- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 19 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any representations to the UK Government in respect of the impact on Scotland of its proposals to raise the state pension age, in light of the average lifespan in Scotland being less than that in the United Kingdom, and whether the Executive has made any assessment of the likely impact of these proposals on its own policies and budget, including the eligibility criteria for concessionary fares and similar initiatives.
Answer
Scottish ministers fully endorsethe UK proposals to raise the state pension age. The Executive is actively engagedin assessing the potential impact of the pension proposals on its own policies andis liaising with the Department of Work and Pensions to ensure that Scottish circumstancesare taken into account in taking forward pension reform.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed under the successor programmes to the New Deal, broken down by programme and age group.
Answer
New Deal programmes stillexist so there is no successor to these programmes at present.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 19 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the membership of the Judicial Committee responsible for resolving any dispute between the Scottish Parliament and the Westminster Government in respect of the former’s exercise of its powers under the Scotland Act 1998.
Answer
The membership of the JudicialCommittee of the Privy Council is available on the Privy Council website, accessibleat
www.privy-council.org.uk.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive in which European Council meetings since 1999 Scottish ministers have led the UK delegation, as defined in Article 146 of the Maastricht Treaty, detailing the names of the relevant ministers, the subjects discussed and decisions taken in each case.
Answer
I refer the member to theanswers to questions S2W-23043 on 2 March 2006, and S2W-30519, on 16 January 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 19 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an up-to-date list of the cross-border public authorities as defined in the Scotland Act 1998.
Answer
The Scotland Act 1998 (Cross-BorderPublic Authorities) (Specification) Order 1999 (S.I.1999/1319) sets out the cross-borderpublic authorities as specified under section 88 of the Scotland Act 1998. A copyof this order can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 23320).
Only one such order has everbeen made. The statutory framework for the operation of new bodies with devolvedand non-devolved functions created since devolution is set out in the relevant establishingstatutes.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive in which European Council meetings Scottish ministers have participated since May 1999, detailing the names of the relevant ministers, the subjects discussed and decisions taken in each case.
Answer
Details of Scottish Executiveministerial attendance at European Union Council of Ministers meetings are availableon the Scottish Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/International-Relations/Europe/Page6.Information on the subjects discussedand decisions taken is available on the Council of the European Union website at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=221&lang=en&mode=g.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 18 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of the number of homeless people, broken down by status.
Answer
The latest figures on homelessnessare published in the statistical bulletin Operation of the Homeless Persons legislationin Scotland: National and Local Authority Analysis 2005-06. Thisgives a full breakdown of the characteristics of applicant households and assessmentsmade (tables 11 and 12), and is available on-line in the publications section of the housing statistics branch reference site:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/PubHomeless.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 18 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes were (a) started and (b) completed in each year since May 1999, broken down into (i) private sector, (ii) public sector and (iii) housing association.
Answer
The number of new dwellings startedand completed since 1996 is published in the Housing trends in Scotland: quarterending 30 June 2006 bulletin (tables 6 and 7). This is available on-line in the publications sectionof the housing statistics branch reference site:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/PubHousingTrend.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 18 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of the number of people or families on local authority housing waiting lists.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30466 on 19 December 2006. Information on waiting lists is collectedon an annual basis and there have been no updates since the most recent informationfor 2005-06 was published.All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 17 January 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the additional annual cost would be of providing free school meals to every (a) nursery, (b) primary and (c) secondary school pupil.
Answer
We do not hold estimates of the total additional cost of providingall nursery pupils with free school meals.
The additional annual costof providing all primary school pupils and all secondary school pupils with afree school meal is estimated at between £51 million to £97 million and £46 millionto £82 million respectively.
