- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment the Minister for Environment and Rural Development has made of the environmental benefits of the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative and what plans the Executive has to raise public awareness of the environmental benefits of the scheme.
Answer
The Executive has recently reviewed its Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative. This showed estimated lifetime carbon savings of almost twenty thousand tonnes for small scale renewables projects supported by the initiative from its inception in 2002 to May 2005.
We have been raising public awareness of the scheme and of renewable energy more widely with the Hearts and Minds tour which, during 2005, went to 36 locations across Scotland and had over 5,800 visitors.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that chambers of commerce and other local organisations will be properly consulted before any decisions are reached on the future structure of enterprise promotion in Scotland.
Answer
Ministers have made it clear that any proposals should have the support of business. They have discussed, and will continue to discuss, with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise the nature of their developing proposals and in particular the level of support from business organisations and other interested parties.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to restore the annual training grant to national youth organisations which was discontinued in 2002.
Answer
Support from the Children, Young People and Families Unified Voluntary Sector Fund can include support for training, provided the purpose of the training accords with the wider criteria for the Fund agreed by Ministers.
The training of staff and volunteers in youth organisations is being considered by the Scottish Executive in the context of the National Youthwork Strategy on which we plan to consult early next year.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what funds are available to enable voluntary youth organisations to train volunteers in the skills needed to provide good leadership in youth work.
Answer
The resources available tovoluntary youth organisations were outlined in my answer to question, S2W-21187on 13 December 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
Inaddition, training for volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations, includingyouth groups, is provided by infrastructure bodies funded by the ScottishExecutive, such as Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS), the Scottish Councilfor Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and the Volunteer Centre and Councils forVoluntary Service networks.
Information about fundsavailable for such training from other organisations, such as local authoritiesor charitable trusts, is not collected centrally.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to carry out a consultation on the establishment of a strategy for the ageing population and whether it will provide details of (a) the subjects to be included in any such consultation, (b) the timetable, (c) how it will be publicised and contributions invited and (d) what funding will be allocated to address any outcomes of the consultation.
Answer
The Scottish Executive isaiming to launch its consultation on the development of the Strategy for a Scotlandwith an Ageing Population by the end of February 2006.
(a) The strategy aims to provide a framework thatincludes access to opportunities for older people to make a continuing contribution; effective integratedservices for older people; promoting and maintaining health and well-being, andpeople living in accommodation and environments which continue to meet theirneeds and wishes as they age.
(b) The final strategy willbe published by the end of 2006.
(c) The aim is for theconsultation to be publicised through existing networks including the AgeingPopulation Strategy Advisory Group and the Older People's Consultative Forum,both chaired by the Minister for Communities, in the media, and on a website.Contributions will be invited from interested parties and from the generalpublic.
(d) We will consider how todeliver on the outcomes of the strategy in due course.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how its Volunteering Strategy will support established organisations in recruiting, training and retaining volunteers, in addition to supporting newer initiatives such as Volunteer Development Scotland.
Answer
The objective of strand three of the Volunteering Strategy is to ensure that volunteers are welcomed and valued by organisations which engage volunteers, and that they are given guidance, training and support to develop through volunteering, according to their individual needs and aspirations.
Developing the skills base of those who manage volunteers – in both new and established organisations - will be key to developing efficient recruitment practice and ensuring appropriate training and a high quality volunteering experience. The network of 32 local volunteer centres and Volunteer Development Scotland will play an important role here. For example, Volunteer Development Scotland and the Volunteer Centre network will be delivering the Introductory Programme in Volunteers Management comprising five one day courses covering: Increasing Volunteer Effectiveness through Training and Development; Effective Volunteer Recruitment; Planning Strategically for Volunteer Involvement; Matching Volunteers to Tasks and Roles, and Supporting and Supervising Skills. Between January and March this year 95 one day courses will have been offered through local volunteer centres.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 4 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken to establish whether sufficient numbers of people read expensive public advertisements in the press for the expenditure to deliver best value as a means of conveying information to the public, as opposed to electronic means such as websites.
Answer
The selection of media is basedon the advice of our media buying agency and backed by independently audited data.In the case of press advertising the data is compiled by the Audit Bureau of Circulation.The Executive uses a variety of media including online marketing and websites, allof which are monitored for best value results.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 21 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to expand and fund the development of a nationwide in-court advice service, similar to the one run by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Hamilton
Answer
I am awaiting the final report of the evaluation of the five pilot in-court advice projects that were set up between 18 and 24 months ago. Whilst indications are that the outcome of the research is positive and demand is high, the projects are still at an early stage and I am not yet in a position to announce a further roll-out.
It is my intention to make an announcement in the next few weeks about the funding position for the pilot projects.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS boards in respect of their contribution to health promotion by funding (a) sport and health activities for young people and (b) volunteering and community activities for older people.
Answer
Health boards, taking account of their own local circumstances, are best placed to determine appropriate actions to encourage all sections of their populations, regardless of age; to recognise the health benefits that can accrue through following a healthy lifestyle.
These programmes are delivered by health boards and subject to national guidelines and frameworks with community partners via NHS board plans and community plans including joint health improvement plans.
Annual reviews are held with each health board where their performance is scrutinised in public. Boards are expected to report progress against health improvement strategies, targets and measures.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 21 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many names have been placed on the list of individuals considered unsuitable to work with children in each year since the list was established.
Answer
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 commenced on 10 January 2005. As at 16 December 2005, 56 individuals have been placed on the Disqualified from Working with Children List. A further 28 individuals have been provisionally listed while their referrals are processed for consideration by the determination panel. In addition, commencement of the act made it an offence for someone who is barred on lists in other parts of the UK to seek to work or continue to work with children in Scotland. There are currently around 4,000 entries on the England and Wales lists held by the Department of Education and Skills and in place since 2000 and 2001.
