Parliamentary questions
Fiona Hyslop
940 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children who have been identified as vulnerable came from (a) affluent and (b) deprived areas in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not routinely collected.</p>
15 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns in respect of young children and babies being placed at risk as a consequence of the requirement in Health for all Children that NHS boards reduce health visitor checks for children aged under three and a half in order to target health visits on vulnerable chil…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: For the first time a comprehensive programme of child health surveillance, screening, immunisation and health promotion is being introduced for all children in Scotland. This is firmly evidence-based and available to all parents, wherever they live and whatev…
15 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the age has been of each drug user identified in each local authority area since 1999.
Answer · Hugh Henry: There is no formal system for “identifying” drug users in Scotland. However, the Scottish Drug Misuse Database (SDMD) records information on people as they come into contact with drug treatment services.</p> <p>Information showing the number of new individual…
15 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with First ScotRail in respect of train punctuality since First Scotrail was awarded the contract to run train services in Scotland.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland officials meet monthly with First ScotRail to review performance on the rail network, including punctuality. This meeting is a franchise commitment and the Scottish Executive play an active role to ensure First ScotRail, in conjunction with…
15 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is acceptable that, in the last 12 months, 77.3% of First ScotRail trains achieved its target of trains arriving within five minutes of scheduled arrival time and what measures the Executive is putting in place to improve this service.
Answer · Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the question S2W-21788 answered on 10 February 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…
15 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is acceptable that, in the four weeks ending on 12 November 2005, First ScotRail East achieved 68.2% of its target of 90% of trains arriving within five minutes of scheduled arrival time and what measures the Executive is putting in place to improve this service.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Performance levels on these services and across the rail network in Scotland generally are improving. The last period for which agreed figures are available for First ScotRail East services (four weeks ending 7 January 2006) show that 76.9% of trains arrived …
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been set aside for each local authority to assist drug users remain within their community since 1999.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The majority of funding, £23.7 million in 2005-06, allocated by the Scottish Executive for Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation is provided to National Health Boards to support the work of local Drug and Alcohol Teams in Scotland.</p><p>Local authorities receive…
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many resources in cash terms have been set aside to provide more drug rehabilitation places in Scotland.
Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21775 on 20 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it envisages that additional drug rehabilitation places will be made available in Scotland.
Answer · Hugh Henry: When developing drug treatment and rehabilitation services, drug action teams and their local partners assess the level of need in their areas and have to ensure that the treatment needs of their local drug using population are met.</p> <p>An additional £4 mi…
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug rehabilitation places are available in Scotland.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Drug rehabilitation services are provided in a variety of settings, including out-patient. clinics, day hospitals, residential facilities and by voluntary organisations within the community. Services are often offered to people with problems with drugs or alc…
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what methods it will employ to encourage local authorities to refer drug users to abstinence drug rehabilitation places, if these are appropriately identified as a suitable treatment.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Drug Action Teams (DATs) are responsible for the strategic planning and co-ordination of action to tackle drug misuse in their areas.</p> <p>The allocations to DATs from the additional £4 million to community drug treatment services we announced for 2005-06 …
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will measure the number of referrals from local authority areas to drug rehabilitation places.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Drug Misuse Database is in the process of being enhanced to collect better information about outcomes for clients and new data items are currently being pilot tested. Information will be collected on whether clients receive services including res…
14 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals have been made to drug rehabilitation places since 1999 in each local authority area.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The following table presents estimates of the total number of clients referred to services for assessment, the number of clients referred for a range of rehabilitation treatments post-assessment and the number of clients referred for residential rehabilitatio…
13 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20846 by Nicol Stephen on 13 December 2005, whether it will publish the payments broken down into their constituent parts.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The figures provided in the answer to S2W-20846 can be broken down further from 2002-03 to 2004-05 as shown. Definitions of each element of these payments have also been provided.</p><p>Due to a change in ledger systems in 2001, this information can not be ea…
13 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20847 by Allan Wilson on 8 December 2005, whether it will publish the student loan repayment model it uses to forecast the average length of time for repayment.
Answer · Allan Wilson: We have no plans to publish the student loan repayment model.</p>
7 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its funding commitment for the Gaelic Medium Secondary School in Woodside, Glasgow, in light of new cost figures taking construction industry inflation into account.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has provided significant funding to the City of Glasgow to support the development of Scotland’s first all-through Gaelic school. In May 2004, the City of Glasgow was offered £2.75 million towards their estimated costs of £3.5 million f…
7 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that Gaelic-medium education is provided in Scotland's cities.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The delivery of Gaelic-medium education in Scotland’s cities and throughout Scotland is a matter for local authorities and the Scottish Executive seeks to support and encourage authorities in this by providing guidance, funding, resources and support for teac…
7 Dec 2005 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the commercialisation of research carried out at universities.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: There is a growing level of Executive support for commercial spin outs from our universities. The number of spin-outs surviving more than three years rose from 62 in 2001-02 to 83 in 2002-03.</p>
18 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20434 by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005, why it did not provide information for the years prior to 1998.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Student Loans Company implemented a new customer account administration system in September 1998. The previous system could not allow transactions to be analysed by domicile.</p>
18 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20430 by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005, whether it will now review the answer to question S2W-14031.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: There are currently no plansto review the answer to question S2W-14031.</p><p>There is a legal requirementon the debtor, which includes student loan borrowers, to inform their trustee,who administers the sequestration and acts on their behalf, of their assets…
18 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20429 by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005, when it expects all student loans referred to in the answer to be repaid and when it will therefore be in a position to provide a substantive answer.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: It is not possible to give a definitive answer on when all student loans taken out since the introduction of student loans are expected to be repaid.</p> <p>The nature of student loan repayments means that the majority of borrowers will be at different stages…
18 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20429 by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005, what the average length of time to repay was for student loan borrowers who completed repayment in each of the last two years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: For borrowers fully repaying their student loans in calendar year 2003 the average repayment time was 4.9 years.</p> <p>For borrowers fully repaying their student loans in calendar year 2004 the average repayment time was 5.1 years.</p>
18 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20429 by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005, how it forecasts the average length of time for repayment of a student loan.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The average length of time for repayment for an income-contingent student loan is forecast using a student loan repayment model. This generates an expected repayment profile and reports repayment behaviour for a representative student set.</p>
18 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what sums it has paid to purchasing banks in each year since 1998 in respect of the student loans sold by HM Treasury in 1998 and 1999 and what obligations these sums covered.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following amounts have been paid to the purchasing banks in respect of the sale of student loans in 1998 and 1999:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p>1998-99</p></td> <td> <p align=right>£6,437,000</p></td> </tr> …
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scottish domiciled student loan borrowers were in deferment in each year of the operation of student loans, broken down by year of entering repayment.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20433 on 16 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/weba…
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total outstanding loan balance in the student loans portfolio for Scottish domiciled student loan borrowers has been in each year since 1999.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table provides details of the cumulative total of the outstanding student loan balance for Scottish domiciled borrowers from 2000 onwards.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Financial Year</p></td> …
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scottish domiciled students have taken out a student loan in each year of operation of the student loans scheme; of this, what percentage took out the full loan in each such year, and what projections it has made for future years.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table details the number and percentage of full-time, Scottish domiciled higher education students who took out a student loan with the student loans company for each year since the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) started administering…
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the operating surplus made by the Student Loans Company Ltd the Executive has received in each year since 1999.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Student Loans Company operates as a non-departmental public body and therefore has no operating surplus or any reserves.</p>
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many customer accounts the Student Loans Company Ltd maintains for Scottish domiciled borrowers.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Student Loans Company currently maintains the customer accounts for 312,800 Scottish domiciled borrowers with public debt.</p>
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cumulative collection rate was for student loans from Scottish domiciled borrowers in 2003-04.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Due to the nature of StudentLoan repayments it is not possible to give a definitive cumulative collectionrate. For the Year 2003-04 the amount of student loans collected from Scottishdomiciled borrowers was £49,748,000 of which £32,654,000 was towards publicd…