- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many men were diagnosed as suffering from prostate cancer in the years 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Answer
The most recent year for which complete registration data for prostate cancer is available is 1996, during which 2,027 men were diagnosed as suffering from prostate cancer.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many men died from prostate cancer in the years 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Answer
The number of deaths in Scotland due to prostate cancer is set out below for the three most recent years for which information is available.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional staff it has recruited specifically to answer written Parliamentary questions and what the estimated cost of employing any such staff was in financial year 1999-2000.
Answer
The establishment of the Scottish Parliament has created an additional workload on the staff of the Executive. Around 170 additional members of staff have been recruited to assist with the general increase in workload including, but not specifically, written Parliamentary Questions.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive why the #6.5 million special deprivation allowance for 2000-01 is included in grant aided expenditure figures for that year rather than being "top-sliced" as indicated by the Minister for Finance in his statement to the Parliament on 8 December.
Answer
The Special Deprivation Payment is being treated as a special allowance outwith Grant Aided Expenditure; the resources are not hypothecated and are intended to apply for one year only, pending the completion of a joint review with CoSLA of the account taken of deprivation and poverty within the local government finance distribution formula.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that no one dies of cold-related deaths in Scotland this winter.
Answer
I refer Mr Gibson to the answer to his question numbered S1W-3003.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 21 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria will be used to select the independent panel of academics to oversee the multi-modal study of the transport corridors covered by the M8 and M80 and when it will report.
Answer
The independent panel of academics will be selected on the basis of their direct experience of multi-modal transport appraisal. Of particular relevance will be experience in transport modelling and appraisal, environmental assessment, economic development issues and land-use/transportation interactions.Officials are currently developing a draft study programme, including timescales, for my consideration.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government through the Inter-Departmental Group on Older People to change the law to reduce the council tax benefit taper which requires pensioners to pay 20p in every # earned from their occupational or private pension over the income support level towards council tax and what assessment it has made of the effect on poverty levels such a change may have.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with United Kingdom Government Ministers and Departments on a wide range of issues, including council tax benefit. It is for the Department of Social Security to assess the impact of any possible changes to the council tax benefit taper.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government through the Inter-Departmental Group on Older People to change the law to reduce the housing benefit taper which requires pensioners to pay 65p in every pound earned from their occupation or private pension over the income support level towards their rent and what assessment it has made or plans to make of the effect on poverty levels such a change may have.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with United Kingdom Government Ministers and Departments on a wide range of issues, including housing benefit.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #12 million allocated to the New Warm Deal this year comes from: (a) money transferred from the home energy efficiency scheme; (b) New Deal and (c) capital receipts to local authorities.
Answer
The budget for improving home energy efficiency for low-income households in Scotland is £12 million for 1999-2000. £1.475 million of the total came from the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) to meet the cost of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) in Scotland between 1 April and 30m June. The rest is for the Warm Deal which was introduced on 1 July. It includes £4.525 million received from DETR as Scotland's share of the HEES budget for GB for the period from 1 July to 31 March 2000. None of the resources for the Warm Deal come from the budget for the New Deal or from capital receipts by local authorities.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to produce centrally statistical data as currently gathered by local authorities, to monitor the take-up rate of pensioners claiming council tax and housing benefits for the purposes of assessing poverty levels.
Answer
Statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits are published annually by the Department for Social Security. The recently published report Social Justice...a Scotland where everyone matters set out our five key milestones for elderly people, including one relating to income poverty. Take-up rates of benefits depend on many factors, and are not necessarily a good guide to poverty.
