- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 29 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many manufacturing jobs created through inward investment were lost in each of the last five years and how many of these were in Glasgow.
Answer
Records of manufacturing jobs created by inward investors which have been lost over a five year period are not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The numbers given for loss of manufacturing jobs are based on figures supplied by the Scottish Executive and relate to jobs lost by companies whose ultimate parent is based outwith Scotland regardless of whether the company was initially attracted to Scotland by LiS or its partners. The number of jobs lost in Glasgow since 1995 by companies whose primary activity is manufacturing and whose ultimate parents are based outwith Scotland are listed below:
| 1995-96 | 93 |
| 1996-97 | 1,220 |
| 1997-98 | 400 |
| 1998-99 | 68 |
| 1999-2000 | 167 |
Over the same period, Locate in Scotland and its partners helped attract 776 manufacturing jobs to Glasgow and a total of 9,313 jobs across all sectors.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 July 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how much repairs to the Kingston Bridge have cost at current prices, since its original completion prior to current repairs, (b) who paid for those repairs, (c) how much it will cost at current prices for the repairs being carried out at present and (d) who is paying for current repairs.
Answer
Between the late 1980s when it became apparent that the bridge was suffering from a number of serious structural problems, and 1 April 1996 when the M8 through Glasgow was adopted as a trunk road, Strathclyde Regional Council, the local roads authority, incurred expenditure of approximately £11.6 million.
The estimated final cost of the current strengthening contract is £31.5 million. Since the M8 was adopted as a trunk road all costs in connection with the bridge have been the responsibility of The Scottish Office, now the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 July 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to publish structural monitoring reports on the Kingston Bridge once all repairs have been completed and, if so, how frequently.
Answer
This type of technical information relating to the operational management of the structure has not been published in the past and it is not proposed to do so in the future.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 25 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase recruitment of special constables.
Answer
Decisions on the recruitment, deployment and the ratio of special to regular constables are operational matters for chief constables. A report on the role of the special constabulary was prepared by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and presented to the Police Advisory Board for Scotland last year. It recognised that there would be benefits in developing and enhancing the opportunities for members of the special constabulary to contribute to community policing. The recommendations contained in the report are currently being implemented by forces.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 22 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to establish a forum to co-ordinate the work of the NHSiS with that of major health charities.
Answer
The Scottish Executive welcomed the establishment by the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) of a Voluntary Sector Health Network. The Network, which was launched on 10 May, gives the voluntary sector a collective voice to represent its interests and concerns to the Scottish Parliament, statutory health bodies and wider community health interests.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 21 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that all health boards include epilepsy care and treatment in their health improvement plans and develop a managed clinical network of epilepsy services.
Answer
As was made clear in the debate on 17 May, the concept of Managed Clinical Networks has the potential to bring about significant improvements in services for those with epilepsy. The Scottish Executive Health Department has therefore been encouraging clinicians and the voluntary sector to develop the idea of such Networks.Five health boards already include epilepsy in their Health Improvement Programmes.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 July 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 17 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much compensation it was paid by the original designers of the Kingston Bridge, at current prices, following discovery of any design faults.
Answer
The Secretary of State inherited two court actions against the consulting engineers who designed the bridge when he took over responsibility for this structure when the M8 through Glasgow was adopted as a trunk road on 1 April 1996. The actions were settled out of court in 1997 without any admission of liability on the part of the defendants. Each party bore its own expenses. Beyond that the terms of the settlement are confidential to the parties.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 July 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 17 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the current repairs to the Kingston Bridge are having on the West of Scotland economy.
Answer
The current strengthening works have been designed so that they could be undertaken with minimal disruption to traffic on this extremely busy and important route. No adverse effects have been reported by commerce and industry in Glasgow and the surrounding area.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 July 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 17 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has assessed the possible economic and social impact on the West of Scotland should the Kingston Bridge be closed to traffic.
Answer
No. The current strengthening works will rectify the serious structural problems which have affected the bridge and will with normal maintenance ensure the integrity of this important traffic link.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 14 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities to ensure that all bridges are assessed to comply with EU regulations with regard to the introduction of higher gross weight lorries.
Answer
The Scottish Executive regularly receives from the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation representing the 32 local authorities, information on the total number of council owned and privately owned road-carrying bridges to be assessed and strengthened to meet the 40-tonne EC standard.
