Kenneth Gibson

2 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18253 by Angus MacKay on 19 September 2001, whether it will give a breakdown of the social justice underspend of #121.9 million in 2000-01.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive Accounts will provide this information. Audit Scotland are currently auditing the accounts and they will be laid before Parliament by January 2002.

25 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17480 by Susan Deacon on 24 September 2001, why it does not consider it feasible or desirable to attempt to influence the trend in the Scottish birth rate.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The decision of whether to have a family and how large that family should be is a personal one which, in a free and democratic society, cannot and must not be dictated by the state.

25 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17479 by Susan Deacon on 24 September 2001, what the range of implications from the continuing decline in the Scottish birth rate will be.

Answer · Susan Deacon: As explained in the answer to question S1W-17479, actuarial predictions suggest that the Scottish birth rate will remain fairly constant over the next 20 years. Any changes that take place will be small and gradual and are therefore unlikely to have significa…

4 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that contracts and sub-contracts for modernisation work arising from the proposed Glasgow housing stock transfer will be of a si'e that enables not just large but also small- and medium-si'ed Glasgow-based companies to win such contracts.

Answer · Margaret Curran: These are matters for the Glasgow Housing Association, which will set out its proposals in its business plan. This business plan will be subject to a value for money assessment undertaken by Glasgow City Council as part of its consideration of the transfer pr…

4 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was used to pay off local authority housing debt as a result of housing capital set-aside rules in each year since 1996-97, broken down by local authority.

30 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15309 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 May 2001, what progress the Housing and Employment Working Group is making in identifying the mechanisms required to maximise employment opportunities and inclusion benefits from future housing investment.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The housing and employment working group report is being completed. The group intends to hold a seminar in the autumn at which the report will be considered.

30 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that those who lend funds to organisations who have taken over housing stock following wholesale stock transfer do not wield undue influence on those organisations.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Registered Social Landlords have a continuing obligation to meet Scottish Homes' Registration Criteria and Performance Standards, which are aimed at protecting their independence and ensuring that they can operate free from inappropriate influence.

30 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the number of apprenticeships available in the construction industry and related trades in areas where stock transfer is being pursued.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17523 on 11 September 2001.

30 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will only approve large-scale stock transfers proposals subject to guaranteed speedy progress to second stage transfers to community-based registered social landlords as recommended in the 3rd Report, 2000 of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee, Housing…

Answer · Margaret Curran: As indicated in the Scottish Executive's response to that report, we will examine business plans to assess whether they deliver further choices to tenants for more localised solutions which are best suited to individual transfer proposals, taking account of t…

30 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will, after consultation, establish a model for the maximum number of housing units to be managed by a registered social landlord (RSL), as recommended in the 3rd Report, 2000 of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee, Housing Stock Transfer.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Scottish Homes will shortly issue a consultation paper setting out proposed criteria to be used in considering applications from social landlords wishing to be become RSLs. This will invite views on the registration procedures in respect of very large and ver…

9 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what smoking reduction initiatives it introduced prior to 31 July 2001 and what further initiatives are or were planned for launch between 1 August 2001 and the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Susan Deacon: As announced in the White Paper <I>Smoking Kills</I>, the Executive is providing £8 million over three years for smoking cessation and prevention activities. This supports a range of initiatives including health board cessation services. Other Executive initi…

9 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on improvement and repair grants for private sector houses in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and how much each is expected to spend in 2001-02, giving the figures in real terms in each case.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The following table sets out actual expenditure by local authorities on improvement and repairs grants for private sector houses for 1999-2000. Figures are not available for expenditure in 2000-01 or for the local authorities estimated expenditure in 2001-02.…

9 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) male and (b) female schoolchildren smoked in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The table shows the percentage of 12-15 year olds who were regular smokers.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=264><TR><TD WIDTH="21%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Year</TD><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Male…

9 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) males and (b) females smoked in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The table shows the percentage of adults aged between 16-64 years who were regular cigarette smokers in 1995 and 1998. These data are from the Scottish Health Survey, which is carried out periodically and is used as the source for monitoring progress against …

9 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the Scottish birth rate is continuing to decline year on year; whether it is possible to reverse this trend; if so, whether it would be desirable to do so and, if so, what steps it will take to achieve this.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The birth rate in Scotland has been declining for a number of years, from 19.2 per 1,000 in 1960 to 10.4 per 1,000 in 2000 (figures from GRO Scotland), although it is predicted that the rate will remain fairly constant up to 2021. The birth rate has fallen ov…

9 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the long-term implications are of the continuing decline in the Scottish birth rate.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish birth rate has been declining since 1960. This general trend is in line with the pattern in most other advanced industrial countries, although the birth rate in Scotland has declined more significantly than the rate for the UK as a whole. Actuari…

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the #5 million announced on 30 July 2001 for the installation of central heating in council homes in local authority areas where housing stock transfer is being considered comes from the previously announced #350 million funding for its central heating programme or from a differen…

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The £5 million announced on 30 July 2001 is part of the Scottish Executive's contribution to the overall programme and forms part of the overall budget of £26 million for 2001-02.

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #5 million announced on 30 July 2001 for the installation of central heating in council homes in local authority areas where housing stock transfer is being considered each of the relevant authorities will receive and over what timescale this money will be invested.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Glasgow Council and Shetland Islands Council have been offered £4.795 million and £205,000 respectively this year.

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that National Lottery monies allocated by the Community Fund are targeted at projects based in areas of social exclusion and why this has not happened to date.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Policy responsibility for the National Lottery is reserved. Responsibility for distributing proceeds from the lottery rests with the Distributing Bodies.

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the appointment of the development workers to be funded under the KickStart programme has been delayed and when all of these development workers will be in post.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Our aim has been to ensure that the KickStart programme is not &quot;top down&quot; in its approach and that it meets the diverse needs of voluntary and community groups around the country. This meant that we consulted widely, including with the Social Inclus…

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16621 by Jackie Baillie on 31 July 2001, how much will be invested in the central heating programme from each source in each year of the programme.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive is investing £26 million in 2001-02, £30 million in 2002-03 and £40 million in 2003-04. Allocations for the years beyond 2003-04 will be announced at the appropriate time. The Executive's investment will be supplemented by private secto…

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money it has received from each local authority as a result of housing capital set-aside rules in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive does not receive any money from local authorities as a result of the housing capital receipts set-aside rules.

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died in each of the last three years in fires known to be caused by cigarettes.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information is not available from the statistics prepared by the General Register Office for Scotland. However, the table gives the number of fatalities caused by fires where the source of ignition was known to be smokers' materials, excluding matches and…

2 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise public awareness of the health risks associated with passive smoking.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is working in conjunction with HEBS and ASH Scotland to explore the best means of raising awareness about the impact of passive smoking. A long-term media campaign, linked to other action at community and industry levels, is being devis…

31 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current estimate is of the cost of preparing its departments for the possible introduction of the euro.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The cost of a changeover would depend on the timing, the overall approach and individual management decisions.

31 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding convergence of the Scottish economy with the euro-'one area.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive has regular contact with HM Treasury on a range of economic issues.<P>UK membership of the single European currency is a reserved issue. Convergence between the UK economy and the economies of the single currency area is one of the five…

31 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to increase export activity following the Lloyds TSB Scotland Business Monitor Report of spring 2001, which indicated a 23% decrease in export activity in the first quarter of 2001.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive, through Scottish Trade International (STI), is committed to helping Scottish exporters. STI's activities have, over the past five years, been directed by the Export Development Strategy for Scotland.<P>The continuing need to ensure tha…

30 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to reduce the 33% of water supplies its Water Services Unit estimates is being lost through leakage and what targets it has set in this connection.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive will not approve new Water Orders or amendments to existing Water Orders for the abstraction of water for public water supplies unless the water authority can demonstrate that it has achieved the economic level of leakage for that supply. The Ex…

30 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of the 10,568 gigawatt-hours of electricity transferred to England and Wales in 1999-2000, as shown in Key Scottish Environment Statistics.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is commercial information, and as such is a matter for the power companies concerned.

27 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether elderly people who have central heating installed under its installation programme and who are owner-occupiers or private tenants will be eligible for a further grant if they move to a new home that does not have central heating.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Yes, further applications for grant will be accepted providing the applicant is using the house as their only or main residence.