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-07092

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 6 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #79 million being invested by Scottish Homes in its Glasgow and North Clyde division in 2000-01 is being spent (a) in Clydebank and (b) within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Question reference: S1W-07093

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 6 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 1,300 Scottish Homes properties being newly built for social rent in its Glasgow and North Clyde Division will be located in (a) in Clydebank and (b) within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Question reference: S1W-07080

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 6 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2555 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 26 November 1999, whether it will indicate the proportion of (a) children, (b) working age people and (c) older people who are living in households with (i) less than 50%, and 60% and 70% of median GB income and (ii) less than 50%, and 60% of mean GB income, both before and after deduction of housing costs, living in West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee local authority areas.

The information requested cannot be provided at sub-Scotland level. The answer to question S1W-2555 was drawn from the Households Below Average Income dataset using the Family Resources Survey which does not have sufficient sample size to produce the required level of detail at Scottish local authority level.

The Scottish Household Survey will provide information on household income by local authority area after the first full sweep of the survey (i.e. after two years) - the results of which are not likely to be made available until summer 2001.

Work is also underway to investigate new methodologies and to consider boosting existing samples to give better coverage for Scotland to try to overcome this problem.

Question reference: S1W-07094

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 6 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #51 million private sector funding for 2000-01 attracted by Scottish Homes to its Glasgow and North Clyde Division will be spent (a) in Clydebank and (b) within the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

Question reference: S1W-07174

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 2 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6583 by Henry McLeish on 18 May 2000, how many of the planned jobs in Dunbartonshire announced over the last five years were located in Clydebank.

Question reference: S1W-06579

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 2 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the money generated by the "tobacco tax" will be targeted at the promotion of healthy eating, including nutritional education within schools.

Question reference: S1W-06983

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 1 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to (a) prevent the dip in pupil performance at S1 and S2 level highlighted by Her Majesty's Inspectors and (b) increase parents' confidence that all pupils will be encouraged to achieve their potential at this stage in their education.

HM Inspectors of Schools have published a number of reports to support schools in raising pupil attainment in S1 and S2. The reports have been followed up by discussions with Directors of Education on how the reports' recommendations can be implemented.

There has also been wide consultation, involving local authorities, teachers, parents and national organisations, following publication of the HMI review of assessment and testing at 5-14 and pre-school last December. Improving pupil performance and increasing parents confidence will be key considerations in our response to this consultation.

Question reference: S1W-06982

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 1 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how the numbers and proportions of people in penal establishments in Scotland compare with the rest of the UK and relevant European comparators and what steps are being taken to reverse the growth in the prison population.

The information requested is given in the table below.

We are committed to ensuring that the courts have a wide range of sentencing options available so that sentencers can make a non-custodial decision where they consider it is appropriate to do so in the circumstances of the particular case.

We are working with local authorities to improve the quality and effectiveness of community disposals with the aim of increasing the confidence of sentencers and the public in such disposals. (The use of probation and community service orders has almost doubled over the past 10 years.)

We have funded the national roll-out of Supervised Attendance Orders for fine defaulters and are considering extension of the current pilot diversion from prosecution schemes.

New community disposals being piloted include Drug Treatment and Testing Orders for drug misusers who commit frequent crimes to fund their drug addiction.

We are also piloting Restriction of Liberty Orders (electronic tagging) and are reviewing options for wider use of electronic monitoring.

Funding for community disposals has increased by 21% over the past two years to stand at £42.8 million.

Prison Population; rate per 100,000 population by jurisdiction as at 1 September 1999

Country	1998	1999	Rate² per 100,000 population in 1999
England & Wales³	65,771	65,594	125
Northern Ireland	1,454	1,158	69
Scotland⁴	6,018	6,030⁹	118
Austria³	6,891	6,877	85
Belgium⁴	7,860	8,143	80
Cyprus	226	247	37
Czech Republic⁵	22,067	23,060	224
Denmark	3,340	3,496	66
Finland⁵	2,585	2,389	46
France⁶	53,607	53,948	89
Germany⁷	78,324	..	95¹⁰
Greece	7,129	7,525	72
Hungary⁵	14,366	16,281	161
Ireland (Eire)	2,620	2,741	73
Italy	49,864	51,427	89
Luxembourg	392	..	91¹⁰
Netherlands⁸	11,759	11,872	75
Norway⁴	2,466	..	56¹⁰
Poland³	59,180	54,842	142
Portugal	14,330	13,086	131
Russia⁵	1,009,172	1,060,085	729
Slovenia	793	..	42¹⁰
Spain⁵	44,370	44,197	111
Sweden⁷	5,290	5,270	59
Switzerland	5,648	5,950	83

Source: Home Office.

Notes:

1. At 1 September: number of prisoners including pre-trial detainees.

2. Based on estimates of national population.

3. At 31 August.

4. Average daily population.

5. At 31 December.

6. Metropolitan and overseas departments.

7. At 30 September.

8. At 1 January.

9. Provisional figure.

10. In 1998.

Source: Statistical contacts in each country.

Question reference: S1W-06981

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 1 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to simplify and speed up the process of creating a record of need; whether it is satisfied that equivalent cases are treated consistently by different local authorities, and whether the current length of time involved in creating a record of need is acting as a deterrent to parents in general and poorer parents in particular.

Question reference: S1W-06985

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 1 June 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what local authorities are meeting set targets in the S1 and S2 curriculum in science, modern languages and writing and what steps it will take to address any problems highlighted by the number of local authorities failing to meet their targets in these subject areas.

Targets for S1 and S2 attainment are set for reading, writing and mathematics but not for science and modern languages. Progress against each of these targets, by authority, are detailed in the publication Raising Standards - Setting Targets, Setting Targets in Scottish Schools National and Education Authority Information 1999 published by HMI Audit Unit in December 1999.

The framework for setting targets in secondary schools to raise levels of achievement in numeracy and literacy has offered a clear focus for improvement for schools and authorities which will help improve ability and raise attainment in these subject areas.