Parliamentary questions
Jack McConnell
47 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the new International Development Fund is allocated specically to the Malawi Development Programme for each of the next three years.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: As announced on 23 August 2007 and confirmed in the international development policy launched on 7 May 2008, at least £3 million per year is ringfenced for Malawi: representing at least 50% in 2008-09, 50% in 2009-10, and 33% in 2010-11 of the total Internat…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated benefit to the economy is of Project Scotland and whether ministers consider that benefit to be worth maintaining.
Answer · John Swinney: Volunteering placements provide a broad range of recognised benefits to the individual and the community. As these benefits are dependent on the volunteering placement itself, it is difficult to estimate the economic value of a facilitating organisation which…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, young people who participated in Project Scotland schemes in each of the last four years have not found full-time or part-time employment or have not gone on to training or further education following their placement.
Answer · Jim Mather: ProjectScotland is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity whose aims and objectives are to promote the welfare and relieve the needs of the population of Scotland by encouraging and assisting young people to provide their skills and servic…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many organisations in Scotland have benefited from having a Project Scotland volunteer in each of the last four years.
Answer · Jim Mather: ProjectScotland is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity whose aims and objectives are to promote the welfare and relieve the needs of the population of Scotland by encouraging and assisting young people to provide their skills and servic…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have applied to participate in Project Scotland schemes in each of the last four years.
Answer · Jim Mather: ProjectScotland is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity whose aims and objectives are to promote the welfare and relieve the needs of the population of Scotland by encouraging and assisting young people to provide their skills and servic…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, young people who participated in Project Scotland schemes in each of the last four years went on to training or further education.
Answer · Jim Mather: ProjectScotland is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity whose aims and objectives are to promote the welfare and relieve the needs of the population of Scotland by encouraging and assisting young people to provide their skills and servic…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, young people who participated in Project Scotland schemes in each of the last four years went on to full-time or part-time employment.
Answer · John Swinney: ProjectScotland is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity whose aims and objectives are to promote the welfare and relieve the needs of the population of Scotland by encouraging and assisting young people to provide their skills and servic…
19 May 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have participated in Project Scotland schemes in each of the last four years.
Answer · John Swinney: ProjectScotland is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity whose aims and objectives are to promote the welfare and relieve the needs of the population of Scotland by encouraging and assisting young people to provide their skills and servic…
4 Apr 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of energy companies operating in Scotland to discuss fuel poverty and what outcomes were agreed.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I met with Scottish Power on 17 December 2007, Scottish and Southern Energy on 3 March 2008 and Scottish Gas on 4 March 2008. I also met with Ofgem on 17 December 2007 and the Energy Retail Association on 30 January. Subjects discussed included the impact of …
5 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig site will remain a national priority for the enterprise network.
Answer · Jim Mather: Discussions are underwayabout the transfer of regeneration activities between Scottish Enterprise and localauthorities in line with recent reforms. Projects will be classified as being significantat a local, regional or national level but no decisions have be…
5 Dec 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of financial support is committed by it and other government agencies to the redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig site.
Answer · Jim Mather: The ScottishGovernment and its agencies have provided financial support for theredevelopment of the former Ravenscraig site as follows:</p><p>ScottishEnterprise has approved funding of up to £12.869 million to the Ravenscraigproject for infrastructure costs i…
8 Nov 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has held any discussions with energy companies regarding customers being charged higher prices as they cannot afford to pay their bills by direct debit and are unable to take advantage of preferential pricing schemes and, if so, what progress has been made on this issue.
Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have written toeach of the three main energy companies which operate in Scotland; Scottish Power,Scottish and Southern Energy and British Gas, inviting them to meet with me as soonas possible to discuss fuel poverty and the action that they are taking to he…
21 Jun 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the agreed procedure in relation to the confidentiality of advice provided to the previous administration will be respected by the new Scottish Ministers appointed in May 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Governmentwill respect the convention on access to information of a former administrationwhere this is not inconsistent with its obligations to provide information underthe Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.</p>
20 Jun 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reaffirm the recent decisions of the Scottish Funding Council on the development of a new site for Motherwell College on the Ravenscraig site.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Funding decisions inrelation to individual institutions are entirely a matter for the ScottishFunding Council, free from Ministerial interference.</p><p>I understand that finalconsideration of capital grant towards a new purpose-built campus for Motherwell Co…
20 Jun 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reaffirm the recent financial commitments from the board of Scottish Enterprise to the development of the Ravenscraig site.
Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Enterpriseboard’s financial commitment to Ravenscraig is an operational matter for ScottishEnterprise and does not require further affirmation from the Scottish Executive.</p>
20 Jun 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to meet representatives of Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire Council, Wilson Bowden Developments and Corus to discuss their proposals for developing the Ravenscraig brownfield site.
Answer · Jim Mather: There are currentlyno plans for the Scottish Government to meet with representatives of Scottish EnterpriseLanarkshire, North Lanarkshire Council, Wilson Bowden Developments and Corus todiscuss their proposals for developing the Ravenscraig brownfield site. S…
20 Jun 2007 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the redevelopment of the Ravenscraig site and will work constructively with the Ravenscraig Partnership on issues falling within the Executive’s remit.
Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Governmentsupports the redevelopment of the Ravenscraig site and has allocated funding toScottish Enterprise to help it contribute to that. We will engage with the RavenscraigPartnership if and when such engagement is required.</p>