- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve co-operation and the co-ordination of resources and strategies between local government and the NHS.
Answer
Effective joint working between the NHSScotland, local authorities and other agencies is central to the Scottish Executive's Health and Community Care policies.Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change (December 2000), Rebuilding our National Health Service (May 2001), Modernising Community Care (1998), the Report of the Joint Future Group (December 2000) and the Learning Disability Review (June 2001) all set out a number of steps being taken to develop joint working with local government.The Executive has also recently consulted on proposals to remove legislative barriers to joint working, which we will introduce soon after Parliament resumes. We will issue guidance on joint resourcing and joint service management, initially covering services for older people, in the autumn, and work with agencies over the coming months on developing single shared assessment of people with community care needs, both to come into effect in April 2002.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 21 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent the Chancellor of the Exchequer is consulted on, or otherwise involved in, policy issues.
Answer
Scottish Ministers work closely and constructively with their counterparts in the UK Government and, to that end, have regular discussions with United Kingdom Ministers on a wide range of subjects.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 21 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how it reconciles the figure of 70,000 children lifted out of poverty given by the First Minister on 1 February 2001 in the debate on Working together for Scotland: A Programme for Government (Official Report, col.807) with the statement in the latest Household Below Average Income Survey by the Department of Works and Pensions that child poverty has fallen by 1% in Scotland since 1997.
Answer
The First Minister's remarks on children in poverty referred to the change in the estimated number of children living in low income households between 1996-97 and 1998-99, a more detailed explanation of which was given in answer to question S1W-13002. The drop of one percentage point referred to in the question relates to the percentage point difference in the proportion of children in low income households in Scotland between 1997-98 and the latest 1999-2000 figures. The Households Below Average Income Survey results demonstrate steady progress in reducing the proportion of children living in low income households.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of the 10,568 gigawatt-hours of electricity transferred to England and Wales in 1999-2000, as shown in Key Scottish Environment Statistics.
Answer
This is commercial information, and as such is a matter for the power companies concerned.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
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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
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 20 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10148 by Jackie Baillie on 15 November 2000, whether there has been any change in the funding arrangements for the central heating initiative and what progress there has been in discussions with Scottish Gas, Scottish Power, Scottish Hydro-electric and Transco.
Answer
A further £5 million is being put into the Central Heating Programme this year so that councils considering transfer to community ownership can install central heating systems on the same timescale as the other local authorities taking part. Good progress has been made in our discussions with the energy companies and they have agreed to support the programme through the Energy Efficiency Commitment. Support will also be provided by Transco through its Affordable Warmth Programme.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
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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
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2001
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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
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
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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
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 July 2001
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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.
