- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 11 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on advertising (a) in total and (b) on average per student by each further and higher education institution in each of the last five years.
Answer
This is a matter for individual institutions. The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 11 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many supermarkets there (a) are currently and (b) have been in each of the last 10 years per capita in each local authority area, broken down by company.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 11 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it made any representations to (a) the European Commission and (b) Her Majesty's Government in respect of the merging of the European councils on fisheries and agriculture and, if so, what the nature of any such representations was and what the response was.
Answer
The Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of European issues. We will work closely with the UK Government in ensuring that Scotland's interests are taken fully into account in the merged Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 11 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the operational budget was for each water authority in each year since 1996, expressed as (a) a monetary value and (b) a percentage of the overall budget.
Answer
The figures requested are given in each of the water authorities' published accounts. Copies of their accounts as laid before the Scottish Parliament and, pre-devolution, the Westminster Parliament, back to 1996-97 are held in the Parliament's Reference Centre. Bib. numbers are as follows:
| Water Authorities' Published Accounts | Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib. numbers |
| NoSWA | ESWA | WoSWA |
| 1996-97 | 97515 | 12833 | 12836 |
| 1997-98 | 12832 | 12834 | 12837 |
| 1998-99 | 4005 | 12835 | 4004 |
| 1999-2000 | 8790 | 7898 | 7925 |
| 2000-01 | 16464 | 17792 | 16463 |
Accounts for 2001-02 are nearing completion and will be laid in due course.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive why it ceased payments to Aberdeen City Council from 31 March 2002 in respect of the Education Action Plan.
Answer
Time limited support for Education Action Plans was provided under a special programme of the Excellence Fund to help local authorities to raise standards in schools facing major challenge. A total of £15 million was made available under the programme over the three financial years from 1999-2000 to 2001-02. Authorities were advised of this in Circular 8/98, which was issued by the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department on 24 December 1998. Aberdeen City Council was one of 16 authorities which benefited under the three-year programme.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any local authorities have sought additional resources to implement the national concessionary travel scheme because of anticipated shortfalls and, if so, how much each local authority has sought and what the estimated shortfall is.
Answer
Issues about the allocation of grant funding within the local government settlement are discussed with local authorities on a collective basis through COSLA. Following discussions with COSLA about the funding implications of implementing the enhanced concessionary travel arrangements from 30 September, the Executive agreed that an additional £5 million would be made available in the current financial year to be distributed on the basis of the existing GAE distribution formula, with a further £10 million earmarked in 2003-04 if required. These sums are in addition to the initial £20 million and £45 million made available in these respective financial years to fund these enhancements.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 5 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of companies conduct the majority of their business on the internet and how this percentage compares with other (a) European nations and (b) countries in the rest of the world.
Answer
According to Scottish Enterprise's e-business benchmarking survey for Scotland, 20% of Scottish businesses are trading online, but figures are not available for the percentage of these that do more than 50% of all their transactions online. However, it can be calculated from the survey data that 3% of Scottish businesses make more than 50% (by value) of their sales via online orders, and that 5.8% of Scottish businesses order more than 50% (by value) of their supplies online. The comparative figures (weighted by number of employees) for the other benchmarked countries are shown in the tables below.Percentage of Businesses for Which More Than 50% of Sales (by Value) are Ordered Online.
| US | 4.4 |
| Sweden | 3.8 |
| Japan | 3.2 |
| Scotland | 3.0 |
| Australia | 2.9 |
| Rep of Ireland | 2.7 |
| Canada | 2.4 |
| UK | 2.3 |
| Germany | 2.2 |
| Italy | 1.5 |
| France | 0.8 |
Percentage of Businesses for Which More Than 50% of Supplies (by Value) are Ordered Online.
| US | 7.0 |
| Canada | 6.4 |
| Scotland | 5.8 |
| Germany | 5.1 |
| Sweden | 5.0 |
| Australia | 5.0 |
| Japan | 4.6 |
| Rep. of Ireland | 4.4 |
| UK | 4.0 |
| France | 3.4 |
| Italy | 2.9 |
Source: Scottish Enterprise e-business benchmarking survey 2001.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 5 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households are connected to the internet and how this percentage compares with other countries in the rest of the world.
Answer
The latest statistics for Scotland as a whole show that over the financial year 2001-02, 36% of households had access to the internet from home. This compares with 41% of households in England, 31% of households in Wales, 31% of households in Northern Ireland and 40% of households across the UK. The same survey (ONS Expenditure and Food Survey) estimated that 24% of households in Scotland had access to the internet in financial year 2000-01. In order to make comparisons between different countries it is necessary that the surveys used to collect the information use harmonised questions. There are to date no Europe-wide surveys that collect information in a comparable form to the ONS survey.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 5 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the population have access to an e-mail address at (a) home and (b) work and how these percentages compare with (i) the rest of Europe and (ii) other countries in the rest of the world.
Answer
There are no statistics available for the percentage of the population with access to an e-mail address, at home at work, in Scotland or in other countries. Theoretically, anyone can have access to an e-mail address if they have access to the internet via a variety of technologies ranging from PCs, Digital TV, WAP mobile phones, video game consoles or handheld computers.Some surveys do measure use of e-mail (rather than access) and in Scotland, for those people that have home access to the internet, more than 75% use e-mail (Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2001).In order to make comparisons between different countries, it is necessary that the surveys used to collect the information use harmonised questions. There are to date no Europe-wide surveys that collect information in a comparable form to the SHS survey.The Scottish Executive is also working with local authorities to ensure that all secondary school children have individual access to e-mail and that primary school children have access to either an individual or class e-mail address.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 5 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of businesses have websites and how this percentage compares with businesses in (a) the rest of Europe and (b) other countries in the rest of the world.
Answer
The latest international e-business benchmarking figures (weighted by number of employees) show that 76% of Scottish businesses have a website, which is on a par with comparable countries. The survey covered nine other countries, plus the UK as a whole and the percentage of their businesses that have a website are shown in the table:
| Sweden | 80% |
| UK | 80% |
| Germany | 78% |
| US | 77% |
| Scotland | 76% |
| Canada | 73% |
| Rep. of Ireland | 64% |
| Australia | 60% |
| Japan | 58% |
| Italy | 58% |
| France | 56% |
Source: 2001 e-business benchmarking survey for Scottish Enterprise.
