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-17220

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated to each local authority under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme, also expressed as a percentage of total funding from the programme.

The following table details the total planned Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) broken down by local authority area as announced in May 2008. It also includes details of other funding which are not specifically allocated to local authority area level. It should be noted that this does not include the accelerated £30 million for 2008-09, from the £100 million accelerated programme announced on 19 August 2008.

AHIP Programme

Local Authority	2008-09 AHIP Programme Allocation (£ million)	% of Total AHIP Programme
Highland	27.120	5.50%
Orkney	5.033	1.02%
Shetland	2.640	0.54%
Western Isles	4.130	0.84%
Aberdeenshire	19.637	3.98%
City of Aberdeen	3.922	0.80%
Moray	6.372	1.29%
Angus	3.890	0.79%
City of Dundee	7.766	1.58%
Perth and Kinross	10.886	2.21%
Clackmannanshire	2.150	0.44%
Falkirk	3.866	0.78%
Stirling	3.476	0.71%
East Lothian	4.400	0.89%
Fife	13.133	2.66%
Midlothian	3.400	0.69%
The Scottish Borders	5.600	1.14%
West Lothian	6.600	1.34%
City of Edinburgh	36.100	7.32%
Dumfries and Galloway	9.700	1.97%
East Ayrshire	7.000	1.42%
North Ayrshire	6.640	1.35%
North Lanarkshire	14.600	2.96%
South Ayrshire	6.300	1.28%
South Lanarkshire	15.300	3.10%
Argyll & Bute	14.757	2.99%
West Dunbartonshire	7.835	1.59%
East Dunbartonshire	5.386	1.09%
Inverclyde	19.280	3.91%
Renfrewshire	12.510	2.54%
East Renfrewshire	3.271	0.66%
Glasgow	83.000	16.84%
GHA	79.300	16.09%
LIFT: Shared Equity Open Market Pilot	24.000	4.87%
Mortgage to Rent	10.000	2.03%
Other Programmes including NHP Debt Servicing	4.000	0.81%
Total	493.000	100.00%

Question reference: S3W-17287

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in the Aberdeen City Council area had class sizes of fewer than 18 in P1 to P3 during the 2007-08 school year.

Question reference: S3W-17288

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in the Aberdeen City Council area had class sizes of fewer than 18 in P1 to P3 at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year.

Information on the size of classes is collected as at the school census date in September each year. This census information has yet to be collated for 2008 and will be published early in 2009. Details of individual school class sizes will also be available at that time on the government website using the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/ClassSizeDatasets.

Question reference: S3W-17285

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 6 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to build greater links between schools and local sports clubs and governing bodies.

Over the last four years Active Schools, funded by the Scottish Government, has been instrumental in providing young people with a wide range of sporting opportunities which have introduced many to new activities and stimulated their interest in and commitment to, sport. Active Schools is now focusing on developing links between schools, local sports development programmes, local sports clubs and where appropriate sports governing bodies, to ensure that young people can develop their sporting interests outwith school.

Question reference: S3O-04712

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 6 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consented renewable energy projects in the north of Scotland are currently awaiting connection to the grid.

Question reference: S3W-17219

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the allocation of £100 million brought forward from 2010-11 to 2008 for the Affordable Housing Investment Programme will vary according to existing funding commitments in each local authority area.

In allocating the accelerated spend, we will prioritise bringing forward new construction but will also spend on off the shelf units and land acquisitions where this is strategically sensible and offers good value for money. Allocations will be made to projects rather than to specific local authority areas and will be prioritised to:

housing market areas with shortfalls

homelessness pressures

local pressured areas or specific regeneration projects.

We announced the first tranche of £9 million of projects, including site starts and land acquisitions on 7 October. Further announcements will be made when projects are agreed.

Question reference: S3W-17286

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in making school grounds and facilities more accessible after school hours and during weekends.

Local authorities'' and COSLA''s commitment to making school facilities more accessible for community use is already well documented. The Audit Scotland report Improving the School Estate indicated that many schools are providing community access to facilities and new build schools are often designed with community use in mind. The report highlights good practice but also identifies areas for improvement. The Scottish Government and COSLA have jointly accepted all of the recommendations in the report, and have established a Working Group to consider how they should be taken forward in the development of the new School Estate Strategy.

Question reference: S3W-17289

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 5 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in P1 to P3 in the Aberdeen City Council area are entitled to free school meals and at what total cost.

Question reference: S3W-17292

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 5 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the additional cost of providing free school meals for all P1 to P3 pupils in the city of Aberdeen.

Question reference: S3W-17282

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance has been issued to local authorities to ensure that school grounds and facilities are more accessible after school hours and at weekends.