- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what input it had to the recent decision to simplify the rail pricing structure in the United Kingdom.
Answer
Officials in Transport Scotland had regular dialogue with the Department for Transport (DfT) to achieve the new simplified structure. We recognise the need for the fares system to be easily understood by passengers and we supported the work by DfT to achieve this outcome.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what proportion of custody cases have been determined by awarding custody to the father in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11467 by Fiona Hyslop on 16 April 2008, whether it is satisfied with the range of science projects from all parts of Scotland applying for funding from its science engagement grant scheme.
Answer
I refer the member to the to answer to question S3W-13650 on 9 June 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average (a) numbers and (b) rateable values have been of vacant business premises in (i) Kilmarnock and Loudoun and (ii) Scotland in each year since 1999.
Answer
Information on the number and rateable value of vacant business premises is not held centrally. Information on premises liable for business rates is held on the Scottish Assessors Portal (
www.saa.gov.uk), but the portal does not maintain reliable data on the vacancy history of individual properties.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what obligations are placed on providers of cross-border rail services to maximise the uptake of underused services.
Answer
Cross Border rail services are the responsibility of the Department for Transport. I understand it is already in the commercial interests of the train operating companies to maximise revenue and, accordingly, it has not proved necessary to impose mandatory requirements to maximise the uptake of underused services.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it gives to householders wishing to measure the extent to which they waste energy.
Answer
The recently launched Energy Saving Scotland advice network, funded by Scottish Government and managed by the Energy Saving Trust, provides advice and support to householders wishing to reduce their energy use and cut their fuel bills.
Smart meters and real time displays could also play a role and we work closely with the UK Government in this policy area. The UK Government is already undertaking a major UK-wide pilot to gain a good understanding of the costs and benefits of smart meters. This pilot includes Scottish consumers and we await the results of the pilot with keen interest.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11467 by Fiona Hyslop on 16 April 2008, what steps it is taking to ensure that people, especially young people, in Kilmarnock and Loudoun are able to access science projects funded by its science engagement grant scheme.
Answer
The key aim of the Science Engagement Grant scheme is to support informal science engagement outreach activities across Scotland. This competitive grant scheme is advertised on the Scottish Government website (
www.scotland.gov.uk) and is open to all competent science engagement providers to bid for grant.
No bids were received specifically from organisations in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun area for 2008-09. However, Scottish Government has funded initiatives such as Generation Science, a touring science engagement programme managed by the Edinburgh International Science Festival, which this year visited a number of schools in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun area.
While the Scottish Government is keen that successful projects reach as wide an audience as possible, it has not to date taken any steps to target specific areas of Scotland: rather, it responds to bids received. The assessment criteria for the Science Engagement Grant scheme are kept under constant review and currently include a weighting for bids that target areas where engagement is currently low.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) Scottish residents, (b) residents from the rest of the United Kingdom and (c) other tourists have visited (i) East Ayrshire, (ii) Ayrshire and Arran and (iii) Scotland in each year since 1999.
Answer
Data on the number of visitors at local authority level is not held centrally. Data on the number of visitors to Ayrshire and Arran and Scotland is provided in the following table.
Ayrshire and Arran (000)
| | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Total UK | 1,390 | 870 | 1,210 | 990 | 1,090 | 1,090 | 940 | 670 |
| Origin | | | | | | | | |
| Scotland | 848 | 418 | 593 | 426 | *534 | *534 | 461 | 369 |
| Rest of UK | 542 | 452 | 617 | 564 | *556 | *556 | 479 | 301 |
| Overseas | 100 | 90 | 80 | 70 | 80 | 80 | **170 | **170 |
Scotland (000)
| | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Total UK | 18,530 | 18,960 | 17,540 | 18,530 | 17,520 | 17,520 | 14,870 | 13,280 |
| Origin | | | | | | | | |
| Scotland | 9,265 | 10,238 | 8,741 | 9,079 | *8,650 | *8,650 | 6,750 | 6,348 |
| Rest of UK | 9,265 | 8,722 | 8,799 | 9,451 | *8,870 | *8,870 | 8,120 | 6,932 |
| Overseas | 1,860 | 1,690 | 1,590 | 1,580 | 1,570 | 1,880 | **2,390 | **2,730 |
Source: ONS International Passenger Survey, and UK Tourism Survey (UKTS).
Note: *UKTS data for 2003 and 2004 are considered unreliable. Methodology changed from 2005 - earlier totals not comparable.
**ONS International Passenger Survey methodology changed from 2005 – Prestwick added as an interview point – so previous years not comparable.
Further data is available at:
Tourism in Ayrshire and Arran 2006
http://www.visitscotland.org/ayrshire___arran_2006-2.pdf.
Tourism in Scotland 2006
http://www.visitscotland.org/tourism_in_scotland_2006_national.pdf.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what effect it expects the recent changes in alcohol duty to have on binge drinking.
Answer
There is evidence to suggest that price impacts on consumption, but it is only one factor which may affect how people drink. We are taking some immediate action on binge drinking through continued implementation of the Licensing Act which will end irresponsible promotions. We want to change the place of alcohol within Scotland’s culture and will shortly consult on proposals for tackling alcohol misuse which will look at a broad range of measures to lower consumption levels.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Linda Fabiani on 9 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it or its agencies give to the development of a network of local craft fairs across Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is a strong supporter of the traditional crafts sector in Scotland, which are an expanding part of Scotland’s successful creative industries.
The Scottish Arts Council is pursuing a range of initiatives to develop opportunities for the promotion of Scottish makers’ work.
I have asked the Scottish Arts Council to write to you directly to provide further information and detail on the work they are undertaking in relation to the crafts sector.
