Sandra White

11 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress the cross-party working group on religious hatred has made in respect of alleviating sectarianism.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred published its report containing 12 non-legislative recommendations for public consultation on 5 December 2002. The consultation ended on 14 March 2003 and the responses are currently being analysed. <P>The wor…

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was aware that homeowners would be liable for VAT charges for factoring as a result of the Glasgow housing stock transfer before the transfer took place

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive was aware that registered social landlords do not benefit from the same VAT exemptions enjoyed by local authorities, apart from when they benefit from the agreed custom policy line covering investment programmes in stock transfers. The factoring…

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) houses, (b) shops and (c) other properties were transferred in the Glasgow housing stock transfer.

Answer · Margaret Curran: This is a matter for agreement between Glasgow City Council and the Glasgow Housing Association.

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much land was transferred as part of the Glasgow housing stock transfer.

Answer · Margaret Curran: This is a matter for agreement between Glasgow City Council and the Glasgow Housing Association.

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the final transfer price paid by Glasgow Housing Association Ltd to Glasgow City Council was in respect of the Glasgow housing stock transfer.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Glasgow Housing Association Ltd paid £25 million to Glasgow City Council in respect of the Glasgow housing transfer.

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review or replace the current system of social inclusion partnerships.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Community Regeneration Statement <I>Better Communities</I> <I>in Scotland: Closing the Gap</I>, which was published in June 2002, sets out the framework for regeneration and the migration of social inclusion partnerships to community planning partnerships.

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which social inclusion partnership projects in Glasgow are under investigation.

Answer · Margaret Curran: There are well over 400 projects being funded by Glasgow social inclusion partnerships, of which only three are under investigation, representing a very minor part of their overall work. These are the Wellhouse Centre in Easterhouse, the Barrowfield Family Fl…

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether sufficient finance has been made available in order to enable Glasgow Housing Association Ltd's demolition programme to be implemented fully.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Glasgow Housing Association Ltd's (GHA) fully costed 30-year business plan will enable the GHA to implement its demolition programme in full.

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration was given in the Glasgow housing stock transfer proposal to any possibility that, under housing benefit regulations, the housing benefit of some elderly tenants would be reduced.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Glasgow stock transfer consultation document made it clear that tenants eligibility to housing benefit would not be affected. No tenants in Glasgow have their housing benefit reduced as a direct result of the housing stock transfer.

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with Glasgow Housing Association Ltd's application for charitable status.

Answer · Margaret Curran: This is a matter for the Glasgow Housing Association Ltd.

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for child psychologists in each NHS board and local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Data on child psychology specialists in the NHS has not in the past been routinely collected. However, a special study has been made and information on vacancies will be analysed later this year. Information on child psychologist vacancies in local authoritie…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been referred to child psychologists by (a) GPs, (b) care homes and (c) any other method of referral in each year since 1999

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-187 today. 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/webapp/search_…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to increase the number of child psychologists.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The availability of psychological interventions in general needs to be increased. Work is in hand to increase the number of clinical psychologists, improve the training of other professionals who can contribute and develop best practice for the most effective…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for an appointment with a child psychologist.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were referred to child psychologists in each year since 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. However, the Improving Mental Health Information Programme of NHSScotland Information and Statistics Division (ISD) is working with agencies to improve access to nationally consistent information and to explore…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many child psychologists are employed in each NHS board and local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Data on child psychology specialists in the NHS has not in the past been routinely collected. However, a special study has been made of the contribution that is made by clinical psychologists and the following table shows the headcount of NHS employed psychol…

17 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34296 by Ms Margaret Curran on 13 March 2003, which Social Inclusion Partnership projects operating in Glasgow were closed down and for what reasons.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The two projects that closed down are as follows:<P>The CHEAF (Change Health Equality Action Future) youth project, funded by Milton Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP), closed in June 2001 because it was unable to find suitable accommodation for its activitie…

12 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the review of the licensing provisions in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The independent task group is currently considering the responses received to its consultation exercise which was completed late last year, which included a number of new licensing proposals, and other issues which ministers subsequently asked it to consider.

12 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the task group reviewing the licensing provisions in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 will report.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I am advised that the independent task group hope to be in a position to submit its report to ministers by June.

12 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34294 by Margaret Curran on 9 March 2003, which members of the boards of Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) in Glasgow are members of the Labour Party.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Information on membership of political parties for members of SIP boards in Glasgow is not available, with the exception of serving councillors, MPs and MSPs who sit on these boards. The following Labour councillors, MPs and MSPs are on SIP boards in Glasgow:…

12 Mar 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current provision of accident and emergency units in Glasgow is sufficient.

Answer · Frank McAveety: This is primarily a matter for NHS Greater Glasgow.

6 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given to Glasgow Housing Association Ltd regarding applying for charitable status.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The decision by any registered social landlord to apply for charitable status is one for them alone. The change to charitable status requires the agreement of both the Inland Revenue and Communities Scotland.

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into the issues involved in promoting the employment of older workers throughout the workforce.

Answer · Des McNulty: Matters relating to equal opportunities and employment are reserved to the UK Government. The Executive supports the Department for Work and Pension's "Age Positive" campaign, which includes increasing awareness about the benefits of employing older people. T…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage people with skills and qualifications to return to Scotland.

Answer · Iain Gray: There is a strong economic case for seeking to encourage more people to come and live in Scotland, whether they are wishing to return to Scotland or indeed live in Scotland for the first time. <P>In a speech on 25 February, the First Minister announced that h…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote awareness of costs to the economy of age discrimination.

Answer · Des McNulty: Scottish Enterprise has placed information on the costs of age discrimination to the economy on its website:<P><A HREF="http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/publications/fsip1_getting_old.pdf">http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/publications/fsip1_getting_old.pd…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to maximise business start-ups amongst older entrepreneurs.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Executive is working directly with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to improve the quality and consistency of support for business start-ups and small business throughout Scotland. Within the Scottish Enterprise area, individuals w…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote age diversity across the workforce.

Answer · Des McNulty: Equal opportunities and employment legislation are reserved areas. The Scottish Executive endorses the Department of Work and Pensions' Age Positive campaign and its voluntary Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment, of which an updated version was la…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to widen access to training among older workers.

Answer · Iain Gray: A range of actions is under way. Since lifting the age barrier on the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) scheme, there are now over 5,000 adult employees aged 25 and over taking part in training. Furthermore, learndirect scotland is working in partnership to assist e…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to develop IT skills among older workers.

Answer · Iain Gray: Responsibility for IT skills rests with e-skills UK, the employer-led, UK-wide Sector Skills Council. In Scotland they have a number of initiatives which target older workers, such as delivering adult Modern Apprenticeships to large firms, and small and mediu…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase awareness of age discrimination legislation to be in place by 2006.

Answer · Des McNulty: Equal opportunities and employment legislation are reserved areas. The Scottish Executive, working with the Department for Work and Pensions, has produced a booklet "Are you over 50?" which provides a practical guide to advice, support and services across gov…