- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 27 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce truancy.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has a range of policies to help schools tackle absenteeism, and continues to work with education authorities to refine and develop their policies and practice.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 27 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that Transport Scotland will work in partnership with local NHS boards to ensure good access to health facilities.
Answer
The new transport agency, which is due to be up an running by the end of 2005, will consult with all stakeholders including local NHS boards, to ensure good access to transport services. Health issues will be taken into account in developing the National Transport Strategy which will provide the framework of priorities for the new transport agency and all transport bodies.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in providing free dental and eye checks for all.
Answer
The Partnership Commitment isto provide free eye and dental checks for all before 2007. We will legislate forthe implementation in the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Billwhich has recently been introduced in Parliament. Discussions on detailed implementationof the Commitment are on-going with the dental and optical professions respectively.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received regarding Supporting People funding and whether it will revise the allocations announced on 1 October 2004.
Answer
Representations have been received from COSLA, local authorities and a range of other external stakeholders about funding for Supporting People. The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring a fairer distribution of resources across Scotland and to ensuring that efficiency improvements are achieved with thisfunding, but I have listened carefully to the concerns raised by COSLA, local authorities, providers and other stakeholders about the pace of redistribution originally proposed.
I am therefore making an additional £3.4 million available to increase transitional support to £20 million and slowing down the rate of redistribution so that change is manageable locally. I am also allowing councils to carry forward resources from the current year into 2005-06 to further ease transitional pressures.
The revised allocations to local authorities for 2005-06 to 2007-08 which I am announcing today soften the impact of the redistribution process very considerably. This will help protect crucial Supporting People-funded services that vulnerable people rely on to live independently in their communities. I can assure third party providers and representatives of the different clients helped by Supporting People we will be issuing guidance to local authorities and tracking the impact of these budget changes very carefully, both to ensure that the expected efficiency gains are delivered, but also that any funding changes don’t disproportionately affect any one type of provider. We look forward to discussing this guidance with COSLA and a range of other stakeholdersshortly.
Table of revised allocations for Supporting People from 2005-06 to 2007-08:
| | 2005-06 (£) | 2006-07 (£) | 2007-08 (£) |
| Aberdeen City | 12,306,000 | 11,881,000 | 11,882,000 |
| Aberdeenshire | 9,375,000 | 9,440,000 | 9,707,000 |
| Angus | 6,404,000 | 6,460,000 | 6,688,000 |
| Argyll and Bute | 13,782,000 | 13,261,000 | 12,222,000 |
| Clackmannanshire | 3,093,000 | 3,242,000 | 3,851,000 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 13,948,000 | 13,420,000 | 12,368,000 |
| Dundee City | 11,672,000 | 11,748,000 | 12,055,000 |
| East Ayrshire | 6,184,000 | 6,464,000 | 7,609,000 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 5,438,000 | 5,237,000 | 5,238,000 |
| East Lothian | 8,663,000 | 8,336,000 | 7,683,000 |
| East Renfrewshire | 5,789,000 | 5,570,000 | 5,134,000 |
| Edinburgh, City of | 41,343,000 | 39,778,000 | 36,661,000 |
| Eilean Siar | 357,000 | 454,000 | 851,000 |
| Falkirk | 8,275,000 | 8,439,000 | 9,109,000 |
| Fife | 26,207,000 | 24,506,000 | 24,507,000 |
| Glasgow City | 71,765,000 | 73,159,000 | 78,852,000 |
| Highland | 12,849,000 | 11,728,000 | 11,728,000 |
| Inverclyde | 7,979,000 | 7,684,000 | 7,685,000 |
| Midlothian | 5,616,000 | 5,404,000 | 4,981,000 |
| Moray | 6,401,000 | 6,159,000 | 5,677,000 |
| North Ayrshire | 13,602,000 | 12,242,000 | 12,066,000 |
| North Lanarkshire | 24,845,000 | 25,045,000 | 25,862,000 |
| Orkney Islands | 357,000 | 422,000 | 689,000 |
| Perth and Kinross | 6,226,000 | 6,395,000 | 7,086,000 |
| Renfrewshire | 16,971,000 | 16,329,000 | 15,049,000 |
| Scottish Borders | 5,956,000 | 5,750,000 | 5,751,000 |
| Shetland Islands | 788,000 | 815,000 | 926,000 |
| South Ayrshire | 8,172,000 | 7,975,000 | 7,975,000 |
| South Lanarkshire | 23,189,000 | 22,333,000 | 22,333,000 |
| Stirling | 3,800,000 | 3,966,000 | 4,649,000 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 16,187,000 | 15,575,000 | 14,355,000 |
| West Lothian | 9,761,000 | 9,783,000 | 9,871,000 |
| Scotland | 407,300,000 | 399,000,000 | 401,100,000 |
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 23 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will encourage graduates to consider teaching as their first career option.
Answer
Graduate recruitment to initial teacher education is very strong. For example, in 2004 universities recruited over 80% more students to PGCE maths courses and over 50% more to PGCE English courses than in 2003.
In addition, we will launch a teacher recruitment campaign early in the New Year. We will highlight the very favourable salaries, conditions of employment, induction arrangements, and career development and progression opportunities that teachers in Scotland now enjoy.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the report of the Short-Term Working Group on Outstanding Warrants.
Answer
I am publishing the report of the working group today. The group identified and considered in detail a number of issues relating to warrants within the Scottish criminal justice system, including prisoner releases from courts. The report makes 20 recommendations addressed to various parts of the criminal justice system and sets out an action plan for their implementation. The report also acknowledges the significant proportion of warrants that relate to fines enforcement, and the impact that the recommendations of the Summary Justice Review Committee would have. We will keep the warrants system under review to identify any improvements that can be made. Copies of the report have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34316).
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link will be completed and when the new service will be operational.
Answer
The rail link is planned for completion by the end of 2008 with new services running shortly thereafter.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 29 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when the report on the strategic review of the delivery of legal aid, advice and information in Scotland will be made available.
Answer
The report to Scottish ministers and the Scottish Legal Aid Board on the Strategic Review of the delivery of legal aid, advice and information will be published on 29 October 2004. A full copy of the report will be available on the Scottish Executive website. Copies of the report are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34238)
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for implementing the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answer
The new provisions on antisocial behaviour strategies, antisocial behaviour orders, dispersal of groups, closure of premises and new environmental powers come into force today. The other measures will commence over the coming months. The timetable for this is set out in a Guide to the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, which has been published today. Copies of the guide and statutory guidance on the measures coming into force this autumn are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 34110 to 34118).
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 September 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to ensure the early identification of people with diabetes.
Answer
The National Screening Committee Policy Position (March 2004) advocates targeted screening of those in high-risk groups - in particular, members of certain minority ethnic groups and people with obesity. This will be taken forward in Scotland as part of the Review of the Diabetes Framework, which will be published shortly.
