- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 13 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive where the capital and revenue costs of Glasgow Housing Association’s second stage stock transfer are accounted for in the association’s business plan.
Answer
All elements of GlasgowHousing Association’s (GHA) business plan are relevant to determining the costsof second stage transfer (SST) since the prices set for individual transferswill be driven primarily by disaggregation of that business plan. In addition, GHAhas allocated a specific sum of £6 million within its business plan for costsassociated with taking forward SST.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 11 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the success of the business learning accounts programme.
Answer
An independent evaluation ofBusiness Learning Accounts was undertaken by Cambridge Policy Consultants. Thefinal report is due to be published shortly.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 11 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a set of approved programmes offering training facilities to contribute to business growth for which small businesses might apply to the business learning accounts programme.
Answer
There was no set of approvedprogrammes offering training facilities for Business Learning Accounts (BLAs). BLAsoffered support to small businesses for any training linked to business growth– this included both formal training courses and informal learning such asmentoring and job-shadowing.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 11 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure has been on the business learning accounts programme.
Answer
Total expenditure by the enterprisenetworks on business learning accounts is £1,143,000 to date.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 11 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive at which institutions are x-ray facilities available in the NHS and whether there are any plans to change this provision.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally. X-ray facilities are available in a wide range of institutions, and itis for NHS boards to determine where they are sited, based on clinical need.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 11 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all the PFI/PPP projects which it has approved in each year since May 1999.
Answer
Information on approved ScottishPFI/PPP projects is available from the Scottish ExecutiveFinancial Partnerships Unit’s website atthe following link
www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 11 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls learndirect scotland has taken in each of the last two years and how many it has the capacity to accept.
Answer
The following tables give thenumbers of forecast and actual calls to the learndirect scotland andlearndirect scotland for business helplines in the last two years.
Calls to Learndirect Scotland
| Year | Forecast for Year | Actual Calls | Percentage of Forecast |
| 2004-05 | 69,559 | 79,993 | 115% |
| 2005-06 | 76,797 | 73,725 | 96% |
Calls to Learndirect Scotland forBusiness
| Year | Forecast for Year | Actual Calls | Percentage of Forecast |
| 2004-05 | 2,264 | 1,924 | 85% |
| 2005-06 | 2,846 | 2,448 | 86% |
Learndirect scotland contractswith a third-party to provide contact centre services on its behalf against an agreedservice level agreement. Learndirect scotland only pays for the capacity it requires based on a rollingsix week forecast, not an annual forecast. This arrangement ensures maximum valuefor the public purse as it offers the flexibility to curtail/enhance capacity atvery short notice without the expense and risk of managing dedicated resources.
Learndirect scotland doesnot have a maximum capacity for receiving calls. Learndirect scotland hasthe facility to overflow into its other contact centres in Brora and Newcastle ifdemand exceeds the capacity in Glasgow.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2006
-
Current Status:
Awaiting answer
To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it or any of its agencies have had with the returntoscotland.com project.
Answer
Awaiting answer
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 6 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress the ministerial progress group on the second stage transfer of Glasgow’s housing stock has made and whether it will be reaching conclusions and making recommendations on how any funding shortfall for the second stage transfer will be resolved.
Answer
The Ministerial Progress Group on second stage transfers (SST) brings together thekey partners to consider the financial and other issues which need to be addressedto deliver SST successfully, a process to which Scottish ministers are firmlycommitted. While the progress group is not a decision-making body, it has accessto the work being carried out by a joint team of officials (involvingCommunities Scotland, Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), Glasgow City Counciland potential purchasers) looking at possible scenarios for SST within theexisting financial framework. It will be for GHA, the local housing organisationsand the Scottish Executive to agree, in consultation with other stakeholderssuch as Glasgow City Council and funders, what form SST should take to securebest use of public money and best outcomes for local communities.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 August 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26417 by Ross Finnie on 8 June 2006, what sources of funding available for the promotion of local environmental regeneration projects have been identified thus far in the Executive’s review of the range of funding for such projects.
Answer
This information is availableat:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Housing/regeneration-/EnvironmentFundsProjects.
