Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-26685

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding, including through the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund and other such initiatives, it has awarded to (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council in each year since 1997.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Better Neighbourhood ServicesFund operated between 2001-02 and 2004-05 when it was merged with the funding providedto Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) to form the Community Regeneration Fund(CRF).

In addition to the CRF, CommunitiesScotland also provides grant funding to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to supportthe provision of housing for rent or low cost home ownership. Communities Scotlandalso provides RSLs with funding from the Wider Role programme to support communityregeneration and social inclusion activities.

Details of the allocation ofeach of these funding streams are shown as follows:

West Dunbartonshire Council

	SIP (£ Million)	BNSF (£ Million)	CRF (£ Million)	Housing Grants to RSLs (£ Million)	RSL Wider Role (£ Million)	Total (£ Million)
1997-98	n/a	n/a	n/a	7.122	n/a	7.122
1998-99	n/a	n/a	n/a	7.929	n/a	7.929
1999-2000	2.193	n/a	n/a	6.707	n/a	8.900
2000-01	2.087	n/a	n/a	8.385	0.133	10.605
2001-02	2.076	2.000	n/a	10.108	0.330	14.514
2002-03	2.228	3.000	n/a	7.808	0.338	13.374
2003-04	2.236	4.000	n/a	7.650	0.646	14.532
2004-05	2.365	3.000	n/a	9.008	1.107	15.480
2005-06	n/a	n/a	4.956	12.658	0.760	18.374

Argyll and Bute Council

	SIP (£ Million)	BNSF (£ Million)	CRF (£ Million)	Housing grants to RSLs (£ Million)	RSL Wider Role (£ Million)	Total (£ Million)
1997-98	n/a	n/a	n/a	5.441	n/a	5.441
1998-99	n/a	n/a	n/a	4.427	n/a	4.427
1999-2000	0.206	n/a	n/a	5.653	n/a	5.859
2000-01	0.280	n/a	n/a	4.435	0	4.715
2001-02	0.369	0.60	n/a	4.057	0.013	5.039
2002-03	0.379	0.90	n/a	3.642	0.065	4.986
2003-04	0.370	1.20	n/a	7.288	0.274	9.132
2004-05	0.369	0.90	n/a	10.690	0.142	12.101
2005-06	n/a	n/a	0.985	14.979	0.218	16.182

Question reference: S2W-26706

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to increase the employment rates of disadvantaged groups, such as lone parents or ethnic minorities, in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency.

On 12 June 2006, I launched WorkforcePlus, An Employability Framework for Scotland. The framework aims to help more disadvantaged individuals,including lone parents and ethnic minorities towards and into sustained employmentby setting out the actions required at both nation and local level to achieve this.

The framework is targeted atseven Closing the Opportunity Gap areas, including West Dunbartonshire, with the highest levels of benefit claimants in Scotland. Theseareas have set a combined target to reduce benefit claimants by 30,000 by 2007 and66,000 by 2010. The West Dunbartonshire component of these targets is 840 and 2,190 respectively.We have allocated £840,000 to West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnershipover the next two years to assist local partners in bringing together services tohelp achieve this target.

Question reference: S2W-26621

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the annual (a) regeneration and (b) social inclusion partnership (SIP) budget was allocated to SIPs in the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) Argyll and Bute local authority area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-26707

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency have gone into jobs from the New Deal.

The following table sets outthe number of people who have moved into jobs in Dumbarton through the various NewDeal programmes since their introduction.

Programme	Individuals into Jobs in Dumbarton
New Deal for Young People (NDYP)	1,580
New Deal 25 plus (ND25+)	600
New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP)	820
New Deal 50 plus (ND50+)	120
New Deal for Partners (NDP)	10

Source: Department for Work andPensions, Information Directorate.

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to thenearest ten.

2. Figures for NDYP ND25+ andNDLP are the cumulative totals to November 2005.

3. Figure for ND50+ is the cumulativetotal from April 2003 to February 2006.

4. The NDP figure is the cumulativetotal from April 2004 to February 2006.

5. Data are not available atconstituency level for New Deal for the Disabled.

Question reference: S2W-26719

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeships have been taken up by residents of the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) Argyll and Bute local authority area in each year since 1999.

The number of modern apprentices(MAs) broken down by local authority area and by year is an operational matter forScottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. This information is not heldcentrally.

However, Scottish Enterprisehave published MA figures which include the parliamentary constituency of Dumbartonas well as Dunbartonshire local enterprise company area. These are now in the publicdomain and can be found on their website:

www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/training-providers-top/training-providers/performance-and-reports.htm?siblingtoggle=1.

Question reference: S2W-26711

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on (a) police forces, (b) fire brigades and (c) the prison service in the (i) Argyll and Bute and (ii) West Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1999.

The available information isshown in the following tables. There are no prison establishments in either of theselocal authority areas.

Net revenue expenditure on policeforces and fire brigades in the Argyll andBute and West Dunbartonshire local authority areas from 1999-2000

Police Forces

1999-2000

(£ Million)

2000-01

(£ Million)

2001-02

(£ Million)

2002-03

(£ Million)

2003-04

(£ Million)

2004-05

(£ Million)

Argyll and Bute

8.302

8.172

8.501

8.304

9.830

9.678

West Dunbartonshire ¹

11.935

12.033

12.547

24.775

27.648

27.490

Source: Local Financial Returns.

Note: 1. Large increase from2002-03 due to change in accounting practice.

Fire Brigades

1999-2000

(£ Million)

2000-01

(£ Million)

2001-02

(£ Million)

2002-03

(£ Million)

2003-04

(£ Million)

2004-05

(£ Million)

Argyll and Bute

3.027

3.117

3.364

3.550

3.866

4.052

West Dunbartonshire

5.482

5.642

6.092

6.428

6.989

7.339

Source: Local Financial Returns.

Question reference: S2W-26793

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service routinely provides support for families of victims involved in fatal accident inquiries and, if so, how the service is publicised.

Victim Information andAdvice (VIA) can provide a service to families of victims involved in FatalAccident Inquiries. The specific availability of this service is referred to incorrespondence advising families of initial enquiries into the death by the ProcuratorFiscal and more generally publicised on the Crown Office and Procurator FiscalService (COPFS) website at www.copfs.gov.ukand in COPFS leaflets providing general information about VIA.

Question reference: S2W-26791

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding has been allocated for modern apprenticeships in (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) Argyll and Bute in each year since 2003.

The amount of fundingallocated for modern apprentices (MA) in a particular local authority area,parliamentary constituency or by year is an operational matter for ScottishEnterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. This information is not heldcentrally.

At the 2002 spending review,the Executive allocated an additional £25 million pounds to the enterprisenetworks for the period 2003 to 2006 to increase the number of modernapprentices in training.

The enterprise networks publishtheir annual reports and accounts which contain the total expenditure on learningand skills, of which the MA programme is a part. These can be found at:

http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/about_se/research-and-publications.htm#annual_report_and_accountsand http://www.hie.co.uk/corporate-publications.htm.

Question reference: S2W-26789

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have benefited from the New Deal in each year since 1999 in (a) West Dunbartonshire, (b) Argyll and Bute and (c) the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency.

Table 1 provides informationon the number of individuals who started a New Deal programme broken down by typeof programme for West Dunbartonshire in each year since 1999. Tables 2 and 3 provide the sameinformation for Argyll and Bute and Dumbarton Scottish Parliamentary Constituency.

Data on New Deal for DisabledPeople are not available by detailed geography so data on this programme are notincluded in the tables.

Table 1 Number ofIndividuals Starting New Deal programmes by Type of Programme, West Dunbartonshire, 1999-2005

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
New Deal for Young People (NDYP)	330	360	350	380	350	490	490
New Deal 25plus (ND25+)	190	220	400	400	370	390	340
New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP)	130	130	120	240	310	370	500
New Deal 50plus (ND50+)	N/A	N/Av	N/Av	N/Av	N/Av	130	40
New Deal for Partners (NDP)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	-	-

Source: Department for Work andPensions, Information Directorate

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to thenearest 10.

2. Individuals are placed inthe year in which they first started the programme.

“N/A” Not Applicable, “N/Av”Not Available, “-” nil or negligible.

Table 2 Number of IndividualsStarting New Deal Programmes by Type of Programme, Argyll and Bute, 1999-2005

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
New Deal for Young People (NDYP)	210	230	250	210	230	250	260
New Deal 25plus (ND25+)	160	150	230	230	230	240	300
New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP)	70	50	80	160	140	160	280
New Deal 50plus (ND50+)	N/A	N/Av	N/Av	N/Av	N/Av	60	90
New Deal for Partners (NDP)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20	20

Source: Department for Work andPensions, Information Directorate

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to thenearest 10.

2. Individuals are placed inthe year in which they first started the programme.

“N/A” Not Applicable, “N/Av”Not Available

Table 3 Number of individualsstarting New Deal programmes by type of programme, Dumbarton, 1999-2005

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
New Deal for Young People (NDYP)	240	280	250	260	220	300	330
New Deal 25plus (ND25+)	130	150	260	240	220	230	260
New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP)	100	80	70	160	190	200	310
New Deal 50plus (ND50+)	N/A	N/Av	N/Av	N/Av	N/Av	60	40
New Deal for Partners (NDP)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	-	-

Source: Department for Work andPensions, Information Directorate.

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to thenearest 10.

2. Individuals are placed inthe year in which they first started the programme.

“N/A” Not Applicable, “N/Av”Not Available, “-” nil or negligible.

Question reference: S2W-26686

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 19 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was invested in tackling anti-social behaviour through neighbourhood wardens, support schemes and other local initiatives in the (a) Dumbarton parliamentary constituency, (b) Argyll and Bute Council area and (c) West Dunbartonshire Council area in each year since 1999 and in what projects such investment was made.

Scottish Executive funding totackle antisocial behaviour has been made available to local councils on behalfof their Community Planning Partnerships since 2004. We do not hold records centrallyon locally funded initiatives prior to that date. Funds were allocated to localauthority areas as a whole and it is therefore not possible to identify resourcesallocated specifically to the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency.

Argyll and Bute Council was allocated£184,000 in 2004-05 and £204,700 in 2005-06. This supported the following services:

community wardens;

an antisocial behaviour coordinator;

provision of witness supportservices;

extending mediation services;

surveillance equipment to recordincidences of antisocial behaviour;

community consultation on theantisocial behaviour strategy, and

collection of data and monitoringand evaluation.

Inaddition, Argyll and Bute Council were awarded £26,600 for 2004-06 to support provisionof services to respond to antisocial noise.

West Dunbartonshire Council wasallocated £1,364,000 in 2004-05 and £1,513,550 in 2005-06. This supported the followingservices:

community wardens;

an antisocial behaviour coordinator;

extending mediation services;

intensive supervision of perpetratorsof antisocial behaviour;

support for witnesses and victims;

dedicated solicitor;

extra staff to investigate andpursue antisocial behaviour;

mobile patrol service operatingat night;

environmental response team operatingin the evenings;

freephone helpline number,and

funding to Strathclyde policeto enable targeting of antisocial behaviour hotspots.

In addition, West DunbartonshireCouncil were awarded £130,700 for 2004-06 to support provision of services to respondto antisocial noise.

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