David McLetchie

18 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23444 by Alex Neil on 12 May 2009, what the maximum monetary discount under the modernised right to buy would be if it were indexed by reference to the rise in house prices, not the retail price index.

Answer · Alex Neil: Although Scottish ministers do have powers to vary modernised right to buy discount entitlements in certain circumstances, no clear power exists to allow indexation.</p> <p >Under the modernised right to buy the maximum discount is 35% of the market value o…

7 May 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what aspects of the Glasgow pilot community court will be brought forward.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: We have agreed with Glasgow to explore the scope to invest in a more focused service to test out an improved payback scheme for the East End. Officials are meeting with the Director of Social Work for Glasgow this month to start these discussions. We share wi…

1 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of right to buy sales in each year since 1979-80, broken down by (a) local authority landlords and (b) other social landlords and also showing the number of sales under the (i) modernised and (ii) preserved right to buy schemes.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of properties sold each year under right to buy legislation (RTB) by local authorities since 1979-80 are shown in table 1. These figures include sales by the former Scottish Homes and New Towns.</p> <p >The number of properties sold under right t…

1 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum monetary discount under the modernised right to buy scheme would be if it was indexed with reference to the appropriate house price index or indices.

Answer · Alex Neil: Under the modernised right to buy the maximum discount is 35% of the market value of the property or £15,000, whichever is less. Had the £15,000 cap been indexed to the Retail Price Index (all items) when the modernised right to buy came into force on 30 Sept…

1 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secure tenancies it estimates fall under the (a) modernised and (b) preserved right to buy schemes and what changes have taken place in these numbers since the coming into force of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested for local authority tenants is not held by the Scottish Government.</p> <p >The information requested for tenants of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) is held by the Scottish Housing Regulator and is presented in the following tabl…

1 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secure tenancies there are in each local authority area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

23 Apr 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce new NHS waiting time targets.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon : <i>This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0430-01.htm">http://www.scotti…

22 Jan 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that the investigation of serious fraud in Scotland can be carried out effectively.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: <i> This PQ was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0122-01.htm">http://www.scottish.pa…

23 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-17745 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2008, how many appeals by retired NHS staff against pay banding are outstanding following assimilation under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The data collected by the Scottish Government does not detail either the number of specific review requests submitted or how many of these are from retired members of staff. Current data collection covers both the number of posts for which review requests hav…

23 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-17745 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2008, how many appeals against pay banding have been lodged by retired NHS staff following assimilation under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The data collected by the Scottish Government does not detail either the number of specific review requests submitted or how many of these are from retired members of staff. Current data collection covers both the number of posts for which review requests hav…

23 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-17745 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2008, how many retired NHS staff are awaiting assimilation under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Assimilation is being taken forward in partnership locally and I know that existing staff have generally been prioritised for assimilation over retirees. There will, therefore, be retirees waiting for assimilation in many parts of the country. The Scottish Go…

23 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W–17745 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2008, how many appeals against pay banding are outstanding following assimilation under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Under Agenda for Change staff have the right to request a review of their matching or evaluation outcome. As nearly all staff have been placed on the new pay system, boards are now turning their attention to completing reviews as early in 2009 as possible.</p…

23 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-17745 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 November 2008, how many appeals against pay banding have been lodged following assimilation under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Under Agenda for Change staff have the right to request a review of their matching or evaluation outcome. As nearly all staff have been placed on the new pay system, boards are now turning their attention to completing reviews as early in 2009 as possible.</p…

20 Nov 2008 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to legislate on the subject of high hedges and, if so, when.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: We are in the process of investigating options “ including legislative ones “ for supporting a means of resolving disputes about high hedges. The findings of this work will be reported to Parliament early in 2009, alongside the findings of the review of natio…

18 Nov 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its contribution to the Edinburgh trams project will remain at £500 million if Phase 1b does not go ahead.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government will pay the agreed 91.7% of costs expended by CEC on lines 1a and 1b up to a limit of £500 million. This arrangement is not altered by the status of Line 1b.</p>

18 Nov 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how payment of the remainder of its £500 million contribution to the Edinburgh trams project will be phased, specifying anticipated (a) timescale, (b) size and (c) purpose of each payment.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The detailed phasing of expenditure is for City of Edinburgh Council to manage. The Scottish Government will continue to meet its agreed obligation of 91.7% of expenditure, subject to annual limits of £120 million in this financial year and £149 million in ne…

18 Nov 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its £500 million contribution to the Edinburgh trams project has already been spent, broken down by (a) date of release and (b) size and purpose of each payment.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government pays a proportionate share (91.7%) of the City of Edinburgh Council''s expenditure on development and implementation costs for the Edinburgh Tram project. A total of £206.881 million has been drawn down to date as set out in table 1.</…

25 Aug 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14928 by Linda Fabiani on 7 August 2008, when it intends to publish a further report on the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme and whether the report will (a) assess the extent to which the recent growth in the population of Scotland is directl…

Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme: Evidence Review report is now available on the Scottish Government website at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent">www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent</a>. A copy of the report will also be…

12 Aug 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the rules governing the operation of the public sector land trawl.

Answer · John Swinney: The rules governing the operation of the public sector land trawl are to be found in the Scottish Public Finance Manual Guidelines on the Disposal of Tangible Fixed Assets. The guidance on the trawl mechanism is found in paragraph 14 and the Annex, particular…

11 Aug 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its projection is of the lottery funds that may be available for distribution in Scotland by the Big Lottery Fund, sportscotland, the Scottish Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund in each of the next five financial years.

Answer · John Swinney: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility for National Lottery funding. Projection of lottery funds is a matter for the lottery distribution bodies: Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen, sportscotland, Big Lottery Fund and Heritage Lott…

11 Aug 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to amend its guidance on local authority proposals for the school estate to include reference to the commitment in its concordat with local government to reduce class sizes in P1 to P3 to a maximum of 18 as a factor to be taken into account in framing such proposals.

Answer · Maureen Watt: No. We re-issued <i >Additional Guidance on Local Authority Proposals for the School Estate, including School Closures</i> on 11 October 2007. A copy is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43920). The primary purpose of the gu…

11 Aug 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that reductions in class sizes to a maximum of 18 in P1 to P3 can be achieved without the introduction of legislation.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Progress is being made to reduce class sizes to 18 in P1 to P3 without legislation. We signed a concordat with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities last year under which local government undertook to reduce primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum …

2 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what total receipts were generated from the sale of homes under right-to-buy legislation in each year since its introduction and what its best estimate is with regard to how such receipts were applied to (a) repayment of debt, (b) investment in new or improved homes by local authorities a…

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The number of sales to public authority sitting tenants under right-to-buy legislation and the total receipts from these sales are shown in the following table.</p> <p >Right-to-Buy Sales and Receipts from Sales to Sitting Tenants of Public Authority Stock: …

9 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes were built by local authorities and registered social landlords in each year from (a) 1979 to 1997 and (b) 1998 to the latest year for which the information is available.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The information requested is published as live tables on the Scottish Government website at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildLA">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housi…

9 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail for each of the four local authorities concerned the expenditure which gives rise to the aggregate figure of £148.4 million referred to as the sum “wasted in trying to get people to vote for stock transfer” by the Minister for Communities and Sport on 8 May 2008 (Of…

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: A significant amount of this money, almost £40 million, was spent on costs relating to the stock transfer process or on trying to persuade tenants of the benefits of stock transfer, something they ultimately rejected. That was a complete waste of money.</p> …

6 Mar 2008 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what internal research it has conducted on the possibility of local authorities reducing business rates in their areas and when it will be published.

Answer · John Swinney: The implications of giving local authorities discretion to reduce business rates locally are still being explored. Further information on this work will be given in due course.</p>

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings have taken place of the (a) Implementation Group and (b) Strategic Group which it established jointly with COSLA to examine aspects of the implementation and interpretation of the legislation in relation to free personal care; whether it has received any reports and reco…

Answer · Shona Robison: Several informal and formal meetings have taken place between Scottish Government and COSLA officials to discuss various strategic and implementation issues. In addition, there have been two meetings between Scottish ministers and the COSLA President to help …

24 Oct 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with the Scottish Association for Steiner Waldorf Education since May 2007.

Answer · Maureen Watt: As indicated in myletter of 27 August to Mr McLetchie, I along with officials met representativesof the Scottish Association for Steiner Waldorf Education on 3 October.</p>

17 Oct 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on the funding of the Edinburgh tram scheme.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: AsI confirmed in my statement to Parliament on 27 September this year the ScottishGovernment will provide up to £500 million in financial support to the City of Edinburgh Council’s tram project.</p>

14 Sep 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated the cost of extending the National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons to the disabled people on the lower rate of the care component of disability living allowance and, if so, how many people would benefit from such an extension of the sch…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: We have not estimatedthe cost of extending the scheme in this way and we have no current plans to amendthe national criteria for eligibility. The scheme which began in April 2006, isdue to be reviewed after three years.</p>