- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the level of Scottish GDP per capita spent on research and development in relation to (a) the rest of the United Kingdom and (b) EU member states.
Answer
Research and development expenditure for the rest of the UK, excluding Scotland, in 2002 was £334 per head of population. The remaining information, including the comparison of Scotland with the UK and the other EU member states, is contained in the answer to your question S2W-12287, on 30 November 2004. 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. Data for 2003 is not yet available.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any access grants or incentive packages available to encourage specialist NHS orthodontic practitioners to set up in areas of need.
Answer
There are currently no grants or incentive packages available from the Executive to encourage dentists willing to set up NHS orthodontic dental practices but this issue is under active consideration by the Executive.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time was to process applications made under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 in each of the last three years and how many of these applications remain outstanding.
Answer
The information on consents received and determined in the past three years is set out in the following table.
| Year | Applications Received | Applications Determined | Running Total of Outstanding Applications at Year End | Average Time to Determination (in months) |
| 2002 | 3 | Nil | 4 | n/a |
| 2003 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 13 |
| 2004 | 23 | 6 | 31 | 17 |
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures exist to assist first time buyers to access the property market in their local area and how much funding was allocated for this purpose in each of the last seven years.
Answer
The following are the main grants available to assist first time buyers to access the property market.
Housing Association Grant (HAG) – HAG is a flexible way of providing funding which enables housing associations to provide, with the minimum public subsidy necessary, housing for share ownership and social rent.
GRO Grants for Owner Occupation – The purpose of GRO Grants is to widen the choice of housing for people seeking to become home owners. The grants are targeted at areas of wholly public sector housing and also at pressurised housing markets, helping to facilitate the regeneration and sustainability of communities.
Rural Home Ownership Grants (RHOGs) – RHOGs are aimed to sustain rural communities by making it easier for local people on low or modest incomes to own their own home and meet their housing needs or aspirations within their own community.
Scottish Executive expenditure across the last seven years on these grants for owner occupation is shown in the table.
| Year | Owner Occupation (£ Million) |
| 1998-99 | 38.027 |
| 1999-2000 | 29.981 |
| 2000-01 | 22.967 |
| 2001-02 | 14.921 |
| 2002-03 | 13.434 |
| 2003-04 | 14.834 |
| 2004-05 estimated outturn | 20.851 |
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 2 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding was allocated to the (a) Clean-Up, (b) Powershift, (c) Autogas and (d) Autogas+ programme in each of the last three years; how many vehicles benefited from each programme in each year, giving the average cost per vehicle, and how many applications for funding under each such programme were unsuccessful.
Answer
The information requested is given in the following tables:
Clean Up Programme
| | Funding (£) | Number of Vehicles | Cost Per Vehicle (£) | Rejected Applications |
| 1 Apr 02 to 30 Apr 03 | 90,362 | 34 | 2,658 | 84 |
| 1 Apr 03 to 30 Apr 04 | 451,546 | 194 | 2,328 | 86 |
| 1 Apr 04 to 31 Dec 04 | 678,119 | 215 | 3,154 | 8 |
Powershift
| | Funding (£) | Number of Vehicles | Cost Per Vehicle (£) | Rejected Applications |
| 1 Apr 02 To 30 Apr 03 | 176,863 | 108 | 1,638 | 39 |
| 1 Apr 03 To 30 Apr 04 | 704,317 | 358 | 1,967 | 34 |
| 1 Apr 04 To 31 Dec 04 | 197,184 | 178 | 1,108 | 21 |
Autogas+
| | Funding (£) | Number of Vehicles | Cost Per Vehicle (£)* | Rejected Applications |
| 1 Apr 02 to 30 Apr 03 | 111,200 | 139 | 800 | 89 |
| 1 Apr 03 to 30 Apr 04 | 207,200 | 259 | 800 | 102 |
| 1 Apr 04 to 31 Dec 04 | 225,600 | 282 | 800 | 8 |
Notes:
*The Autogas+ programme provides a grant of £800 towards the conversion of petrol vehicles (cars and light vans) under six years to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
Financial information is gathered by fiscal year rather than calendar year.
There is no Scottish Executive scheme called “Autogas”.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 2 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish national strategic guidance on the location of wind farms and provide a summary of existing guidance on this matter.
Answer
National Planning Policy Guideline 6 – Renewable Energy Developments, was published in November 2000, and is available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/planning/nppg/nppg6.pdf.
This guidance sets out important considerations to be taken into account before a proposal is considered acceptable, for example protecting the built and natural heritage and minimising negative impacts on local communities.
An Environmental Advisory Forum on Renewable Energy has been established to consider how best to deliver the Executive’s renewable energy targets in an environmentally acceptable way. The need for further strategic guidance will be one of the issues that the forum will consider.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 31 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of,patients are required to wait for six months or longer at each specialist obesity clinic.
Answer
I refer the member to the question S2W-13216 answered on 31 January 2005. All answers to written 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: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 31 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are waiting to be seen at each specialist obesity clinic.
Answer
I refer the member to the question S2W-13216 answered on 31 January 2005. 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: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 31 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are at each specialist obesity clinic.
Answer
The information requested is not available centrally. Information on NHS waiting times is collected centrally only for first out-patient appointment at consultant-led clinics, following referral by a general medical or dental practitioner, at specialty level only; and for in-patient and day case treatment.
One of the Executive’s key priorities is to improve Scotland’s health by promoting healthier lifestyles. There is a programme of action underway which will contribute to tackling obesity, including implementation of the Scottish Diet Action Plan and Physical Activity Strategy.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was consulted by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, or any other UK government department, on plans to disperse posts from London to elsewhere in the United Kingdom and, if so, whether it will give details.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not been consulted directly by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, or any other UK Government Department, on plans to disperse civil service posts from London. However, I have been assured that the UK Government is keen to see a share of the posts relocated from London and SouthEast England coming to Scotland.
Specific decisions about the deployment of civil service staff in UK departments are an operational matter for the department concerned.
Scottish Development International (SDI) is in discussion with individual UK Government Departments, including the Department of Trade and industry, about specific projects as part of its role to attract high quality jobs and investment to Scotland. SDI keeps Scottish Executive ministers fully informed of developments.
