Sandra White

2 Feb 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with MI5 about the siting of a permanent office in Scotland.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: In line with established practice, it would not be appropriate to comment on operational matters relating to the Security and Intelligence Service.</p>

28 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it plans to invest in programmes to reskill and retrain refugees, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish Executive is considering what resources are needed in 2005 to helprefugees reskill and retrain in the future. </p><p>The Executive is working with key stakeholders (the Enterprise Networks, Jobcentre Plus and many others) to develop a framework for e…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for adapting houses to increase the existing level of barrier-free housing stock from 1%.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Barrier-free housing and surrounding environment is a key element of the Executive’s social inclusion agenda. We will seek to ensure that the existing level of barrier-free housing is increased by requiring local authorities to take full account of the needs …

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it plans to allocate to local authorities and public bodies to allow them to conform to requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, broken down by local authority and organisation.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We take our responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) as an employer and service provider very seriously. We expect all employers and service providers in Scotland, including local authorities and public bodies, to do the same.</p><p…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive its target is for reducing the 83% of blind and partially-sighted people of working age who remain out of work.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive has not set such a target. Our Closing the Opportunity Gap targets, announced in December 2004, involve reducing the number of workless people dependent on Department of Work and Pensions benefits, including benefits claimed by people w…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with severe and enduring mental health problems remained out of sustained employment in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Department for Work and Pensions provide statistics on claimants of Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA). These show that the number of such claimants (for a period of over 13 weeks) as a result of a “mental or behavioural disord…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of blind women is over the age of 70 and what percentage of these received contact from social work services at least once a week, broken down by local authority area in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Information is not collected on the number of blind women aged over 70. The table shows the proportion of registered blind women who are over the age of 65 for each local authority.</p><p>No information is held centrally on what percentage of these women rece…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding it allocated to each NHS board specifically targeted to assist them in the delivery of health services for refugees and asylum seekers in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No additional funding has been allocated to NHS boards to assist in the delivery of health services for refugees and asylum seekers. Funds are allocated to NHS boards to meet the healthcare needs of their resident populations. It is for each NHS board to deli…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding it allocated to each local authority specifically targeted to assist them in the delivery of social work services for refugees and asylum seekers in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has not allocated any additional resources to local authorities specifically to cover the delivery of social work services to refugees and asylum seekers. However, over £7 million has been provided since 2001 for projects promoting inte…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding it allocated to each local authority specifically targeted to assist them in the delivery of education services for refugees and asylum seekers in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has not allocated any additional resources to local authorities specifically for the delivery of education services for asylum seekers and refugees. However, over £7 million has been provided since 2001 for projects promoting integratio…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of additional funding over the planned allocation was granted to each local authority specifically targeted towards delivering essential services for refugees and asylum seekers in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, expressed also in comparison…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has not allocated any additional resources to local authorities specifically to cover the delivery of essential services for asylum seekers and refugees. However, over £7 million has been provided since 2001 for projects promoting integ…

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its Fresh Talent initiative, how many expatriate Scots successfully started their own business in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.</p>

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its Fresh Talent initiative, how many expatriate Scots did not secure employment on their return to Scotland in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.</p>

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its Fresh Talent initiative, from which countries expatriate Scots returned in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.</p>

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its Fresh Talent initiative, what type of employment expatriate Scots secured, broken down by profession, in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.</p>

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its Fresh Talent initiative, how many expatriate Scots returned to Scotland in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Answer · Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.</p>

24 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which police forces have their own diversity unit whose objective is to promote equality in the areas of sexual orientation, race, age, religion/faith, disability and gender issues.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: All Scottish police forces are taking forward work on diversity. In April 2004, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) launched a Diversity Strategy for the Police Service in Scotland. This takes account of the dual role which the police…

18 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage was of (a) women and (b) men employed at board level in each non-departmental public body in (i) 1999, (ii) 2000, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2002, (v) 2003 and (iv) 2004.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Information in relation to the gender of public appointees is not available in the form requested. However, a breakdown by gender of people appointed by Ministers to regulated public bodies during each financial year has been published in the UK Commissioner …

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on promoting disability equality in local authorities in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of directors in local authorities were registered disabled people in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Tavish Scott: This information is not held centrally. Information held by the Executive on local government staffing matters is contained in the Joint Staffing Watch which is published on a quarterly basis and is available at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffi…

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of directors in non-departmental public bodies were women in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by organisation.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Information on the Directors (Chief Executives) of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is contained in the Public Bodies and Appointments website at <ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies">www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies</a>…

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on promoting gender equality in local authorities in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of directors in local authorities were women in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Tavish Scott: This information is not held centrally. Information held by the Executive on local government staffing matters is contained in the Joint Staffing Watch which is published on a quarterly basis and is available at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffi…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the allocation of the Community Regeneration Fund was calculated for Glasgow and what representations it received from Glasgow City Council prior to that allocation being made.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Glasgow’s allocation reflects ministers’ determination to target the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) on our most disadvantaged communities.…

14 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many families were living below the accepted poverty level in Glasgow in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04, broken down by council ward area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Estimates of the numbers and proportion of families living in low income households are available at Scotland level only, not by local authority or ward area. Estimates on the full range of income thresholds and explanation of how these estimates are calculat…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will evaluate the work of community planning partnerships following the introduction of the Community Regeneration Fund.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>We are currently developing a performance framework to monitor the development and delivery of Regeneration Outcome Agreements which Communit…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost will be of administering the Community Regeneration Fund, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-13112 on 21 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on th…

13 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many social inclusion partnership board members have registered their membership of registered political parties, broken down by party affiliation and local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Full records are not available as there is no obligation on board members to declare political affiliations. The following table provides det…

12 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the Community Regeneration Fund awarded to Glasgow for the next three years will be allocated to the 28 council wards identified by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, Strategies Against Poverty, as having the highest deprivation levels in the United Kingdom.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Guidance issued by Communities Scotland to Community Planning Partnerships in August 2004 states that the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) s…

12 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for increasing the percentage of homes that are barrier-free, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>Throughthe Partnership Agreement, ministers have given a commitment to ensure that morehouses are barrier free.</p><p>In 2003-04, 96% of the ne…