- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 19 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when the next meeting of the Community Regeneration and Tackling Poverty learning network will be held.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19492 on 19 January 2009. 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.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive which three test sites have been chosen for consideration of how to improve the uptake of self-directed support.
Answer
Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Highland Councils have been selected as the three test sites. NHS Lothian and Borders Council will also be contributing to the development of the policy through other local initiatives.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 19 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive in what form the performance of private landlord registration will be reported in light of the ending of ring fencing.
Answer
The performance of landlord registration is monitored monthly using statistics which show how many applications for registration have been received and how many have been approved, broken down by local authority area. Removal of the ring-fenced funds has had no bearing on the performance information that is collected.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 19 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school pupils received clothing grants in 2007-08 and what the average level of grant was, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
This information is not collected centrally.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive in what form the performance of the provision of respite for disabled people will be reported in light of the ending of ring fencing.
Answer
Local authority funding for respite services for all care groups was not previously ring-fenced. Funding for respite and carer support services was included within the annual local government finance settlement and paid as part of the general block grant. That remains the case.
In recognition of the importance of respite and short breaks in supporting both carers and those they are caring for, the Scottish Government included a commitment in our concordat with local government to make progress towards an additional 10,000 respite weeks a year. We have provided an extra £4 million - on top of the total settlement to local government - to enable local authorities to deliver this commitment in full by 2011. These additional weeks should benefit a wide range of carers and those they are caring for, including disabled people.
It will be at the discretion of individual local authorities how they develop and allocate these additional weeks, based on local needs and priorities. We have agreed with COSLA that they will monitor the delivery of the commitment and will report to the Scottish Government with total Scotland-wide figures.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report to the Parliament on the progress of the Inspiring Scotland project.
Answer
Inspiring Scotland announced its first portfolio of supported organisations on 20 November last year. We continue to work with Inspiring Scotland to ensure the organisations it supports deliver in a manner that is fully aligned with our More Choices, More Chances strategy. Looking ahead, the Scottish Government will receive a twice yearly Investor Report from Inspiring Scotland. We expect the first such report in mid-2009. We shall make the Investor Reports available to the Parliament through the Scottish Parliament Reference Centre (Bib. number 47378).
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 15 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Audit Scotland report on the impact of the race equality duty on council services, what action the Scottish Government intends to take in light of comments from the chairperson of the Accounts Commission who suggests that the main focus of councils has been the development of policies and processes which, by themselves, do not meet the needs of minority ethnic communities.
Answer
It is not for the Scottish Government to comment on recommendations made by the Accounts Commission in relation to councils. Both the Scottish Government and councils are subject to the same public sector equality duties, however we do expect all public bodies to take their responsibilities under these duties seriously.
The report recommends the Scottish Government, working with key bodies, should ensure the availability to more up-to-date and useful social and demographic data on minority ethnic communities.
The Scottish Government has work underway to improve the range and quality of equality information across the public sector. This work includes promoting the use of harmonised questions on equalities which will allow for comparison of data from different sources and will involve investigating the possibility of boosts to large scale social surveys.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 15 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons interim targets have not been set towards the shared commitment to ending child poverty by 2020 in Achieving Our Potential, the Scottish Government’s anti-poverty framework.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18764 on 7 January 2009.
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.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive in what form the performance of tackling antisocial behaviour will be reported in light of the ending of ring fencing.
Answer
This issue is being considered as part of the review of national antisocial behaviour policy, the findings of which will be reported to Parliament in early 2009.
- Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 15 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met money advice organisations and what issues were discussed.
Answer
Scottish Government officials meet regularly with representatives of the money advice sector. Their most recent meeting with Citizens Advice Scotland, and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, was on 22 December 2008, when they discussed the £1 million additional funding for debt advice which I announced on 8 December.
I meet Citizens Advice Scotland formally twice a year. At my most recent meeting with them, on 9 October 2008, we discussed the credit crunch, fuel poverty, and benefits uptake and related advice, focussing on older people and their debt problems. I also meet money advice organisations informally at events and on visits.
