Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-31749

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many New Futures Fund projects have been funded in the Renfrewshire Council area and how much has been allocated to each such project since the inception of the fund.

There are four New Futures Fund projects in Renfrewshire. Of these, only Renfrewshire Association for Mental Health was funded from inception of the fund, with the others coming on stream during Phase 2. Details of the projects are as follows:

Project	Contract Value (totals)
Project	Phase 1	Phase 2
Inverclyde Community Development Trust	0	£200,000
Renfrewshire Addiction Forum	0	£450,000
NCH Scotland	0	£70,000
Renfrewshire Association for Mental Health	£205,000	£250,000

Question reference: S1W-31747

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage change has been in recorded crime levels in disadvantaged areas in the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1996.

Question reference: S1W-31755

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #24 million child care package was allocated to the Renfrewshire Council area and how the money was distributed.

In July 2001, £24 million additional resources for child care were allocated through the child poverty package over 2001-04. The money was allocated as follows:

£8.5 million was made available for child care grants for lone parents in full-time higher education to pay for child care. This grant is administered through the Students Awards Agency for Scotland. The Scottish Executive does not hold information on awards made by local area under this grant scheme.
£7.5 million was made available to further education colleges throughout Scotland to widen child care provision, based on locally identified needs. Responsibility for administering this money lies with the Scottish Further Education Funding Council. Information on awards made by this body is not held centrally by the Executive.

£8 million was made available to local authorities to help stabilise and sustain out-of-school care projects, especially in disadvantaged areas. The money was allocated over a three-year period as £2 million in 2001-02, £3 million in 2002-03 and £3 million in 2003-04. Of this, Renfrewshire Council was allocated £48,600 in 2001-2 and £72,800 in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Allocation of this money within the Renfrewshire Council area is a matter for Renfrewshire Council as they have responsibility for the allocation of funds at a local level. The information requested is not held centrally.

Question reference: S1W-31753

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #1 billion to rebuild and refurbish schools was made available in the Renfrewshire Council area.

Question reference: S1W-31750

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to the rough sleepers initiative (RSI) in the Renfrewshire Council area since the inception of the initiative and how successful the initiative has been.

Renfrewshire Council received a total of £438,400 in RSI grant in the years 1997-98 to 2001-02 for the provision of a team of outreach and resettlement staff, support staff for rough sleepers with mental health problems, and the reprovisioning of Paisley Social Christian Action Centre to provide self contained flats for people at risk. A further £103,181 per annum has been transferred to the council's Revenue Support Grant to ensure the continuation of services addressing the needs of rough sleepers in the area.In May 2001 the total number of people identified as sleeping rough in Renfrewshire in the two-week period covered by the study was 11. In the same two-week period in 2002 the number was seven. The weekly average number of people sleeping rough fell from two in May 2001 to one in May 2002.Renfrewshire Council is currently preparing its Homelessness Strategy, and revising its RSI local outcome agreement. In doing so, it has been asked in particular to address the apparent slight shortage of direct access accommodation available for rough sleepers and to consider how to improve access to existing available accommodation.

Question reference: S1W-31704

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what increases in the proportion of children that attain the appropriate levels in reading, writing and maths by the end of Primary 2 and Primary 7 there have been in the Renfrewshire Council area since 1996.

Question reference: S1W-31719

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to increase the proportion of students in higher education that are from under-represented, disadvantaged groups and areas in (a) Scotland and (b) the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1997.

There has been a wide range of measures introduced by the Executive since 1997 to increase the proportion of students in higher education (HE) from under-represented, disadvantaged groups and areas. These include:

Funding an additional 2,800 full-time equivalent places in higher education institutions
Waiving fees for all eligible full-time Scottish students at Scottish institutions
Providing bursaries of up to £2,000 p.a for young full-time students from low income families
A Wider Access Bursary Fund for mature full-time students
Fee waiver for unemployed or low income student on part-time courses
Access to loans for part-time students
Child care support
Piloting of Education Maintenance Allowances designed to encourage more young people from low income households to remain in full-time education which are now being rolled out across Scotland
Introduction of a widening access premium for institutions to help support students from non-traditional backgrounds
Introduction of a disability premium for institutions to help support students with disabilities
Introduction of New Access Partnerships to encourage institutions to develop innovative partnerships with the private sector to widen participation
Support for developments to provide higher education in rural communities such as the designation of UHI Millennium Institute and the collaboration at Crichton Campus.

In addition to these measures, young people in the Renfrewshire Council area, along with other schools in the West of Scotland, also benefit from the Greater Opportunities of Access and Learning with Schools (GOALS) project which provides a spectrum of opportunity for school pupils, aged 10 to 18, to learn about and become familiar with higher education. Targeted at schools with low rates of progression to HE and involving all the higher education institutions in the West of Scotland, the project aims to stimulate pupils towards achievement at school and ultimately, to progress to higher education and a rewarding career.

Question reference: S1W-31644

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 2 December 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are expected to benefit from the free off-peak local bus travel scheme for elderly and disabled concessionary card holders in Paisley North.

Question reference: S1W-31744

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people in the Renfrewshire Council area have improved their health by (a) reducing (i) smoking and (ii) alcohol misuse and (b) improving their diet and what reduction there has been on mortality rates from coronary heart disease in each year since 1996.

Mortality rates per 100,000 population from coronary heart disease in the Renfrewshire Council Area 1996-2001:

	Crude Rate Per 100,000 Population
1996	282.8
1997	272.1
1998	257.0
1999	286.1
2000	254.6
2001	242.4

Source: General Register Office for Scotland.Notes:1. Rates are calculated using the Registrar General's annual mid-year estimates of population which are being revised following the 2001 census results. The figures for 2000 and 2001 use provisional revisions that have already been made on this basis. Revisions covering 1982-2000 will be made by end-February 2003, so the rates given here will be subject to revision after this time. 2. The rates given are not age-sex standardised.Representative information on trends in smoking, alcohol misuse and diet for Renfrewshire Council area are not available centrally.

Question reference: S1W-31745

Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 28 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage change there has been in recorded crime levels committed against older people in the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1996.