- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Reid on 30 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what contingency plans are in place should the debating chamber be temporarily unavailable.
Answer
The SPCB adopted contingencyplans for the loss of the Holyrood Chamber in September 2005, following areport by officials on alternative venues considered or used by the parliamentsince 1999. These plans address the implications of using various alternativevenues for meetings which would otherwise be held in the debating chamber.Contingency plans identify the facilities available at a number of them and thestaffing and other resources required to procure, set up and run meetings atthose alternative venues.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates emergency prohibition orders related to the Chernobyl incident will be revoked, in part or in whole.
Answer
I am advised by the FoodStandards Agency that Chernobyl-related restrictions will continue until thereis no longer a risk of sheep which exceed the control level entering the foodchain.
Since1987, the number of restricted farms in Scotland has gradually reduced from 73 to 10 as of 10 February 2006. Radioactive levels continue to decline on the fewremaining restricted farms in Scotland; however environmental variability ofthese levels means it is not possible to specify when restrictions may beremoved.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which specific Executive policy or policies will lead to the eradication of child poverty by 2020.
Answer
We are working with the UK Governmentto tackle poverty in Scotland, taking forward activities at our own hand through ourClosing the Opportunity Gap approach.
Details of Scottish ExecutiveSpending on Initiatives Aimed at Eradicating Child Poverty was published on 22 July 2004 andcan be accessed at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/19260/poverty.This includes on-going programmessuch as Working for Families and the Changing Children’s Services Fund.
The need for additional programmesto eradicate child poverty will be considered at the next and subsequent SpendingReviews.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average net income of households would be if they had no associated housing costs.
Answer
Median net income per householdin Scotland in 2004-05 is estimated to be £332 per week.
Net income is the total incomefrom all sources (including benefits and tax credits) after deductions for tax,national insurance, council tax, pension contributions and maintenance payments.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of children living in poverty are from an ethnic minority group, expressed also as a percentage of the total ethnic minority population.
Answer
It is only possible to identifythe ethnic group of the head of household.
In Scotland in 2002-03to 2004-05, after housing costs, an estimated 6% of children living in householdsthat are in relative low income poverty, have a minority ethnic head of household.Before housing costs the figure is estimated to be 7%.
In Scotland in 2002-03to 2004-05, after housing costs, an estimated 42% of children with a minority ethnichead of household, live in households that are in relative low income poverty. Beforehousing costs the figure is estimated to be 41%.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has undertaken on the comparative rates of child poverty in Scotland with the rest of the United Kingdom, examining in which social groups or family units child poverty is more or less prevalent.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has notundertaken comparative studies between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. We will producea briefing shortly that interrogates the Scottish statistics by family unit breakdownbut this will not make comparisons with Great Britain statistics.
However, ministers continue tobe involved in discussing ways to tackle child poverty with all of the administrationsin the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ministers are actively involved in the Joint MinisterialCommittee on Poverty, and at the recent meeting of the British Irish Council heldin Edinburgh ministers from the eight member administrations agreed that their nexttopic for debate should be child poverty.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any further plans to amend how poverty levels are calculated and, if so, what these plans are.
Answer
The Department for Work and Pensionsare developing a long-term measure of child poverty – which the Executive will adopt.This is being introduced this year in two stages. Future low income estimates forall individuals, working age adults and pensioners will be brought in line withthe equivalisation methodology used in the new child poverty measure from next year.
Full details on current and futuremethodologies for calculating low income estimates can be found in the latest ScottishHouseholds Below Average Income 2004-05 publication (Bib. number 39177 on pages8-10).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of children living in poverty are from an non-ethnic minority group, expressed also a percentage of the total non-ethnic minority population.
Answer
It is only possible to identifythe ethnic group of the head of household.
In Scotland in 2002-03to 2004-05, after housing costs, an estimated 94% of children living in householdsthat are in relative low income poverty, have a non-minority ethnic head of household.Before housing costs the figure is estimated to be 93%.
In Scotland in 2002-03to 2004-05, after housing costs, an estimated 24% of children with a non-minorityethnic head of household, live in households that are in relative low income poverty.Before housing costs the figure is estimated to be 21%.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments made by the Minister for Transport and Telecommunications on 15 March 2006 in respect of my national concessionary travel pass application (Official Report c. 24045), whether his assurance on timescales applies to all individuals whose applications have been received.
Answer
We will make every effort toensure that everyone who submitted a valid application before 20 March will receivetheir entitlement card by 1 April 2006. Those who for whatever reason do not have a new EntitlementCard by 1 April will be able to use their old travel card for local travel for alimited period of time thereafter.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been received for the national concessionary travel scheme, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isprovided in the following table.
Number of Applicationsto the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Scheme for Each Local Authority as at 17 March 2006
| Local Authority | Application Count |
| Aberdeen City | 32,576 |
| Aberdeenshire | 25,312 |
| Angus | 15,611 |
| Argyll and Bute | 11,530 |
| City of Edinburgh | 52,734 |
| Clackmannanshire | 6,010 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 1,312 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 16,048 |
| Dundee City | 23,634 |
| East Ayrshire | 16,071 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 13,034 |
| East Lothian | 15,789 |
| East Renfrewshire | 10,573 |
| Falkirk | 24,367 |
| Fife | 43,166 |
| Glasgow | 66,213 |
| Highland | 15,013 |
| Inverclyde | 11,409 |
| Midlothian | 11,394 |
| Moray | 9,786 |
| North Ayrshire | 19,182 |
| North Lanarkshire | 36,571 |
| Orkney Islands | 2,698 |
| Perth and Kinross | 17,339 |
| Renfrewshire | 22,173 |
| Scottish Borders | 15,065 |
| Shetland Islands | 2,520 |
| South Ayrshire | 16,433 |
| South Lanarkshire | 35,007 |
| Stirling | 11,832 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 11,408 |
| West Lothian | 18,417 |
| Grand Total: | 630,227 |
