	69	112	65	94	0
Aberdeen City	0	5	18	75	0
Aberdeenshire	46	0	0	0	0
Fife	1	2	0	0	0
Glasgow City	5	89	0	18	0
Highland	0	0	0	1	0
Midlothian	17	16	12	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	5	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	30	0	0

Note: Table does not include local authorities where no new dwellings were completed in the period

Table 2: New Local Authority Dwellings Completed 1999-00 to 2003-04, Percentage Change

	1999-2000 to 2000-01	2000-01 to 2001-02	2001-02 to 2002-03	2002-03 to 2003-04
Scotland	62	-42	45	n/a
Aberdeen City	n/a	260	317	n/a
Aberdeenshire	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Fife	100	n/a	n/a	n/a
Glasgow City	1,680	n/a	n/a	n/a
Highland	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Midlothian	-6	-25	n/a	n/a
North Ayrshire	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
North Lanarkshire	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Question reference: S2W-12508

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 7 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what obligations there are on public libraries to ensure that they stock materials that are accessible to blind and partially-sighted users.

Question reference: S2W-12285

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 6 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the most recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea which states that North Sea haddock mortality has decreased at the same time that North Sea cod mortality has increased.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advice on cod notes that there are uncertainties in its estimate of total cod catch (and therefore implied cod mortality) in 2003. The ICES advice has been examined by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF). It has concluded that while the methodology applied by ICES is sound, the nature of that methodology means that the estimate of fishing mortality for the most recent year in the time series (2003) is the least certain and likely to be an overestimate compared to the values estimated for earlier years.

The Scottish Executive supports the STECF interpretation and, in addition, has provided ICES with evidence that our effort reduction on cod has been much closer to achieving our 65% target reduction in fishing mortality than may be implied by the ICES advice.

Question reference: S2W-12374

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what new measures it will take to improve conditions at HM Prison Aberdeen following the most recent report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.

Question reference: S2W-12008

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that lay justice provides a mechanism for community involvement in the judicial process.

Question reference: S2W-12007

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for any delays in its response to the McInnes Report on the review of summary justice.

Question reference: S2W-11611

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department towards the cessation of the Over Thirty Months scheme.

Question reference: S2W-12287

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 30 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent per capita on research and development in each of the last three years, shown also as a percentage of GDP, and what information it has in respect of equivalent figures for (a) the United Kingdom and (b) each other member state of the European Union.

The information is available from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for its members and from the European Union for those EU countries that are not members of the OECD. The latest figures available for Scotland are for 2002, taken from the Scottish Executive report Business Enterprise Research and Development 2002:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/enterprise/berd02-00.asp

The following table contains the information, converted into pounds sterlingusing purchasing power equivalents for OECD members and commercial exchange ratesfor the other countries.

Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) per Capita and as a Percentage of GDP – 2000-02

	Per Capita Expenditure (GERD/Population) (£)			GERD as % of GDP
Country	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Scotland	213	246	289	1.40	1.57	1.75
United Kingdom	298	313	330	1.84	1.86	1.88
Austria	328	340	348	1.86	1.92	1.93
Belgium	338	372	..	2.04	2.17	..
Cyprus¹	23	25	..	0.25	0.26	..
Czech Republic	117	122	124	1.33	1.30	1.30
Denmark	..	443	465	..	2.40	2.52
Estonia¹	17	23	..	0.75	0.66	..
Finland	552	567	576	3.40	3.41	3.46
France	364	385	389	2.18	2.23	2.20
Germany	397	403	412	2.49	2.51	2.52
Greece	..	72	..	..	0.65	..
Hungary	62	78	90	0.80	0.95	1.02
Ireland	208	217	..	1.15	1.15	..
Italy	169	178	..	1.07	1.11	..
Latvia¹	10	10	..	0.40	0.48	0.44
Lithuania¹	13	17	..	0.52	0.60	0.68
Luxembourg	534	..	..	1.71	..	..
Malta¹	..	..	..	..	..	..
Netherlands	330	342	..	1.90	1.89	..
Poland	43	42	40	0.66	0.64	0.59
Portugal	88	96	108	0.80	0.85	0.93
Slovak Republic	44	46	45	0.65	0.64	0.06
Slovenia¹	93	110	..	1.51	1.52	..
Spain	123	129	146	0.94	0.95	1.03
Sweden	..	725	..	..	4.27	..

Sources:

OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators published in May 2004 ISSN - 1011-792X- No. 53593 2004.

Eurostat Statistics on Science and Technology in Europe 1991 to 2002 ISBN 92-894-6823-8.

Business Enterprise Research and Development in Scotland 2002, Scottish Executive.

GRO(Scotland) Mid-year population estimates.

ONS Population Trends 117 Autumn 2004.

Exchange rates £ to Euros www.oanda.com.

Notes:

1. Data for these countries are not available from OECD: these figures have been taken from Eurostat and converted to £ sterling.

..Not available.