Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-06954

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 29 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the status is of Scotland's current links with Nordic countries and what plans it has to build on them.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5525 on 3 February 2004on contacts between the Scottish Executive and the Nordic Council ofMinisters. 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.

In addition to contacts withthe Nordic Council of Ministers, the Scottish Executive enjoys bilateral links withNordic countries in a number of fields, including health, fisheries and theenvironment. The Health agreement between Scotland and Finland for the exchange of information, visits andco-operation on common health issues reached its 25th anniversary in 2003. Scottish Executive environment officials meet regularly with counterparts from a Swedishregion.

Question reference: S2W-06612

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide the European and External Relations Committee with an annual report on the activities of the Executive's European Office, as agreed to by it in February 2003 in response to the European Committee's 5th report 2002, An Inquiry into Scotland's Representation in the European Union (SP Paper 676).

Question reference: S2O-01697

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 25 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in achieving the goals set out in the European Union's Lisbon Agenda.

The Executive does not regularly monitor Scottish progresstowards achieving the Lisbon Agenda. We do not have any plans to add the Lisbongoals on top of the commitments we have identified as our policy priorities,because the overarching Lisbon goal of creating a competitive, job-creating, knowledge-basedeconomy characterised by growth, social cohesion, and respect for theenvironment parallels our own vision for the Scottish economy.

In a letter I sent to you as the Convener of the Europeanand External Relations Committee on 10 March 2004, I provided information andstatistical analysis on how Scotland is currently performing against the fourteenstructural indicators the EU uses to gauge member countries’ progress towardsthe Lisbon objectives.

Question reference: S2W-07120

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) submission it made and (b) its response is to the Prime Minister's strategy unit's inquiry into the UK fishing industry.

The report is a “to”Government report and as such is not a statement of policy. It is for the Scottish Executive to formulate a response to each of the recommendations and ourintention is to work in partnership with the industry on this over the summer.

Our aim is to respond moredefinitively with an implementation plan later in the year.

However, the Executivewelcomes the broad conclusions of the report, particularly the recognition thatthe industry has a potentially bright future if all the players make the rightchoices now.

It is particularlyreassuring to note that our policy of arguing for more responsibility to begiven to the proposed regional advisory councils has been vindicated. Thecurrent system of centralised decision-making no longer enjoys the confidenceof the industry and the case for change has been made.

Scottish Executive ministers and officials were involved with theStrategy Unit project from the start and contributed to all aspects of the workon a daily basis.

The Executive now intends towork with the industry and others to pull together an implementation plan whichwill form the basis for a definitive response. Meantime ministers broadlywelcome the findings of the report.

Question reference: S2O-01563

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 18 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies are planned to assess the impact of rising house prices on first time buyers in rural areas.

Question reference: S2W-06251

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for acute orthodontic treatment in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-06299

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how often it has had recourse to section 57(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 since May 1999, broken down by department and title of legislation.

From the information held centrally, Section 57(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 has been used to implement European Community obligations 17 times since May 1999. This is broken down by department,year of transposition and title of legislation below:

Environment and RuralAffairs Department:

1999:

The Feeding Stuffs(Enforcement) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2325) which implemented CouncilDirective 95/53/EC, Commission Directive 98/68/EC and, in part, CouncilDirective 1999/20/EC

2000:

The Sea Fishing (North-EastAtlantic Control Measures) Order 2000 (SI 2000/1843) which implemented CouncilRegulation 2791/1999

2001:

The Export Restrictions(Foot-and-Mouth Disease) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/498) which implemented theEuropean Union ban on exports immediately following the outbreak offood-and-mouth disease (initially Commission Decision 2001/145/EC).

The Export Restrictions(Food-and-Mouth Disease) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/627) which extendedby one day the above regulations without further amendment.

The Foot-and-Mouth Disease(Export of Vehicles) (Disinfection of Tyres) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/887)which implemented another part of the European Union export ban.

The Biocidal ProductsRegulations 2001 (SI 2001/880) which implemented Directive 1998/8/EC of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of BiocidalProducts on the market.

The Environmental Protection(Controls of Injurious Substances) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3141)which implemented, in part, Commission Directive 1999/51/EC adapting totechnical progress for the fifth time Annex 1 to Council Directive 76/769/EECon the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certaindangerous substances and preparations (tin, PCP and cadmium).

2002:

The Ozone DepletingSubstances Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/528) which implemented Regulation2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that depletethe ozone layer.

The Hemp (Third CountryImports) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/787) which implemented Regulation 245/2001.

The Forest ReproductiveMaterial (Great Britain) Regulation 2002 (SI 2002/3026) which implementedCouncil Directive 1999/105/EC on the marketing of forest reproductive material.

The Chemicals (HazardInformation & Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/1689) whichimplemented Council Directive 1999/45/EC concerning the dangerous preparationsdirective; Commission Directive 2001/58/EC on the 2^nd amendment tothe safety data sheets directive; Commission Directive 2001/59/EC on the 28thadaptation to technical progress of the substances directive and; CommissionDirective 2001/60/EC on the 1st adaptation to technical progress of thepreparations directive.

The National EmissionCeilings Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/3118) which implemented Council Directive2001/81/EC on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants.

2003:

The End-of-Life VehiclesRegulations 2003 (SI 2003/2635) which partially implemented Directive2001/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the end-of-lifevehicles.

The Environmental Protection(Controls on Hexachloroethane) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/602) which implementedCouncil Directive 2001/91/EC on the approximation of the laws, regulations andadministrative provisions of the member states relating to restriction on themarketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations(hexachloroethane).

The Controls of Certain AzoDyes & “Blue Colourants” Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/3310) which implementedDirective 2003/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council which placedrestrictions on the marketing and use of “blue colourants”.

The Greenhouse Gas EmissionsTrading Scheme Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/3311) which implemented Directive2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a schemefor greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community.

Finance and Central ServicesDepartment:

2003:

The Public Contracts (Work,Services and Supply) & Utilities Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (SI2003/46) which implemented Council Directive 2001/78/EC on the use of standardforms in the publication of contract notices.

Question reference: S2W-06671

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 16 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time was for the preparation of social enquiry reports requested by the courts in each local authority in each of the last three years and how many such requests (a) were processed in each of the last three years and (b) are currently outstanding in each local authority.

Section 201(3) of theCriminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by section 67 of the CriminalJustice (Scotland) Act 2003) specifies maximum periods for adjournmentfor the preparation of social enquiry reports. Information on the numbers ofSERs expressed as a percentage submitted on time and broken down by localauthority is available on the Audit Scotland website, pages 97-98, at thefollowing address:http://www.audit-Scotland.gov.uk/performance/documents/2003Report/servicespdf/SW.pdf. Information on the number of social enquiry reports (SERs) by localauthority is published in Table 4 of statistical bulletin “Criminal JusticeSocial Work Statistics, 2002-03” (Bib. number 30274). Information onoutstanding reports is not held centrally.

Question reference: S2W-06613

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 15 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to provide powers for communities to enable them to acquire land and empty, derelict properties by compulsory purchase for community benefits such as affordable housing and community halls or other facilities.

Question reference: S2W-06250

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 12 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients registered with a local dentist in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board area, expressed also as a percentage of the population in each area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

The information requested for those patients registered with a dentist under NHS general dental services is provided in the tables below. No information is collected on the number of patients registered with a dentist under private arrangements.

Patients Registered with an NHS General Dental Practitioner; at 31 March

2001

Health board area	Number of patients registered	Percentage of population registered¹	Percentage change from March 2000
Ayrshire & Arran	209,790	57.0	1.0
Borders	63,837	60.1	-0.6
Argyll & Clyde	223,838	53.1	0.0
Fife	187,961	54.0	-0.6
Greater Glasgow	492,653	57.1	2.1
Highland	94,453	45.2	-4.7
Lanarkshire	271,200	49.1	0.6
Grampian	270,347	51.3	-3.3
Orkney	8,289	43.0	-3.1
Lothian	418,870	54.0	0.7
Tayside	232,600	59.5	-0.3
Forth Valley	146,433	52.4	0.1
Western Isles	12,024	45.0	-0.5
Dumfries & Galloway	72,712	49.2	-1.6
Shetland	7,470	33.7	0.2
Scotland	2,712,477	53.6	-0.1

2002

Health board area	Number of patients registered	Percentage of population registered²	Percentage change from March 2001
Ayrshire & Arran	209,566	56.9	-0.1
Borders	63,942	59.8	-0.3
Argyll & Clyde	222,842	53.0	-0.1
Fife	188,936	54.0	0.1
Greater Glasgow	491,800	56.6	-0.5
Highland	85,924	41.1	-4.1
Lanarkshire	271,588	49.1	0.0
Grampian	260,435	49.5	-1.7
Orkney	7,951	41.4	-1.6
Lothian	421,809	54.1	0.2
Tayside	232,063	59.7	0.2
Forth Valley	148,630	53.2	0.7
Western Isles	11,352	42.9	-2.1
Dumfries & Galloway	70,485	47.7	-1.5
Shetland	7,025	32.0	-1.7
Scotland	2,694,348	53.2	-0.4

2003

Health board area	Number of patients registered	Percentage of population registered³	Percentage change from March 2002
Ayrshire & Arran	207,627	56.6	-0.3
Borders	63,340	59.0	-0.8
Argyll & Clyde	221,855	53.0	0.0
Fife	190,419	54.3	0.3
Greater Glasgow	490,471	56.6	0.0
Highland	84,706	40.7	-0.4
Lanarkshire	275,723	49.9	0.8
Grampian	245,229	46.9	-2.7
Orkney	6,214	32.3	-9.0
Lothian	427,230	54.8	0.7
Tayside	230,300	59.4	-0.2
Forth Valley	151,211	54.1	1.0
Western Isles	11,446	43.7	0.8
Dumfries & Galloway	69,604	47.3	-0.4
Shetland	9,412	42.9	10.9
Scotland	2,684,787	53.1	-0.1

Sources: NHS General Dental Service registration data - MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System).

Population data - GRO(S).

Notes:

1. Mid-year 2000 population data.

2. Mid-year 2001 population data.

3. Mid-year 2002 population data.

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