- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 25 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to undertake a review of how complaints from owner-occupiers of properties where the local authority is the factor are handled by the authority concerned.
Answer
We currently have no plans to undertake such a review.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 25 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it is taking to make nicotine replacement therapies available free of charge.
Answer
A Statutory Instrument to amend Schedule 10 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995 has been laid in Parliament to come into force on 30 April 2001. This will allow GPs to prescribe nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) on the NHS.Patients who are exempt from prescription charges will not be expected to pay for this treatment. At present, around 90% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge. Pre-payment certificates are available to help non-exempt patients.In line with the measures in Smoking Kills, health boards were issued in April 1999 with guidance about extending and developing NHS efforts to help people stop smoking. £3 million was allocated over three years to health boards for smoking cessation services, including the provision of one week's free NRT to smokers least able to afford to buy these products.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 20 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent members of staff it employed at 31 March 2000 and how many it estimates it will employ at (a) 31 March 2001 and (b) 31 March 2002, broken down by the local authority area in which the staff are based.
Answer
The number of permanent staff employed in the main departments of the Scottish Executive, its agencies and associated departments are shown in the table.
| 31 March 2000 | 31 March 2001 (est.) |
| ABERDEEN CITY | 488.4 | 512.0 |
| ABERDEENSHIRE | 373.1 | 361.5 |
| ANGUS | 104.1 | 107.5 |
| ARGYLL & BUTE | 53.7 | 55.8 |
| CITY OF EDINBURGH | 6,500.0 | 6,619.2 |
| CLACKMANNANSHIRE | 475.5 | 476.5 |
| DUMBARTON AND CLYDEBANK | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY | 254.4 | 255.8 |
| DUNDEE CITY | 116.7 | 122.6 |
| EAST AYRSHIRE | 59.7 | 57.7 |
| EAST DUMBARTONSHIRE | 154.0 | 173.0 |
| EAST LOTHIAN | 35.7 | 33.6 |
| EAST RENFREWSHIRE | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| EILIAN SIAR | 21.5 | 26.5 |
| FALKIRK | 414.5 | 483.2 |
| FIFE | 109.1 | 109.6 |
| GLASGOW CITY | 1,543.6 | 1,642.1 |
| HIGHLANDS | 311.0 | 329.5 |
| INVERCLYDE | 268.2 | 269.2 |
| MIDLOTHIAN | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MORAY | 38.2 | 38.2 |
| NORTH AYRSHIRE | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NORTH LANARKSHIRE | 614.3 | 499.1 |
| ORKNEY | 52.6 | 54.6 |
| PERTH AND KINROSS | 608.3 | 616.3 |
| RENFREWSHIRE | 79.6 | 79.1 |
| SCOTTISH BORDERS | 70.7 | 75.2 |
| SHETLAND | 24.9 | 28.5 |
| SOUTH AYRSHIRE | 97.4 | 106.2 |
| SOUTH LANARKSHIRE | 224.8 | 158.3 |
| STIRLING | 319.1 | 338.2 |
| WEST DUMBARTONSHIRE | 40.9 | 43.2 |
| WEST LOTHIAN | 63.1 | 50.7 |
| WESTERN ISLES | 10.6 | 11.9 |
| TOTAL FOR SCOTLAND | 13,530.7 | 13,737.9 |
We do not anticipate any significant changes in overall staff numbers over the coming year.Last December I announced to Parliament that detailed reviews of the Edinburgh operations of six public bodies would be undertaken to individual timetables based on lease breaks and other operational factors. In accordance with this timetable we aim to be in a position to make decisions on the location of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, the Health Education Board for Scotland and
sportscotland by 31 March 2002, with a decision on the Common Service Agency of the NHS in Scotland by mid-2002.I also announced at that time that the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council would not be located in Edinburgh. Mr Chisholm announced on 6 March that the national offices of these two new bodies will - if the Parliament passes the necessary legislation to enable them to be established - be located in Dundee. Decisions on regional offices for the Commission will be announced shortly.The policy does not target specific areas but considers locations throughout Scotland that best fit the particular needs of each case.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 18 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12332 by Angus MacKay on 6 March 2001, when it estimates that the Scottish assigned budget's share of UK gross domestic product will again reach the level it was at in 1996-97.
Answer
2003-04 is the latest year for which a projection of GDP is available. Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) and Non-Domestic Rate Income (NDRI) is projected to be 1.84% of UK GDP
The sum of DEL and NDRI will grow by 12.59% in real terms between 2000-01 and 2003-04, equating to more money being spent on the needs of the Scottish people.Due to the conversion to resource accounting, the sum of DEL (Departmental Expenditure Limits) and NDRI (Non-Domestic Rate Income) is the most robust basis on which to make this comparison.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce the number of information officers and public relations staff working for it.
Answer
None.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #26 million allocated to the Health Improvement Fund for 2000-01 each health board received.
Answer
Details are as follows:
| Health Board | £ million |
| Argyll & Clyde | 1.636 |
| Ayrshire & Arran | 1.631 |
| Borders | 0.436 |
| Dumfries & Galloway | 0.622 |
| Fife | 1.318 |
| Forth Valley | 0.973 |
| Grampian | 1.819 |
| Greater Glasgow | 4.052 |
| Highland | 1.042 |
| Lanarkshire | 2.006 |
| Lothian | 2.871 |
| Orkney | 0.082 |
| Shetland | 0.096 |
| Tayside | 1.608 |
| Western Isles | 0.181 |
Health Education Board for Scotland | 0.950 |
| Common Services Agency | 0.793 |
| TOTAL | 22.116 |
The remainder of the £26 million has been used to meet the costs of centrally commissioned services, including the extra costs arising from the enhanced flu vaccination programme.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what it can learn from Portsmouth City Council's Best Value approach.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14782.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to analyse the best practice of the customer services team of Northamptonshire County Council to ensure that such best practice is transferred to Scottish local authorities.
Answer
The Scottish Executive maintains a strong interest in the development of new approaches to local service delivery, and expects Scottish local authorities to do the same. It is important for local authorities to consider all options for securing local services, on the grounds that what matters is what works.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what it can learn from Camden Borough Council's rough sleepers initiative.
Answer
I understand that Camden Borough Council has a street population strategy, which aims to minimise the impact of street activity in the borough. This includes reducing rough sleeping by at least two thirds, but also aims to reduce begging, street drinking and street trading. Our approach to rough sleeping in Scotland is to find solutions by involving those who have experience and knowledge of the problems. We are not targeting particular groups, such as beggars-we are addressing the underlying reasons for their situation.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what data it uses to analyse (a) urban and (b) rural deprivation.
Answer
The Executive is committed to tackling poverty and deprivation wherever it exists across urban and rural Scotland. A range of data is used to assess deprivation, such as proportions of income support recipients, employment data, the deprivation index and indicators in the Social Inclusion Partnership monitoring framework. Our recent annual report on social justice sets out the indicators being used to track progress towards the milestones for delivering social justice in Scotland.The current Scottish Deprivation Index, revised in 1998, ranks postcode sectors by combining 1991 Census indicators with more recent non-Census indicators of deprivation. We intend to further revise this index as part of our Neighbourhood Statistics initiative and update it as data becomes available from Census 2001.In addition, for rural deprivation, part of the remit of the Rural Poverty and Inclusion Working Group is to ensure that existing indicators are appropriately developed for, and measurable in, rural areas. The group will make recommendations on general data availability for rural areas, including ways of improving monitoring of progress against the social justice milestones for rural areas. We expect the group's report soon.
