- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students from the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area received bursaries to support them at university.
Answer
Young Scottish students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland from 2001-02 are entitled to an annual Young Students' Bursary (YSB) of up to £2,050, which replaces part of their loan support. Young Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK for the first time from 2002-03 onwards are entitled to an annual Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary (YSO) of up to £510, which is provided in addition to their student loan entitlement. Both bursaries are provided as an entitlement based on the level of parental income and eligibility is assessed as part of the overall assessment of eligibility for student support.In the current academic year, to date, 21,384 YSB awards and 317 Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary awards have been made, of whom 403 were domiciled in Argyll and Bute and 450 were domiciled in West Dunbartonshire.Non-repayable supplementary grants are also available for those students who have additional financial needs, such as students who have dependants or who have a disability. Additional discretionary grants are available from individual colleges and universities for new mature students with child care costs and for any student who faces particular financial difficulties, which might prevent them from accessing or continuing their course.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the additional #0.5 billion announced to be spent on police forces, fire brigades and the prison services will be spent in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area on the (i) police, (ii) fire service and (iii) prison service.
Answer
The amount of additional funding, provided from the spending review in 2002 over the three years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, was as follows:
| | £ million |
| Police | 317 |
| Fire | 72 |
| Prisons | 15 |
The breakdown for Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire is not available as it is a matter for the relevant Chief Constable, Fire Master or Chief Executive (in conjunction with the Prison Board) to decide how much is allocated within each area. However, the amounts added to Strathclyde Police and Strathclyde Fire Brigade Grant Aided Expenditure, following the spending review were as follows.
| 2003-04(£ million) | 2004-05(£ million) | 2005-06(£ million) |
| Police | 18 | 41 | 71 |
| Fire | 5 | 10 | 16 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from low-income backgrounds from the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area have had their university fees waived.
Answer
Tuition fees have been abolished for Scottish domiciled and EU students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland. This support is not repayable and is available to all eligible full-time students to undertake one first degree, or comparable course of higher education, provided they have not previously undertaken such a course with assistance from public funds. This support is paid irrespective of the students' family income.Scottish domiciled students who study full-time higher education (HE) courses elsewhere in the UK make an annual means tested contribution of up to £1,100 towards the cost of their tuition. Such students from low-income families will, therefore, have their tuition fees paid on their behalf by SAAS.In the current academic year there are 2,018 undergraduate students from Argyll and Bute and 1,808 undergraduate students from West Dunbartonshire local authority area who have had their tuition fees waived. Scottish domiciled students who study part-time HE courses in Scotland can apply to their institution to waive their fees if they have a disability, are claiming benefits or are from a low income family. Information on the number of part-time students who have their fees waived is not held centrally. Students studying at institutions overseas generally do not receive tuition fee support.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any assets sei'ed from illegal drug dealing have been redistributed to the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) Argyll and Bute local authority area.
Answer
None of the recovered criminal assets we have redistributed so far have been provided specifically to West Dunbartonshire or Argyll and Bute. However, £180,000 from recovered criminal assets has been earmarked to support families across Scotland affected by drug misuse. A national network of family support groups is being established, and this is being driven by a steering group of family members. This will determine, in due course, how these resources can best be used to support the families of drug misusers, including those in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how sportscotland and the Lottery Sports Fund will improve sport opportunities for young people in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33868 on 17 February 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in Dumbarton constituency have gone into jobs from the New Deal.
Answer
Constituency statistics are only available for the New Deals for young people aged 18 to 24, for the long-term unemployed aged 25 and over and for lone parents. These statistics indicate that across these three New Deals, to the end of September 2002, a total of 1,489 people had gone into jobs within the Dumbarton constituency.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of recipients of access bursaries have been domiciled in the (a) Argyll and Bute Council area, (b) West Dunbartonshire Council area and (c) Dumbarton parliamentary constituency since the bursaries were introduced.
Answer
Young Scottish students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland from 2001-02 are entitled to an annual Young Students' Bursary (YSB) of up to £2,050, which replaces part of their loan support. Young Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK for the first time from 2002-03 onwards are entitled to an annual Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary (YSO) of up to £510, which is provided in addition to their student loan entitlement. Both bursaries are provided as an entitlement based on the level of parental income and eligibility is assessed as part of the overall assessment of eligibility for student support.In academic year 2001-02, there were 13,579 recipients of YSB. In the current academic year, to date, 21,384 YSB awards and 317 YSO awards have been made. The following table shows the percentage of recipients domiciled in each area since the bursaries were introduced.
| Area | % in 2001-02 | % in 2002-03 |
| (a) Argyll and Bute | 1.80 | 1.86 |
| (b) West Dunbartonshire | 1.97 | 2.07 |
| (c) Dumbarton | 1.45 | 1.76 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many community safety partnerships there are currently in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency and when each partnership was established.
Answer
Each local authority area has a community safety partnership. Therefore there are two partnerships in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency area, one led by Argyll and Bute Council and the other led by West Dunbartonshire Council.The community safety partnership in Argyll and Bute was established on 4 June 1999. The West Dunbartonshire community safety partnership was established on 22 January 1999.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which of the 62 New Community School Projects are situated in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area.
Answer
Two of the New Community Schools pilot projects are located in Argyll and Bute. One project covers Clyde Cottage Nursery and Dunoon, Kirn and St Mun's Primary Schools. The other covers Campbeltown Grammar School and Carradale, Castlehill, Dalintober, Drumlemble, Gigha, Glenbar, Rhunahaorine, Southend and St Kieran's Primary Schools.Two of the pilot projects are located in West Dunbartonshire. One focuses on Braidfield High School. The other covers Vale of Leven Academy, Our Lady and St Patrick's and St Columba's High Schools, and Bonhill, Christie Park, Gartocharn, Haldane, Highdykes, Jamestown, Ladyton, Levendale, Renton, St Eunan's, St Joseph's, St Kessog's, St Martin's, St Mary's (Alexandria), St Mary's (Clydebank), St Michael's, St Patrick's, St Peter's, St Ronan's and St Stephen's Primary Schools.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 18 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to reduce crime rates in disadvantaged areas in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area since 1996.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has actively encouraged the establishment of community safety partnerships led by the local authority and the police and involving the public, private and voluntary bodies to tackle community safety issues at a local level. Community Safety Partnerships are encouraged to focus on the main themes of improved crime prevention; tackling alcohol and drug related crime; changing attitudes and modifying behaviour; diverting young people away from criminal and anti-social behaviour, and reducing the fear of crime.Crime prevention spend by the Scottish Executive in Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire is outlined in the answer given to question S1W-33835 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.Both council areas also benefit from Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) and Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) funding.Under BNSF Argyll and Bute has been awarded £2.7 million and West Dunbartonshire has been awarded £9 million over a three-year period 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04. Although the Local Outcome Agreements for neither area are specifically aimed at preventing crime, Argyll and Bute do include activities aimed at reducing the fear of crime among older people and West Dunbartonshire is providing a range of information, services and activities for young people to make it less likely that they will become involved in crime.Since 1997 the Argyll and Bute SIP has funded various crime prevention projects totalling £204,000. Although in West Dunbartonshire few project allocations by the SIP have been for direct crime prevention work, they have provided £1 million funding for projects which have an impact on crime prevention and reduction, such as young person's befriending schemes, action against vandalism, domestic violence, crimestoppers, youth diversion schemes and other similar schemes.