- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 13 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in carrying out the second stage of the policy and financial management review of the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Answer
The second, and final, stage of the Policy and Financial Management Review of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has now been completed and I have placed copies of the steering group's report in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26920). I have also written to the Convenors of the Education Culture and Sport Committee and the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee with copies of the report. The report has been posted on the Scottish Executive and SQA's websites. The report includes recommendations, some of which have already been implemented and many of which are currently in the process of implementation, and my officials will monitor progress to ensure that target dates are met.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 12 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #1 billion to rebuild and refurbish schools was made available to (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council.
Answer
In June 2002 we offered financial support to 15 local authorities to enable them to take forward school public private partnership (PPP) projects with a total capital investment value of £1.195 billion. Argyll and Bute Council's share of that figure is £80 million. West Dunbartonshire Council have not submitted a bid for financial support for a school PPP project.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been issued in the (a) Argyll and Bute Council area, (b) West Dunbartonshire Council area and (c) Dumbarton parliamentary constituency in each year since 1999.
Answer
In the period 1 December 1999 to 30 November 2001, no ASBOs were granted in Argyll and Bute and nine were granted in West Dunbartonshire. The information cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency area. This is the latest information held centrally.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 6 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure the availability of affordable, good quality housing for those on low incomes in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency.
Answer
I have asked Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Communities Scotland is investing £11.405 million in new social rented housing provision within the Dumbarton constituency over the three-year period 2002-03 to 2004-05. This investment will provide 268 new houses within the constituency over this period. Communities Scotland's funding is channelled through four housing associations, and a detailed breakdown of units/spend by association is as follows:Completed/Approved Units and Spend
| | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
| | Units | Spend (£ Million) | Units | Spend (£ Million) | Units | Spend (£ Million) |
| Bellsmyre HA | - | - | 30 | 0.075 | - | 0.945 |
| Cordale HA | - | 2.092 | 40 | 0.580 | - | 0.817 |
| Cube HA | - | 0.060 | 30 | 0.870 | 2 | 0.030 |
| Dunbritton HA | 66 | 1.183 | 70 | 0.530 | 30 | 2.045 |
| Sub-Total | 66 | 3.335 | 170 | 2.055 | 32 | 3.837 |
| Additional Spend* | | 1.103 | | 0.775 | | 0.300 |
| Total | | 4.438 | | 2.830 | | 4.137 |
Note:*Includes environmental projects, adaptations and wider role funding supporting/relating to housing developments.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that crime against people with learning disabilities is explicitly recognised and not described by other terms such as bullying, harassment and abuse.
Answer
I announced in Parliament on 20 February during the debate on Stage 3 of the Criminal Justice Bill that the Scottish Executive would set up a working group to look at how the justice system deals with people within groups defined by gender, age, disability and sexual orientation. We made this decision following consultation with Robin Harper MSP, and taking into account representations from equality groups. Final decisions on remit and membership must wait until after the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections.In addition, the Executive has recently commissioned a team from Edinburgh University to take forward a research project to examine the functioning of the Appropriate Adult Schemes in Scotland. Appropriate Adult Schemes are designed to assist people with learning disabilities or mental illness in their communications with the police. The findings of the research are expected in December 2003.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether policies and procedures have been set up to prevent and respond to hate crime against people with learning difficulties such as third-party reporting, positive arrest policies, recording and monitoring and social target-hardening procedures and, if not, whether such measures are being considered.
Answer
I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-33987 on 21 February 2003 and S1W-34192 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it intends to take to promote science in schools.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is continuing to implement a range of measures as part of its commitment to school science within A Science Strategy for Scotland and supporting delivery of the National Priorities in Education. Over the next three years, £10 million is being distributed to education authorities in support of these initiatives. The first tranche of £5 million will be issued in April 2003. Further allocations of £3 million and £2 million will be made in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The funding will support teacher professional development and offer further resources to schools to update scientific equipment. This is in addition to the £8 million already announced during Science Year 2002.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 5 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a performance indicator to measure police success in tackling all hate crime.
Answer
The statutory performance indicators for the police, prepared by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, include the numbers and percentages of racially motivated crimes cleared up, as well as equivalent information on serious violent crime, housebreaking and car crime. The list of indicators is kept under review but there are no current plans to extend it to include a new indicator for all hate crimes.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 4 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been invested in local authority housing stock in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire council area in each year since 1999.
Answer
Audited returns from local authorities show the amounts invested by Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire Councils in their housing stock. The following table shows this investment, which is made up of usable capital receipts, capital funded from current revenue and Housing Revenue Account borrowing consent.Investment in Local Authority Housing Stock
| Local Authority | 1999-2000 (£ Million) | 2000-01 (£ Million) | 2001-02 (£ Million) | 2002-03 (Estimate) (£ Million) |
| Argyll and Bute | 4.270 | 3.175 | 3.248 | 3.351 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 8.405 | 8.234 | 7.995 | 7.207 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 4 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been invested by Communities Scotland and its predecessor in housing association stock in the (a) Argyll and Bute Council area, (b) West Dunbartonshire Council area and (c) Dumbarton parliamentary constituency in each year since 1999.
Answer
I have asked Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Out-turn expenditure, new and improved units and completed units for the years 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 for the West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute local authority areas and also for the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency are detailed in the following tables.Dumbarton Constituency
| | 1999-2000(£ Million) | 2000-01(£ Million) | 2001-02(£ Million) |
| Expenditure | 2.828 | 4.336 | 3.920 |
| New/Improved Unit Approvals | 139 | 99 | 55 |
| Completions | 49 | 139 | 108 |
West Dunbartonshire Council
| | 1999-2000(£ Million) | 2000-01(£ Million) | 2001-02(£ Million) |
| Expenditure | 6.035 | 9.048 | 10.486 |
| New/Improved Unit Approvals | 284 | 252 | 55 |
| Completions | 87 | 214 | 236 |
Argyll and Bute Council
| | 1999-2000(£ Million) | 2000-01(£ Million) | 2001-02(£ Million) |
| Expenditure | 5.653 | 4.435 | 4.126 |
| New/Improved Unit Approvals | 127 | 77 | 70 |
| Completions | 53 | 151 | 96" |
