- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 September 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 9 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17480 by Susan Deacon on 24 September 2001, why it does not consider it feasible or desirable to attempt to influence the trend in the Scottish birth rate.
Answer
The decision of whether to have a family and how large that family should be is a personal one which, in a free and democratic society, cannot and must not be dictated by the state.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 3 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15309 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 May 2001, what progress the Housing and Employment Working Group is making in identifying the mechanisms required to maximise employment opportunities and inclusion benefits from future housing investment.
Answer
The housing and employment working group report is being completed. The group intends to hold a seminar in the autumn at which the report will be considered.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 1 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce a ban on tobacco promotion and advertising as prioritised in Working together for Scotland: A Programme for Government.
Answer
The Executive will ban tobacco advertising in Scotland as soon as we can do so effectively and comprehensively. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16599.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 27 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that those who lend funds to organisations who have taken over housing stock following wholesale stock transfer do not wield undue influence on those organisations.
Answer
Registered Social Landlords have a continuing obligation to meet Scottish Homes' Registration Criteria and Performance Standards, which are aimed at protecting their independence and ensuring that they can operate free from inappropriate influence.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 27 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the number of apprenticeships available in the construction industry and related trades in areas where stock transfer is being pursued.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17523 on 11 September 2001.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 27 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will only approve large-scale stock transfers proposals subject to guaranteed speedy progress to second stage transfers to community-based registered social landlords as recommended in the 3rd Report, 2000 of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee, Housing Stock Transfer, and, if so, what its definition of "guaranteed speedy progress" will be.
Answer
As indicated in the Scottish Executive's response to that report, we will examine business plans to assess whether they deliver further choices to tenants for more localised solutions which are best suited to individual transfer proposals, taking account of tenants' views.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 26 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will, after consultation, establish a model for the maximum number of housing units to be managed by a registered social landlord (RSL), as recommended in the 3rd Report, 2000 of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee, Housing Stock Transfer.
Answer
Scottish Homes will shortly issue a consultation paper setting out proposed criteria to be used in considering applications from social landlords wishing to be become RSLs. This will invite views on the registration procedures in respect of very large and very small prospective RSLs.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 September 2001
-
Current Status:
Answer expected on 18 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was used to pay off local authority housing debt as a result of housing capital set-aside rules in each year since 1996-97, broken down by local authority.
Answer
Answer expected on 18 September 2001
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 24 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive why the Scottish birth rate is continuing to decline year on year; whether it is possible to reverse this trend; if so, whether it would be desirable to do so and, if so, what steps it will take to achieve this.
Answer
The birth rate in Scotland has been declining for a number of years, from 19.2 per 1,000 in 1960 to 10.4 per 1,000 in 2000 (figures from GRO Scotland), although it is predicted that the rate will remain fairly constant up to 2021. The birth rate has fallen over the same period across almost every advanced industrialised country as people exercise their private and personal choices over family sizes. The Scottish Executive does not consider it feasible or desirable to attempt to influence this trend.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 24 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the long-term implications are of the continuing decline in the Scottish birth rate.
Answer
The Scottish birth rate has been declining since 1960. This general trend is in line with the pattern in most other advanced industrial countries, although the birth rate in Scotland has declined more significantly than the rate for the UK as a whole. Actuarial predictions suggest that the Scottish birth rate will remain fairly constant over the next 20 years. As with any demographic trend, there will be a range of implications from the fall in the Scottish birth rate.
