- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Department of Social Security on any impact which the current level of Invalid Care Allowance has on its National Strategy for Carers and, in particular, on the living standards of carers.
Answer
The Strategy for Carers in Scotland is aimed at addressing the needs of carers for better information and more flexible health and social care support. Financial support to carers through the social security and benefits system remains the responsibility of the UK Government. We welcome the Government's recently announced packages of financial measures to help carers. The measures include substantial increases in the weekly Carer Premium, an increase in the earnings limit for Invalid Care Allowance (ICA) and extending eligibility for ICA to carers over the age of 65, all of which should help deliver improvements in the living standards of many Scottish carers.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 25 January 2001
To ask the First Minister how much of the #10 million aid package for the textile industry announced by the Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce at the Department of Trade and Industry on 6 June 2000 has been allocated in Scotland.
Answer
The DTI package has not been allocated according to geographical area.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10406 by Sarah Boyack on 29 November 2000, (a) what funding sources are available for cycle projects, (b) how much funding is available from each of these sources, (c) which bodies and individuals have made funding applications to these sources, (d) which bodies and individuals were successful and (e) how much each body or individual received, in this financial year.
Answer
Responsibility for the provision of cycling infrastructure rests with the local authorities. They receive a block allocation for expenditure on a number of services including transport. It is for the local authorities to allocate resources in accordance with locally determined priorities. Information about the level of spending by local authorities on cycling projects is not held centrally.
However, cycling projects are eligible for support from the Public Transport Fund which was announced in 1998 in the Scottish Transport White Paper to assist local authorities to provide key value for money developments to their public transport network. It is open to all of Scotland's local authorities and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority to bid for support from the fund.So far, three Public Transport Fund Competitions have taken place with 53 projects receiving funding totalling over £95 million. During this time, eight bids for projects for improved cycling facilities have been received; all have been successful and received support from the fund. The projects and allocation is listed in the table.In May 2000, I announced that local authorities had been allocated additional capital consents, totalling £5.2 million, to take forward work on implementing safer routes to school schemes. It is for individual authorities to take decisions on the specific measures to be implemented in their areas having regard to local needs and priorities. Measures could, however, include capital expenditure on cycle projects related to safer routes to school schemes.In addition, there are occasionally funding opportunities from other sources such as the Millennium Commission which provided resources for the development of the National Cycle Network. However, these are not administered by the Scottish ExecutiveAuthority | Project | Total Award (£ million) | Allocation 2000-01 (£ million) |
| Dumfries & Galloway | Dumfries Transport Initiative1 | £1.063 | £0.3 |
| Midlothian | Sheriffhall Cycle Bridge | £0.802 | £0.802 |
| East Renfrewshire | Cycling and Walking Facilities | £0.450 | - |
| Dumfries & Galloway | Stranraer Integrated Transport Package1 | £0.943 | - |
| East Ayrshire | Cycling and Walking in Kilmarnock | £0.670 | - |
| Argyll and Bute | Cycleways in Helensburgh and Lomond | £1.900 | - |
| Perth and Kinross | Cycle Commuter Routes | £0.200 | - |
| Renfrewshire | Integrated Transport Improvements1 | £0.268 | - |
Notes:1. Project also includes other public transport measures.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, as part of the inquiry into the Chokkar case, Sir Anthony Campbell will be interviewing the former Lord Advocate, Lord Hardie, and what the reasons are for the position in this matter.
Answer
This is a matter for Sir Anthony Campbell and not for the Lord Advocate or the Scottish Executive. Sir Anthony Campbell will conduct his inquiry independently of the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Executive. Lord Hardie has stated that he will co-operate with the inquiries.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what criteria will be used in prioritising those eligible under its central heating programme, (b) how many households it estimates will have central heating installed under the programme before winter 2001 and (c) how the allocation of the funding is to be administered, monitored and audited and how much of the funding will be required for these purposes, expressed as a figure and a percentage of the total overall budget.
Answer
The Central Heating Working Group is considering the question of priority need and a report will be published shortly. No estimate of the kind described at (b) has yet been made. Funding will be administered by local authorities, Scottish Homes and a managing agent for each of the three sectors of the stock. They will be responsible for monitoring and auditing.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made as to the health risk from animal waste to humans in incidents of flooding.
Answer
The Executive is not aware of any such formal assessment in Scotland. I understand that the possible significance of flooding for health will be covered in an expert review Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK, which is due to be published by the Department of Health in early 2001.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 24 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, as part of its social inclusion policy, it will make representations to all banks in Scotland to seek changes in the rules on verification framework and regarding the production of original bank books, building society accounts and other documents, in particular in relation to older people.
Answer
Regulation of financial services is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive is working with the Scottish financial institutions to encourage the promotion of more inclusive products and practices.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications by elderly people for day care centre places have been refused in the last 12 months, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) ministerial and (b) non-ministerial letters providing information requested in parliamentary questions have been lodged in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre since the inception of the Parliament and whether there has been an increase in this practice.
Answer
The information requested is not held by the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its current procedure of providing information requested in parliamentary questions by letter and lodging a copy of the letter in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre where currently the time of lodging the letter is not intimated to members and the response is not in the public domain, in order to ensure that all ministerial responses to questions are accessible and open to both parliamentary and public scrutiny.
Answer
The Executive has no plans to review its current procedure of providing information requested in certain parliamentary questions by letter and lodging a copy of the letter in the Parliament's Reference Centre. However, in consultation with the parliamentary authorities, we will give consideration to whether, and if so how, these responses might be placed in the wider domain.
