- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 14 April 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32004 by Alex Neil MSP on 8 March 2010, whether the Scottish Ministers have powers of intervention to establish whether a local authority is in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and to act accordingly.
Answer
The subject matter of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) is reserved to Westminster, as regards the prohibition of discrimination and the regulation of equal opportunities. Enforcement of the DDA is a matter for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the courts and tribunals. Scottish ministers do not have powers of intervention to establish whether a local authority is in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 20 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12700 by Stewart Stevenson on 16 May 2008, whether it will provide details of the subsidy payments made to rail franchise operators in 2008-09 and profits made by them in 2007-08.
Answer
The net subsidy payment made to First ScotRail under the Franchise Agreement for 2008-09 is £310 million.
First ScotRail provide certain profitability information to Transport Scotland under the confidentiality terms of the Franchise Agreement, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45544). However, due to commercial confidentiality we are not at liberty to disclose these. Profit information is disclosed within the published Annual Report and Accounts for First Scotrail Ltd and the following operating profit figures are disclosed:
2007-08: £17.4 million.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 20 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what commitments or projections exist for subsidy payments to rail passenger franchise operators in 2010-11 and future years.
Answer
The forecast commitment for subsidy payments to rail passenger franchise operators in 2010-11 is £315.2 million. No further projections are currently available.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 18 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the findings of the Consumer Focus Wales report, Post Office Closures: Impact of the Network Change Programme, have implications for Scotland’s experience of the Network Change Programme and its impact on social inclusion in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the important social and economic role that post offices play in both urban and rural communities across Scotland. The report helps confirm that similar issues exist in both Wales and Scotland in respect of Network Change. The UK Government is of course responsible for post office matters under the current devolution settlement. As with many other areas, this Government''s view is that enhancing the powers of this Parliament would better serve Scotland''s interests.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 17 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the operating costs for the Parliament were in each of the last four years.
Answer
The costs are shown in the following table. The costs exclude non cash items such as depreciation, notional cost of capital and technical accounting adjustments.
| Year | Operating Costs (£000) |
| 2008-09 | 70,602 |
| 2007-08 | 66,011 |
| 2006-07 | 63,702 |
| 2005-06 | 61,434 |
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 16 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is legislation setting out how property managers offering factoring services must operate.
Answer
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is statutorily responsible for the regulation of the activities of registered social landlords (RSLs) and the inspection of local authority housing management functions. Many RSLs and local authorities offer factoring services.
The SHR has published performance standards and self-assessment guidance on factoring and it expects social landlords to follow these principles in their activities. Where appropriate, the SHR tests performance against these standards during its inspections.
There is no other specific legislation setting out how property managers and land maintenance companies should operate in providing factoring services, although reserved UK legislation covering consumer protection and other aspects of service delivery may be relevant in some cases.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 11 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it monitors the life outcomes of those children who go through the children’s hearings system and, if so, how many have (a) remained in school education beyond the age of 16, (b) advanced to tertiary education, (c) gone into employment following the conclusion of their education, (e) had known substance dependency problems, (f) registered as homeless or (d) entered (i) a young offenders institution or (ii) an adult prison in the last 15 years, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer
This information is not held centrally, however Scottish Government does collect statistics on children who become Looked After, most of whom will have gone through the children''s hearing system. Information about the outcomes of looked after young people eligible for aftercare services is reported annually in the Children Looked After Statistics and is available from the Scottish Government website.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a legal requirement for communal space in a residential area that is not maintained by the local authority to be factored.
Answer
The title deeds of relevant properties may specify that communal spaces are to be maintained by a factor, but there is no requirement for them to do so.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what companies based in Scotland are owned or partly owned by UK Financial Investments Ltd.
Answer
UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) has responsibility for managing the UK Government''s investments in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group, Bradford and Bingley and Northern Rock.
Further information can obtained on the UKFI website at www.ukfi.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had discussions with representatives of UK Financial Investments Ltd and, if so, what matters were discussed.
Answer
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth met with representatives of UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) on 29 April 2009. They discussed a number of issues relating to the importance of our financial services industry to the life and economy of Scotland as well as discussing the role of UKFI and its plans over time.
Further meetings will be held.
