- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure the competitiveness of the whisky industry.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-927. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any documents or papers to which the investigation into the cost of the Holyrood building project, lead by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, will be denied access and, in particular, whether it will have access to all (a) government papers, (b) of Her Majesty's Government's Cabinet papers and (c) Scottish Executive Cabinet papers on the matter.
Answer
I made clear in my statement on 19 June that Lord Fraser must have access to relevant papers. I am confident that the inquiry will have access to relevant papers.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it will make of the impact of the rate of taxation per unit of alcohol on the (a) whisky industry and (b) wine industry in other EU member states; whether, in the course of making any such assessment, it will meet with the government of each EU member state that applies lower taxation rates per unit of alcohol on wine than the UK taxation rate per unit of alcohol on whisky and, if so, whether it will send a minister to the meetings, and what steps it will take to address any differentiation between the taxation rate per unit of alcohol for wine and the rate for whisky.
Answer
Duty rates, tax differentials and EU minimum rates are matters reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Executive will continue to support the Scotch whisky industry to secure the best conditions at home and abroad.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the Keepers of the Quaich and when it will next do so.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not met the Keepers of the Quaich and no such meetings are planned.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been in contact with (a) Her Majesty's Government and (b) the European Commission in relation to (i) any future possible measure that would have an impact on the competitiveness of the whisky industry and (ii) the taxation regime of the industry in comparison with other forms of alcohol and, in particular, wine.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-928 on 14 July 2003. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the value has been of the whisky industry to the economy in terms of (a) the number of jobs, (b) the gross domestic product, (c) the value of exports in each of the last four years and, in each case, what the value of the industry is estimated to be in the next four years.
Answer
According to figures compiled by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), the number of people directly employed by the Scotch whisky industry in the UK over the last four years is 1999 - 11,178; 2000 - 11,091; 2001 - 10,691, and 2002 - 10,438. A recent study by DTZ Pieda, on behalf of the SWA, concluded that, in 2000, distillers spent £689.72 million with Scottish suppliers of goods and services. As a result, 40,810 jobs in Scotland were indirectly supported by Scotch whisky production. Nearly 65,000 jobs were supported across the UK as a whole.The most recent research in the area of Gross Domestic Product concluded that in 2000, £807 million of income (principally wages and salaries) was generated in Scotland by Scotch whisky production. £1,311 million of income was generated in the UK as a whole. The value of exports in each of the last four years was 1999 - £2,093.7 million; 2000 - £2,156.4 million; 2001 - £2,295.0 million, and 2002 - £2,285.0 million. No statistics are available about prospects over the next four years.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by George Reid on 9 July 2003
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S1W-21898 by Sir David Steel on 24 January 2002, on what date the construction managers obtained each document referred to in the answer; from whom they were obtained, and from whom, and on what dates, the construction managers sought credit reference information in respect of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd.
Answer
The Construction Managers for the Holyrood project, Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Ltd, have informed the Project Team that all the documents listed in the answer to parliamentary question S1W-21898 on 24 January 2002, were received from Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd, during the prequalification process for the bid list for the MSP Building Cladding package. That process took place in May 2000.Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Ltd have also advised that, as Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd had only been operating in the UK for a short period of time, no published credit references were available.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of the strategic transport authority referred to by the Minister for Transport during the debate on public transport on 12 June 2003 (Official Report, c 744), broken down by year in respect of which an estimate has been made; how many employees the authority is likely to employ; whether it will be an entirely new body creating new jobs and, if not, which existing body it would replace, either in whole or in part; whether the authority will be located in accordance with the policy on the dispersal of public sector jobs, and what the reasons are for the position on the matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive will open consultation on our proposals for a strategic transport authority during the summer.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 30 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-571 by Allan Wilson on 18 June 2003, whether it has issued any directions to Scottish Natural Heritage under section 11 of the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 and, if so, on what occasions and what the directions were.
Answer
No such directions have been issued to Scottish Natural Heritage.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether cost efficiency has been achieved in the expenditure plans of non-departmental government bodies such as Scottish Water and, if not, what economies will be made.
Answer
Scottish Water is the only public corporation in Scotland. I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-164 on 9 June 2003. 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/search_wa.All non-departmental public bodies are required to ensure that resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively.
