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: S2W-02827

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 3 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the question S2W-2345 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 September 2003, what the breakdown by individual programme of the Scottish Home and Communities Scotland core development programme budget has been for each year from 2000-01 to 2003-04.

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

Communities Scotland core Development Programme by expenditure category from 2000-01 to 2003-04 is as follows.

Communities Scotland Core Development Programme by Expenditure Category (2000-01 to 2003-04)

	2000-01 (£ Million)	2001-02 (£ Million)	2002-03 (£ Million)	2003-04* (£ Million)
Housing Association Rent - General Needs	125.503	136.251	136.965	150.512
Housing Association Rent - Particular Needs	50.034	50.892	47.849	50.646
Other Suppliers Rent - General Needs	0.194	0.100	0.166	0.146
Other Suppliers Rent - Particular Needs	1.077	2.959	1.653	2.568
Housing Association - Low Cost Home Ownership	5.533	6.285	6.426	3.643
Private Developers	16.472	7.450	5.575	7.706
Individuals	0.962	1.186	1.433	4.255
Social and Environmental Grants	7.739	10.370	8.587	8.273
Revenue	8.310	8.454	8.838	1.758
Total	215.824	223.947	217.492	229.508

*Planned

Question reference: S2W-02828

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 3 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes were (a) approved from and (b) completed with Communities Scotland development funding in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and how many such homes were built by (i) housing associations for general needs rent, (ii) housing associations for particular needs rent, (iii) other suppliers for general needs rent, (iv) other suppliers for particular needs rent, (v) housing associations for low-cost home ownership, (vi) private developers, (vii) individuals and (viii) and any other relevant group, specifying the type of build used.

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

Communities Scotland Core Development Programme new build unit approvals and completions by category in the period 2001-02 to 2002-03 is as follows.

Communities Scotland Core Development Programme New Build Unit Approvals and Completions by Category (2001-02 to 2002-03)

	Approvals		Completions
	2001-02	2002-03	2001-02	2002-03
Housing Association Rent - General Needs	3,399	2,614	2,917	2,422
Housing Association Rent - Particular Needs	1,080	1,002	1,169	1,003
Other Suppliers Rent - General Needs	0	0	0	0
Other Suppliers Rent - Particular Needs	100	78	53	156
Housing Association - Low Cost Home Ownership	312	76	197	204
Private Developers	0	460	1201	794
Individuals	54	46	52	37
Total	4,945	4,276	5,589	4,616

Question reference: S2W-02830

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will reply to my letter of 14 August 2003 regarding my constituent Mr D Gotts of Boyndlie.

Question reference: S2W-02826

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 3 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2344 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 September 2003, how many of the 5,040 new homes to be approved in 2003-04 will be built by (a) housing associations for general needs rent, (b) housing associations for particular needs rent, (c) other suppliers for general needs rent, (d) other suppliers for particular needs rent, (e) housing associations for low-cost home ownership, (f) private developers, (g) individuals and (h) any other relevant group, specifying the type of build used.

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

Communities Scotland planned provision of new homes by category in 2003-04 is as follows.

Communities Scotland - Planned Provision of New Homes by Category (2003-04)

Housing Association Rent - General Needs	3,090
Housing Association Rent - Particular Needs	1,157
Other Suppliers Rent - General Needs	8
Other Suppliers Rent - Particular Needs	66
Housing Association - Low Cost Home Ownership	85
Private Developers	502
Individuals	132
Total	5,040

Question reference: S2W-02753

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1792 by Ross Finnie on 27 August 2003, what the definitions are of large urban areas, other urban areas, accessible small towns, remote small towns, accessible rural areas and remote rural areas.

The information requested isset out in the following table:

Large urban areas	Settlements of over 125,000 people
Other urban areas	Settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people
Accessible small tons	Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and within 30 minutes drive time of a settlement of 10,000 or more
Remote small towns	Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more
Accessible rural areas	Settlements of less than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive time of a settlement of 10,000 or more
Remote rural areas	Settlements of less than 3,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more

These are based on the Scottish Executive’s core definition of urban-rural Scotland a six-fold classification based on population size anddrive times. The General Register Office of Scotland is responsible for the definitionof settlements.

Question reference: S2W-01992

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of single pensioner households have savings or investments.

Question reference: S2W-01991

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of single (a) pensioner and (b) parent households had a net annual income of less than #10,000 in each year since 1999-2000.

The answers to this and two other related parliamentary questions (S2W-1992 and S2W-1993) are provided as a consolidated response, with information collated from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) where possible.

1. Proportion of single parent and single pensioner households with a net annual income of less than £10,000 in each year, 1999-2002

	Single Parent	Single Pensioner
1999	63	83
2000	56	80
2001	44	77
2002	39	70

Source: Scottish Household Survey.

2. Proportionof single pensioner households with savings or investments, 1999-2002

	Single Pensioner
1999	53
2000	52
2001	53
2002	53

Source: Scottish Household Survey.

3. Proportion of single pensionerhouseholds have sought help about money problems in each year since 1999-2000.

The specific information requestedhere is not collated by the SHS, and there is no other source for this information.However, the SHS does collect information about how households are “managing financially”,and this and other information is available from the SHS website:

www.scotland.gov.uk/shs/.

Question reference: S2W-01993

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of single pensioner households have sought help about money problems in each year since 1999-2000.

Question reference: S2W-02676

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available to cancer patients and their carers living in the Highlands and Islands and other remote areas for the costs of travelling long distances for regular treatment.

There are currently two statutoryschemes which allow full or partial reimbursement of travelling expenses of patients,and where medically necessary, their escorts, which are necessarily incurred whenattending a hospital for the purpose of patients availing themselves of servicesprovided under the care of a hospital consultant, namely:

(a) a means tested scheme coveringthe whole of the country, and

(b) the Highlands andIslands Scheme which provides for the reimbursement of travelling expenses in excessof £8 without test of means. To qualify the patient must be resident or work inthe former Highlands and Islands Development Board area. The distance travelledfrom the patient’s home must be 30 miles or more or involve a journey by sea ofmore than five miles.

Question reference: S2W-02780

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 30 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2346 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 9 September 2003, which local authorities are considering whole housing stock transfer.