Parliamentary questions

Annabel Goldie

508 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

6 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-5965 by Nicol Stephen on 28 November 2002, whether a deadline has been set for collating the details from local authorities on their language learning provision and whether it will publish this information once collated and, if so, how.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive has asked the 32 local authorities to supply the details of their language learning provision by 31 January 2003. This will be an annual task to monitor the implementation of the entitlement to language education in Scottish schools. Arrangement…

6 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the future is of the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I expect to see health care services continuing to be provided at Vale of Leven Hospital. The future balance of services at the hospital is primarily a matter for the NHS Argyll and Clyde Board, in the context of the needs of service users, Health Department …

20 Nov 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is now provision of foreign language instruction in every primary school.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive currently do not have this information, however we are about to ask local authorities to provide details of their language learning provision, including coverage in all primary schools. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education is also ga…

1 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how local communities can obtain funding for the installation of CCTV cameras when such communities are unable to access and secure funding for such projects through the Community Safety Partnership Award Programme or the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund.

Answer · Richard Simpson: As advised in the answer given to question S1W-26106 on 24 June 2002, about the Executive's support for CCTV, Community Safety Partnerships can allocate resources from their annual allocations from the award programme to both the capital and current element o…

18 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what savings will be achieved in each year through Scottish Enterprise's business transformation project.

Answer · Iain Gray: Scottish Enterprise estimate savings of £200 million by 2006, with an average of £45 million a year in the spending period 2003-06.

18 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was allocated through the Warm Deal scheme to each local authority in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2002-03.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The allocations made to each local authority under the Warm Deal for the periods concerned are shown in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=302><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Council</TD><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP">200…

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the spending of Highland and Islands Enterprise is to rise by 6% in 2003-04 given the savings expected as a result of the business improvement process it is engaged in, as referred to in Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Iain Gray: The spending of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for 2003-04 was originally planned to increase from £74 million to £77 million as published in the Scottish Executive's Annual Expenditure Report, The Scottish Budget, 2003-04. Since then, all non-…

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what savings are expected from the budget of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) following the business improvement process it is engaged in, as referred to in the enterprise and lifelong learning section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Iain Gray: Highland and Islands Enterprise's business improvement process, which is the next stage in its Evolving the Network initiative, was announced on 30 August 2002. It is too early to quantify the resulting savings although HIE have stated that this will mean mor…

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the evaluation of the pilot project "Your Guide".

Answer · Ross Finnie: On 24 July 2002, the Department of Trade and Industry published a report of the evaluation of the "Your Guide" pilot. This report is available on the DTI website. The Post Office and postal services are reserved matters. Executive officials remain i…

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28510 by Nicol Stephen on 13 September 2000, what funding has been allocated to each local authority to support implementation of the recommendations in Citi'ens of a Multilingual World.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested is set out in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=334><TR><TD WIDTH="48%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=17>Education Authority</TD><TD WIDTH="52%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=17> Total Allocation 2002-03</TD></TR>…

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it will require an additional #25 million for Scottish Enterprise to increase the number of modern apprenticeships (MAs) to over 25,000 given that the number of MA's in 2001-02 was 21,993.

Answer · Iain Gray: The additional resources for modern apprenticeships are being phased in over three years, allowing the total number of apprentices in training at any time to grow to over 25,000 by 2006. Over this period, the number of individuals employed and trained as mode…

11 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the distribution of money within local authorities which has been allocated to Community Safety Partnerships and how these schemes are evaluated.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The Community Safety Partnership Award Programme introduced from 1 April 2002 is made up of two elements, a formulated award and a variable award. The formulated award is based on population and crime levels whilst the variable award is allocated following an…

11 Sep 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to maintain provision of technology, science and language skills to the economy.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive works closely with the enterprise networks, employer-led former National Training Organisations, emerging Sector Skills Councils, and education and training providers to enhance skills development and increase workforce productivity.…

6 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of funding from the (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise budgets was allocated to (i) loans and (ii) grants in each year since 1999-2000 and what the projected allocations by each will be in 2003-04.

Answer · Iain Gray: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

6 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many ex-employees of the enterprise network have been engaged as consultants by the enterprise network.

Answer · Iain Gray: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

20 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision exists within the education system for teaching foreign languages to primary school children.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Ministerial Action Group on Languages made a number of recommendations relating to the provision of foreign language learning in schools in its report Citizens of a Multilingual World. These recommendations included a model for entitlement to langu…

31 Jul 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are currently employed in its Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department and what proportion is allocated to (a) enterprise and (b) lifelong learning.

Answer · Andy Kerr: As at 30 June 2002, there were 336 permanent staff in the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department of the Scottish Executive, with a full-time equivalent of 324.7 persons. Of these, 57% worked within the Enterprise and Industrial Affairs Group and 26% were…

28 Jun 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the article by Douglas Friedli in Business AM on 26 June 2002, whether its strategy on the creation of a knowledge economy will be changed following research by Strathclyde University suggesting a divergence between the industries on which the strategy focuses and those th…

Answer · Iain Gray: The Executive's economic policies focus on quality, high-value added activity and high skilled jobs, wherever these are found in the economy. They are not wedded to any particular industry-based definition of knowledge economy activity. The Executive encourag…

21 Jun 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recent resignation of the board of Border Biofuels Ltd will have any impact on the contract awarded to the company under the Scottish Renewables Obligation.

Answer · Ross Finnie: No. The contract will stay in force for as long as the company remains a going concern.

21 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any proposals to safeguard clients of home care services in relation to health and safety issues.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The intention is that care at home services will be regulated by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care from next year; and inspected against regulations and the National Care Standards developed and published by the Scottish ministers.Health a…

21 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24187 by Ross Finnie on 2 April 2002, what the names are of the other two biomass schemes awarded contracts under the Scottish Renewables Obligation.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Contracts to develop biomass schemes under the Scottish Renewables Obligation were also awarded to projects in Arran (Borders Biofuels) and Morayhill (Deeside Woodland Products).

21 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote the maritime development potential of the River Clyde.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive recognises that the Scottish economy needs a thriving ports industry. It is keen to work with the industry, on the Clyde and elsewhere, to achieve this within the framework set out in the policy paper Modern Ports: A UK Policy (B…

21 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in order to encourage communities to facilitate the maintenance of law and order by installing CCTV systems.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Over the six years of the CCTV Challenge Competition, 161 CCTV projects have been awarded in excess of £10 million which will result in the installation of over 2,000 cameras. On 31 October 2001 we announced details of a new community safety award p…

21 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken any steps to quantify the impact on jobs of proposed increases in National Insurance contributions.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No. The Executive does, however, look at the overall prospects for the Scottish economy, including the labour market, on an on-going basis.We are aware of the concerns of some companies regarding the National Insurance changes, but there were an array of m…