- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to create a knowledge environment in local government, integrating people processes and technology.
Answer
I and Scottish ministerial colleagues had a constructive meeting with local authority leaders and chief executives on 26 May at which we discussed a shared vision for using information and communications technology to deliver more convenient and efficient public services in Scotland. It is for authorities themselves to decide how to make progress, but I am sure that councils understand that integrating people, processes and technology can make a major contribution to internal efficiency and to better services to the public.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that local authorities exchange ideas, good practice and training across local authority boundaries.
Answer
We have agreed that CoSLA will take the lead in promoting exchange of ideas and best practice as part of Best Value. Wendy Alexander recently announced the provision of £100,000 to CoSLA for the development of a website to allow the exchange of ideas, good practice and training across all Scottish councils.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on its plans for ensuring Best Value in Scottish local government.
Answer
Wendy Alexander will be making a statement on the Executive's plans for Best Value on 8 June.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the staffing levels are for each neonatal intensive care unit.
Answer
The NHS in Scotland does not collect the information requested. It is for each NHS Trust to determine the number and type of staff required to deliver an appropriate level of service to meet local patient needs and to organise staff resources accordingly.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that local authorities implement organisational learning in order to gain knowledge, develop skills and transfer these into effective strategies and decisions.
Answer
We have agreed that CoSLA will take the lead in promoting organisational learning as part of the development of Best Value.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the sentenced prison population are known to suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness or a combination thereof.
Answer
In a recent study (Gilchrist and Hooke, 1997) conducted in Greenock prison 29% of prisoners reported that they were drinking over the safe limit for men as advised by the Inter-Departmental Working Group. In Cornton Vale Prison (Loucks, 1997) an estimated 10-15 % of women were found to be addicted to alcohol.
Around three quarters of prisoners are estimated by the SPS to have been on illicit drugs just before entering prison. Various elements the SPS drugs strategy together succeeded in reducing this so that interim results for 1999-2000 show that only 15% tested positive for drug misuse within the prison setting.
The extent and degree of mental illness or psychological disturbance is not known with any precision. Studies have ranged from 3% to 82% of the prison population.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive in addition to The Key, how much it and Glasgow City Council will spend in promoting the Glasgow housing stock transfer.
Answer
The Executive has allocated £2.856 million of New Housing Partnership funding to Glasgow City Council in connection with the development of its stock transfer proposal, £1.01 million of this is for consultation with tenants. The council has submitted a further bid for NHP funding which is being assessed by the New Housing Partnership Steering Group.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 2 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take specific measures to reduce unemployment in Glasgow Pollok, given that the resident claimant count in that constituency is currently the highest in Scotland.
Answer
Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, Glasgow City Council, and the Greater Pollok Social Inclusion Partnership are already taking a number of specific measures to reduce unemployment in Greater Pollok. These measures include: the development of strategic sites for both indigenous companies and inward investors to create new jobs for local residents; facilitating access to employment for Pollok residents through a variety of training, counselling, and work experience schemes including the Glasgow Mentoring Network, Glasgow Works, the Glasgow Employment Zone, the New Deal, Skillseekers and Training for Work; removing barriers to employment through improving childcare provision; supporting the development of the Social Economy as a provider of services and employment; promoting a culture of lifelong learning through initiatives such as the the creation of a Real Learning Centre in Pollok Library; and the establishment of a local economic development company "Invest in Greater Pollok" which will manage the delivery of a wide range of economic development services.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 2 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis it estimates that 1,500 unemployed Glaswegians wish to work in the construction industry and how many of these workers (a) have actual experience of employment in construction; (b) are fully time served or otherwise qualified in construction related skills and (c) are currently available for work, listed by trade.
Answer
In July 1999, the Office for National Statistics claimant count system shows there were around 1,500 people claiming unemployment-related benefits in the Glasgow travel to work area who were seeking work in construction trades. At this time, the usual occupation of around 1,400 unemployed claimants was in the construction industry. Latest figures, from April 2000, show that there are now 1,400 claimants in the Glasgow travel to work area seeking work in construction trades, and 1,200 with previous experience in construction. All people claiming unemployment related benefits must be currently available for work.
No information is held centrally on all Glaswegians looking for work in construction, the type and level of skills these people have.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 31 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each parliamentary constituency received in lottery funding for the last year for which figures are available.
Answer
The amount of lottery funding received by parliamentary constituency during the 12 months to 31 December 1999 is as follows:
Constituency | Amount (£) |
| Aberdeen Central | 702,290 |
| Aberdeen North | 901,741 |
| Aberdeen South | 38,505 |
| Airdrie & Shotts | 464,740 |
| Angus | 1,126,507 |
| Argyll & Bute | 1,483,290 |
| Ayr | 641,494 |
| Banff & Buchan | 312,289 |
| Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross | 1,432,524 |
| Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley | 369,107 |
| Central Fife | 223,553 |
| Clydebank & Milngavie | 302,852 |
| Clydesdale | 3,543,253 |
| Coatbridge & Chryston | 220,621 |
| Cumbernauld & Kilsyth | 763,986 |
| Cunninghame North | 811,149 |
| Cunninghame South | 556,482 |
| Dumbarton | 415,807 |
| Dumfries | 1,006,490 |
| Dundee East | 317,254 |
| Dundee West | 596,273 |
| Dunfermline East | 150,089 |
| Dunfermline West | 532,057 |
| East Kilbride | 130,473 |
| East Lothian | 2,104,878 |
| Eastwood | 148,515 |
| Edinburgh Central | 6,027,193 |
| Edinburgh East & Musselburgh | 2,318,536 |
| Edinburgh North & Leith | 1,495,753 |
| Edinburgh Pentlands | 630,009 |
| Edinburgh South | 611,536 |
| Edinburgh West | 781,262 |
| Falkirk East | 896,763 |
| Falkirk West | 842,305 |
| Galloway & Upper Nithsdale | 1,177,049 |
| Glasgow Anniesland | 1,375,066 |
| Glasgow Baillieston | 246,216 |
| Glasgow Cathcart | 898,071 |
| Glasgow Govan | 548,381 |
| Glasgow Kelvin | 5,977,378 |
| Glasgow Maryhill | 624,651 |
| Glasgow Pollok | 133,095 |
| Glasgow Rutherglen | 308,012 |
| Glasgow Shettleston | 1,256,235 |
| Glasgow Springburn | 286,462 |
| Gordon | 370,131 |
| Greenock & Inverclyde | 1,347,344 |
| Hamilton North & Bellshill | 64,965 |
| Hamilton South | 472,122 |
| Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber | 1,608,783 |
| Kilmarnock & Loudoun | 1,917,246 |
| Kirkcaldy | 1,354,966 |
| Linlithgow | 627,262 |
| Livingston | 931,738 |
| Midlothian | 1,080,757 |
| Moray | 1,624,507 |
| Motherwell & Wishaw | 1,695,370 |
| North East Fife | 557,361 |
| North Tayside | 1,007,063 |
| Ochil | 3,545,518 |
| Orkney & Shetland | 935,093 |
| Paisley North | 1,207,914 |
| Paisley South | 912,036 |
| Perth | 1,120,419 |
| Ross, Skye & Inverness West | 1,320,647 |
| Roxburgh & Berwickshire | 1,057,847 |
| Stirling | 1,501,671 |
| Strathkelvin & Bearsden | 297,346 |
| Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale | 2,631,941 |
| West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine | 535,287 |
| West Renfrewshire | 2,718,141 |
| Western Isles | 2,203,241 |
| Constituency Not Indicated | 6,491 |
| Total Amount Awarded | 80,383,399 |
