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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1588 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S3W-09154

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of Forth Ports plc.

Question reference: S3W-09076

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, when it expects to agree the single outcome agreements with local authorities and when such agreements will be published.

Question reference: S3W-09077

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, when it expects to agree a single outcome agreement with Fife Council and when the agreement will be published.

Question reference: S3W-09335

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-6664 by John Swinney on 17 December 2007, how members of the public and others can hold local authorities to account for the provision of services not directly linked to national outcomes yet still of vital importance to many people, such as social care services for adults.

Under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, councils currently have, and will continue to have, a duty to make arrangements for reporting to the public on the performance of their functions.

The national outcomes and indicators do not take the place of, or diminish the importance of, continued delivery of the statutory responsibilities placed on councils and their partners to care for all people in their communities. However, there is a general understanding that all council services will make some level of contribution to one or more of the national outcomes.

Beyond this, we would expect that local authorities will wish to demonstrate their commitment to improving care services through the single outcome agreements. Each agreement will reflect the priorities of the local authority and agreed local outcomes will take account of these priorities. The Scottish Government would expect to have discussions with each local authority about their ambitions for key policy areas, including social care.

Question reference: S3W-09079

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will confirm the future of the drug courts in Fife and Glasgow beyond their current funding terms.

Question reference: S3W-09078

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will outline its proposals for drug courts beyond Fife and Glasgow.

Question reference: S3W-08601

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 13 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been provided in each of the last three years to each local authority area under the (a) the Community Regeneration, (b) Working for Families, (c) Changing Children’s Services (social inclusion element), (d) Community Voices, (e) Financial Inclusion, (f) Workforce Plus and (g) More Choices, More Chances funds, also giving the total for all seven funds.

The funding to each local authorityarea for each of the last three years for each of the named funds are shown in thetables below.

2005-06 Allocations (£ Million)

Local Authority	CRF	CV	WFF	WF+ (inc NFF)	MCMC	FIF	CCSF#	Total
Aberdeen City	1.22	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.16	1.44
Aberdeenshire	0.14	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.21	0.38
Angus	0.2	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.1	0.33
Argyll and Bute	0.99	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.09	1.14
Clackmannanshire	1.1	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.05	1.21
Dumfries and Galloway	0.68	0.03	0.6	-	-	-	0.15	1.46
Dundee City	5.78	0.24	1	-	-	-	0.17	7.19
East Ayrshire	4.03	0.06	0.6	-	-	-	0.13	4.82
E Dunbartonshire	0.27	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.07	0.37
East Lothian	0.13	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.08	0.27
East Renfrewshire	0.41	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.06	0.53
Edinburgh, City of	7.18	0.3	-	-	-	-	0.36	7.84
Eilean Siar	0.36	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.03	0.42
Falkirk	0.79	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.13	0.98
Fife	1.85	0.12	-	-	-	-	0.33	2.3
Glasgow City	39.92	0.78	2.5	-	-	-	0.8	44
Highland	0.61	0.06	0.6	-	-	-	0.22	1.49
Inverclyde	5.38	0.06	0.6	-	-	-	0.09	6.13
Midlothian	0.1	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.07	0.2
Moray	0.36	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.07	0.49
North Ayrshire	3.4	0.06	1	-	-	-	0.15	4.61
North Lanarkshire	9.85	0.18	1.5	-	-	-	0.33	11.86
Orkney Islands	0.1	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.02	0.15
Perth and Kinross	0.2	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.12	0.38
Renfrewshire	4.53	0.06	1	-	-	-	0.17	5.76
Scottish Borders	0.2	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.1	0.36
Shetland Islands	0.1	0.03	-	-	-	-	0.03	0.16
South Ayrshire	1.77	0.12	-	-	-	-	0.09	1.98
South Lanarkshire	6.86	0.12	-	-	-	-	0.28	7.26
Stirling	0.41	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.08	0.55
W Dunbartonshire	4.96	0.06	0.6	-	-	-	0.11	5.73
West Lothian	0.68	0.06	-	-	-	-	0.16	0.9
Total	104.56	3.12	10				5	122.64

2006-07 Allocations (£Million)

Local Authority	CRF	CV	WFF	WF+ (inc NFF)#	MCMC#	FIF	CCSF#	Total
Aberdeen City	1.23	0.08	0.45	0.12	0.04	-	0.15	2.07
Aberdeenshire	0.14	0.03	0.35	0.01	0.04	-	0.22	0.79
Angus	0.20	0.03	0.35	0	0.04	-	0.1	0.72
Argyll and Bute	0.79	0.05	-	0	0.04	-	0.09	0.97
Clackmannanshire	1.11	0.05	0.35	0	0.21	-	0.05	1.77
Dumfries and Galloway	0.61	0.03	0.6	0.11	0.04	-	0.15	1.54
Dundee City	5.67	0.19	1	0.56	0.21	0.45	0.15	8.23
East Ayrshire	3.53	0.1	0.6	0.02	0.21	0.35	0.13	4.94
E Dunbartonshire	0.27	0.03	-	0	0.04	-	0.07	0.41
East Lothian	0.1	0.05	-	0.02	0.04	-	0.08	0.29
East Renfrewshire	0.41	0.05	-	0.04	0.04	-	0.06	0.6
Edinburgh, City of	6.68	0.24	0.75	0.16	0.04	-	0.34	8.21
Eilean Siar	0.29	0.03	-	0	0.04	0.3	0.03	0.69
Falkirk	0.95	0.05	0.45	0.03	0.04	-	0.13	1.65
Fife	2.32	0.1	0.75	0.07	0.04	-	0.33	3.61
Glasgow City	42.53	0.95	2.5	1.24	0.21	0.9	0.76	49.09
Highland	0.61	0.05	0.6	0	0.04	-	0.23	1.53
Inverclyde	4.88	0.12	0.6	0.47	0.21	0.6	0.09	6.97
Midlothian	0.1	0.03	0.35	0.02	0.04	-	0.08	0.62
Moray	0.29	0.05	-	0	0.04	-	0.08	0.46
North Ayrshire	3.67	0.1	1	0	0.21	0.3	0.15	5.43
North Lanarkshire	11.44	0.26	1.5	0.87	0.04	0.5	0.35	14.96
Orkney Islands	0.1	0.03	-	0	0.04	-	0.02	0.19
Perth and Kinross	0.2	0.05	-	0.08	0.04	-	0.13	0.5
Renfrewshire	4.55	0.12	1	0.5	0.04	0.45	0.17	6.83
Scottish Borders	0.16	0.05	-	0	0.04	-	0.1	0.35
Shetland Islands	0.1	0.03	-	0	0.04	-	0.03	0.2
South Ayrshire	1.36	0.1	-	0.1	0.04	-	0.1	1.7
South Lanarkshire	7.33	0.19	0.75	0.77	0.04	0.5	0.29	9.87
Stirling	0.41	0.05	-	0	0.04	-	0.08	0.58
W Dunbartonshire	4.46	0.1	0.6	0.38	0.21	0.6	0.11	6.46
West Lothian	0.68	0.05	0.45	0	0.04	0.35	0.16	1.73
Total	107.17	3.44	15	5.57	2.47	5.3	5	143.95

2007-08 Allocations (£Million)

Local Authority	CRF	CV	WFF	WF+ (inc NFF)#	MCMC#	FIF	CCSF#	Total
Aberdeen City	1.28	0.08	0.45	0.12	0.04	-	0.15	2.12
Aberdeenshire	0.14	0.03	0.35	0.01	0.04	-	0.22	0.79
Angus	0.21	0.03	0.35	0	0.04	-	0.1	0.73
Argyll and Bute	0.64	0.05	-	0	0.04	-	0.09	0.82
Clackmannanshire	1.16	0.05	0.35	0	0.21	-	0.05	1.82
Dumfries and Galloway	0.64	0.03	0.6	0.11	0.04	-	0.15	1.57
Dundee City	5.93	0.14	1	0.56	0.21	0.45	0.15	8.44
East Ayrshire	3.25	0.1	0.6	0.02	0.21	0.35	0.13	4.66
E Dunbartonshire	0.29	0.03	-	0	0.04	-	0.07	0.43
East Lothian	0.1	0.04	-	0.02	0.04	-	0.08	0.28
East Renfrewshire	0.43	0.05	-	0.04	0.04	-	0.06	0.62
Edinburgh, City of	6.18	0.18	0.75	0.16	0.04	-	0.34	7.65
Eilean Siar	0.19	0.03	-	0	0.04	0.3	0.03	0.59
Falkirk	1	0.05	0.45	0.03	0.04	-	0.13	1.7
Fife	2.42	0.1	0.75	0.07	0.04	-	0.33	3.71
Glasgow City	44.46	0.95	2.5	1.24	0.21	0.9	0.76	51.02
Highland	0.64	0.05	0.6	0	0.04	-	0.23	1.56
Inverclyde	4.38	0.12	0.6	0.47	0.21	0.6	0.09	6.47
Midlothian	0.1	0.03	0.35	0.02	0.04	-	0.08	0.62
Moray	0.19	0.04	-	0	0.04	-	0.08	0.35
North Ayrshire	3.84	0.1	1	0	0.21	0.3	0.15	5.6
North Lanarkshire	11.97	0.26	1.5	0.87	0.04	0.5	0.35	15.49
Orkney Islands	0.1	0.03	-	0	0.04	-	0.02	0.19
Perth and Kinross	0.21	0.04	-	0.08	0.04	-	0.13	0.5
Renfrewshire	4.77	0.12	1	0.5	0.04	0.45	0.17	7.05
Scottish Borders	0.14	0.04	-	0	0.04	-	0.1	0.32
Shetland Islands	0.1	0.03	-	0	0.04	-	0.03	0.2
South Ayrshire	0.93	0.07	-	0.1	0.04	-	0.1	1.24
South Lanarkshire	7.67	0.19	0.75	0.77	0.04	0.5	0.29	10.21
Stirling	0.43	0.05	-	0	0.04	-	0.08	0.6
W Dunbartonshire	3.96	0.1	0.6	0.38	0.21	0.6	0.11	5.96
West Lothian	0.71	0.05	0.45	0	0.04	0.35	0.16	1.76
Total	108.46	3.26	15	5.57	2.47	5.3	5	145.06

Notes:

CRF = Community RegenerationFund.

CV = Community Voices.

WFF = Working For Families.

WF+ (inc NFF) = Workforce Plusincluding the New Futures Fund.

MCMC = More Choices More Chances.

FIF = Financial Inclusion Fund.

CCSF = Changing Children’s ServicesFund.

# - Funding from the ScottishGovernment Social Inclusion budget.

Question reference: S3W-08603

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 13 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the Fairer Scotland Fund will be distributed to each local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-08602

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 13 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive much funding will be provided to each local authority area through the Fairer Scotland Fund over the next three financial years.

Allocations of the Fairer Scotlandfund to each local authority area for 2008-09 – 2010-11 are as follows.

Local Authority Area	Funding in 2008-09 (£ Million)	Funding in 2009-10 (£ Million)	Funding in 2010-11 (£ Million)	Total (£ Million)
Aberdeen City	2.118	2.481	2.843	7.442
Aberdeenshire	0.791	1.038	1.286	3.115
Angus	0.735	0.988	1.240	2.963
Argyll and Bute	0.826	0.965	1.104	2.895
Clackmannanshire	1.823	2.043	2.263	6.129
Dumfries and Galloway	1.574	1.634	1.694	4.902
Dundee City	8.441	8.286	8.131	24.858
East Ayrshire	4.652	4.621	4.589	13.862
East Dunbartonshire	0.426	0.523	0.621	1.57
East Lothian	0.279	0.413	0.546	1.238
East Renfrewshire	0.624	0.575	0.526	1.725
Edinburgh, City of	7.645	7.599	7.554	22.798
Eilean Siar	0.589	0.545	0.500	1.634
Falkirk	1.698	1.955	2.212	5.865
Fife	3.709	4.692	5.675	14.076
Glasgow City	51.014	51.491	51.969	154.474
Highland	1.563	1.959	2.354	5.876
Inverclyde	6.470	6.125	5.780	18.375
Midlothian	0.620	0.718	0.817	2.155
Moray	0.343	0.422	0.500	1.265
North Ayrshire	5.596	5.427	5.258	16.281
North Lanarkshire	15.488	14.339	13.190	43.017
Orkney Islands	0.189	0.345	0.500	1.034
Perth and Kinross	0.494	0.847	1.200	2.541
Renfrewshire	7.043	6.348	5.654	19.045
Scottish Borders	0.315	0.527	0.739	1.581
Shetland Islands	0.196	0.348	0.500	1.044
South Ayrshire	1.234	1.452	1.670	4.356
South Lanarkshire	10.210	8.164	6.117	24.491
Stirling	0.598	0.752	0.906	2.256
West Dunbartonshire	5.946	5.507	5.067	16.52
West Lothian	1.767	1.880	1.993	5.64
Total	145	145	145	435

Question reference: S3W-08597

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 8 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to question S3F-191 on 4 October 2007 indicating the Executive’s commitment to match the previous administration’s school building programme brick for brick and not to use the private finance initiative for this purpose (Official Report c. 2465), how it intends to finance its school building programme and when the necessary finance will become available.

The Scottish Budget and the concordatsigned by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authoritiesprovide revenue resources which include support for PPP projects, as well as significantgrowth in the capital resources being made available to local authorities. Thereis almost £3 billion over the three year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 to secure investmentin schools and other local government infrastructure, including an extra £115 millionin 2008-09 which can be invested in schools if authorities so choose. The localgovernment capital budget represents an average increase of 15% in each year of the settlement compared to 2007-08 figures.

The overall local governmentsettlement enables the government to match the previous Executive’s school buildingprogramme brick for brick.