Parliamentary questions

Malcolm Chisholm

362 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Third Sector Resilience Fund or any other funding stream can be accessed by voluntary sector organisations that are in difficulty because of the closure of the Scottish Voluntary Sector Pension Scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: I understand that the Scottish Voluntary Sector Pensions Scheme will close to future accrual of benefits from 1 April 2010. The Scottish Voluntary Sector Pensions Scheme is independent and the terms and conditions of employees of voluntary organisati…

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to assist voluntary sector organisations that have been adversely affected by the closure of the Scottish Voluntary Sector Pension Scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Voluntary Sector Pensions Scheme is independent and the terms and conditions of employees of voluntary organisations are a matter for their employers.

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its amendment 36 to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was passed in committee on 26 January 2010, has relevance to the position of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: Amendment 36 to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill sets out examples of protections for the purposes of the preconditions in section 12 on the use of the Order-making power in section 10. The power in section 10, and therefore the preconditions that m…

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the revised guidance on adult social care procurement will make it clear that retendering is not obligatory if existing services are of good quality and highly rated by users.

Answer · Shona Robison: The draft guidance on social care procurement states that a commissioning organisation should take account of feedback from service users and other information about the quality of an existing service when deciding if that service should be maintained. <…

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out on the impact on users and carers of tendering and retendering adult social care services.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government has engaged in a programme of research activity throughout 2009 to inform the development of draft guidance on social care procurement. This involved national surveys of local authorities and service providers; meetings with local authorit…

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities are investing in school-based mental health provision such as that provided by The Place2Be in 10 primary schools in Edinburgh.

Answer · Adam Ingram: This information is not held by the Scottish Government. It is for local authorities and their partners in NHS boards to design and determine the level of services provided to meet the needs of children and young people who require access to mental h…

9 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the accreditation of property managers stakeholders working group will complete its work.

Answer · Alex Neil: The stakeholder working group developing the accreditation scheme for property managers will complete its work during 2010.

20 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason most of the money allocated to Edinburgh from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund was allocated to an area that did not meet the criteria for being a town centre and was not on the list of relevant areas published previously by the Scottish Government, while no money was all…

Answer · Alex Neil: I can again confirm that all applications were subject to the same four stage assessment process. This is outlined in my response provided for S3W-26356, answered on 1 September 2009. The City of Edinburgh Council was issued with feedback on their Leith bid…

10 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how fuel poverty rates in the Duddingston and Craigentinny areas of Edinburgh, which were selected to benefit from the Home Insulation Scheme, compare with fuel poverty rates in the Granton, Pilton and Muirhouse areas.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not hold information on fuel poverty rates at the local level, such as Duddingston and Granton. The Scottish House Condition Survey provides fuel poverty rates disaggregated as far as local authority level; below this the …

10 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were employed in selecting areas to benefit from the £15 million Home Insulation Scheme.

Answer · Alex Neil: Seven criteria for area selection were agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), following a joint COSLA-Scottish Government workshop for local authorities on 28 April. Local authorities attending this joint session contributed to disc…

6 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will fund the shortfall that has arisen in relation to the Water of Leith Flood Prevention Scheme due to delays outwith the City of Edinburgh Council’s control subsequent to the original funding agreement.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: From 1 April 2008, specific funding of flood prevention and coast protection schemes was rolled up into the General Capital Grant now distributed to local authorities. In line with the concordat agreement with COSLA, the total amount of funding by the Scottis…

9 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason no additional funding has been provided to Telford College from the £7.7 million announced by the Scottish Funding Council on 9 July 2009.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Decisions on the funding of individual colleges are a matter for the Scottish Funding Council. I will ask the Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council to reply to the member.

7 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the combined maximum grant and loan for students under the age of 25 is significantly more than the maximum loan available to a students over the age of 25.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This policy is based on the report of the Cubie Committee, agreed and implemented by the previous administration, which recommended that the young students'' bursary and additional loan entitlement be introduced to widen access to higher education for student…

7 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason bursaries are not available to students over the age of 25.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The current policy is based on the report of the Cubie Committee, agreed and implemented by the previous administration. This established that young students under 25 from low-income families were underrepresented in higher education. As a result, the young s…

7 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that discretionary funds are available for students who require them.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We have increased provision for discretionary funds from the £14.04 million we inherited from the last administration (in 2006-07), to £14.7 million in 2007-08, £16.1 million in 2008-09 and to £16.44 million in 2009-10. This represents a total overall increas…

7 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students applied for discretionary funds in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2007-08.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The latest academic year for which information on applications for assistance from the higher education discretionary and childcare funds is available is 2007-08. This information is shown in the following table and is provided by the Student Awards Agency fo…

7 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) mature students and (b) students under the age of 25 applied for undergraduate discretionary funds in the last year for which information is available.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The information requested is not held centrally. The Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) does not collect details of the ages of students who have applied for and are assisted through the undergraduate discretionary fund.

7 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which universities and colleges (a) ran out of discretionary funds and (b) asked for additional resources for discretionary funds in the last year for which information is available.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has increased investment in student discretionary funds from the £14.04 million it inherited from the last administration (2006-07) to £16.1 million this year (2008-09). This is a rise of 14.6%. In academic year 2007-08 the fo…

29 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number is of pupils per primary school in each local authority.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The average number of pupils per primary school in each local authority is: Average Number of Pupils Per Primary School* <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td nowrap valign=bottom > Local Au…

29 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the target of 10% of all journeys to be made by bicycle by 2020 is not included in the Climate Change Delivery Plan.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The 10% target is a proposal contained in the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland consultation document. Pledge number 8 in the Climate Change Delivery Plan states that we will develop and deliver more sustainable transport to improve efficiency and reduce trans…

18 Jun 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult over the summer on whether the socioeconomic duty in the UK Equality Bill should be extended to Scotland.

Answer · Alex Neil: Yes - we plan to consult on this issue in summer 2009. Further to the Equal Opportunities Committee on 9 June, my colleagues and I have now had the opportunity to consider this matter. Earlier this week I wrote to the clerk of the committee to indicate that w…

8 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will modify by order section 7 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 to ensure that antisocial behaviour notices on landlords can be used in relation to holiday lets.

Answer · Alex Neil: We do not consider it to be necessary to modify the provisions, since the existing powers to deal with nuisance are sufficient. Local authorities have powers to deal with antisocial behaviour in holiday lets, including on the spot fines and seizure …

7 May 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23231 by Shona Robison on 7 May 2009, whether the £30 million from the Specialist Services for Children and Young People Fund that is not being allocated to child and adolescent mental health issues will also require match funding from NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: The £30 million funding that has been allocated to Specialist Services for Children and Young People in Scotland will not require match funding from NHS boards.

24 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any awards from the £32 million fund for the National Delivery Plan for Children and Young People’s Specialist Services announced on 20 January 2009 will require match funding from NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: From the £32 million funding that has been allocated to Specialist Services for Children and Young People, £2 million has been allocated for child and adolescent mental health issues which will require match funding from the NHS boards.

24 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £32 million for the National Delivery Plan for Children and Young People’s Specialist Services announced on 20 January 2009 has been allocated and how much has been allocated to children’s mental health services.

Answer · Shona Robison: In year 1, 2008-09, £2 million was provided to Regional Planning Groups and Health Boards for specialist children''s services. Year 2 funding of £10 million has been allocated to NHS boards and Regional Planning Groups. Discussions are on-going with the Natio…

23 Apr 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the various options for regulation of houses in multiple occupation with particular reference to addressing the problem of antisocial behaviour in short-term lets.

Answer · Alex Neil : This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0430-01.htm">http://www.scott…

2 Apr 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to strengthen the emissions reduction targets for 2010 to 2020 proposed in the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government intend to bring forward an amendment at Stage 2 to introduce a new 2020 target in the bill thereby strengthening the incentive for early action.

26 Mar 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the rising cost of the Water of Leith Flood Prevention Scheme will be factored into the financial support provided to the City of Edinburgh Council.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Water of Leith Scheme was taken into account in the allocation of resources to the City of Edinburgh Council and included within the local government finance settlement for 2008 to 2011. It is entirely a matter for the council to allocate their total reso…

12 Mar 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many EU directives have been transposed into Scots law in the last three months.

Answer · Michael Russell: This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0312-01.htm">http://www.scot…

26 Feb 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the ability of individual local authorities to meet the 2012 homelessness target.

Answer · Alex Neil: This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0226-01.htm">http://www.scot…