- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 22 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has carried out into any impact on the number of rough sleepers which the removal of benefit for 16 and 17-year-olds may have had.
Answer
No specific assessment has been undertaken. The Homelessness Task Force, which I chair, is taking a wide-ranging look at the underlying nature and causes of homelessness and as part of our programme of work we will be considering youth homelessness and benefit issues. Responsibility for the payment of benefit is a matter for the Department of Social Security, which is represented on the task force.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 22 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a legal obligation on local authorities to assess the impact on business of transport proposals and decisions.
Answer
The Executive's guidance on Local Transport Strategies encourages local authorities to consult fully with business interests; furthermore in bringing forward guidance under the terms of the Transport Bill the Executive will, where appropriate, require local authorities to consult with the business sector.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 22 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government regarding the impact that the establishment of a "fast track" UK patent system for small businesses could have on small businesses in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of issues, including the UK patent system. The existing UK patent system already provides for accelerated processing leading to the grant of a patent in as little as 10 months. This service is available for any applicant who requests it and is not limited or focused on SMEs.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 22 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses there are in Scotland and what percentage employ 10 people or less.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's Scottish corporate sector figures are produced by the Government Statistical Service using data from the Office for National Statistics' Inter Departmental Business Register, the Labour Force Survey and the Inland Revenue's Survey for Personal Income.
Scottish Executive estimates of size of businesses in 1997 and 1998 were published in Scottish Economic Statistics (table 2.1) in January 2000. This publication is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), or from the Scottish Executive website (www.scotland.gov.uk).
For very small companies, the sizebands are given for 0, 1-4 and 5-9 employees. It should be noted that the zero sizeband figures include estimates from the Labour Force Survey and the Inland Revenue's Survey for Personal Income.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 22 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to undertake a rolling review of existing legislation in order to ensure that any which is no longer relevant is revoked or amended and what representations it is making to Her Majesty's Government and the European Parliament to do likewise.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committed to reducing the burden on businesses caused by unnecessary legislation. The Improving Regulation in Scotland unit has a continuing dialogue with businesses and pursues any regulatory concerns they raise.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 22 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to undertake a review of legislation as it affects small businesses to assess its impact.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has committed itself to tackling any unnecessary legislative burden on business. The Improving Regulation in Scotland (IRIS) unit has organised a number of events around Scotland where the business community has the opportunity to raise its regulatory concerns direct with the Executive. This is just one stage in what is a continuing dialogue between the Executive and business. In particular, small businesses and their needs are at the core of all discussions and the Executive will consider any action required in the light of this dialogue.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 21 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3566 by Susan Deacon on 17 February 2000, whether its plans to examine measures for better enforcement of the law to tackle those who make illegal sales to young people include liaison with the Ministerial Group set up within the Department of Trade and Industry to examine issues including how to make enforcement of consumer protection more effective, especially in relation to the group's work on simplifying legislation on age limits.
Answer
My participation in the Ministerial Group on Consumer Affairs will ensure that the Executive's views on a number of consumer matters, including the issue of age-related sales, will be clear to the Department of Trade and Industry and other government departments.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 21 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase support to community pharmacists providing services to drug misusers, including security measures such as installation of panic buttons, CCTV and prominent alarm boxes.
Answer
NHS community pharmacy services to drug misusers - the dispensing of methadone and needle exchange - are subject to local contracting between community pharmacy contractors and their Primary Care Trust/Island Health Board. Issues of safety and security are primarily matters for the contractors concerned.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many kilometres of non-trunk road network there are and what percentage requires to be repaired during this financial year.
Answer
Table 5.2 in the 1999 edition of Scottish Transport Statistics indicates that as at 1 April 1998 there were 49,857 kilometres of non-trunk road network. The Scottish Executive has no information on the percentage to be repaired by local authorities during this financial year.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the road network showed improvement or deterioration in terms of maintenance need for the last year for which figures are available.
Answer
The last year where information is available is 1998-99 and the trend data over a fixed sample of trunk roads, which are surveyed every four years, showed a slight improvement from the previous year.
Condition trend data for the trunk road network is shown in table 5.5 of Scottish Transport Statistics No.18 1999 Edition. A copy of this document is held in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Similar data for the non-trunk road network is not held centrally.
