- 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 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.
- 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 applications have been received for the national concessionary travel scheme, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isprovided in the following table.
Number of Applicationsto the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Scheme for Each Local Authority as at 17 March 2006
| Local Authority | Application Count |
| Aberdeen City | 32,576 |
| Aberdeenshire | 25,312 |
| Angus | 15,611 |
| Argyll and Bute | 11,530 |
| City of Edinburgh | 52,734 |
| Clackmannanshire | 6,010 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 1,312 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 16,048 |
| Dundee City | 23,634 |
| East Ayrshire | 16,071 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 13,034 |
| East Lothian | 15,789 |
| East Renfrewshire | 10,573 |
| Falkirk | 24,367 |
| Fife | 43,166 |
| Glasgow | 66,213 |
| Highland | 15,013 |
| Inverclyde | 11,409 |
| Midlothian | 11,394 |
| Moray | 9,786 |
| North Ayrshire | 19,182 |
| North Lanarkshire | 36,571 |
| Orkney Islands | 2,698 |
| Perth and Kinross | 17,339 |
| Renfrewshire | 22,173 |
| Scottish Borders | 15,065 |
| Shetland Islands | 2,520 |
| South Ayrshire | 16,433 |
| South Lanarkshire | 35,007 |
| Stirling | 11,832 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 11,408 |
| West Lothian | 18,417 |
| Grand Total: | 630,227 |
- 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 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: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government about the impact on targets for eradicating child poverty of amending the Scotland Act 1998, particularly in respect of Scottish Ministers having direct powers over the tax and benefits system and the setting of a national minimum wage in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive remainsin regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including theeradication of child poverty. As and when contact on any issue results in agreedproposals for amending the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament orthe executive competence of the Scottish ministers, these are put to the Scottishand UK Parliaments in the normal way (i.e. either through Orders in Council underthe Scotland Act 1998, or through Legislative Consent Motions in the Scottish Parliament associated with bills before the UK Parliament).
- 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 27 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what restrictions emergency prohibition orders related to the Chernobyl incident place on the affected farms.
Answer
I am advised by the Food StandardsAgency that affected farms are subject to statutory controls under the terms of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 and the current restrictions are specifiedin the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivity in Sheep) Order 1991(SI 1991/20), as amended.
In order to ensure food safety,a monitoring system known as “Mark and Release” is operated to ensure that sheepexceeding the 1,000 Becquerel per kilogram (Bq/kg) control level do not enter thefood chain. Sheep from restricted areas are live-monitored for radioactivity usingportable radiation monitors prior to being moved. Sheep exceeding the control levelmay either be kept on-farm and subsequently re-monitored; or marked with an indeliblepaint and moved under licence. Marked sheep are prohibited from slaughter forthree months and a set rotation of colours under “Mark and Release” allows sheepto be automatically released from slaughter controls three months after the useof a particular colour ceases.
- 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 27 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether livestock grazing takes place on farms affected by emergency prohibition orders related to the Chernobyl incident under and, if so, why that livestock is considered safe for human consumption.
Answer
I am advisedby the Food Standards Agency that restrictions resulting from the Chernobyl incidentstill apply to sheep on a small number of restricted farms.
These farms are subject to statutorycontrols under the terms of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. In orderto ensure food safety, all sheep leaving restricted farms are live-monitored usingportable radiation monitors and any sheep exceeding the 1,000 Becquerel per kilogram(Bq/kg) control level is prohibited from entering the food chain.
- 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 27 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to undertake a detailed independent study to determine the underlying factors which result in child poverty and what additional measures will be required to ensure that existing targets to eradicate child poverty are met.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has noplans to commission an independent study into the determinants of child poverty.Extensive independent research already exists, such as the annual Joseph RowntreeFoundation/New Policy Institute report on
Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusionin Scotland.
Poverty is a complex social issuethat has no simple remedy and the Executive considers research from many differentsources in determining how its policies can best tackle poverty in Scottish society.Our Closing the Opportunity Gap (CtOG) approach focuses the efforts of all Departmentson tackling poverty and is consistent with, and complementary to, the UK Government’starget for eradicating child poverty within a generation.
