Seòmar agus comataidhean

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 3475 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S2W-05763

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when the pay modernisation team looking at the impact of the general medical services and consultant contracts is expected to report and whether the report will include consideration of any retrospective implications for NHS boards.

The pay modernisation teamis co-ordinating a wide range of work at local and national level to aid theimplementation of the general medical services and consultants’ contract and tohelp oversee delivery of the contracts and their impact. This is an on-goingprocess taken forward through a number of strands and involving regular updatesand advice on implementation and its consequences. This work does involveconsideration of retrospective implications.

Question reference: S2W-05740

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-158 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 June 2003, how much has been received by each further education college for social inclusion in each of the years referred to (a) excluding any funding attributable to the location of the college being in a rural area and (b) expressed also as a percentage of each college's budget.

The information requested is as follows:

College	2000-01		2001-02		2002-03
	Total specific social inclusion element	% specific social inclusion to core allocation	Total specific social inclusion element	% specific social inclusion to core allocation	Total specific social inclusion element	% specific social inclusion to core allocation
Aberdeen College	£115,257	0.75%	£279,914	1.73%	£313,326	1.87%
Angus College	£27,786	0.65%	£49,375	1.05%	£50,976	1.05%
Anniesland College	£256,365	4.95%	£504,858	8.90%	£530,400	9.10%
Ayr College	£82,338	1.46%	£194,423	3.08%	£228,091	3.52%
Banff and Buchan College of Further Education	£819	0.02%	£1,818	0.04%	£2,341	0.05%
The Barony College	£8,871	0.70%	£10,018	0.71%	£11,167	0.78%
Borders College	£957	0.02%	£3,737	0.09%	£2,849	0.07%
Cardonald College	£256,339	3.38%	£507,839	6.09%	£549,134	6.29%
Central College of Commerce	£134,295	2.92%	£312,708	6.70%	£383,692	7.82%
Clackmannan College of Further Education	£39,253	1.54%	£71,797	2.58%	£71,157	2.51%
Clydebank College	£210,907	3.32%	£352,497	5.51%	£362,290	5.54%
Coatbridge College	£120,543	3.13%	£249,642	6.01%	£277,925	6.54%
Cumbernauld College	£25,657	0.81%	£60,515	1.82%	£85,598	2.53%
Dumfries and Galloway College	£36,736	0.82%	£78,953	1.69%	£87,414	1.87%
Dundee College	£270,339	2.63%	£522,863	4.45%	£607,668	4.97%
Edinburgh's Telford College	£198,813	1.52%	£395,741	2.92%	£436,261	3.13%
Elmwood College	£8,072	0.24%	£16,130	0.44%	£21,046	0.55%
Falkirk College of Further and Higher Education	£92,192	1.05%	£181,450	1.89%	£207,886	2.05%
Fife College of Further and Higher Education	£112,473	1.58%	£244,891	3.10%	£266,292	3.24%
Glasgow College of Building & Printing	£139,200	2.11%	£313,173	4.51%	£356,887	4.89%
Glasgow College of Food Technology	£91,455	2.97%	£273,557	7.89%	£258,752	7.23%
Glasgow College of Nautical Studies	£119,644	3.04%	£208,757	5.03%	£250,934	5.78%
Glenrothes College	£32,944	0.64%	£80,217	1.46%	£94,603	1.66%
Inverness College	£20,621	0.34%	£40,335	0.82%	£41,912	0.81%
James Watt College of Further and Higher Education	£281,725	2.05%	£771,276	4.58%	£781,620	4.48%
Jewel and Esk Valley College	£79,881	1.12%	£151,101	1.97%	£164,458	2.09%
John Wheatley College	£272,332	7.07%	£342,172	7.93%	£406,437	8.97%
Kilmarnock College	£87,962	1.54%	£227,707	3.85%	£255,300	4.17%
Langside College	£179,501	2.71%	£387,034	6.04%	£433,678	7.28%
Lauder College	£50,681	0.90%	£104,890	1.71%	£144,578	2.30%
Lews Castle College	£154	0.01%	£333	0.02%	£524	0.04%
Moray College	£2,695	0.06%	£4,308	0.13%	£2,687	0.08%
Motherwell College	£211,157	2.56%	£445,416	4.69%	£528,230	5.40%
North Glasgow College	£114,838	2.29%	£311,894	5.53%	£385,984	6.57%
Oatridge Agricultural College	£7,947	0.45%	£11,414	0.63%	£17,139	0.90%
Perth College	£23,560	0.43%	£33,381	0.79%	£33,597	0.79%
Reid Kerr College	£204,736	2.47%	£473,557	5.06%	£506,320	5.29%
South Lanarkshire College	£52,604	1.38%	£108,815	2.68%	£112,477	2.67%
Stevenson College Edinburgh	£174,005	1.57%	£350,942	3.27%	£309,010	3.12%
Stow College	£153,122	2.84%	£248,674	4.50%	£301,584	5.18%
The North Highland College	£2,006	0.07%	£4,275	0.17%	£9,148	0.35%
West Lothian College	£33,116	0.83%	£73,292	1.39%	£95,256	1.84%
Orkney College	£0	0.00%	£0	0.00%	£0	0.00%
Shetland College of Further Education	£0	0.00%	£0	0.00%	£0	0.00%

Source: Scottish FurtherEducation Funding Council.

Notes:

1.The social inclusion elements are shown as a percentage of the core formulafunding allocation to colleges. This represents the majority of fundingallocated to colleges by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council(SFEFC). It excludes other SFEFC funding outwith the core formula. This caninclude claims based grants (e.g. fee waiver); funding to support students'living costs which is not core teaching activity; one off funds paid tocolleges for specific projects; and funds paid to other bodies to support thework of colleges. To include funds such as these in the comparison would bemisleading as much of the funding cannot be split by college and/or isconceptually different to core funding.

2. There has been somedebate over the basis on which the social inclusion elements of college fundingare calculated. The element which supports entry costs and retention aretriggered in respect of students living in Scotland’s 20% most deprivedpostcodes, which are generally in urban areas. SFEFC is currently reviewing howthe funding methodology takes account of remoteness.

Question reference: S2W-05739

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each region has received from the European Regional Development Fund, broken down by individual project.

In the current 2000-06European Structural Funds Scottish programmes, European Regional DevelopmentFunding (ERDF) is available in the Highlands and Islands Special TransitionalProgramme and in the east of Scotland, south of Scotland and western Scotland objective2 programmes. Individual projects receiving ERDF grants under these programmes aredetailed in European Regional Development Fund Awarded by Individual Projectas at January 2004, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 30800).

Question reference: S2W-05738

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 5 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether retrospective applications can be made to the European Regional Development Fund and, if so, which projects have successfully so applied.

Retrospective applicationsare normally not permitted for European Structural Funds. However in 2003, withthe Commission’s approval, some projects in the current 2000-2006 Objective 2East of Scotland and Western Scotland programmes were allowed toclaim funding retrospectively, in consideration of the delay to the start of the programmes.

A full list of approvedretrospective project information is given in List of Projects that Appliedfor ERDF funding Retrospectively in 2003, a copy of which has been placedin the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 30799).

Question reference: S2W-05737

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 4 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding from the European Regional Development Fund remains unallocated, broken down by region.

In the current 2000-06European Structural Funds Scottish Programmes, the total

European RegionalDevelopment Fund (ERDF) grant remaining unallocated is detailed below.

Scotland 2000-2006 Programme	Unallocated ERDF Funding (grant) As at January 2004
Highlands and Islands Special Transition Programme	£55,950,675
South of Scotland Objective 2	£19,806,907
East of Scotland Objective 2	£56,998,361
Western Scotland Objective 2	£144,700,000
Urban II	£4,000,000

Question reference: S2W-05725

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many summary convictions have been recorded for offences under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S2W-05622

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 3 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will now publish its review of area tourist boards.

Since the Summer, the ad hocgroup of ministers on tourism has been examining the state of Scottish tourism,and the public expenditure devoted to it. We are considering the outcome of thearea tourist board review in context of these wider issues. We need a supportstructure for the sector that is not only right for today’s market but willstand us in good stead for the future, because this is an industry with a longterm future. We hope the group’s conclusions can be announced soon.

Question reference: S2W-04528

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 26 January 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidelines are in place for local authorities for provision of street furnishing, such as lamp-posts and signs, to be marked with contrasting bandings in order that people with visual impairment can identify them more clearly and, if not, what steps will be taken to introduce such guidelines nationwide.

The Scottish Executive is inthe process of preparing revised guidance to help local authorities to preparelocal transport strategies which the Scottish Executive would expect to addressissues of accessibility. Local transportstrategies are produced voluntarily by local authorities. However, the ScottishExecutive strongly recommends that local authorities produce local transportstrategies in accordance with guidance issued under the Transport (Scotland)Act 2001.

The Department for Transporthas published a guide, Inclusive Mobility – A guide to best practice onAccess to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure, which is available toall local authorities and will be recommended in the local transport strategyguidance.

Question reference: S2O-01061

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 January 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in discussions between its police division and Lothian and Borders Police regarding the funding of a combined Sheriff courthouse and police facility in Peebles.

Question reference: S2W-04865

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 January 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33587 by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 February 2003, when responses to the consultation, Patient Rights and Responsibilities - A draft for consultation, will be made available.