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Council Tax
27. Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate his Department has made of this year's percentage rise in council tax bills in Scotland. [70846]
Mr. McLeish:
The council tax level for each council will depend on local circumstances and decisions and it is not possible to make reliable estimates at the individual council level. Provided councils heed the Expenditure Guidelines we have issued however, the Scottish average council tax increase should be no more than 5 per cent. in 1999-2000.
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From 1 July this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
28. Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what responsibilities will be given to the European office to be opened in July in Brussels to represent the Scottish Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [70847]
Mr. McLeish:
There are no plans to open an office to represent the Scottish Parliament in Brussels. That possibility will be a matter for consideration by the Scottish Parliament itself.
Arrangements are in hand to establish a representative office for the Scottish Executive, to be in operation when the Parliament assumes its full powers on 1 July 1999. The precise functions of that office will be determined by the Scottish Executive in due course.
Mr. David Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) on what date the Scottish Executive will take responsibility for those matters currently the responsibility of his Department which are to be devolved under the Scotland Act 1998; [72512]
(3) on what date he will cease to be responsible to the UK Parliament for those matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament. [72514]
Mr. McLeish
[holding answer 22 February 1999]: The Scotland Act 1998 (Commencement) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/3178), which was made on 16 December 1998, provides that 1 July 1999 will be the principal appointed day for the purposes of the Act. It is on this day that the Scottish Parliament will acquire its powers to make laws and that functions will be transferred to the Scottish Ministers. Until the principal appointed day the Secretary of State for Scotland will remain accountable to Parliament for the matters within his responsibility which are to be devolved.
The arrangements for financial accountability are set out in The Scotland Act 1998 (Transitory and Transitional Provisions) (Finance) Order 1999, a draft of which was approved by each House recently. The Secretary of State will render accounts to Parliament for expenditure up to the principal appointed day; and the Scottish Ministers to the Scottish Parliament for the period thereafter.
Mr. Hood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to work in partnership with local authorities to deliver an integrated transport network in Scotland. [70822]
Mr. McLeish:
Last year's Scottish Transport White Paper recognises that local authorities will play a key role in the delivery of integrated transport.
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We have recently issued consultation documents on Regional Transport Partnerships and Local Transport Strategies, and we are allocating £90 million over three years for a Public Transport Fund to assist local authorities in funding appropriate developments.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average waiting time for (a) an initial appointment with and (b) treatment by an NHS orthodontist in Scotland; how much has been allocated to the Scottish Dental Access Initiative; which health boards have applied for funds to date and for how much; how many applications have been successful in each health board area; and how much total funding has been approved and distributed to date. [69272]
Mr. Galbraith
[holding answer 9 February 1999]: A major proportion of orthodontic treatment is undertaken in general dental practice, rather than in hospitals or the Community Health Service and no information is held centrally on patient waiting times for such treatment. Most orthodontic treatments carried out within the Hospital and Community Health Service settings are undertaken on an outpatient basis. Provisional figures show that, at 30 September 1998, the mean waiting time for a first orthodontic outpatient appointment was 103 days.
Funding of £1 million has been allocated to the Scottish Dental Access Initiative in 1998-99. Dentists, not Health Boards, apply for funds under the Initiative. Information on the number of applications for funding, offers and payments made, is given in the table. To respect the anonymity of the applicants, information on the Scottish Dental Access Initiative is not provided on an individual Health Board basis.
From 1 July this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
(2) what the arrangements will be in respect of accountability to Parliament for matters which are currently his responsibility but which are to be devolved under the Scotland Act 1998, between 6 May and 1 July; [72513]
| Scottish Dental Access Initiative | |
|---|---|
| Number of applications received | 28 |
| Amount applied for (£000) | 970 |
| Number of offers made(3) | 13 |
| Amount offered (£000) | 379 |
| Payments made (£000) | 134 |
(3) Offers number 6 in western, 5 in northern and 2 in eastern Health Board areas.
NHS Managers
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many managers have been seconded to implement the new NHS structures in Scotland. [71887]
Mr. Galbraith: Five managers have been seconded to the NHS in Scotland Management Executive on a full or part-time basis to help with implementation of the new structures in Scotland. This represents 2.8 whole time equivalents.
From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Fixed Penalties
Mrs. Laing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many fixed penalties were imposed by Scottish
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courts last year in (a) Scotland as a whole and (b) each individual sheriffdom, broken down by offence; and what was (i) their total value and (ii) the total amount of money recovered. [71872]
Mr. McLeish:
Scottish courts do not impose a conditional offer of a fixed penalty. The decision whether to offer an alleged offender a fixed penalty (fiscal fine) is a matter for the Procurator Fiscal. The police or the Procurator Fiscal can also offer a fixed penalty for certain road traffic offences.
| Sheriffdoms | Number |
|---|---|
| Grampian, Highland and Islands | 2,136 |
| Tayside, Central and Fife | 3,003 |
| Lothian and Borders | 1,582 |
| North Strathclyde | 2,651 |
| South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway | 4,088 |
| Glasgow and Strathkelvin | 5,501 |
| All Scotland | 18,961 |
This information cannot be broken down by offence.
In 1997-98 approximately £527,000 was collected by the district courts from the payment of fiscal fines.
| Force area | Moving vehicle offences (4) | Stationery vehicle offences |
|---|---|---|
| Central | 6,943 | 16,349 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 8,003 | 7,206 |
| Fife | 5,543 | 17,779 |
| Grampian | 14,938 | 30,279 |
| Lothian and Borders | 22,305 | 117,644 |
| Northern | 5,902 | 11,138 |
| Strathclyde | 51,536 | 210,567 |
| Tayside | 8,444 | 27,719 |
| Scotland | 123,614 | 438,681 |
(4) Includes speeding vehicle excise licence, parking, motorway traffic, seat belt and other motor vehicle offences
Information on conditional offers of a fixed penalty made by the Procurator Fiscal for road traffic offences is not held centrally.
In 1997-98, the district courts received approximately £6.7 million in fixed penalty payments.
From 1 July, Procurator Fiscal conditional offers (fiscal fines) will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament. Fixed penalties for road traffic offences will be reserved.
Mrs. Laing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases where a fixed penalty was imposed civil diligence was initiated in 1998 in (a) Scotland as a whole and (b) each individual sheriffdom; how much money was so recovered; and if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to recover the amount owing from fines. [71873]
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Mr. McLeish:
The district courts in Scotland collect fixed penalty payments. In 1997-98, civil diligence was used to collect unpaid fixed penalties (including fiscal fines) in 34,071 cases.
Information on the amounts recovered by diligence is not held centrally.
Recovery of unpaid fixed penalties can be done in a number of ways. It is for the courts to determine how best to recover these fines taking account of the individual circumstances of each case.
From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
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