Mr Keith Harding

13 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34201 by Peter Peacock on 5 March 2003, when it will make its decision on the request for grant funding from the Association of Scottish Community Councils.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34201 on 5 March 2003. We are waiting for further information from the Association of Scottish Community Councils in relation to its request for further funding. All answers to written parliamentary quest…

5 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing its annual report, Appointments to Non-Departmental Public Bodies in Scotland.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive's annual report on <I>Appointments to Scottish Public Bodies</I> is published in accordance with the recommendations of the <I>First Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life</I>. The total cost of printing, publishing and distributing…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement the recommendation made by the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits and Taking the initiative - Using PFI contracts to renew council schools that the Executive should consider developing a leadership role in order to ensure that th…

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Financial Partnerships Unit within the Scottish Executive has already developed a leadership role with regard to local authority schools public private partnership(PPP) projects in order that the experience and skills learned from current PPP projects are…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the finding in the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits that "scope exists for improvement in the arrangements for monitoring the proper and effective use of funds".

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34376 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/searc…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to assist local authorities in addressing the quality of performance of direct labour organisations (DLOs) and direct service organisations (DSOs), following the finding of the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits that the percentag…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Scottish Executive officials met formally with representatives of those local authorities with significant deficits earlier this year. These discussions established the causes of the deficits, and that recovery plans were being developed for the DSOs and DLOs…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the finding in the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits that "if Scotland's recycling record is to improve councils need to give recycling greater priority".

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive launched the National Waste Plan on 24 February 2003, which establishes the direction of our policies for sustainable waste management to 2020. This plan provides an integrated summary of the 11 Area Waste Plans, which were prepared by groups in…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take any action in response to the finding in the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits that some local authority joint boards have yet to establish audit committees or equivalent scrutiny mechanisms.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34376 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/searc…

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to address the continuing weaknesses in the fundamental financial controls of local authority audits referred to in the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits.

Answer · Andy Kerr: It is the responsibility of the local authorities concerned to respond to weaknesses revealed by the auditors. From 1 April the new duty of Best Value provided in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 will be accompanied by a broadening of the grounds on …

28 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to encourage local authorities to introduce a code of conduct for council officers to complement the Councillor's Code of Conduct, following the recommendation for such a code in the Accounts Commission's Overview of the 2001/02 local authority audits.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I understand that all local authorities already have a code of conduct for council officers in place.

25 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Scottish Economic Report: February 2003.

Answer · Iain Gray: The total costs of printing, publishing and distributing the February 2003 edition of the <I>Scottish Economic Report</I> are estimated at £9,684 including VAT.

25 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Nurturing Wealth Creation: A Report by the Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group.

Answer · Iain Gray: The costs of printing, publishing, including conversion for web publication, and distributing <I>Nurturing Wealth Creation: A Report by the Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group </I>amounted to £4,843.86.

20 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it will give to the Association of Scottish Community Councils in each of the next three financial years.

Answer · Peter Peacock: A request for further grant funding has been received from the ASCC and is being considered.

13 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force Annual Report: Achievements 2002.

Answer · Iain Gray: The cost of publishing and printing the <I>Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force Annual Report: Achievements 2002</I> was £4,400, and was met in full by Jobcentre Plus. The Scottish Executive distributed the majority of the reports through its internal courier …

12 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to update its policy on planning agreements between developers and local authorities made under section 50 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 and set out in Scottish Office Development Department Circular 12/1996.

Answer · Des McNulty: The Executive has no specific plans at present to amend the policy on planning agreements as set out in the Scottish Office Development Department Circular 12/1996.<P>As a result of the consolidation of planning legislation, the provisions on planning agreeme…

12 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing The Scottish Executive's Central Heating Programme and the Warm Deal: Annual Report 2001/02.

Answer · Des McNulty: The total cost was £5,500.

12 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33579 by Ms Margaret Curran on 6 February 2003, how many empty local authority houses have been brought back into use under the Empty Homes Initiative.

Answer · Margaret Curran: In total the Empty Homes Initiative (EHI) has so far brought back into use 1,318 empty properties for use by those in housing need. Local authorities took the lead in developing EHI projects often in partnership with Registered Social Landlords. No separate b…

5 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that all local authorities meet the national target of dealing with 80% of all planning applications within two months.

Answer · Des McNulty: Ministers attach considerable importance to the performance of planning authorities in processing planning applications and are keen to see performance match the Executive's targets in this regard. To that end, the Executive carries out a rolling programme of…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to assist local authorities to bring empty local authority housing stock back into use.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Empty Homes Initiative (EHI) provided funding of almost £24 million to help local authorities establish appropriate strategies and best practice, as well as bringing empty homes back into use. An evaluation report and research into case studies confirmed …

22 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what City Growth Fund money can be spent on and whether ministerial approval is required before any money from the fund can be spent.

Answer · Margaret Curran: It is for city councils, liaising with neighbouring councils and other stakeholders, to identify priorities for spending in their City Visions. We intend to work in partnership with councils in developing and agreeing these. Once that has been achieved funds …

21 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland: 2000-2001.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The total costs of printing, publishing and distributing the <I>Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland: 2000-2001</I> report are estimated at £5,600.

21 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Scotland's Budget Documents 2003-04, Budget (Scotland) (No.4) Bill for the year ending 31 March 2004.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The costs of publishing, printing and the distribution of <I>Scotland's Budget Documents 2003-04</I> are set out as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=491><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Document </TD><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>P…

21 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to ensure that local authorities improve their collection of recoverable overpayments of housing benefit.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Housing Benefit (HB), including overpayment, is a reserved matter under the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).<P>In April 2002, the DWP published a comprehensive set of performance standards for the administration of HB, including s…

15 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the re-organisation of Scottish Water and its procurement arrangements, whether the infrastructure will be in place to meet European legislative deadlines in relation to waste water.

Answer · Ross Finnie: In the period until March 2006, Scottish Water will be investing some £1.8 billion towards modernising its infrastructure. About half of this amount will be invested in waste water treatment facilities. Responsibility for ensuring that infrastructure is in pl…

15 Jan 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and what issues will be discussed.

Answer · Andy Kerr: We meet regularly with COSLA to discuss issues relevant to local government. My next meeting with COSLA is on 18 February.

10 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Building Better Cities: Delivering Growth and Opportunities and the accompanying document Next Steps.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Final invoices for the printing, publishing and distribution of <I>Review of Scotland's Cities - the Analysis</I> and <I>Building Better Cities: Delivering Growth and Opportunities</I>, have yet to be received. The budgeted costs for these publications are £3…

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of printing, publishing and distributing Recording our Achievements and how many copies were printed.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The final costs of printing, publishing and distributing <I>Recording Our Achievements</I> were £45,392. 2,300 main reports and 31,000 summaries were initially produced. Following publication on 16 December a second print run of 62,000 summaries was undertake…

11 Dec 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making with its Safer Routes to Schools initiative.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The provision of Safer Routes to Schools is a matter for individual local authorities, having regard to local needs and circumstances. In December 1999, the Executive published <I>How to run a successful Safer Route to School </I>which gives guidance on initi…

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing, distributing and launching "It's everyone's job to make sure I'm alright" - Report of the Child Protection Audit and Review, and the accompanying Literature Review.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Unfortunately this information is not currently available. Due to very high demand, a reprint of the report is now in progress. We would hope to have this information by the end of January 2003.

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing, distributing and launching (a) Social Justice...a Scotland where everyone matters - Annual Report 2002 and (b) Social Justice...a Scotland where everyone matters - Indicators of progress: Definitions, data, baseline and trends information …

Answer · Margaret Curran: The cost of publishing and printing <I>Social Justice...a Scotland where everyone matters - Annual Report 2002</I> and the technical annex to the report was £19,159. To date, costs relating to distribution and the launch stand at £3,563.

14 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many child (a) fatalities and (b) accidents while travelling to and from school there have been in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover "damage only" accide…