- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 26 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students have dropped out of (a) further and (b) higher education in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Answer
Data for all students undertaking further and higher education at higher education institutions and who leave before completion each year for which information is available is provided in the table:Students in Higher Education Institutions in Scotland 1994-95 to 1999-2000Leaving course and level
| Left before completion | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 |
| Higher education | 3,809 2.6% | 5,844 3.8% | 7,160 4.2% | 7,808 4.4% | 8,048 4.4% | 7,533 4.0% |
| Further Education | 17 5.9% | 60 24.6% | 30 7.2% | 29 7.9% | 10 3.0% | 18 18.3% |
Source : Higher Education Statistics Agency
Performance Indicators published annually by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council for higher education institutions in Scotland provide a projection of the numbers who start a full-time first degree course and do not obtain an award or transfer to another institution. For those starting in 1996-97 this was 17%, while in 1997-98 this was 16%.Data is not available for those undertaking further or higher education at further education colleges.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 26 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwives who qualified in 2000 have found employment in the profession.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 26 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances it would seek to use the income tax varying power to (a) raise or (b) lower the basic rate of income tax.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has undertaken not to use its tax varying power to increase income tax during the current Parliament. Our draft budget for 2002-03 is based on the current rate of basic tax.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 26 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any information to suggest that the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot will be delayed beyond November 2001.
Answer
Glasgow City Council has responsibility for the timing of the ballot.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 25 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it is taking to make nicotine replacement therapies available free of charge.
Answer
A Statutory Instrument to amend Schedule 10 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995 has been laid in Parliament to come into force on 30 April 2001. This will allow GPs to prescribe nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) on the NHS.Patients who are exempt from prescription charges will not be expected to pay for this treatment. At present, around 90% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge. Pre-payment certificates are available to help non-exempt patients.In line with the measures in Smoking Kills, health boards were issued in April 1999 with guidance about extending and developing NHS efforts to help people stop smoking. £3 million was allocated over three years to health boards for smoking cessation services, including the provision of one week's free NRT to smokers least able to afford to buy these products.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 25 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to undertake a review of how complaints from owner-occupiers of properties where the local authority is the factor are handled by the authority concerned.
Answer
We currently have no plans to undertake such a review.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 25 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many retailers were prosecuted in Scotland under the Children and Young Persons (Protection from Tobacco) Act 1991 in the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 and how this compares with the equivalent figure for England and Wales.
Answer
The available information is for calendar year 1999. During that year no persons were proceeded against in Scottish courts where the main offence was under the Children and Young Persons (Protection from Tobacco) Act 1991. The corresponding figure for persons proceeded against in England and Wales was 136.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 20 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent members of staff it employed at 31 March 2000 and how many it estimates it will employ at (a) 31 March 2001 and (b) 31 March 2002, broken down by the local authority area in which the staff are based.
Answer
The number of permanent staff employed in the main departments of the Scottish Executive, its agencies and associated departments are shown in the table.
| 31 March 2000 | 31 March 2001 (est.) |
| ABERDEEN CITY | 488.4 | 512.0 |
| ABERDEENSHIRE | 373.1 | 361.5 |
| ANGUS | 104.1 | 107.5 |
| ARGYLL & BUTE | 53.7 | 55.8 |
| CITY OF EDINBURGH | 6,500.0 | 6,619.2 |
| CLACKMANNANSHIRE | 475.5 | 476.5 |
| DUMBARTON AND CLYDEBANK | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY | 254.4 | 255.8 |
| DUNDEE CITY | 116.7 | 122.6 |
| EAST AYRSHIRE | 59.7 | 57.7 |
| EAST DUMBARTONSHIRE | 154.0 | 173.0 |
| EAST LOTHIAN | 35.7 | 33.6 |
| EAST RENFREWSHIRE | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| EILIAN SIAR | 21.5 | 26.5 |
| FALKIRK | 414.5 | 483.2 |
| FIFE | 109.1 | 109.6 |
| GLASGOW CITY | 1,543.6 | 1,642.1 |
| HIGHLANDS | 311.0 | 329.5 |
| INVERCLYDE | 268.2 | 269.2 |
| MIDLOTHIAN | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MORAY | 38.2 | 38.2 |
| NORTH AYRSHIRE | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NORTH LANARKSHIRE | 614.3 | 499.1 |
| ORKNEY | 52.6 | 54.6 |
| PERTH AND KINROSS | 608.3 | 616.3 |
| RENFREWSHIRE | 79.6 | 79.1 |
| SCOTTISH BORDERS | 70.7 | 75.2 |
| SHETLAND | 24.9 | 28.5 |
| SOUTH AYRSHIRE | 97.4 | 106.2 |
| SOUTH LANARKSHIRE | 224.8 | 158.3 |
| STIRLING | 319.1 | 338.2 |
| WEST DUMBARTONSHIRE | 40.9 | 43.2 |
| WEST LOTHIAN | 63.1 | 50.7 |
| WESTERN ISLES | 10.6 | 11.9 |
| TOTAL FOR SCOTLAND | 13,530.7 | 13,737.9 |
We do not anticipate any significant changes in overall staff numbers over the coming year.Last December I announced to Parliament that detailed reviews of the Edinburgh operations of six public bodies would be undertaken to individual timetables based on lease breaks and other operational factors. In accordance with this timetable we aim to be in a position to make decisions on the location of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, the Health Education Board for Scotland and
sportscotland by 31 March 2002, with a decision on the Common Service Agency of the NHS in Scotland by mid-2002.I also announced at that time that the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council would not be located in Edinburgh. Mr Chisholm announced on 6 March that the national offices of these two new bodies will - if the Parliament passes the necessary legislation to enable them to be established - be located in Dundee. Decisions on regional offices for the Commission will be announced shortly.The policy does not target specific areas but considers locations throughout Scotland that best fit the particular needs of each case.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce the number of information officers and public relations staff working for it.
Answer
None.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 18 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12332 by Angus MacKay on 6 March 2001, when it estimates that the Scottish assigned budget's share of UK gross domestic product will again reach the level it was at in 1996-97.
Answer
2003-04 is the latest year for which a projection of GDP is available. Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) and Non-Domestic Rate Income (NDRI) is projected to be 1.84% of UK GDP
The sum of DEL and NDRI will grow by 12.59% in real terms between 2000-01 and 2003-04, equating to more money being spent on the needs of the Scottish people.Due to the conversion to resource accounting, the sum of DEL (Departmental Expenditure Limits) and NDRI (Non-Domestic Rate Income) is the most robust basis on which to make this comparison.
