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-07396

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the effectiveness of the national strategy for tenant participation within each local authority area.

Question reference: S1W-07413

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what methodology is employed by the raptor study groups contracted by Scottish Natural Heritage and whether it will review this method of assessing the raptor population.

Question reference: S1W-07389

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of spending on assistance for individual learning accounts by it and its agencies for each of the past two years and the current year, broken down by local enterprise company area.

All expenditure on Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) has been directed through the Enterprise Network.

During 1999-2000 the Enterprise Network spent £1.2 million on developing the ILA model and determining operational requirements, as well as piloting the design. This also included an allocation of £0.4 million to Scottish Enterprise Grampian for its pilot, of which £0.3 million was for the payment of incentives to ILA holders.

Some further learning account projects were also run by a number of LECs, including Fife, during 1999-2000 using European Objective 4 funding together with their own discretionary funds. Information on the costs to individual LECs is not available.

Whilst a number of spending commitments have been made in the current year, actual expenditure to date by the Enterprise Network as a whole, including the LECs, has been £30,000.

Question reference: S1W-07417

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated value is of the outstanding repair and maintenance requirements of secondary schools in Hamilton North and Bellshill.

Question reference: S1W-07388

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of financial assistance for new businesses starting up by it and its agencies for each of the past two years and the current year, broken down by local enterprise company area.

The Scottish Executive provides direct financial assistance to businesses under its SMART scheme and through Regional Selective Assistance (RSA). A total of £1.1 million was awarded in grants under SMART in the financial year 1998-99, £1.6 million in 1999-2000 and £0.3 million in the period 1 April 2000 to 31 May 2000. These grants were made, in the main, to new start up and very early stage businesses.A further £1 million was provided to new businesses under the Scottish Executive's SPUR Programme in 1998-99, £1.5 million in 1999-2000 and £0.2 million in the first two months of the current financial year.

Financial assistance under the RSA scheme is available to both new start and established businesses. Data on assistance offered under RSA, however, is not collated on the basis of the date of formation of the companies applying for grant.

Financial assistance for new start up businesses from local enterprise companies and their agents is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and I have asked the chairmen of both organisations to reply to the member. A copy of the reply will be placed in SPICe.

Question reference: S1W-07416

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bank accounts arrested last year recovered sums greater than #63 and how many were of a value that exceeded the value of the debt being recovered.

Question reference: S1W-07404

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for tackling unemployment in Hamilton and Bellshill.

Question reference: S1W-07400

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of people over 50 who are on the New Deal by local enterprise company area.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive. Many partner organisations at local level also provide New Deal services under contract or provide funds and other resources, including training funds to enhance the quality of New Deal in their areas. The public and voluntary sector organisations, which contribute in this way fall within the remit of the Scottish Executive.

The following table shows figures for current participation and cumulative starts for over 50 year olds on New Deal 25plus by Local Enterprise Company (LEC) area at end-March 2000.

LEC Area	Aged 50+ Current participation	Aged 50+ Cumulative starts
Ayrshire	262	909
Borders	39	92
Dunbartonshire	157	470
Dumfries & Galloway	148	377
Fife	123	475
Forth Valley	31	83
Glasgow	485	1,259
Grampian	69	260
Lanarkshire	208	727
Lothian & Edinburgh	234	726
Renfrewshire	174	557
Tayside	220	753
Argyll & Bute	64	188
Caithness & Sutherland	66	176
Inverness & Nairn	38	116
Lochaber	12	30
Moray & Badenoch	34	122
Orkney	20	58
Ross & Cromarty	29	96
Shetland	5	29
Skye & Lochalsh	14	35
Western Isles	9	27
Totals	2,506	7,667

The New Deal 50 plus was introduced on 5April 2000 to provide further help for people aged over 50 in their search for work.

Detailed management information is not yet available for New Deal 50plus.

Question reference: S1W-07402

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate, by local authority area, of the shortage of high support and medium support housing units required to meet the needs of people with severe learning difficulties; what is the actual and projected spend on such units by local authority for the current year and each of the next two years, and whether it has a different policy for supporting those who are coming out of residential care into the community and those who are coming from a family care environment as to their eligibility for such units.

Information on the shortage of high support and medium support housing units by local authority area to meet the needs of people with severe learning disabilities is not held or collected centrally.

Levels of actual and estimated spend on such units owned by local authorities are a matter for local authorities themselves to determine in the light of local estimates of need.

It is also for local authorities to determine how such units are allocated.

Question reference: S1W-07418

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 14 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated value is of the outstanding repair and maintenance requirements of secondary schools in Kilmarnock and Loudoun.