- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 6 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public sector staff work in (a) Central Scotland, (b) Glasgow, (c) Highlands and Islands, (d) Lothians, (e) Mid Scotland and Fife, (f) North East Scotland, (g) South of Scotland and (h) West of Scotland.
Answer
The official public sector employment series is only available at Scotland level. An alternative source is the Annual Population Survey (APS), however there are some quality issues with the data. The APS is a household survey and individuals self-classify whether they work in the public or private sector. As a result, the APS over estimates the number of public sector workers because some respondents unknowingly report themselves as working in the public sector when in fact they work in the private sector according to National Accounts definitions. The latest APS data over estimates total public sector employment by around 14% and this may vary across local authorities.
The table below provides estimates from the latest APS showing how many employees respond that they work in the public sector by local authority. The information is not available for Scottish Parliamentary regions.
Public Sector Employment by Local Authority, April 2008 to March 2009
| | Number of Public Sector Workers | % of Total Employment |
| Aberdeen City | 23,000 | 21.7% |
| Aberdeenshire | 24,700 | 22.7% |
| Angus | 14,300 | 30.7% |
| Argyll and Bute | 13,700 | 38.7% |
| Clackmannanshire | 15,700 | 34.4% |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 6,000 | 29.4% |
| Dundee City | 13,000 | 33.7% |
| East Ayrshire | 17,400 | 30.8% |
| East Dunbartonshire | 20,200 | 34.5% |
| East Lothian | 14,800 | 30.6% |
| East Renfrewshire | 16,000 | 36.1% |
| Edinburgh, City of | 13,000 | 32.4% |
| Eilean Siar | 13,600 | 36.3% |
| Falkirk | 54,500 | 24.3% |
| Fife | 19,900 | 29.0% |
| Glasgow City | 48,600 | 29.5% |
| Highland | 67,900 | 29.2% |
| Inverclyde | 35,000 | 36.5% |
| Midlothian | 11,200 | 32.6% |
| Moray | 11,500 | 32.3% |
| North Ayrshire | 12,100 | 31.0% |
| North Lanarkshire | 15,600 | 28.8% |
| Orkney Islands | 39,100 | 28.6% |
| Perth and Kinross | 3,700 | 41.0% |
| Renfrewshire | 17,400 | 29.2% |
| Scottish Borders | 22,900 | 29.9% |
| Shetland Islands | 5,100 | 50.4% |
| South Ayrshire | 13,500 | 30.5% |
| South Lanarkshire | 41,000 | 29.8% |
| Stirling | 11,600 | 31.0% |
| West Dunbartonshire | 22,400 | 28.2% |
| West Lothian | 5,400 | 49.0% |
| Scotland | 663,800 | 29.7% |
Source: Annual Population Survey, April 2008 to March 2009.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding available from the previous administration for the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme (a) has been allocated and (b) remains unallocated.
Answer
All funding under the scheme has been allocated to projects. The response to S3W-28206 on 4 November 2009, outlines the payments that have been issued to projects. The answers to all written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what projects have received grants under the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme and how much they have (a) received or (b) been allocated in each year of the scheme.
Answer
The following developers were successful in being offered a grant under the Wave and Tidal Energy Support (WATES) Scheme:
| Name of Developer | WATES Grant Offered |
| CRE Energy Ltd (now ScottishPower Renewables) | £4,141,452 |
| AWS Ocean Energy | £1,759,584 |
| ScotRenewables | £1,796,100 |
| Open Hydro | £1,214,800 |
| Ocean Power Technology | £597,710 (subsequently increased to £874,676) |
| Aquamarine | £274,796 |
| CleanTechCom | £272,290 (subsequently withdrawn) |
| Wavegen | £149,160 |
| Tidal Generation | £76,760 |
Developers do not receive WATES grants in each year of the scheme. Funding is drawn down on receipt of proof of eligible expenditure based on agreed milestones.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive which projects that have received funds under the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme have spent the funds allocated.
Answer
All payments of funds to companies under the Wave and Tidal Energy Support (WATES) Scheme are issued in arrears, and on the evidence that the costs in question have actually been incurred. Based on this criteria, the following payments have been issued:
Completed Projects
| Name of Developer | Total Grant Awarded |
| Aquamarine Power | £274,795 |
| Openhydro | £1,124,603 |
| Tidal Generation | £45,321 |
| Wavegen | £149,160 |
Additional grant payments have been made to Ocean Power Technology (totalling £272,946) and Scotrenewables (totalling £329,255). Both of these developers have yet to complete their WATES projects.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what assurances it has received that the companies that have received funding under the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme will be able to use the funds in 2009-10.
Answer
All payments made to companies under the Wave and Tidal Energy Support (WATES) Scheme are made retrospectively based on legitimate evidence that eligible costs have been incurred. The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that WATES grants allocations are transferred to WATES project developers by March 2011. We are in discussions with all outstanding WATES developers regarding progress being made on their projects, in order to ensure that they remain active and that the deadlines for project completion and grant spend will be met.
If the developers are unable to provide evidence that they can do so by the March 2011 deadline, the WATES offer will be withdrawn and the funds recycled into future support for the sector, to be announced as part of our current budget considerations.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake to recoup Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme funds that are not spent in 2009-10 and make them available to wave and tidal developers with firm plans to use them.
Answer
We are holding discussions with developers of the outstanding Wave and Tidal Energy Support (WATES) projects regarding progress being made on their projects, to ensure that they are able to claim allocated funds by March 2011. If the developers are unable to provide evidence that they can do so by this deadline, the WATES offer will be withdrawn and the funds recycled into future support for the sector, to be announced as part of our current budget considerations.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 October 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27342 by Stewart Stevenson on 2 October 2009, whether it will list the combined weight of freight and freight vehicles or trailers carried and the metres of deck space allocated to them on each route operated by (a) Calmac Ferries Limited, (b) Cowal Ferries Limited and (c) NorthLink Ferries Limited in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.
Answer
Further to the answer to question S3W-27342 on 2 October 2009, only part of the information requested is available. Although each company monitors the overall weight of freight vehicles and trailers for loading and space allocation purposes, this data is not retained for record keeping purposes. However, deck space data is available showing the lane meterage used by commercial vehicles on the Gourock-Dunoon route (as currently operated by Cowal Ferries Ltd), on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network (as currently operated by CalMac Ferries Ltd) and on the Northern Isles ferry network (as currently operated by NorthLink Ferries Ltd). Please note that we do not hold comparable data for the Northern Isles prior to 2003.
The carrying statistics are available from the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 49477).
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 23 October 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive by how much the budget for Highlands and Islands Enterprise will fall over the period of the current spending review, from 2007-08 to 2010-11, in (a) real and (b) cash terms.
Answer
The latest Gross Domestic Product deflators issued by Her Majesty''s Treasury shows 2008-09 as base year, 2009-10 as 1% and 2010-11 as 1.5%.
The right hand column of the table below shows the effect of applying these deflators to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise budget. The baseline is the financial year 2007-08.
| | Cash Budget £ Million | Cash Terms Reduction Against 2007-08 | Real Terms Reduction Against 2007-08 |
| 2007-08 | 89 | - | - |
| 2008-09 | 77.8 | £11.2 million | £11.2 million |
| 2009-10 | 74.8 | £3 million | £3.03 million |
| 2010-11 | 74.3 | £0.5 million | £0.507 million |
The reform of Highlands and Islands Enterprise has developed a sharper focus on its key role of supporting sustainable economic growth while continuing to support fragile rural communities. This has led to many success stories not least attracting Welcon Towers to Machrihanish to save and develop the wind tower manufacturing facility.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise should not be viewed in isolation however, as it is only one arm of the very significant package of funding we have in place to support and stimulate economic growth in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Skills Development Scotland, the newly established business gateway for the area, the Road Equivalent Tariff Scheme and the Town Centre Regeneration Fund together bring a funding investment of £26.7 million this year, in addition to that allocated to Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Businesses in the area also benefit from a range of non-domestic rates relief including the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which alone amounts to an estimated £14.4 million in 2009-10, Rural Rate Relief and Empty Property Relief.
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- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 August 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 October 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there is a consensus of support for proposals to consolidate planning policy guidance into a single document.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26758 on 22 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 October 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the quantity of freight carried on each route operated by Calmac Ferries Limited, (b) Cowal Ferries Limited and (c) NorthLink Ferries Limited in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.
Answer
The quantity of freight carried on a route-by-route basis is not available.
CalMac Ferries and Cowal Ferries record the number of commercial vehicles carried and the tariff is based on a lane metre charge, i.e. on the amount of deck space taken up by the vehicle on the ferry. NorthLink Ferries also charge on a lane metre basis for the transport of commercial vehicles and drop-trailers.
While all three companies monitor the overall weight of the vehicles/trailers carried for loading and space allocation purposes, the companies do not require their customers to produce a manifest of the type or quantity of freight being carried (although dangerous goods do need to be notified to the operators before shipment).
