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: S3W-20067

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the drafts of the second-phase single outcome agreements will be submitted in February 2009.

Question reference: S3W-20062

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals from households below the poverty line have benefited from the extension of the free prescription scheme.

We estimate that around 256,000 individuals living in relative poverty before housing costs will benefit from the reduction in prescription charges when they buy prescriptions. We do not know how many have benefited since the charge was reduced on 1 April 2008, as the annual income of people paying NHS prescription charges is not collected.

The Scottish Government''s commitment to abolish prescription charges in April 2011 will benefit everyone who pays for prescriptions.

Question reference: S3W-20064

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people received direct payments in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008, broken down by local authority.

The information requested is in the following table:

Number of Clients Receiving Self-Directed Support (Direct Payment) Packages by Local Authority, 2007 and 2008

	Number of Clients
	2007	2008
Aberdeen City	101	113
Aberdeenshire	101	132
Angus	40	47
Argyll and Bute	89	104
Clackmannanshire	32	22
Dumfries and Galloway	141	163
Dundee City	38	44
East Ayrshire	51	64
East Dunbartonshire	23	36
East Lothian	31	46
East Renfrewshire	15	37
Edinburgh	209	273
Eilean Siar	8	11
Falkirk	61	52
Fife	309	334
Glasgow	193	208
Highland	225	176
Inverclyde	9	16
Midlothian	29	33
Moray	43	46
North Ayrshire	47	48
North Lanarkshire	37	43
Orkney	45	30
Perth and Kinross	40	67
Renfrewshire	32	45
Scottish Borders	117	142
Shetland Islands	11	12
South Ayrshire	39	39
South Lanarkshire	46	58
Stirling	37	59
West Dunbartonshire	31	41
West Lothian	61	64
Scotland	2,291	2,605

The information above is drawn from table 1 of the publication Self-directed Support (Direct Payments), Scotland, 2008, see following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/10/27092036/0.

Question reference: S3W-20065

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on direct payments in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008, broken down by local authority.

The information requested is in the following table:

Value of Self-Directed Support (Direct Payment) Packages by Local Authority, 2007 and 2008

	Value of Direct Payments (£000)
	2007	2008
Aberdeen City	878	1,031
Aberdeenshire	714	1,693
Angus	619	697
Argyll and Bute	1,326	1,458
Clackmannanshire	203	177
Dumfries and Galloway	1,380	1,590
Dundee City	408	466
East Ayrshire	568	752
East Dunbartonshire	302	394
East Lothian	750	812
East Renfrewshire	158	352
Edinburgh	3,652	4,386
Eilean Siar	22	21
Falkirk	487	570
Fife	2,799	3,277
Glasgow	2,290	3,148
Highland	1,539	1,383
Inverclyde	40	107
Midlothian	577	489
Moray	658	594
North Ayrshire	477	581
North Lanarkshire	431	753
Orkney	185	135
Perth and Kinross	497	702
Renfrewshire	270	498
Scottish Borders	1,051	915
Shetland Islands	172	136
South Ayrshire	487	547
South Lanarkshire	357	488
Stirling	295	320
West Dunbartonshire	296	417
West Lothian	367	497
Scotland	24,255	29,383

The information above is drawn from Table 3 of the publication Self-directed Support (Direct Payments), Scotland, 2008, see following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/10/27092036/0.

Question reference: S3W-20063

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from households below the poverty line are benefiting from the abolition of the graduate endowment scheme.

A household is in poverty according to the UK and Scottish Governments'' preferred poverty definition if its household income is below 60% of the median UK household income before housing costs. The household income used in this definition is adjusted to take into account of household size. There are, therefore, different poverty lines for households of different sizes.

Income data held by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland does not include income from all members of the household and is not adjusted to account of household size. It is therefore not possible to determine if a student comes from a household which is in poverty according to this definition.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13234 on 2 June 2008, which gives an estimate of the number of students with benefactor incomes below £16,000 who may benefit from the abolition of the graduate endowment.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-20073

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the progress made in implementing indicators and targets in second-phase single outcome agreements (SOAs) can be compared with that in the first-phase SOAs, given that they will be based on revised guidance.

Question reference: S3W-20069

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the interim reports on the progress made in implementing first-phase single outcome agreements will be published in April 2009.

Question reference: S3W-20068

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the second-phase single outcome agreements will be finalised and agreed in June 2009.

Question reference: S3W-20070

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the final reports on the progress made in implementing first-phase single outcome agreements will be published in September 2009.

In accordance with guidance issued in October 2008, councils will work towards producing an annual report on first-phase single outcome agreements in September 2009. The Scottish Government and our local government partners are presently considering the form which annual reporting, beginning in September 2009, should take, including publication arrangements. I shall ensure that the product of this reporting is made available to Parliament.

Question reference: S3W-20072

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the targets and indicators agreed in second-phase single outcome agreements (SOAs) may be significantly different from those in the first-phase SOAs given that they will be based on revised guidance.

The National Indicators and Targets used in the development of the first phase of single outcome agreements (SOAs) are unchanged for the second phase.

There are some changes to the Menu of Local Indicators but these changes are minimal. Most of the Indicators used in the first phase feature in the second phase guidance. In addition, several new indicators have been included in the second phase guidance based on the extent of their usage in the initial SOAs. However, it is important to recognise that the Menu of Local Indicators is not a mandatory menu. Priority outcomes contained in the 2009-10 SOAs, and agreed by the full Community Planning Partnership, may differ from those in the 2008-09 SOA. In such circumstances, the supporting indicators and targets would themselves differ. The guidance makes clear that the use of Indicators from the menu remains a matter for local choice.