Parliamentary questions
Tommy Sheridan
857 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any monitoring of increased respiratory illnesses, particularly in relation to children within the Greater Pollok area and the south side of Glasgow in general, as a result of the construction of the M77.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is matter for GreaterGlasgow NHS Board. I understand that, in the absence of evidence ofdeterioration in air quality following the construction of the M77, the boardconcluded that there was no compelling case for active monitoring ofrespiratory illnesses…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it has monitored (a) job creation and (b) the creation of new businesses as a result of the construction of the M77 in the Greater Pollok area and the south side of Glasgow in general and whether its monitoring procedure is available for analysis.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The M77 through Glasgow waspromoted by Strathclyde Regional Council. Neither they, nor subsequently the Scottish Office nor Scottish Executive who became responsible for the operation of the road,have monitored job or business creation specifically arising ou…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive at what salary threshold a student is required to repay his or her graduate endowment and what the rate of repayment is for any further salary thresholds above that threshold.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There is no income thresholdfor paying the graduate endowment although all liable graduates can meet theirliability by adding the amount to their student loan account. The loan will bepaid back on an income contingent basis through the Student Loans Company u…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pensioner households live on an annual income of (a) less than £10,000, (b) £10,001 to £15,000 and (c) 15,001 to £20,000 expressed also as a percentage of the total number of such households.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The following table presents the results from the 2002-03 Family Resources Survey on the proportion and number of pensioner households with annual net income in each income band.</p><p>Table: Annual Net Household Income<sup>1</sup> for All Pensioner Household…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-6502 by Dr Elaine Murray on 20 February 2003, what the result of the review of sportscotland's property portfolio was and whether a decision has now been reached with regard to which city will benefit from a new indoor football and sporting complex.
Answer · Frank McAveety: The outcome of the review of<b>sport</b>scotland’s property portfolio is set out in the report of theconsultants, PMP Consultancy. <b>Sport</b>scotland wrote to all MSPs on 7 July 2003 notifyingthem that the summary of that report is available on their websit…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether water is now available freely in every school and, if not, what the timetable is for introducing freely available fresh, chilled water in every school.
Answer · Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive is fully committed to improving the health and diet of young people. Aspart of this we aim to ensure that all schools take on the recommendations madeby the Expert Panel on School Meals, one of which was that fresh, free drinkingwater s…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children currently receive free school meals and what the annual costs are of administering the means-tested free school meals system.
Answer · Euan Robson: The information in relation to the number of children currently receiving free school meals is given in the Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication, <i>School Meals in Education Authority Schools 2002-03</i> which was published on 30 June 2003. Cop…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what income level a parent becomes ineligible for a free school meal to be received by their child and whether it has any plans to expand entitlement to free school meals.
Answer · Euan Robson: Entitlement to free schoolmeals is passported through the benefits and tax credit system. Legislationsets out the criteria for eligibility for free school meals and states that apupil is eligible if the pupil or their parent is in receipt of Income Support,In…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current uptake is of (a) school meals and (b) free school meals in comparison with entitlement to such meals, in each local authority area.
Answer · Euan Robson: The information requested isgiven in the Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication, <i>School Meals in Education AuthoritySchools 2002-03</i>, which was published on 30 June 2003.Copies of the publication are<b> </b>available in the Parliament’s Refe…
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the recommendations in Hungry for Success: A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland have been implemented and what the method of analysis is for monitoring the implementation of these recommendations.
Answer · Euan Robson: Scotland is in the vanguard of improving food in schools withour flagship policy Hungry For Success. By putting in place nutrient-basedstandards for school meals, we are leading the way among European countries.Local authorities have been awarded significant …
8 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools now use a smartcard system for school meals and free school meals and whether it has any evidence to indicate that the use of smartcards has led to an increase in the uptake of free school meals.
Answer · Euan Robson: This information is not heldcentrally.</p><p>Under the ModernisingGovernment Fund all 32 Scottish Councils will be working towards the deploymentof smartcards for young people and a further consortium of 11 Scottish councilsworking towards a national model fo…
2 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is allocating any money towards the maintenance and cleaning requirements of new trains.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has allocated funds to meet the procurement, maintenance and cleaningcosts of new trains.</p><p>The funds are not allocatedseparately to maintenance and cleaning requirements.</p>
2 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what use will be made of any monies received, or expected to be received, from any train operating company through leasing rolling stock.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive will not receive any money from the lease of rolling stock. All rollingstock is leased from a rolling stock company which leases it to train operatingcompanies.</p>
2 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what revenue it has received, or expects to receive, from any train operating company through leasing rolling stock.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: None.</p>
2 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any rolling stock purchased by it will be leased or given to any train operating company.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has not purchased any rolling stock; all rolling stock is owned by therolling stock company who lease the rolling stock to the train operatingcompanies. We have committed grant assistance to offset leasing costs.</p>
2 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what rolling stock it has bought this year and at what price.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: None. The Executive hasfunded Scotrail’s procurement of rolling stock to be used on the Scottish railnetwork through leasing arrangements.</p>
18 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has concerning redundancies following the closure of the ME Association's Scottish office and whether Scottish Executive funds were used for any redundancy payments.
Answer · Tom McCabe: It would not be appropriatefor the Executive to divulge information provided in confidence by anautonomous voluntary organisation. However, I can confirm that that Scottish Executive grant funds have not been used by the ME Association for the purpose ofmakin…
18 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to fund the ME Association following the closure of its Glasgow office and, if so, whether the funding will be ring-fenced for Scottish activities or whether it will allocate funding to an alternative charity that provides services to people with ME in Scotland.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Executive is currentlydiscussing grant funding and proposals for the future with the ME Association. TheExecutive’s grant funding, to any voluntary organisation, can only be used foractivities in Scotland or of direct benefit to Scottish residents.</p>
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what penalties for any breaches of the safety criteria, contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994, have been incurred by ScotRail under the current Scottish rail passenger franchise.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Under Schedule 5 of theScotland Act 1998, Railway Safety is a reserved matter. I understand that ScotRailhave not incurred any penalties in relation to the Railways (Safety Case)Regulations 2000 which superseded the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994.</p>
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what penalties are currently in place under the Scottish rail passenger franchise for any breaches of the safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Under Schedule 5 of theScotland Act 1998, Railway Safety is a reserved matter. The current franchiseholder is subject to GB-wide standards that regulate and enforce railway safety.</p><p>Railways (Safety Case)Regulations 1994 have since been superseded by the…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Scottish rail passenger franchise, what information it has on the methods of staff re-training following accidents used by Scotrail in respect of the safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-4198 on 10 February 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Scottish rail passenger franchise, what information it has on the methods of staff training used by Scotrail in respect of the safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer to my answer to S2W-4198on 10 February 2004. All answersto written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http://www.s…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Scottish rail passenger franchise, what information it has on recording methods used by Scotrail in relation to the safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-4198 on 10 February 2004. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/we…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on any failure of Scotrail under the current rail passenger franchise to comply with safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994, broken down by (a) geographical area, (b) length of service of staff member(s) involved, and (c) level of…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Railways (Safety Case)Regulations 1994 have since been superseded by the Railways (Safety Case)Regulations 2000.</p><p>The Scottish Executive meets the rail industry including ScotRail on a regular basis todiscuss a wide range of issues, including rail safety…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government in respect of the measures that Scotrail has taken to implement those safety criteria, contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994, that have been enhanced since the Health and Safety Executive report and recommendati…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Under Schedule 5 of theScotland Act 1998, railway safety is a reserved matter. This is a matter forthe Health and Safety Executive who isthe independent health and safety regulator for a range of industries includingrail.</p><p>Railways (Safety Case)Regulatio…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are currently in place as part of the Scottish rail passenger franchise to ensure that Scotrail complies with the safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer to the member to the answer given to question S2W-4195 on 9 December 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what aspects of safety criteria contained in the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994, (a) are covered by the existing and (b) will be in the new Scottish rail passenger franchise.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Under Schedule 5 of theScotland Act 1998, railway safety is a reserved matter. The successful bidderof the new franchise will be subject to GB-wide standards that regulate andenforce railway safety, as is the current franchisee.</p><p>Railways (Safety Case)Re…
11 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for a child to remain on the child protection register.
Answer · Euan Robson: Child protection statisticswere published on 31 October 2003, in <i>Children’s Social Work Statistics 2002-03</i>.Table 25 shows the length of time that children spent on child protectionregisters. These figures are available on the Scottish Executive website…
11 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are currently placed on the child protection register, expressed also as a percentage of child population, and under which category they are registered.
Answer · Euan Robson: Child protection statisticswere published on 31 October 2003, in <i>Children’s Social Work Statistics 2002-03</i>.Table 28 shows the number of children on child protection registers at 31 March 2003, andthe rate per thousand children aged 0-15. Table 25 shows…
11 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of funding this financial year is for social work services in the area of (a) community care, (b) children and families, (c) criminal justice and (d) residential care, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Euan Robson: Local authority social workexpenditure by category can be found in pages 21 to 23 of the CIPFA RatingReview Estimates of Income and Expenditure 2003-04, which can be found in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29256).</p>