- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 6 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed Professor Arthur Midwinter's report Grant Distribution and the Mismatch Effect: An Assessment of its Impact on Councils since Reorganisation with COSLA and what the outcome of any such decision was.
Answer
I am due to meet with COSLA again in the next month to talk about the spending review and the distribution of resources for all local authorities. This will be the forum to discuss such matters.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to meet the target level of rheumatologists per head of the population recommended by the British Society for Rheumatology.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26210.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of rheumatologists per head of population is at the level recommended by the British Society for Rheumatology.
Answer
The number of rheumatologists per head of the population is less than the level recommended by the British Society for Rheumatology. The staffing establishment in NHSScotland is decided by the local NHS board, in consultation with the trusts in its area, in order to provide a modern, flexible service matched to local needs. Criteria produced by external organisations do not govern the staffing establishment, although we would expect NHS boards to consider such recommendations in their future planning.The new workforce development arrangements that we are establishing will seek to bring a more co-ordinated approach to assessing the workforce needs of NHSScotland.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have been sought for the illegal killing of red kites in each of the last five years.
Answer
The information requested is not available
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been secured from non-Executive sources for participants in the Microcredit scheme since the programme was launched.
Answer
This is a matter for Scottish Enterprise. The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 30 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24821 by Colin Boyd QC on 3 May 2002, when the evaluation of the operation of the pilot victim liaison offices in Aberdeen and Hamilton will be completed and when the implementation of the management review of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will be concluded.
Answer
The evaluation of the operation of the pilot projects of the Victim Liaison Offices in Aberdeen and Hamilton is planned to proceed in the period from June to December 2002. An interim report is expected in September 2002.The management review of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was completed in February 2002. Implementation of the recommendations of the review is now in progress.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in order to assist local authorities in improving the processing of housing benefit claims.
Answer
Housing benefit administration is a matter for the UK Government. Local authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to administer housing benefit and council tax benefit under social security legislation and are funded by the UK Government for doing this.All authorities are expected to secure Best Value by the pursuit of continuous improvement across the full range of their activities. The Local Government in Scotland Bill, introduced on 16 May, will give statutory backing to the duty of Best Value and the audit regime which supports it.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what average time was taken to process housing benefit claims by each local authority in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02.
Answer
The first full year in which data was collected on the performance of local authorities against each relevant performance indicator was 2000-01. The average times were as follows:
average time for processing new claims - 48 daysaverage time for processing notifications for changes of circumstance - 22 dayspercentage of renewal claims processed in time (before the end of the benefit period) - 75%Data for 2001-02 is not yet available.Source: Audit Scotland Performance Indicators 2000-01 - Benefits, Finance and Corporate Issues.Note: Three of the 32 local authorities in Scotland failed to provide the data requested and, in some cases, the appointed auditors expressed doubt as to the reliability of the data collected. The figures given are an average of the performance of the local authorities which responded.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 27 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to help post offices and, in particular, sub-post offices improve their competitiveness.
Answer
Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved matters.Responsibility for business support services in Scotland rests largely with the Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise networks. Local enterprise companies provide assistance to businesses within their own geographical areas in a number of ways, including providing advice and support on improving business competitiveness. First points of contact are the Small Business Gateway in the Scottish Enterprise area and the Business Information Source in the Highlands and Islands.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 27 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to record the (a) level of evictions for all types of tenure and (b) grounds for each eviction in order to facilitate policy analysis and whether any information so recorded will be published on an annual basis.
Answer
The following information is collected about evictions in each of the two main social rented tenures:
| Tenure | Information Collected | Frequency of Collection | Data Collected Since: | Latest Available |
| Rented from Council | Total number of evictionsNumber of evictions on the grounds of anti-social behaviour | Quarterly | Both from the quarter April-June 2001 | July-September 2001 |
| Rented from Registered Social Landlords | Total number of evictionsNumber of evictions on the grounds of anti-social behaviourNumber of evictions for non-payment of rent | Annually | The first since year to March 1999The others will be collected from 2001-02 | For total evictions:Year to 31 March 2001 |
Information on evictions of private sector tenants is not collected centrally and we have no plans do to so.The latest available information on evictions in the local authority sector was published in the
Scottish Executive Quarterly Housing Trends Bulletin HSG/2002/1, which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (publication date 26 March 2002, Bib. number 20348). Information on evictions by Registered Social Landlords is held by Communities Scotland.In deciding on the regular statistical information to gather, maintain and publish centrally, the Executive consults regularly with suppliers and users of our statistics through established statistical liaison arrangements, and consultation on the annual Scottish Executive Statistics Plan.
