Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-09370

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are for its social justice strategy as outlined in the document Social Justice...a Scotland where everyone matters, specifically for the milestones and targets within its responsibility, of the recommendation in the recent report into poverty in Scotland by the Scottish Affairs Select Committee that the Benefits Agency Remote Access Terminal scheme run by South Lanarkshire Council be extended across the rest of Scotland and, in the light of any such implications, what representations it will make to Her Majesty's Government regarding this recommendation.

Question reference: S1W-09356

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 12 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is with regard to the comments attributed to Hal Pawson, co-author of the report "Good Practice in Housing Management in Scotland", in Inside Housing maga'ine, 18 August 2000, regarding the absence of a strategy to deal with low demand housing from the Executive consultation document on housing.

The study, co-authored by Mr Pawson, is not yet completed. The Executive will respond to its full findings in due course.

The Consultation Paper, Better Homes for Scotland's Communities contains proposals to place a duty on local authorities to produce a single housing plan for their areas. We anticipate that this plan should be used to prepare a co-ordinated response to any problems of low demand in their areas. In addition, the Executive has a range of initiatives, including the New Housing Partnership and Social Inclusion Partnership initiatives, which can be used to help tackle problems of low demand in specific areas.

Question reference: S1W-09357

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 12 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is with regard to the comments published in Inside Housing maga'ine, 18 August 2000, attributed to John Perry, UK Policy Director of the Chartered Institute of Housing, regarding the implications for housing investment in Scotland if stock transfer ballots fail and the extent to which stock transfer targets in Scotland are ambitious.

The Executive believes that community ownership is the most effective means of securing the step change in investment necessary to improve the condition of Scotland's council housing and giving tenants a greater say in the ownership and management of their houses. Around £170 million of the New Housing Partnerships programme has been earmarked for community ownership in the period up to March 2002 and the Chartered Institute of Housing has estimated this could attract some £2 billion of investment.

It will be for tenants to decide, in ballots, whether to support community ownership. In the meantime, there will continue to be significant investment in Scotland's housing. A further £200 million of the New Housing Partnerships programme is earmarked for development and regeneration projects. In addition, resources are made available for capital investment in council housing, for investment in new and improved housing by Scottish Homes, and for programmes such as the Warm Deal and the Rough Sleepers Initiative. During this year and next, a total of almost £1.2 billion of the Executive's budget has been allocated to housing programmes.

Question reference: S1W-09355

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 8 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what appointments have been made so far to the Glasgow Housing Association, on what date these appointments start and which of these appointments were secondments, specifying in each case which organisation the person was seconded from.

Question reference: S1O-02162

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give full details of the extent and consequences of the reported problems with this year's Standard Grades awards.

Question reference: S1W-09241

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that local authorities in Scotland should keep debt management strategies for dealing with people who encounter debt problems and whether it intends to act upon this recommendation.

Question reference: S1W-09234

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that a separate database to assist in the collection of statistics on poverty be developed in Scotland and what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government on the development of such a database.

The Scottish Executive is currently developing a database of poverty related information for Scotland with assistance from the DSS and Inland Revenue. It is considering a wide range of currently available data sources in addition to the option of boosting existing surveys for Scotland, and introducing new data collections. A project is currently underway to investigate the possibility of using the Scottish Household Survey dataset to produce relevant analysis. An area of priority within the Executive is to develop a more comprehensive range of local area data. Information on poverty will be covered by this initiative.

Question reference: S1W-09235

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that specific Scottish statistics be kept for all relevant matters reserved to Her Majesty's Government and what representations it intends to make to Her Majesty's Government in pursuit of this matter.

The Scottish Executive is involved in ongoing discussions about the full range of statistics relevant to poverty issues in both reserved and devolved matters with a range of Whitehall departments including the DSS, Inland Revenue and HM Treasury. A number of datasets, analysis and models have already been developed for Scotland in the past year with their assistance, and a number of further projects are currently being considered.

Question reference: S1W-09239

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that it should conduct a review into fuel poverty and energy efficiency in Scotland and whether it intends to act upon this recommendation.

Question reference: S1W-09242

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that a record of subsequent developments in the working lives of New Deal participants should be placed in the public domain and whether it intends to make representations to Her Majesty's Government in pursuit of this matter.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of New Deal throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive.

The New Deal evaluation programme is carrying out detailed monitoring of the post-New Deal experience of a sample of individuals. We are committed to a continuous improvement strategy for New Deal and the Scottish New Deal Advisory Task Force are actively monitoring performance and progress.