Parliamentary questions

Tricia Marwick

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

8 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish Enterprise invested in the Longannet coal mine and what the prospects are for the recovery of the money.

Answer · Iain Gray: In June 1999, Scottish Enterprise provided a guarantee to underwrite £5.4 million of bank borrowing by Scottish Coal (Deep Mine) Ltd in order to allow the company to continue trading. The level of this guarantee was varied on several occasions in line with th…

8 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each policy initiative it has implemented since May 1999 which has had a direct implication or bearing on the workload of local government; whether funding was provided to local authorities for each such initiative and, if so, how much funding was provided in each ca…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in the following table: The table lists specific Scottish Executive initiatives since 1999-2000 and associated financial support, including addition funding for existing initiatives, included within general revenue gra…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has made available to local authorities to fund the McCrone recommendations for teachers pay in each year for which figures are available.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Total Scottish Executive funding for the implementation of A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century was agreed with COSLA at £174 million for 2001-02, £276 million for 2002-03 and £405 million for 2003-04.

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what challenge funding has been made available to each local authority in the current financial year and what funding was allocated in each of the past five years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The main challenge funds in the past five years have been the Central Challenge Fund, the Transport Challenge Fund and the Public Transport Fund. Level Playing Field Support for Public/Private Partnership projects was also awarded on a competitive basis. Info…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total capital allocations made to each local authority is in the current financial year and what the allocations will be in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The total non-housing allocations awarded to each authority to date for the current year and 2003-04 are given in the following table. No capital allocations have been made beyond 2003-04.Housing allocations are determined on an annual basis. Allocations f…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assumption it made of the rate at which council tax charges may rise in each local authority area, expressed as an annual percentage increase, when calculating their grant aided expenditure allocations for (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04 and (c) 2004-05.

Answer · Peter Peacock: No specific assumptions are made about annual changes in council tax levels for individual local authorities in calculating the general grant allocations. Allocations for 2004-05 have not yet been set.

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assumption it made of the efficiency savings each local authority will make, expressed as a percentage of their total budget, when calculating their grant aided expenditure allocations for (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04 and (c) 2004-05.

Answer · Peter Peacock: No specific assumption is made for efficiency savings within the settlement calculations.

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the funding each local authority will require to pay from revenue budgets to fund Public/Private/Partnership Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes in the current financial year.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The estimated payments under PFI contracts for local authority signed deals is £113.2 million for the current financial year, which represents 1.5% of the total expenditure provided to local authorities in 2001-02 from the Scottish Executive.

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the need for capital investment in the infrastructure for which local authorities are responsible.

Answer · Andy Kerr: It is for local authorities to assess the need for investment in the local infrastructure. The Executive allocates resources available for local authority capital investment on the basis of a formula that measures the relative need for investment in schools, …

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reform the way in which local authorities are able to access capital.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Our proposals for reform of the current capital system are contained within the recently published Local Government Consultative Document - Renewing Local Democracy (The Next Steps).A copy of this publication is available in the Parliament's Referen…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it made when calculating this years local government finance settlement to account for inflationary pay awards for local government staff, excluding provisions under the McCrone settlement, and what allocation it intends to make for this in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Allowance is included with the local government settlement totals for 2002-03 and 2003-04 for the costs of national pay awards for police and fire officers and towards general local authority pay and price inflation. These allocations are not identified separ…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it made for non-wage related inflationary cost elements in the 2002-03 local government finance settlement and what provision it intends to make for this in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Allowance is included with the local government settlement totals for 2002-03 and 2003-04 towards general local authority pay and price inflation, but the inflation element is not identified separately. Allocations for 2004-05 have not yet been set.

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment was made of each local authority grant aided expenditure requirements for roads maintenance in each year since 1995-96.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Details of the grant aided expenditure assessments for each local authority for the years 1995-96 to 2001-02 are set out in Grant Aided Expenditure (the Green Book) for each year, which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre with Bib. numbe…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board received for the purpose of eliminating mixed sex hospital wards; how much was spent, and whether it will detail how.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive invested £4.8 million towards the elimination of mixed sex accommodation. Trusts and Island Boards have used this money in a variety of different ways to improve buildings and patient clinical areas. Individual allocations are detailed in the fo…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which hospitals still have mixed sex wards, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information requested is not held centrally. However, the Executive has now received reports on progress towards the elimination of mixed sex accommodation from all trusts and island boards. This information is currently being collated, and a copy of the…

4 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-13080 and S1W-19055 by Susan Deacon on 17 April 2001 and 23 November 2001 respectively, what progress has been made to achieve the target of ending mixed sex hospital wards by April 2002.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Very substantial progress has been made towards achieving the target of ending mixed sex hospital wards. At present, of the 1,629 wards in Scotland, 1,559 are fully compliant. This represents 96% compliance and 4% non-compliance. Of the 70 non-compliant wards…

28 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23279 by Peter Peacock on 26 March 2002, what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government about the timing of any legislation which will be introduced in order to allow for pilot election schemes for Scottish general elections to take place …

Answer · Peter Peacock: As I indicated in the answer given to question S1W-23279 on 26 March 2002, the Secretary of State has advised us that it appears sensible to legislate to extend pilots to the Scottish Parliament elections when an opportunity arises.

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many guesthouses have a rateable value of (a) under #10,000, (b) between #10,000 and #25,000 and (c) over #25,000.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23528.

26 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hotels have a rateable value of (a) under #10,000, (b) between #10,000 and #25,000 and (c) over #25,000.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Rateable value information held centrally groups non-domestic subjects in general categories. The following table shows the number of subjects in the "hotel and guest house etc" category by rateable value band.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=4…

20 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in any discussions with the Scotland Office to ensure that any electoral pilot schemes for local government elections will be matched with any similar schemes for the Scottish general election in 2003.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The issue of extending pilots to the Scottish parliamentary elections was raised with the Scottish Secretary last year, and she has advised that it appears sensible to legislate, to extend pilots to the Scottish Parliament elections when an opportunity arises.

23 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients in each NHS and health board area are currently being prescribed Infliximab and Entanercept.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not available centrally. Infliximab and Entanercept are available on NHS prescription. However, their use depends on the clinical judgement of specialists experienced in the management of rheumatoid arthritis. Data on drugs dispensed in ho…

23 Jan 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to change the guidance issued to local authorities in regard to applications from local authorities for Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnerships projects.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive Education Department invited local authorities to bid for a share of funding for revenue support for Public Private Partnership school buildings projects in Circular 8/2001 which was issued on 26 September 2001. The circular outlines th…

15 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish details of grant aided expenditure in respect of 2000-03 in a "green book" and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Answer · Peter Peacock: "Green books" for 2000-01 and 2001-02 are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 7912 and 12261 respectively). Allocations of grant aided expenditure for 2002-03 and 2003-04 were based on those for 2001-02, adjusted to take account of pr…

11 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a statutory duty of Best Value to the expenditure of each of its Departments.

Answer · Andy Kerr: We are committed to Best Value and will be extending a requirement for Best Value across the public sector, including departments of the Executive, by spring 2002.

11 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend a statutory duty of Best Value to the expenditure of NHS boards and trusts.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are currently no plans to extend a statutory duty of Best Value to NHS Boards and Trusts. NHS Trusts already have a statutory responsibility to carry out their functions effectively, efficiently and economically. Additionally, the operational and financ…

11 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend a statutory duty of Best Value to non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) for which it has responsibility and to which NDPBs this would be applied.

Answer · Andy Kerr: We are committed to Best Value and will be extending a requirement for Best Value across the public sector, including NDPBs, by spring 2002.

3 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20665 by Peter Peacock on 28 December 2001, which ministers attended the meetings of the Ministerial Working Group on Renewing Local Democracy on 3 October 2000, 13 November 2000 and 13 February 2001.

Answer · Peter Peacock: As indicated in the Guide to Collective Decision Making, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 5884), the Executive operates on the basis of collective responsibility and does not disclose details of the interna…

5 Dec 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times and on what dates the Ministerial Working Group considering the report of the Working Group on Renewing Local Democracy met in the period from 1 September 2000 to 31 November 2001 and which ministers attended each meeting.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Three meetings of the Ministerial Working Group on Renewing Local Democracy were held during the period from 1 September 2000 to 30 November 2001 on 3 October, 13 November and 13 February. The membership of the committee was announced in July 2000 and compris…

20 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals hold two or more appointments to public bodies; when they were appointed to each body, and what remuneration each such person receives for each appointment.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19592.

20 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what public bodies Esther Roberton has been appointed to since May 1997 and what the remuneration is for each position.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The following table details the requested information.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=609><TR><TD WIDTH="43%" VALIGN="TOP">Name of NDPB</TD><TD WIDTH="9%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUS…