- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken into the social and medical impact on vulnerable, frail and elderly people of the replacement of a meals-on-wheels service with a frozen-meals service.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has notcarried out any such research and is not aware of any other research into the socialand medical impact of a frozen meals service.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek views on the impact of replacing daily hot meals with frozen meals during its Strategy for an Ageing Population consultation.
Answer
The consultation on the Strategyfor a Scotland with an Ageing Population has six broad ranging questions, anddoes not ask about any particular existing service. However, it encourages respondentsto contribute their views on a wide range of topics, including the provision ofservices.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates emergency prohibition orders related to the Chernobyl incident will be revoked, in part or in whole.
Answer
I am advised by the FoodStandards Agency that Chernobyl-related restrictions will continue until thereis no longer a risk of sheep which exceed the control level entering the foodchain.
Since1987, the number of restricted farms in Scotland has gradually reduced from 73 to 10 as of 10 February 2006. Radioactive levels continue to decline on the fewremaining restricted farms in Scotland; however environmental variability ofthese levels means it is not possible to specify when restrictions may beremoved.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which specific Executive policy or policies will lead to the eradication of child poverty by 2020.
Answer
We are working with the UK Governmentto tackle poverty in Scotland, taking forward activities at our own hand through ourClosing the Opportunity Gap approach.
Details of Scottish ExecutiveSpending on Initiatives Aimed at Eradicating Child Poverty was published on 22 July 2004 andcan be accessed at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/19260/poverty.This includes on-going programmessuch as Working for Families and the Changing Children’s Services Fund.
The need for additional programmesto eradicate child poverty will be considered at the next and subsequent SpendingReviews.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the national concessionary travel scheme to carers whose assistance is necessary to enable those entitled to a pass to use it and, if so, whether a GP’s certification would be sufficient to determine eligibility or what other evidence would be required.
Answer
The Scotland-wide Free Bus Schemefor Older and Disabled People will provide free travel for companions where assistanceis required to travel. The eligibility criteria for companions is set out in TheNational Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled People (Eligible Personsand Eligible Services)(Scotland) Order 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/117).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals are eligible for the national concessionary travel scheme, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isprovided in the following table.
The estimate of the number ofpeople eligible for the Scotland–wide Free Bus Scheme has been calculated by usingthe numbers of older people for each local authority obtained from the 2001 censusand increasing the total by 10% as an estimate of the number of eligible disabledpeople.
Estimated Number ofPeople Eligible for the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled Peoplefor Each Local Authority
| Local Authority | Number Eligible |
| Aberdeen City | 46,327 |
| Aberdeenshire | 48,064 |
| Angus | 28,231 |
| Argyll and Bute | 24,808 |
| City of Edinburgh | 97,859 |
| Clackmannanshire | 10,357 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 7,594 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 41,350 |
| Dundee City | 36,795 |
| East Ayrshire | 28,490 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 25,180 |
| East Lothian | 22,401 |
| East Renfrewshire | 20,513 |
| Falkirk | 33,292 |
| Fife | 82,405 |
| Glasgow | 129,563 |
| Highland | 51,275 |
| Inverclyde | 20,373 |
| Midlothian | 17,982 |
| Moray | 20,621 |
| North Ayrshire | 32,520 |
| North Lanarkshire | 67,131 |
| Orkney Islands | 4,825 |
| Perth and Kinross | 35,900 |
| Renfrewshire | 39,392 |
| Scottish Borders | 29,059 |
| Shetland Islands | 4,559 |
| South Ayrshire | 30,820 |
| South Lanarkshire | 68,274 |
| Stirling | 19,863 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 21,288 |
| West Lothian | 28,479 |
| Grand Total: | 1,175,590 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost would be of extending the national concessionary fare scheme to the carers of those entitled to a pass.
Answer
The Scotland-wide Free Bus Schemefor Older and Disabled People will provide free travel for companions where assistanceis required to travel. The cost of concessionary travel for companions will be coveredby the £159 million capped budget for 2006-07.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been received for the national concessionary travel scheme, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isprovided in the following table.
Number of Applicationsto the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Scheme for Each Local Authority as at 17 March 2006
| Local Authority | Application Count |
| Aberdeen City | 32,576 |
| Aberdeenshire | 25,312 |
| Angus | 15,611 |
| Argyll and Bute | 11,530 |
| City of Edinburgh | 52,734 |
| Clackmannanshire | 6,010 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 1,312 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 16,048 |
| Dundee City | 23,634 |
| East Ayrshire | 16,071 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 13,034 |
| East Lothian | 15,789 |
| East Renfrewshire | 10,573 |
| Falkirk | 24,367 |
| Fife | 43,166 |
| Glasgow | 66,213 |
| Highland | 15,013 |
| Inverclyde | 11,409 |
| Midlothian | 11,394 |
| Moray | 9,786 |
| North Ayrshire | 19,182 |
| North Lanarkshire | 36,571 |
| Orkney Islands | 2,698 |
| Perth and Kinross | 17,339 |
| Renfrewshire | 22,173 |
| Scottish Borders | 15,065 |
| Shetland Islands | 2,520 |
| South Ayrshire | 16,433 |
| South Lanarkshire | 35,007 |
| Stirling | 11,832 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 11,408 |
| West Lothian | 18,417 |
| Grand Total: | 630,227 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments made by the Minister for Transport and Telecommunications on 15 March 2006 in respect of my national concessionary travel pass application (Official Report c. 24045), whether his assurance on timescales applies to all individuals whose applications have been received.
Answer
We will make every effort toensure that everyone who submitted a valid application before 20 March will receivetheir entitlement card by 1 April 2006. Those who for whatever reason do not have a new EntitlementCard by 1 April will be able to use their old travel card for local travel for alimited period of time thereafter.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of children living in poverty are from an ethnic minority group, expressed also as a percentage of the total ethnic minority population.
Answer
It is only possible to identifythe ethnic group of the head of household.
In Scotland in 2002-03to 2004-05, after housing costs, an estimated 6% of children living in householdsthat are in relative low income poverty, have a minority ethnic head of household.Before housing costs the figure is estimated to be 7%.
In Scotland in 2002-03to 2004-05, after housing costs, an estimated 42% of children with a minority ethnichead of household, live in households that are in relative low income poverty. Beforehousing costs the figure is estimated to be 41%.
