- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Reid on 30 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what contingency plans are in place should the debating chamber be temporarily unavailable.
Answer
The SPCB adopted contingencyplans for the loss of the Holyrood Chamber in September 2005, following areport by officials on alternative venues considered or used by the parliamentsince 1999. These plans address the implications of using various alternativevenues for meetings which would otherwise be held in the debating chamber.Contingency plans identify the facilities available at a number of them and thestaffing and other resources required to procure, set up and run meetings atthose alternative venues.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities provide a frozen-meals delivery service as standard to vulnerable, frail and elderly people.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which specific Executive policy or policies will lead to the eradication of child poverty by 2020.
Answer
We are working with the UK Governmentto tackle poverty in Scotland, taking forward activities at our own hand through ourClosing the Opportunity Gap approach.
Details of Scottish ExecutiveSpending on Initiatives Aimed at Eradicating Child Poverty was published on 22 July 2004 andcan be accessed at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/19260/poverty.This includes on-going programmessuch as Working for Families and the Changing Children’s Services Fund.
The need for additional programmesto eradicate child poverty will be considered at the next and subsequent SpendingReviews.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates emergency prohibition orders related to the Chernobyl incident will be revoked, in part or in whole.
Answer
I am advised by the FoodStandards Agency that Chernobyl-related restrictions will continue until thereis no longer a risk of sheep which exceed the control level entering the foodchain.
Since1987, the number of restricted farms in Scotland has gradually reduced from 73 to 10 as of 10 February 2006. Radioactive levels continue to decline on the fewremaining restricted farms in Scotland; however environmental variability ofthese levels means it is not possible to specify when restrictions may beremoved.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average net income of households would be if they had no associated housing costs.
Answer
Median net income per householdin Scotland in 2004-05 is estimated to be £332 per week.
Net income is the total incomefrom all sources (including benefits and tax credits) after deductions for tax,national insurance, council tax, pension contributions and maintenance payments.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has undertaken on the comparative rates of child poverty in Scotland with the rest of the United Kingdom, examining in which social groups or family units child poverty is more or less prevalent.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has notundertaken comparative studies between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. We will producea briefing shortly that interrogates the Scottish statistics by family unit breakdownbut this will not make comparisons with Great Britain statistics.
However, ministers continue tobe involved in discussing ways to tackle child poverty with all of the administrationsin the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ministers are actively involved in the Joint MinisterialCommittee on Poverty, and at the recent meeting of the British Irish Council heldin Edinburgh ministers from the eight member administrations agreed that their nexttopic for debate should be child poverty.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments made by the Minister for Transport and Telecommunications on 15 March 2006 in respect of my national concessionary travel pass application (Official Report c. 24045), whether his assurance on timescales applies to all individuals whose applications have been received.
Answer
We will make every effort toensure that everyone who submitted a valid application before 20 March will receivetheir entitlement card by 1 April 2006. Those who for whatever reason do not have a new EntitlementCard by 1 April will be able to use their old travel card for local travel for alimited period of time thereafter.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the national concessionary travel scheme to carers whose assistance is necessary to enable those entitled to a pass to use it and, if so, whether a GP’s certification would be sufficient to determine eligibility or what other evidence would be required.
Answer
The Scotland-wide Free Bus Schemefor Older and Disabled People will provide free travel for companions where assistanceis required to travel. The eligibility criteria for companions is set out in TheNational Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled People (Eligible Personsand Eligible Services)(Scotland) Order 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/117).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals are eligible for the national concessionary travel scheme, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isprovided in the following table.
The estimate of the number ofpeople eligible for the Scotland–wide Free Bus Scheme has been calculated by usingthe numbers of older people for each local authority obtained from the 2001 censusand increasing the total by 10% as an estimate of the number of eligible disabledpeople.
Estimated Number ofPeople Eligible for the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled Peoplefor Each Local Authority
| Local Authority | Number Eligible |
| Aberdeen City | 46,327 |
| Aberdeenshire | 48,064 |
| Angus | 28,231 |
| Argyll and Bute | 24,808 |
| City of Edinburgh | 97,859 |
| Clackmannanshire | 10,357 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 7,594 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 41,350 |
| Dundee City | 36,795 |
| East Ayrshire | 28,490 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 25,180 |
| East Lothian | 22,401 |
| East Renfrewshire | 20,513 |
| Falkirk | 33,292 |
| Fife | 82,405 |
| Glasgow | 129,563 |
| Highland | 51,275 |
| Inverclyde | 20,373 |
| Midlothian | 17,982 |
| Moray | 20,621 |
| North Ayrshire | 32,520 |
| North Lanarkshire | 67,131 |
| Orkney Islands | 4,825 |
| Perth and Kinross | 35,900 |
| Renfrewshire | 39,392 |
| Scottish Borders | 29,059 |
| Shetland Islands | 4,559 |
| South Ayrshire | 30,820 |
| South Lanarkshire | 68,274 |
| Stirling | 19,863 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 21,288 |
| West Lothian | 28,479 |
| Grand Total: | 1,175,590 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost would be of extending the national concessionary fare scheme to the carers of those entitled to a pass.
Answer
The Scotland-wide Free Bus Schemefor Older and Disabled People will provide free travel for companions where assistanceis required to travel. The cost of concessionary travel for companions will be coveredby the £159 million capped budget for 2006-07.
