Parliamentary questions

Des McNulty

1,840 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make available more affordable housing in the west of Scotland, in particular in the Bearsden and Milngavie area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows: The Executive is making £1.2 billion available over the next three years to meet the need for affordable housing in Scotland. The affordable…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what projects have been funded by the New Futures Fund in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area and how much has been allocated to each project since the inception of the fund.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Scottish Enterprise (SEn), which manages New Futures Fund, has provided funding for the following projects since its inception in 1998; In East Dunbartonshire Lowmoss Prison Offenders project £55,000, East Dunbartonshire Council Multi Agency Drug and A…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to the Rough Sleepers Initiative in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area since the inception of the initiative; where in these areas the money has been spent, and how successful the initiative has been.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Between 1997 and 2002, local authorities received funding from the Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) on the basis of bids made to the Executive setting out the need for such funding in their area. RSI Funding to East and West Dunbartonshire 1997-98 to 20…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area as a result of the creation of Careers Scotland in each year since its inception and what this funding was spent on.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Careers Scotland wasestablished as part of the Enterprise Networks from April 2002 and the responsibilityfor funding the services that they provide was transferred to Scottish Enterpriseand Highlands and Islands Enterprise at that time. This is thereforean op…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its funding for free personal and nursing care was allocated to the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: West Dunbartonshire are allocated £801,000 and East Dunbartonshire £2,115,000 from the Free Personal and Nursing Care Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) line, for people in care homes, for the current financial year, 2005‑06. Free personal care for pe…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) capital and (b) revenue funding the Scottish Further Education Funding Council allocated to Clydebank College in each year since 1996.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Further Education Funding Council, a predecessor of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, took over the responsibility of allocating funds to further education colleges from the Scottish Office Education and Industry Departme…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many families in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area have benefited from Sure Start Scotland; in what ways they have benefited, and how much of that organisation's funding was allocated to projects in the areas.

Answer · Robert Brown: Data on the number of individual beneficiaries of the Sure Start Scotland programme, by local authority, is not held centrally. Since the programme began in 1999, West Dunbartonshire has received £4.016 million and East Dunbartonshire has received £2.2…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31383 by Dr Elaine Murray on 18 November 2002, how much additional money has been allocated to school sport in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1998-99.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the question S1W-33868 answered on 17 February 2003 and to the questions S2W-13717 and S2W-13718 answered on 2 February 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search …

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to increase the number of people who have taken part in voluntary activities in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area since 1997 and what indicators there are of success in this regard.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are a wide range of Scottish Executive initiatives designed to increase volunteering activity in Scotland that will impact on both East and West Dunbartonshire. These are: The Volunteering Strategy, with ProjectScotland, a new full time volunteer…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to increase the quality and variety of homes in disadvantaged areas of the West Dunbartonshire local authority area since 1997; how many homes have been built or improved as a consequence, and where these are located.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows: Communities Scotland (and its predecessor, Scottish Homes) has worked strenuously to increase the quality and variety of houses in disadvant…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that people living in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area who are eligible for free personal and nursing care receive such care.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has provided significant sums to local authorities to enable them to meet their free personal care commitments.

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its funding for the concessionary travel scheme can be ascribed to elderly and disabled people in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The cost of the Scotland-wide free bus scheme for older and disabled people will be capped at a maximum of £159 million in 2006-07. Estimates of costs below Scotland-level are not available.

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to improve crime clear-up rates in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Since 1999, the Scottish Executive has provided record resources to Strathclyde Police. The utilisation of these resources in the fight against crime is for the Chief Constable to decide. Information on the most recent clear up rates for the numbers of…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since 1997 to reduce the fear of crime among older people in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Since 1999, the Scottish Executive has made record resources available to Strathclyde Police which has resulted in 500 additional officers being recruited, bringing the total strength to over 7,700 officers. The deployment and utilisation of these offi…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since 1997 to reduce the incidence of (a) drug misuse, (b) injecting by drug abusers and (c) needle sharing in the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Answer · Hugh Henry: As set out in the Scottish Executive’s national strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, it is for local drug action teams (DATs) and constituent partners to plan and deliver the full range of drug treatment and care services in line…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since 1996 to reduce crime rates in disadvantaged areas in the West Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Since 1999, the Scottish Executive has made it a priority to provide the necessary resources to the police service to increase the number of police officers available to Chief Constables. In Strathclyde, the number of officers over this period has increased b…

22 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which drug action teams are operating in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area; how much funding has been allocated to each team, and what indicators have been established to assess the effectiveness of the teams.

Answer · Hugh Henry: East Dunbartonshire lies within Greater Glasgow Drug Action Team (DAT) area. Responsibility for West Dunbartonshire local authority area is spilt between Greater Glasgow Drug Action Team and Argyll and Clyde Alcohol and Drug Action Team. Greater Glasgo…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to prevent mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression in the (a) NHS Greater Glasgow, (b) Clydebank and (c) Milngavie and Bearsden area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is committed to supporting the promotion of positive mental health and well-being and the prevention of mental illness. Delivering for Health sets out the Executive’s plans to build the lessons of the Doing Well by People with Depressio…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the proportion of adults in the (a) NHS Greater Glasgow, (b) Clydebank and (c) Milngavie and Bearsden area affected by poor mental health.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Information for the areas requested is not held centrally. National estimates drawn from sample data of general practitioner consultations for dementia, post natal depression, anxiety and depression are available from the NHS, National Services Scotlan…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students truanted from schools in the (a) West Dunbartonshire (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 2001.

Answer · Peter Peacock: For the academic year 2003-04 there were an estimated 1,010 pupils (7%) from West Dunbartonshire schools who were recorded as truanting at least once during the year. For the academic year 2003-04 there were an estimated 740 pupils (4%) from East Dunba…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to strengthen discipline in schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Since the publication of Better Behaviour–Better Learning in 2001 the Scottish Executive has provided £10 million a year to education authorities to help them implement the 36 recommendations concerning policy and practice on discipline in schools and …

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds have not been in education, training or employment in the (a) West Dunbartonshire (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1996.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The official source for data for 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, training or employment (NEET) is the Labour Force Survey. Data on those who are NEET is not available at a Local Authority level from the LFS prior to 2003. Data for 2003 and 2004 is shown …

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the 10 most common life-threatening diseases are in Scotland.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Numbers of deaths and hospital discharges between 2000 and 2004 have been used as a proxy to derive the top 10 most common life-threatening diseases in Scotland. These are: 1. Chronic Ischaemic Heart Disease (Chronic heart disease)2. Acute Myoca…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the 10 most common causes of death are.

Answer · George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table which covers men and women separately. All deaths in Scotland are classified according to the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD). As with all classifications, th…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to eliminate hospital-acquired infections.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Ministerial Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Task Force is nearing completion of a three-year programme of work to improve prevention and control of HAI. The task force has developed a raft of tools, including a national Code of Practice for the Loca…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding allocations have been made to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank in each year since it has been under NHS control.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The funding allocations made each year to The Golden Jubilee Hospital, since it was purchased for the NHS in June 2002 are as shown in the following table. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> Year…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it now expects the first trains to run on the Larkhall to Milngavie rail line.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Larkhall Branch will be officially opened by the First Minister on Friday 9 December 2005. Thereafter, services will begin on Monday 12 December 2005.

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the benefits are of completing the Larkhall to Milngavie rail line.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The benefits of completing the Larkhall to Milngavie rail line are that it will: allow an increased frequency of services between Milngavie and central Glasgow and between Hamilton and central Glasgow;reconnect Larkhall to the rail network, maki…

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current budget is for the Katrine Water project.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The budget for the Loch Katrine Project is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to provide you with the details you require. In the meantime, you may be interested to know that Scottish …

18 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set for reduction of waste to landfill and what actions are being taken to meet these targets.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The EU Landfill Directive sets targets for the UK to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) going to landfill to: 75% of 1995 levels by 201050% of 1995 levels by 201335% of 1995 levels by 2020.The National Waste P…