Parliamentary questions
Johann Lamont
1,407 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
28 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support urban community transport.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive has made £500,000per year available between 2003-06 to pilot, and encourage the development of,urban community transport. The funds will be spent in some of the more sociallydisadvantaged City Council areas. Bids have been received from the four…
22 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve services for victims of rape and sexual abuse.
Answer · Margaret Curran: I will provide £1.76 millionfor rape crisis groups over the two years 2004-05 and 2005-06. This fundingwill enable services to develop and ensure that victims of rape and sexualabuse receive the support they need.</p>
3 Dec 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in meeting its commitment to establish a co-operative development agency.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Officials have been meetinginformally with a wide range of key stakeholders to discuss the aims,objectives and structure of a Scottish Co-operative Development Agency. Aconsultation document is currently being prepared and will be issued early in2004.</p>
20 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the criminal assets sei'ed from June 2002 to June 2003 has been put to the use of community projects.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Our policy has been to userecovered criminal assets to support the treatment of homeless drug misusers,and to help families affected by the hardship that drugs bring. However, the First Ministerannounced on 21 November that future awards would be used to supp…
20 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what value of criminal assets was sei'ed from June 2002 to June 2003.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The Crown Office andProcurator Fiscal Service monitors performance on a financial year basis. Thirtytwo confiscation orders were made in the Financial Year 2002-03, totalling£1,682,587.</p><p>In the current year sinceApril 2003, £1,548,461 has been confiscate…
7 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the voluntary organisations to which it has allocated (a) direct grants, indicating the amount awarded in each case and (b) indirect grants, indicating the amount offered in each case, in 2003-04.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: I have today arranged forthe release of a spreadsheet detailing direct and indirect grants to voluntaryorganisations in 2003-04. In 2003-04, the Executive will be providing £262 milliondirectly and £112 million indirectly, £374 million in total, to the volunt…
6 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to license the operational bases of taxi companies.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Executive Officials have hada number of informal discussions with local government officials, the trade andthe police to assist consideration of the best way to tackle problemsassociated with taxi and private hire car booking offices. It is anticipatedthat we…
2 Sep 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional support it will provide for credit unions.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: As part of our Partnership Agreement commitment to support the development of credit unions, I am announcing today the Scottish Credit Union Capacity Fund. This will make support available of up to £1.1 million over the next three years, of which £650,000 is …
25 Jun 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its proposals to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Answer · Margaret Curran: I will be publishing our consultation paper <I>Putting Our Communities First: A Strategy for Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour</I> later today. Copies of the consultation paper have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 28038). It will al…
19 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34716 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 March 2003, what the timetable is for extending the remit of the Security Industry Authority to Scotland.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I am in contact with the Home Secretary to find a suitable legislative vehicle in the UK Parliament to allow this legislation to be brought forward.
14 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many community service orders were issued in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available; how many such orders were breached, and how the effectiveness of such orders was monitored.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The latest figures for Community Service Orders (CSOs) relate to the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002: <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=215><TR><TD WIDTH="81%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>CSOs Issued</TD><TD WIDTH="19%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>4,564</TD></TR><…
27 Feb 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce legislation to ensure that funds specifically exempt from arrestment such as social security benefits and working families' tax credits cannot be arrested by sheriff officers if these funds are contained within a bank account.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is committed to continuing the existing principle of protecting subsistence levels of income from arrestment. It recognises that there can be practical difficulties in achieving this when benefits are paid direct into a bank account, an…
12 Feb 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support improvement of the urban environment.
Answer · Des McNulty: A range of Executive policies is delivering real improvement in Scotland's towns and cities. In Glasgow,the 80,000 tenants transferring from council to community ownership will benefit from a £1.6 billion pound investment in warm, dry homes over the next 10 y…
22 Jan 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing proposals to regulate the private security industry.
Answer · Jim Wallace: We remain committed to regulating the private security industry and are still considering how to do this. We will make an announcement as soon as we are in a position to do so.
11 Dec 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce national standards for the youth justice system.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I announced the publication of the national standards for Scotland's youth justice system earlier today<B>. </B>The report <I>National Standards for Scotland's Youth Justice Services</I> is available at the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25683).
2 Dec 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in the review of guidance provision in secondary schools.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has carried out extensive consultation over the proposed framework for the review. The first stage will be to research good and innovative practice within and outwith Scotland. The Executive will establish a reference group to oversee s…
27 Nov 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is helping asylum seekers integrate into communities.
Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive established the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum to allow Scotland's statutory and voluntary agencies to work in partnership to support refugees more effectively. Where appropriate, the forum has also considered the needs of asylum seekers. It…
20 Nov 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is currently providing for urban community transport.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Local authorities have the discretion to decide how and where their allocations will be spent and some local authorities in urban areas have chosen to fund "dial-a-ride" and other community transport services. <P>The Executive is committed to improv…
20 Nov 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in establishing the Bus Users Complaints Tribunal.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Provision for the establishment of the Bus User Complaints Tribunal was made in section 41 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. Detailed regulations setting out the operational framework for the tribunal were made on 22 April 2002 in the Bus User Complaints …
20 Nov 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to monitor the effectiveness of victim information and advice services.
Answer · Jim Wallace: An evaluation of the Crown Office Victim Information and Advice Service is under way and it is anticipated that the results will be published early in 2003.
31 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Partnership in Practice agreements clearly set out performance indicators, targets, milestones and timescales to allow comparisons of progress across Scotland.
Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31129 on 11 November 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:<P><A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliamen…
31 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27845 by Mr Frank McAveety on 20 August 2002, whether it will report on and publish its assessment of the revised Partnership in Practice agreements submitted by local authorities.
Answer · Frank McAveety: The Scottish Executive feedback on initial Partnership in Practice Agreements will shortly be available on the learning disability review website at <A HREF="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr">www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr</A>, as will the revised Partnership in Pra…
31 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27807 by Mr Frank McAveety on 19 August 2002, whether it will detail any local authorities that failed to increase their expenditure on learning disability services by the amount allocated from the Learning Disability Services Change Fund for 2001-02.
Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31136. 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_wa"…
31 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27805 by Mr Frank McAveety on 19 August 2002, whether it will publish the allocations to each local authority from the Learning Disability Services Change Fund through the general local government settlement for 2003-04.
Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31136 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/sear…
31 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27804 by Mr Frank McAveety on 19 August 2002, whether it will publish the allocations to each local authority from the Learning Disability Services Change Fund through the general local government settlement for 2001-02 and 2002-03.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Information about change funds allocated to each local authority in each year from 2001-02 to 2003-04 will shortly be available on the learning disability review website at <A HREF="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr">www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr</A>. This will incl…
28 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that education authorities are introducing a school meals application for multiple use cards in secondary schools as recommended in Hungry for success, A Whole School Approach To School Meals In Scotland, the Interim Report of the Expert Panel on Schoo…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Minister for Finance and Public Services announced on 24 May support of £5.4 million to a consortium of local authorities led by COSLA to develop services to young people in the 12-18 age group, alongside the development of a young persons smartcard. The …
28 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that education authorities and schools are adopting the nutrient standards for school lunches as recommended in Hungry for success, A Whole School Approach To School Meals In Scotland, the Interim Report of the Expert Panel on School Meals.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The proposed nutrient standards are one of a number of recommendations in the Expert Panel's interim report which is currently out for consultation. We will consider what action to take once we receive the panel's final report later this year.
30 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local area co-ordinators are linked electronically in order to assist communication with regard to The Same as You?.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Yes. We have established an e-mail network of local authority and NHS contacts for the Partnership in Practice agreements. Local area co-ordinators can use this electronic network to communicate with each other, and with other stakeholders.
30 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local area co-ordinators were appointed by the deadline set in The Same as You?, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Frank McAveety: There is no deadline for appointing local area co-ordinators. The recommendation in <I>The Same as You?</I> is that "initial training for putting local area co-ordinators in place will begin in autumn 2001".<P>Training for local area co-ordinators s…
30 Jul 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local area co-ordinators are in place in every local authority and how many such posts (a) have been created in addition to the existing staffing complement and (b) form part of an existing member of staff's remit to take forward implementation of The Same as You?, broken down by …
Answer · Frank McAveety: The process of appointing local area co-ordinators across Scotland has only begun recently, and will take some time. Most local authorities have given a commitment to appoint local area co-ordinators by the end of 2002.