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: S1W-05420

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 30 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing to the engineering industry.

The Scottish Executive provides support to the engineering sector through a wide variety of general schemes and programmes for industry, administered through the Executive and the Enterprise Network. These support investment and job creation by companies in new projects. Support is also provided for innovation in developing new products and processes. I also refer Mr Gibson to S1W-4864 in the Official Report of 2 March, which announced the publication of Created in Scotland - the Way Forward for Scottish Manufacturing in the 21^st Century. This outlines our strong commitment to support the manufacturing sector through a variety of initiatives.

Question reference: S1W-05419

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why there is a variation from 1.7% to 24.8% in guideline expenditure for local authorities in excess of the figures for Grant Aided Expenditure plus Loan Charges Grant for the year 2000-01.

Question reference: S1W-04396

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 28 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the percentage of Glasgow school leavers who are still unemployed four months after leaving school has increased year-on-year since 1996-97 and what plans it has to reverse this trend.

Question reference: S1W-04469

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3568 by Susan Deacon on 11 February 2000, why the waiting times for coronary artery bypass grafts and other cardiac surgery vary widely between health boards and what it will do to reduce both waiting times and the level of variance.

The variations between Health Boards in waiting times for coronary artery bypass surgery and other cardiac surgery are the result of a number of different factors, of which the severity of disease in individual patients is a key factor.

It is for clinicians to determine the priority to be assigned in any given case. Those who need surgery on an emergency or urgent basis may never be on the waiting list at all. The Coronary Heart Disease Task Force has drawn up standard criteria for the management of patients awaiting cardiac surgery, based on clinical need. These will ensure that patients on the waiting list are managed actively and the system will respond appropriately, especially if there is any deterioration in a patient's condition.The Task Force is working with cardiologists throughout Scotland to draw up common referral practices and is developing the concept of a national Managed Clinical Network for cardiac surgery. These initiatives, together with the work to establish national maximum waiting times for cardiac surgery, will help to overcome any geographical bias, while enhancing equity of access to services.

Question reference: S1W-05168

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the grant aided expenditure figure for school transport in 2000-01 showed variances over its 1999-2000 figure ranging from -56% in the case of East Lothian to +248% in the case of Glasgow.

Grant aided expenditure for school transport was allocated in 1999-00 on the basis of school age population adjusted by a secondary indicator of rural settlement pattern. For 2000-01 COSLA agreed the use of a new secondary indicator, population dispersion as a more plausible measure of councils' relative school transport costs, which has resulted in a different distribution. "Damping" arrangements have been introduced to give extra support to councils facing a reduction in GAE as a result of the change in indicator.

Indicators used for GAE distribution are set out in the Grant Aided Expenditure 2000-01 Green Book, copies of which are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Question reference: S1W-05167

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive why the grant-aided expenditure figure for school transport of #46.569 million in 1999-2000 will remain exactly the same in 2000-01.

The GAE allowances for individual services are not spending targets or limits, but contribute towards the calculation of councils' total grant allocations. The factors determining that calculation in respect of school transport did not change between 1999-2000 and 2000-01. In 2000-01 Government Supported Expenditure will rise by 3.7% to £6,746 million. Within that, provision for education will increase by 4.3%. It is a matter for local authorities to determine their spending priorities and allocate resources accordingly.

Question reference: S1W-05178

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific grant allocation was for local government in 1999-2000, and what it will be in 2000-01, in real terms.

Question reference: S1W-05161

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those local authorities (a) who have a low forecast level of capital receipts raising capacity and whose net capital allocation has been adjusted up and (b) who have a high forecast level of capital receipts raising capacity and whose net capital allocation has been adjusted down, showing the capital allocations before and after adjustments for each local authority in the years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

The information requested is shown in the table below. The allocations for 2000-01 are provisional.

	1999-	2000	2000	-2001
	Base formula allocation	Formula Allocation adjusted for receipts	Base formula allocation	Formula allocation adjusted for receipts
Council	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s

Aberdeen City	7269	6660	8035	6319
Aberdeenshire	7875	8184	8749	8368
Angus	4451	4873	4887	5204
Argyll & Bute	8564	9695	9552	10272
Clackmannanshire	2621	2814	2761	2874
Dumfries & Galloway	7240	8051	7900	8596
Dundee City	6369	6221	7024	6994
East Ayrshire	4569	4937	5017	5251
East Dunbartonshire	4392	4076	4812	4553
East Lothian	4026	4351	4445	4404
East Renfrewshire	3707	4005	4040	4251
Edinburgh (City of)	15632	14338	17563	16590
Eilean Siar	8306	9250	8947	9619
Falkirk	5159	4619	5661	5945
Fife	11740	11315	13159	13598
Glasgow City	26597	24797	30012	28827
Highland	14906	15597	16339	17241
Inverclyde	5325	5565	5864	6216
Midlothian	3475	3403	3790	3619
Moray	3991	4106	4369	4415
North Ayrshire	6613	7024	7415	7767
North Lanarkshire	11397	10458	12696	12137
Orkney Islands	3373	3653	3475	3681
Perth & Kinross	6513	6816	7348	7546
Renfrewshire	7116	7075	7862	8086
Scottish Borders	5797	5128	6366	6979
Shetland	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	4343	4696	4764	4457
South Lanarkshire	11271	11425	12590	12065
Stirling	4309	3899	4695	4544
West Dunbartonshire	3898	4192	4244	4382
West Lothian	5295	4917	5845	5429
SCOTLAND TOTAL	226139	226139	250228	250228

Question reference: S1W-04306

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement self-financing pay awards, similar to those in local authorities, in 2000-01 for staff under its own direct responsibility.

Question reference: S1W-04744

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 23 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial indebtedness is of each local authority relating to the total interest charges incurred for paying invoices after the due date to (a) all firms and (b) firms employing fewer than 50 people, since the introduction of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.