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: S3W-03117

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 30 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that all local authorities fully implement the provisions of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 and that parents are made aware of appropriate placements and services across their own and adjacent local authority areas in order that they can make an informed choice about their children’s education.

We have providededucation authorities with guidance on their duties arising from both theEducation (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Scottish Schools (ParentalInvolvement) Act 2006.

Theimplementation of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 is already being evaluated. Her Majesty’sInspectorate of Education (HMIE) are monitoring and evaluating the consistency,effectiveness and efficiency of education authorities in implementing the newlegislation. An interim report of their findings can be found on the HMIEwebsite at: http://www.hmie.gov.uk/publication.asp,with a final report of their findings due to be published in November 2007. HMIEare also monitoring how the Parental Involvement Act is being implemented aspart of their regular programme of inspections of schools and education authorities.

In respect ofplacements, all education authorities are required to make informationavailable to parents about their schools and the type of education provisionthey can offer. Where an education authority is unable to offer appropriateprovision through its own services, it should provide parents with informationon alternative forms of provision that are available in other educationauthorities, grant-aided or independent schools.

Question reference: S3W-03178

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider the eligibility of families with a child in receipt of disability living allowance for the central heating programme and, if so, when.

Question reference: S3W-03176

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on (a) promoting and (b) advertising the Warm Deal in each year since its inception, including the current financial year.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

Information is notheld centrally on the financial resources committed to promoting and advertisingthe Warm Deal programme.

Advertising and promotingthe Warm Deal programme is a contractual requirement placed on the managingagent. It is the managing agent’s responsibility to conduct a marketing and promotionstrategy that ensures the annual target number of installations is achieved.

Question reference: S3W-03177

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on (a) promoting and (b) advertising the central heating programme in each year since its inception, including the current financial year.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

Information is notheld centrally on the financial resources committed to promoting andadvertising the central heating programme.

Advertising and promotingthe central heating programme is a contractual requirement placed on themanaging agent. It is the managing agent’s responsibility to conduct a marketingand promotion strategy that ensures the annual target number of installations isachieved.

Question reference: S3W-03180

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of homes currently in receipt of the central heating programme also receive insulation or other energy saving measures.

Question reference: S3W-03181

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it takes to eliminate fuel poverty for those households where the maximum grants available under the Warm Deal and central heating programme are insufficient to install full central heating or carry out full insulation and draughtproofing.

The maximum grantrates under the central heating programme are set at a level that should adequatelycover installation costs. These rates are reviewed periodically.

The Warm Deal allowsa grant of up to £500 for a range of energy efficiency measures including loft andcavity wall insulation, draughtproofing and pipe-lagging. We have instructed ScottishGas to work with the power companies to secure resources from the Energy EfficiencyCommitment to help increase the number of measures available for householders whereverpossible.

Question reference: S3W-03179

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider extending the central heating programme to eligible groups who have partial or inefficient heating systems.

Question reference: S3W-03182

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to eliminate fuel poverty in homes considered hard to heat due to the design of the property.

Question reference: S3W-03354

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money was paid, or is planned to be paid, to registered social landlords through the Scottish Homes and Communities Scotland Approved Development Programme for each financial year from 1989-90 to 2007-08, including housing association grant, broken down by local authority area.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

Records of HousingAssociation Grant paid to registered social landlords, broken down by local authorityarea, are available back to 1996-97, which is the first year of the current localauthority areas.

Grants paid to registeredsocial landlords, through Scottish Homes and Communities Scotland Development Programmefrom 1996-97 to 2007-follows:

Local Authority	1996-97 (£ Million)	1997-98 (£ Million)	1998-99 (£ Million)	2000-01 (£ Million)	2001-02 (£ Million)
Aberdeenshire	2.995	3.368	3.497	4.619	5.158
Angus	3.665	4.711	3.152	2.584	4.194
Argyll and Bute	5.522	4.368	5.380	4.249	3.930
City of Aberdeen	4.798	3.921	4.905	5.579	4.811
City of Dundee	5.553	4.648	6.430	7.659	5.904
City of Edinburgh	15.907	16.862	15.984	15.933	13.334
City of Glasgow	51.187	50.703	54.134	62.725	70.022
Clackmannanshire	1.101	0.609	1.300	0.870	2.787
Dumfries and Galloway	2.599	2.428	2.880	4.549	4.279
East Ayrshire	2.515	0.396	0.791	2.495	1.077
East Dunbartonshire	1.027	0.854	1.702	1.497	0.680
East Lothian	2.214	1.946	1.618	0.953	0.714
East Renfrewshire	1.211	2.330	1.133	2.717	1.585
Falkirk	2.400	1.790	1.235	1.804	2.176
Fife	7.854	7.447	7.673	7.250	8.695
Highland	4.245	5.120	5.256	6.418	8.022
Inverclyde	7.308	6.214	5.938	5.963	5.360
Midlothian	0.989	1.768	0.431	0.676	0.942
Moray	0.963	0.942	0.893	0.128	1.202
North Ayrshire	2.436	2.410	2.937	1.961	2.599
North Lanarkshire	10.088	9.525	9.705	11.870	8.265
Orkney	0.885	0.839	1.095	1.535	1.963
Perth and Kinross	6.213	4.300	4.921	5.202	5.409
Renfrewshire	7.049	6.898	9.520	9.197	10.584
Shetland	1.211	1.546	0.504	0.416	0.583
South Ayrshire	2.586	2.626	3.603	3.529	4.105
South Lanarkshire	5.643	6.489	7.008	5.195	12.171
Stirling	2.504	1.309	2.323	1.900	3.198
The Scottish Borders	3.960	3.358	3.297	3.133	4.082
West Dunbartonshire	7.579	7.644	5.304	6.474	10.509
Western Isles	1.064	0.178	1.460	0.549	1.345
West Lothian	3.343	3.032	2.994	3.624	2.197
Scotland	178.613	170.577	179.004	193.256	211.882

Local Authority	2002-03 (£ Million)	2003-04 (£ Million)	2004-05 (£ Million)	2005-06 (£ Million)	2006-07 (£ Million)	2007-08¹ (£ Million)
Aberdeenshire	7.080	12.371	11.646	10.865	16.143	15.180
Angus	2.813	3.912	3.599	5.412	8.208	5.415
Argyll and Bute	3.526	6.985	9.774	14.211	21.218	15.200
City of Aberdeen	3.988	3.231	6.779	19.888	4.985	6.717
City of Dundee	5.109	7.532	9.760	10.554	12.975	12.250
City of Edinburgh	13.385	16.789	17.383	32.015	39.205	36.100
City of Glasgow	111.461	116.613	110.874	126.740	139.589	126.950
Clackmannanshire	1.455	1.835	1.865	2.338	2.640	3.500
Dumfries and Galloway	4.265	5.718	8.269	10.447	14.868	12.667
East Ayrshire	1.135	0.691	1.496	9.001	9.182	11.533
East Dunbartonshire	0.099	0.440	0.567	0.190	5.281	5.800
East Lothian	1.014	1.684	1.803	3.198	4.440	5.600
East Renfrewshire	1.359	2.683	2.954	1.181	2.477	4.775
Falkirk	1.999	0.919	0.677	1.894	4.350	7.366
Fife	7.643	8.894	11.789	18.553	15.843	21.545
Highland	9.141	12.835	18.650	31.455	39.530	35.347
Inverclyde	6.534	5.061	5.868	9.193	12.324	18.565
Midlothian	1.405	0.841	0.896	4.925	2.786	4.580
Moray	0.459	1.827	5.129	9.088	11.261	9.150
North Ayrshire	3.848	3.981	8.757	7.579	11.686	10.281
North Lanarkshire	11.457	10.256	12.367	13.854	17.699	23.750
Orkney	1.514	2.189	0.913	5.119	4.193	5.223
Perth and Kinross	5.238	6.765	9.186	7.137	15.954	15.070
Renfrewshire	9.372	13.374	14.689	17.092	21.135	14.600
Shetland	1.288	1.033	1.963	1.441	2.914	3.727
South Ayrshire	3.461	3.942	5.540	4.410	6.175	6.674
South Lanarkshire	9.536	13.632	12.979	14.692	17.995	19.284
Stirling	3.118	4.362	4.647	3.403	8.992	10.724
The Scottish Borders	2.733	4.019	5.207	4.181	7.300	7.200
West Dunbartonshire	8.194	8.133	9.191	13.125	8.676	10.350
Western Isles	1.653	2.763	2.427	2.748	5.873	6.072
West Lothian	2.673	6.085	7.839	6.148	10.706	10.221
Scotland	247.955	291.395	325.483	422.077	506.603	501.416

Note:1. Planned expenditure.

Question reference: S3W-03175

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider relocating some of the departments for which it has responsibility to North Ayrshire and, if so, which departments and when a decision will be taken.