- 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 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13317 by Stewart Maxwell on 3 June 2008, why the cost of building an affordable home for low-cost home ownership is nearly £10,000 more than the cost of building an affordable home for rent.
Answer
The cost of building new homes for rent or low cost home ownership is largely dependent on local factors such as land price, building costs, site conditions etc. The figures quoted are average costs per unit across Scotland and do not take into account house sizes or local factors. It should also be noted that the grant input to all low-cost home ownership initiatives within the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers is substantially lower than to housing for rent.
- 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 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13282 by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 June 2008, what evidence it has that there is sufficient flexibility within the statutory framework to allow registered social landlords to apply tenancy conditions strictly and take action where necessary to stop antisocial behaviour, including eviction, suspension of applicants from housing allocation and other measures.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15647 on 8 September 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- 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 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13282 by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 June 2008, what evidence it has that registered social landlords apply tenancy conditions strictly and take action where necessary to put a stop to antisocial behaviour.
Answer
It is the responsibility of individual registered social landlords (RSLs) to ensure they strictly apply tenancy conditions and where necessary take action to stop antisocial behaviour.
We do not collect information about the application of tenancy conditions by RSLs. However, evidence from Scottish Government research, Use of Anti-social Behaviour Orders in Scotland, published in September 2008, suggests that RSLs are using a range of measures to address antisocial behaviour, including antisocial behaviour orders, antisocial behaviour contracts, down-grading of tenancies to a short Scottish secure tenancy and eviction. This research is available on the Scottish Government''s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/09/19160705/0.
To support social landlords to appropriately manage tenancies we have provided social landlords with model tenancy agreements for the Scottish secure tenancy and the short Scottish secure tenancy. These include a section entitled Respect for Others which sets out detailed behavioural conditions which tenants must meet. They also make clear that landlords can bring actions for eviction against tenants who have breached their tenancy conditions.
In addition, RSLs are regulated by the Scottish Housing Regulator within a framework of nationally agreed performance standards, including standards relating to the management of antisocial behaviour. An RSL''s performance against these standards, and its responsiveness to its tenants, may form part of an inspection by the regulator.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pregnant women in West Dunbartonshire have been offered a choice between having their baby in the Community Maternity Unit in the Vale of Leven Hospital or in the Queen Mother’s Hospital in Glasgow and which option was chosen by these mothers, expressed also in percentage terms, in each year since 2003.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
Women who fulfil the criteria for a Community Maternity Unit (CMU) birth are offered a choice of the Vale or the CMU in the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH). All women are offered the choice of delivery in the obstetric unit in RAH or Queen Mother''s Hospital.
- 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 through what funding mechanism it will fund the Borders railway project
Answer
As stated in Parliament on 5 March 2008, the Borders Railway will be funded via open procurement seeking private funding through the Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) model. In addition Scottish Borders, Midlothian and City of Edinburgh councils have agreed to contribute a total of £30 million to the project.
- 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 Maxwell on 8 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much Affordable Housing Investment programme grant has been allocated to (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire in each year since 2002-03 and how much of these amounts each year was allocated to (i) Clydebank and (ii) Bearsden and Milngavie.
Answer
The amount of Affordable Housing Investment Grant allocated to the areas requested since 2003-04 is as follows:
| | 2003-04 (£ Million) | 2004-05 (£ Million) | 2005-06 (£ Million) | 2006-07 (£ Million) | 2007-08 (£ Million) | 2008-09 (£ Million) |
| West Dunbartonshire | 8.623 | 7.332 | 8.954 | 10.000 | 10.350 | 7.835 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 1.484 | 1.238 | 3.785 | 3.000 | 5.800 | 5.386 |
It should be noted that records prior to 2003-04 are not kept at local authority level.
At the beginning of each financial year the Affordable Housing Investment Programme is allocated at local authority level only and not to sub areas. Therefore no information is available for the second part of this question.
- 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 what the budgeted spend on cycling projects in 2008-09 and the projected spend on such projects in 2009-10 and 2010-11 is, calculated on the same basis as the figures given for 2003-04 to 2007-08 in the answer to question S3W-13861 by Stewart Stevenson on 18 June 2008.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13862 on 18 June 2008.
Allocations for cycling projects from the sustainable and active travel budget line have been made for 2008-09 only. This year £6.58 million will be allocated to cycling projects. In addition, £9 million will be awarded to local authorities for cycling, walking and safer streets projects. It is up to local authorities to spend accordingly on local priorities.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- 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 introduction of average speed cameras on the A9 has been considered in order to reduce the incidence of traffic accidents, given the positive outcomes in terms of improved road safety following their introduction on the A77 since June 2005 and on similar roads in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Answer
The Scottish Government is developing a strategy to improve road safety over the next 10 years and has set up a Panel of Experts to advise on possible measures. It is due to publish a report in the autumn.
The potential to introduce more average speed cameras, and at what trunk road locations, will be informed by an assessment of the A77 average speed camera system (SPECS) and of any identified speeding problem where accidents occur. The effectiveness of the A77 average speed camera system will be fully assessed once three full years of data is available. Accident statistics for the A77 for the three year period from July 2005 to July 2008 are expected to be published in October 2008.
- 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 cycling, walking and safer streets have been identified as priorities or whether targets have been set for cycling, walking and safer streets in any of the single outcome agreements between local authorities and the Scottish Government and, if so, in which ones.
Answer
Single outcome agreements (SOAs) for 2008-09 have been agreed with all 32 councils and should all now be publicly available.
SOAs reflect the priorities and agreed outcomes for each council and include relevant supporting indicators and targets. As councils were responsible for producing the SOAs and are responsible for the delivery of local services, questions regarding the content of individual SOAs should be directed to them in the first instance.
