Parliamentary questions

Rhona Brankin

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

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of pupils attending rural schools go on to higher education compared to the proportion of those attending urban schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The percentages of school leavers (2002-03) entering Higher Education from publicly funded schools are as follows:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> </td> <td> Full-Time Higher Education </td> </tr…

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is encouraging major events in the international brass band calendar to come to Scotland.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I apologise for the delay inreplying.Glasgow hosted the European Brass Bands Championships, the largestevent in the international brass band calendar, from 25 April to 1 May 2004. EventScotlandprovided £10,000 support for the Championships.

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what policies it has to encourage the setting up of rural businesses.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive recognises that small businesses play a key role in rural communitiesand is keen to encourage more start-up businesses in these areas.Responsibility for assisting business start-ups, including in rural areas generally,falls to Scottish …

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether pupils in rural schools suffer educational disadvantage compared to pupils in urban schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive aims to ensurean excellent education for pupils in all publicly-funded schools. Pupils in urbanschools are likely to have easier access to some facilities and experiences whichcan contribute to an excellent education. However, the Executive has …

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has intervened to prevent the closure of rural schools since 1999.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has a role only in some prescribed categories of school closure proposal.In those cases, an education authority cannot implement a closure decision withoutthe consent of the Scottish ministers. No applications for such consent have been…

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether parents in rural areas should have the same right to choose schools as parents in urban areas.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Any parent in Scotland maymake a request for their child to attend a particular school. The education authorityhas a duty to grant such a request except in the circumstances specified in theEducation (Scotland) Act 1980.

22 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what priority it attaches to the provision of services in rural areas.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is committed to the provision of public services that are of the highestpossible quality, for both urban and rural areas. The community planning processis ensuring that services are planned in partnership, through community engagement,w…

19 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the Children's Charter.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Protecting Children andYoung People – the Charter is beinglaunched today. Part of the response to the findings of the audit and review ofchild protection, It’s Everyone’s Job to Make Sure I’m Alright, was acommitment to develop a Children’s Char…

18 Mar 2004 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will take steps to ensure that the delegation to this, and all future years' Tartan Days reflects the gender balance within the Parliament.

Answer · George Reid: The delegation to thisyear’s Tartan Day is set. In agreeing membership for this year’s delegation,party business managers noted that the current system whereby individual businessmanagers are responsible for nominating members of the delegation does notallow …

18 Mar 2004 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what proportion of the Scottish Parliament delegation to this year's Tartan Day is female.

Answer · George Reid: No member of the delegationto this year’s Tartan Day is female.

11 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which wards in Edinburgh and the Lothians currently qualify for a social inclusion partnership (SIP).

Answer · Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:-There are seven SIPs in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Craigmillar, north and south Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Strategic Programme - includes Oxga…

11 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which wards in Edinburgh and the Lothians fall within its definition of a deprived area.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive does not have a single definition of what makes an area deprived asdeprivation is a multi faceted concept of which specific elements are morerelevant to certain policy areas than others. However, the Interim ScottishIndex of Multiple De…

11 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what indicators of deprivation are currently in use.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive has available for use:theinterim Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2003; the Scottish Index of Deprivation 1998; the Scottish Index of Deprivation 1995 and theCarstairs and Morris Scottish Deprivation Sc…

28 Jan 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support a proof of age scheme for the sale of alcohol.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I confirmed on Monday at thepublication of the report on off-sales in the community that the Executivewould endorse and promote a national no proof no sale initiative for Scotland.The Executive also continuesto support the National Dialogue Youth - You…

11 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3257 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 22 October 2003, what the successor to the Millennium Volunteer scheme will be and when it will commence.

Answer · Margaret Curran: A decision on the future ofMillennium Volunteers is yet to be made. Volunteer Development Scotland haspresented draft recommendations on the future of the scheme to the Scottish Executive, and these will be considered in the context of the Scottish Executive …

11 Dec 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in improving the youth justice system.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Scotland’s Action Plan on Youth Crime isbeing implemented by the Executive. Action has been taken on all aspects of the10-Point Action Plan on Youth Crime, including increased funding and support toyouth justice teams, National Standards agreed and annual map…

10 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is evaluating the work of volunteering centres and bureaux and what the timescale is for such evaluation work.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: The current evaluation arrangementsfor the Volunteer Centre Network comprises of two separate stages. The first isthe creation of a workplan containing objectives and outcomes by each volunteercentre. The second requires each volunteer centre to report on the…

10 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people live in mobile homes, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Counts of persons living incaravans or other mobile or temporary accommodation are available from the 2001Census and are published on the Scottish Census Results On-Line website, <ahref="http://www.scrol.gov.uk/">http://www.scrol.gov.uk</a>. Table UV42contain…

10 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to strengthen the requirements for advertising planning applications.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Measures to improve arrangements for advertising planning applications are contained in YourPlace, Your Plan, a white paper on public involvement in planning,published in March 2003. These include a requirement for councils to publishdetails of where w…

10 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to strengthen the requirement for neighbour notification in the planning process.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Your Place, Your Plan, a white paper on public involvement in planning,published in March 2003, contains measures to enhance and strengthen public involvementin the planning system including proposals to change neighbour notificationprocedures. In part…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are being made to supply parents, pupils, policy makers and others with a wide range of information about school education performance and what the format of such information might be.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Schools will continue topublish handbooks providing parents with paper copies of information includingexamination results. However, arrangements are now in place to significantlyextend parental access to information with a comprehensive new website serviceand…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines respite care.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-4822 on 8 January 2004.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have applied for any of its funds for carers, including those for short breaks.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Resources to support carers,including resources to develop respite services, are made available to councilsas part of local government finance settlements for the overall provision ofcommunity care. I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-4264 …

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many young carers there are in each local authority area.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The following table providesinformation on the number of young carers aged under 18 in each local authorityarea, as sourced from the 2001 Census.<table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=406> <thead> <tr> <td> Local …

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policies are on respite care for (a) young carers, (b) families with children with disabilities and (c) families with children living on or below the poverty line.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Executive makesresources available to enable local authorities to provide a full spectrum ofsocial care services, including respite care for young carers and familiesaffected by disability. Our partnership agreement reflects our firm commitment todevelop …

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what finance is made available for carers from the (a) Health and Community Care and (b) Communities budget and what specific funding carers are eligible to apply for.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answersgiven to questions S2W-4264 and S2W-4827 on 5 December 2003and 12 December 2003, which address the resources made available to localauthorities to support carers as part of local government finance settlementsfor community car…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is made available for short breaks for carers and those being cared for.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3451 on 12 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its definition of respite care covers both the carers and those being cared for.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Guidance issued by the Scottish Office in March 1996 (Circular SWSG 10-96) defines respite as “anyservice of limited duration which benefits a dependent person. The distinctivefeature of respite care is that the break should be a positive experience forthe ca…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken to quantify the need for respite care.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Local authorities, health boardsand other key agencies have a joint responsibility to plan and commission afull range of health and social care services, including respite. Part of thatresponsibility is to establish needs and priorities at a local level. TheE…

3 Dec 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how sites designated for their natural heritage are protected from wind farm development.

Answer · Margaret Curran: NationalPlanning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 14: Natural Heritage provides guidance on the approach tobe adopted in relation to sites designated for their natural heritage. Thisguidance applies to all forms of development, including wind farms. NPPG 6:R…