- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 27 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 75 or over have had a central heating system installed under the Energy Assistance Package.
Answer
By the end of November, at least 2,438 households with a person over the age of 75 had central heating systems installed. Of these, 1,977 were households with a person over the age of 80, carried forward to complete the previous programme.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 27 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been from people aged 75 or over for central heating under the Energy Assistance Package.
Answer
Callers to the Energy Assistance Package helpline do not make an application for a particular measure. Where appropriate, the local energy adviser takes them through an assessment to determine their eligibility for each of the four stages of the package.
As of end November 2009 1,978 households including a person aged 75 and over have been referred for stage 4 measures through the EAP. In addition, 1,977 households with persons over 80 had been carried forward to complete the previous programme.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether financial provision is in place to support specialist emergency childcare teams following the closure of the Queen Mother’s Hospital in Glasgow and, if so, whether such provision will be maintained and developed until 2015.
Answer
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has confirmed that fully resourced maternity services “ including specialist maternity and paediatric services underpinned by robust clinical protocols “ are in place, and will remain so.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Bruce Crawford on 25 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive when in 2010 the proposed Referendum Bill will be published.
Answer
As stated in the White Paper, Your Scotland, Your Voice published on 30 November 2009, the Scottish Government intends to bring forward the Referendum Bill early in 2010.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 20 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had discussions with Scottish Development International regarding the planned trade mission to Israel and, if so, on what date.
Answer
Scottish Development International (SDI) is a joint venture between the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. It arranged the trade mission to Israel, in partnership with UK Trade and Investment, as part of its regular yearly programme of overseas trade missions.
As there are no restrictions in place as regards trading with Israel, there was no requirement for SDI to seek dispensation from Scottish Government colleagues prior to arranging this trade mission.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 19 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is within which its agencies should respond to enquiries from MSPs.
Answer
The Scottish Government and its agencies are expected to respond to all enquiries, including those from MSPs, within 20 working days.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 19 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it provides to Scottish Development International.
Answer
Scottish Development International (SDI) is a joint venture between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Its budget for 2009-10 was £24.3 million.
The majority of Scottish Development International''s budget, £21.7 million, comes from Scottish Enterprise''s grant-in-aid budget. SDI was also allocated £1.7 million from Scottish Government to cover the salary costs of its Scottish Government employees. In addition, SDI received £0.7 million from the Scottish Government to support its work in the Scottish regions and £0.2 million from Scottish Government in support of its work in the education sector.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 19 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many members the private rented housing panel has and whether it will list them.
Answer
The Private Rented Housing Panel currently has 37 members. The list of members is available on the Private Rented Housing Panel''s website.
http://www.prhpscotland.gov.uk/prhp/files/Members%20list%20jan%202010.doc.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is within which the Scottish Legal Aid Board should respond to enquiries from MSPs.
Answer
The Scottish Legal Aid Board''s internal target for responding to correspondence from MSPs is 28 calendar days. The board has measures in place to manage and monitor the time taken to respond to correspondence.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 18 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to protect tenancies under the Housing Act 1988 in relation to market rents.
Answer
The Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 established assured and short assured tenancies. In these tenancies, unlike regulated tenancies, private landlords can set rents at market rates. Deregulation allowed the market to regulate the balance between demand and supply in the private rented sector.
However, there are protections for private tenants. Under sections 24 and 25 of the 1988 act, a tenant with an assured tenancy can apply to the Private Rented Housing Panel if the landlord proposes to increase the rent and the tenant does not agree that the proposed level is reasonable. A Private Rented Housing Committee will then determine a market rent for the property. Under section 34, a tenant with a short assured tenancy can ask a Private Rented Housing Committee to set a reasonable rent, which it will do if the rent being charged is significantly higher than that level.
The Scottish Government does not consider that it would be appropriate for it to intervene in the setting of rent levels for assured and short assured tenancies, which could discourage landlords from making properties available to let and lead to an increase in homelessness. As our Review of the Private Rented Sector made clear, we are committed to encouraging the development of the private rented sector so that it can play a full part in providing good quality accommodation to meet a range of housing needs.
