- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the use of the timber preservative chromated copper arsenic in children's playgrounds.
Answer
Enforcement of health and safety provisions for playgrounds is a reserved matter.The issue of chromated copper arsenate will be considered by the European Union in the autumn of this year and the Executive will consider any resulting advice or recommendations.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 20 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will clarify the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning's statement in Scotland on Sunday on 1 July 2001 that "Soon all Scotland's pensioners will have the right to a central heating system to tackle hypothermia" and whether it will confirm by what date all pensioners will have central heating installed.
Answer
The statement by the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning refers to the Executive's Central Heating Programme. The principal benefits are that it will help to improve the health of the elderly and lower the incidence of cold-related illnesses. There will be sufficient investment to ensure that all over 60s receive heating and insulation by March 2006.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 17 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary question to question S1O-3585 by Susan Deacon on 14 June 2001, what guidance and procedures have been issued to education authorities in relation to prescribing the morning-after pill.
Answer
No specific guidance has been issued to Education Authorities on emergency contraception or the morning after pill, since the Executive is aware that there are no current plans to introduce the supply of the pill by school nurses.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 17 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive on what evidence the statement "This autumn a poor Scottish student will have #1000 more to live on than a new student in 1979" by the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning in Scotland on Sunday on 1 July 2001 is based.
Answer
A young Scottish student starting a full-time course in Scotland from this month will have access to a total maintenance package of grant and loan worth £4,315, where their family income is £15,000 or below. Up to £2,000 of this support will be payable as bursary. It may be supplemented in individual cases by supplementary grants and payments from Hardship Funds. In 1979, the full maintenance grant was £1,100 or £3,361 at current prices.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 16 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government on 28 June 2001, why there has been a net reduction of #30 million in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Enterprise and Lifelong Learning budgets and what impact this will have on the delivery of the Enterprise and Lifelong Department's priorities.
Answer
The net reduction of £30m in the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning budgets occurs within the spending plans for the Students Awards Agency for Scotland and amounts to £10m in each of the 3 years 2001-02 to 2003-04.
This reduction will have no impact on the delivery of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department's priorities.
On new loans the budget makes provision to reflect estimated future write-offs for non-recovery and the difference between the cost of capital charge and the interest earned over the whole life of the loan. The data underpinning these estimates is reviewed on a regular basis. The most recent review indicates that the estimated provision should be at a rate 5% less than that previously calculated.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 16 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government on 28 June 2001, why there has been a net reduction of #35 million in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Social Justice budgets, and what impact this will have on the delivery of social justice priorities.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16746.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 15 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive when it proposes to set a target date for the implementation of development funding transfers in relation to the new executive agency for housing.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currently working with local authorities and Scottish Homes to agree arrangements for the transfer of development funding to local authorities. We do not intend to set a target date for transfer.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact growing up in a smoking environment has on the physical and intellectual development of a child.
Answer
There is evidence that children exposed to passive smoking are at increased risk of serious respiratory illness, asthma attacks, and middle ear disease. Infants are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
The World Health Organisation have published evidence that children of smokers perform more poorly in school than children of non-smokers.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 15 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the recruitment of police officers.
Answer
The number of police officers in Scotland reached an all time high in March 2001. The funding made available to the police service, which is more than a third higher in real terms than ten years ago, is intended to sustain this level. These resources, combined with the resources made available to improve intelligence-led policing, should significantly enhance the ability of the police to prevent crime and catch criminals.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the money made available for improving services for older people, as announced in the ministerial statement by Susan Deacon on 5 October 2000, was new money.
Answer
On 5 October the Minister announced that an additional £25 million per annum had been set aside to provide free nursing care and that an additional £30 million, £36 million and £60 million would be provided to local authorities in the years 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 respectively. She also announced that £10 million per annum would be provided on a continuing basis to local authorities to reduce delays to discharge from hospital. The availability of none of these resources had previously been announced.
