- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Clyde Fastlink project (phases 1, 2 and 3) will be considered in the strategic transport projects review.
Answer
The Clyde Fastlink project (phases 1, 2 and 3), as a project identified in the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport''s Regional Transport Strategy, has been considered as part of the strategic transport projects review.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive on what cost projections the benefit-to-cost ratio for the Borders railway project was calculated and what the ratio would be if the latest cost estimates were used.
Answer
As I stated to the Parliament on 5 March 2008, the Borders rail project is expected to cost between £235 to £295 million, with a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.32. There has been no revision to this forecast cost range.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 9 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the figure provided for the average Housing Association Grant per unit in 2007-08 of £80,410 in the answer to question S3W-13734 by Stewart Maxwell on 19 June 2008, what its estimate is for the average Housing Association Grant per unit for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10.
Answer
We do not estimate the average Housing Association Grant (HAG) per Unit for these two years as this will be dependent on the size and type of units approved during the current year and will be based on local variations in costs.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 9 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14279 by Stewart Maxwell on 8 July 2008, what level of Housing Association Grant per unit is considered sustainable if the Scottish Government is to meet the challenge of homelessness and its aspiration to increase the supply of new affordable homes.
Answer
Housing Association Grant requirements vary depending on a range of circumstances including location, house size, client group and rent levels. In general terms, reducing the amount of public subsidy per unit will enable more houses to be built, and quicker and more sustainable progress made towards increasing supply and meeting the challenge of homelessness. We will consult later this year on new methods of allocating subsidies for affordable housing in the future.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 9 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under the age of 18 in the Strathclyde Police area have had alcohol confiscated in the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table, which shows all offences recorded under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997.
The police have powers under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 to confiscate alcohol from under 18s in a public place and dispose of it. Under this section, the police also have powers to confiscate alcohol from persons aged 18 or over, in a public place and dispose of it if that person has supplied, or intends to supply, alcohol to under 18s. If the alcohol is surrendered to the police, it is not an offence and so is not included in the recorded crime statistics. It is, however, an offence to fail to comply, for example by failing to surrender the alcohol or by failing to give his name and address if requested. The number of these criminal offences are shown in the following table. It should be noted that this cannot be assumed to be a true representation of the number of incidents where alcohol was confiscated.
Number of Offences Recorded by Strathclyde Police under Section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997, by Local Authority Area, for 2004-05 to 2006-07.
| Local Authority Area | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Argyll and Bute | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Glasgow | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| East Ayrshire | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Renfrewshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Inverclyde | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| North Ayrshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Lanarkshire | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Renfrewshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Ayrshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Lanarkshire | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Strathclyde | 7 | 4 | 2 |
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 9 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require new homes funded by Housing Association Grant to meet higher build and design standards, as referred to in the answer to question S3W-13390 by Stewart Maxwell on 4 June 2008, now that it has indicated that previous levels of grant are unsustainable.
Answer
Yes. Through our changes to Housing Association Grant, recipients of Housing Association Grant are asked to meet twin aims of quality and long term value for money. These are key themes within our reform agenda.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13282 by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 June 2008, whether evidence that registered social landlords (RSL) apply tenancy conditions strictly and take action where necessary to stop antisocial behaviour is examined as part of the inspection of performance of RSLs and what weight is given to this relative to other factors in evaluating their overall performance.
Answer
I have asked Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator to respond. Her response is as follows:
The Scottish Housing Regulator assesses performance on the management of antisocial behaviour, including use of tenancy conditions and legal action, in its inspection of registered social landlords (RSLs). Together with a number of other important tenant and service use outcomes, this forms a major part of the regulator''s assessment of RSLs'' overall performance as set out in the inspection grade it awards to each inspected landlord.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 9 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many approvals for new affordable houses under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme were announced by the previous administration in 2007 for the year 2007-08; how many houses were constructed under this programme in 2007-08, and how many houses it expects to be constructed under this programme in 2008-09.
Answer
The number of approvals of new and refurbished affordable houses announced by the previous administration in 2007 for the year 2007-08 was 8,000 and 5,670 completions were achieved. During 2008-09 it is expected that 6,070 units will be approved and 7,000 units will be completed.
The following is the original answer (published on 9 September 2008); see below
The number of approvals of new and refurbished affordable houses announced by the previous administration in 2007 for the year 2007-08 was 8,000 and 5,482 completions were achieved. During 2008-09 it is expected that 6,070 units will be approved and 7,000 units will be completed.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual increase was in percentage terms of Scotland’s GDP, using the approximate measure set out in the response to question S3W-14008 by John Swinney on 18 June 2008, for the last five years for which figures are available and what the current estimate of percentage GDP growth.
Answer
Estimates of GDP at current market prices for Scotland are presented in the following table, along with the annual percentage growth. It is important to note that percentage changes in current price measures of GDP include the impact of rising prices and does not capture GDP growth in real terms.
Table 1: Approximate GDP at Current Market Prices for Scotland 2002-06
| Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| GDP at Market Prices (£ million) 1 | 84,235 | 89,278 | 93,804 | 98,337 | 104,234 |
| Annual Growth in Estimate of GDP at Current Market Prices (%) | 5.6 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 6.0 |
Source: Office for National Statistics and Scottish Government.
Note: 1. Market price GDP for Scotland is estimated based on the UK Gross Value Added to GDP ratio. Although, National Statistics outputs have been used in the production of these estimates, the estimates themselves are not.
The following table shows growth, in real terms, in Scotland for the period 2002-07. The latest published growth figure for the Scottish economy, comparing the four quarters to 2008 quarter 1 against the previous four quarters, indicates that the Scottish economy grew by 2.1 per cent over that period.
Table 2: GDP at constant basic prices for Scotland 2002-07
| Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Annual Growth (%) | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 2.0 |
Source: Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the STAG appraisal of the Campbeltown to Ballycastle ferry service has been completed; whether the service has been found to be economically viable, and what the benefit to cost ratio is for re-establishing the service.
Answer
Scottish Government officials, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Executive, are currently in the process of considering a draft report prepared by the consultants appointed to undertake this appraisal work. When the final report becomes available, ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland will consider the costs and benefits associated with the proposed service, and will reach a decision about the way forward.
