- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce the proportion of working age people living on low income in the Renfrewshire Council area.
Answer
People of working age in Renfrewshire Council area will continue to benefit from recent changes in tax and benefits. The UK Government is helping to make work pay through tax credits and the National Minimum Wage.Working in partnership, the UK Government and the Scottish Executive offer a range of welfare to work initiatives to help people of working age. Across Scotland, the New Deals are helping more unemployed people on benefits to find work. As set out in Smart, Successful, Scotland the Scottish Executive's enterprise strategy places an emphasis on improving learning and skills which will help improve the earning potential of working age people on low income. Local projects such as the community-based partnership Buddies for Learning Project, which provides literacy and numeracy support to adults in the social inclusion partnership areas in Renfrewshire, are helping local people to remove the barriers to employment.In addition, the Scottish Budget for 2003-06 as announced by the Executive will further help working people on low incomes through funding increases in areas such as skills and learning and entrepreneurship.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of working age people have been unemployed in the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1996.
Answer
The annual average percentage of working age people who have been unemployed in the Renfrewshire Council area in each year from 1996 to 2001 is shown in the following table:
| Year | Annual Average % |
| 1996* | 6.2 |
| 1997* | 5.1 |
| 1998* | 4.8 |
| 1999* | 4.4 |
| 2000 | 3.8 |
| 2001 | 3.4 |
Note:*The annual average percentage of unemployed working age people will be subject to revisions for 1996 to 1999 when revised mid-year population estimates become available from analysis of the 2001 census.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to increase the employment rates of disadvantaged groups, such as lone parents and ethnic minorities, in the Renfrewshire Council area.
Answer
Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing Scottish organisations.Both the New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for Lone Parents are available on a voluntary basis in the Renfrewshire Council area. Additionally, people who face particular disadvantage may be granted early entry to other New Deal programmes without having to complete the qualifying period of unemployment.A new initiative, called progress2work, to help people with drugs problems will shortly be introduced by Jobcentre Plus into the Renfrewshire Council area. A further initiative along the same lines is being developed for other harder to help client groups.Early entry to the Training for Work programme is available to a wide range of groups who are particularly disadvantaged in the labour market, including lone parents, people with disabilities, those aged 50 and over and individuals resident in social inclusion partnership areas. Also there are individual New Futures Fund projects in Renfrewshire which help clients facing particular difficulties in entering the labour market.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce the number of households and, in particular, households with children living in temporary accommodation in the Renfrewshire Council area since 1997.
Answer
Renfrewshire Council was awarded £258,000 in 2000 to provide 18 housing units for temporary accommodation for small family groups or single parents to reduce the need to use inappropriate bed and breakfast accommodation to house homeless families. In carrying out an assessment of homelessness in Renfrewshire, and in the development of a homelessness strategy, the council will be considering whether there is a need for further temporary accommodation for families or other vulnerable groups. All councils are required to prepare homelessness strategies by March 2003.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what reduction in the proportion of children living in (a) workless and (b) low-income households in the Renfrewshire Council area there has been since 1996.
Answer
Statistics on the number of children in workless households in Scotland come from the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS). Disaggregation by local authority is not available at present.Estimates of persons in low income households come from the Department for Work and Pensions' Households Below Average Income (HBAI) analysis. The sample size in HBAI is not large enough to allow analysis below Scotland level.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds have not been in education, training or employment in the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1996.
Answer
This data is unavailable at regional level. At Scotland level, the percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds not in education, training or employment is 14%. However, this data should be available at local authority level from the boosted annual 2003 Labour Force Survey from which data will be analysed in autumn 2004.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what form of support is available to Renfrewshire Council for public private partnership projects.
Answer
Renfrewshire Council is taking forward a schools Public Private Partnership (PPP) project. In terms of funding support for this project, the council was awarded £245,000 in February 2001 to assist them with the cost of early investigation and feasibility study of a possible future schools PPP development. In December 2001, the council submitted a Outline Business Case in line with Scottish Executive Enterprise Department Circular 8/2001, and in July 2002 they were made an indicative offer of revenue support, capped at £7.45 million per annum over 25 years. This represents some 80% of the capital cost elements in the project. This offer is conditional upon approval of a final business case when the procurement reaches financial close.In terms of other support, the Scottish Executive has taken steps to assist councils undertaking schools PPP projects to become "informed clients". This has taken the form of a series of three seminars on relevant issues, with more planned. Also, face to face training aimed at members of project teams will be rolled out in the New Year.In addition, the Executive has commissioned Partnerships UK to undertake a Key Stage Review of each of the schools PPP projects. This will occur at two stages within the project and is intended to assure both the education authority and the Scottish Executive that the project is sufficiently well prepared at each stage to proceed through the procurement. The "pre Invitation to Negotiate" review for Renfrewshire has already been completed and proved useful in support of the project.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of young people have (a) been smokers between the ages of 12 and 15 years, (b) fallen pregnant between the ages of 13 and 15 years and (c) committed suicide in (i) Scotland and (ii) the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1997.
Answer
(a) Information on the percentage of young people who have been smokers between the ages of 12 and 15 years in Renfrewshire Council area is not held centrally. Information for Scotland for 1998 and 2000 on the percentage of pupils aged 12-15 years who are or have been smokers is shown in the following table. Information for 1999 and 2001 is not available.Percentage of Pupils Aged 12-15 Years Who Are or Have Been Smokers
(b) All teenage pregnancy statistics, broken down by both NHS board and council area, are available on the website at:
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/publications/publications.htm.The percentage of young people who have become pregnant between the ages of 13 and 15 years old for Scotland and Renfrewshire council area is shown in the following table:Percentage of Females Aged 13 to 15 Becoming Pregnant
| Year ending 31 December |
| | Scotland | Renfrewshire |
| 1997 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| 1998 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| 1999 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| 2000P | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| 2001P | 0.7 | 0.7 |
PInformation for 2000 and 2001 is provisional because North Glasgow University Hospitals Trust data are not yet available.(c) There are so few suicides in this age group that the figures expressed as a percentage are very small. The figures in the following tables, obtained from the Registrar General for Scotland, are given as rates per 1,000 of young people in the age group:Suicide and Undetermined Death Rates in Young People Between 12 and 15Renfrewshire
| | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Suicide | - | - | 0.11 | - | - |
| Undetermined | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | - | - | - | - | - |
Suicide and Undetermined Death Rates in Young People Between 12 and 15Scotland
| | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Suicide | - | 0.02 | 0.01 | - | - |
| Undetermined | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.02 | - |
| Total | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | - |
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #0/10/10 million to help fund child care provision in disadvantaged areas, as referred to in Building a Better Scotland: Spending Proposals 2003-2006: What the money buys, will be allocated to Renfrewshire in each year and to what projects.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currently developing the details of the operation of this new funding. I shall make an announcement in due course.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to reduce the proportion of older people on low incomes in Renfrewshire since 1997.
Answer
Since 1997, older people on low incomes in Renfrewshire have benefited from the combined effect of UK Government increases to the Basic State Retirement Pension, the introduction of the Minimum Income Guarantee, and the Winter Fuel Payment. In addition, a range of initiatives will help with levels of disposable income, including free off-peak bus travel, the Warm Deal, and the central heating programme, which is saving an average of £550 on bills.
