Patrick Harvie

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36630 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 October 2010, whether it considers that police officers are not bound by the prohibition in section 4 of the Firearms Act 1968 on conversion of weapons.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.</b></p>

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36630 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 October 2010, whether it considers that police officers are not bound by the prohibition in section 24 of the Firearms Act 1968 on the supply of firearms to minors.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.</b></p>

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36630 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 October 2010, whether it considers that police officers are not bound by the prohibition in section 3 of the Firearms Act 1968 on making guns without being registered as a firearms dealer.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.</b></p>

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its position on the entitlement of chief constables to deploy Taser weapons to frontline officers extends to the other weapons with the same legal classification under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.</b></p>

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be made available for the Low-cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers scheme in 2011-12.

Answer · Alex Neil: As I announced on 19 January 2011, we plan to spend £5 million in 2011-12 on the New Supply Shared Equity with Developers scheme. We also plan to spend up to £2 million on the Open Market Shared Equity scheme, which is demand-led. The open market scheme will …

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on tackling poverty in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10 and how much it plans to spend on this in its 2011-12 draft budget.

Answer · Alex Neil: There is no specific budget for tackling poverty. The majority of the social inclusion budget is for tackling poverty. Information on that is set out below, However, a range of other budgets across Scottish Government, including the Fairer Scotland Fund which…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new affordable homes planned to be built through the National Housing Trust initiative will be made available for (a) social rent and (b) owner-occupiers.

Answer · Alex Neil: All homes provided under the National Housing Trust initiative (NHT) will be classed as private sector lets and will be available for rent at intermediate (mid-market) levels which makes them affordable to households on lower incomes, including those on housi…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Universal Home Insulation Scheme will operate in 2011-12 and, if so, how much funding it will provide.

Answer · Alex Neil: The future of the Supporting Sustainability budget is dependent on the passage of the 2011-12 budget.</b></p>

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional CO2 has arisen from the increase in journeys across the Forth Road Bridge since the removal of tolls.

Answer · Keith Brown: Responsibility for the operations of the Forth Road Bridge is a matter for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA).</p>

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in journeys across the Forth Road Bridge has been since the removal of tolls.

Answer · Keith Brown: Responsibility for the operations of the Forth Road Bridge is a matter for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA).</p>

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an estimate of how many households in Scotland will be affected by the changes made by the UK Government to the housing benefit system and what proportion of households will be worse off.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has carried out an assessment in our paper Housing Benefit changes: Scottish Impact Assessment which estimates that, as a result of the initial tranche of reforms to be introduced this April, 55,000 households claiming Local Housing Al…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the impact on households in Scotland of the changes made by the UK Government to the housing benefit system.

Answer · Alex Neil: As well as contributing to the UK Government''s Housing Benefit impact study for the UK, we have carried out a Scotland specific assessment. The findings are set out in the paper entitled Housing Benefit changes: Scottish Impact Assessment, which is available…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out how it is “maximising income within existing powers”, as referred to Scotland’s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government described its plans for maximising income in Scotland''s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12 and the supporting documentation.</p> <p >This includes the proposal to use our powers to help increase resources in 2011-12 by increasin…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what private sector employers it has met to discuss the implementation of a living wage policy and when.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is supportive of living wage commitments in the private and voluntary sectors. Beyond the levels set by the National Minimum Wage, which is reserved to the UK Government, private sector pay is a matter for companies, their employees an…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to encourage living wage agreements in the private and voluntary sectors.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is supportive of living wage commitments in the private and voluntary sectors. Our Public Sector Pay Policy for 2011-12 requires organisations covered by the policy to pay their employees a living wage of £7.15 per hour - the current l…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase the living wage for its employees on an annual basis.

Answer · John Swinney: The pay of staff below Senior Civil Service level in the Scottish Government is determined within the parameters set by Public Sector Pay Policy. The Scottish Government''s Public Sector Pay Policy for 2011-12 requires employers covered by its provisions to i…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason local authority employees are excluded from its living wage commitment.

Answer · Alex Neil: Local government pay is a matter for local government and the appropriate unions.</p>

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish a unit to monitor the implementation of the living wage in the public sector.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government will monitor the implementation of the living wage in relation to those bodies covered by the Scottish Government Public Sector Pay Policy 2011-12 through its pay remit process. Pay across the rest of the public sector in Scotland is d…

20 Jan 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the creation of a not-for-profit bidder for the ScotRail franchise and what action it has taken to explore the practicality of this.

Answer · Keith Brown: All contract models for the future franchise are being fully explored, including not-for-profit models. Discussions with the Scottish Trades Union Congress and its affiliate rail unions have already taken place as part of the preparatory work currently being …

13 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on students taking a non-traditional route toward a degree qualification and who move from one institution to another over a summer break benefiting from the same council tax discounts during the summer as other students.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is supportive of students accessing education through all routes. Students leaving one institution before enrolling at another to commence further studies are not deemed to be students during that period. Consequently, they may be liab…

13 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the forthcoming Council Tax (Discounts) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2011 can make it possible for students, including those who take non-traditional routes to university, to benefit equally from council tax discounts and, if so, whether it plans to use these powers to do so.

Answer · John Swinney: All students who meet the relevant qualifying criteria will be eligible for an exemption from council tax charges and thus will benefit equally.</p>

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether measures and safeguards were put in place to ensure that the external partners selected to help deliver the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10 were (a) based in Scotland and (b) employed Scottish workers and, if so, what these were.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Home Insulation Scheme is managed by the Energy Saving Trust from its Scottish office. While based in Scotland, as part of its policies on equal opportunities the Energy Saving Trust employs both Scottish workers and those of other nationalities.</p> <p …

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether measures and safeguards were put in place to ensure that the external partners selected to help deliver the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10 were based close to the area in which the insulation work was undertaken and, if so, what those were.

Answer · Alex Neil: The appointment of Home Insulation Scheme contractors followed a competitive procurement process “ as required under EU rules given the scale of the scheme “ to source the best deal possible for customers. The Energy Saving Trust, as managing agent, which con…

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new jobs were generated as a result of the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10 and how that number was calculated.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Home Insulation Scheme programme funded by 2009-10 Budgets supported an estimated 228 jobs. It is not feasible to distinguish between existing jobs which would no longer have been supported without the scheme and new jobs created. It should be noted that …

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of materials used to insulate homes through the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10 was (a) ethically sourced, (b) low carbon in production and supply and (c) reclaimed, reused or recycled and what these were.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p >The Home Insulation Scheme tendering process includes a requirement for installers to detail their policy and procedures relating to sustainability. In this section installers have provided confirmation of ISO…

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of materials used to insulate homes under the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10 was sourced from Scottish or Scotland-based manufacturers or suppliers and what these were.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally. Installers are contractually obliged to comply with British and European insulation standards and best practice guidelines.</p>

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many home visits home energy advisers had made under the Home Insulation Scheme by the end of 2009.

Answer · Alex Neil: Home energy advisers had visited 72,453 properties at least once by 31 December 2009 and completed 19,285 home energy checks. Reports providing an overview of all Home Insulation Scheme activity are published monthly on the Energy Saving Trust website: <a hre…

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27361 by Alex Neil on 24 September 2009, what contributions have been made to the Home Insulation Scheme by (a) external bodies, including local authorities, power companies through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target or other means and (b) housing…

Answer · Alex Neil: Details are as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=255 valign=top > <p align=center >External Body</p> </td> <td width=109 valign=top > <p align=center >Amount</p> </td> </tr> </th…

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27362 by Alex Neil on 24 September 2009, what the total householder contribution was toward measures part-funded by the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10.

Answer · Alex Neil: It is estimated that householder contribution to measures provided under the 2009-10 Home Insulation Scheme are a minimum of £420,000.</p>

22 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27363 by Alex Neil on 24 September 2009, what the estimated carbon emissions reduction was of the operation of the Home Insulation Scheme in 2009-10 and how that reduction was calculated.

Answer · Alex Neil: Reports providing an overview of all Home Insulation Scheme activity, including in regard to estimates of emission reductions are published monthly on the Energy Saving Trust website <a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/">http://www.energysavingtrust.…