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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-19827

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 3 January 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what its current estimates are of the rate of return on capital in schools funded wholly or partly through the Private Finance Initiative.

Question reference: S1W-21044

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 27 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the Housing Improvement Task Force will be published.

Question reference: S1W-20799

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 21 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the most up to date waiting list times are for people suffering from drug and alcohol abuse to obtain a place in a residential care home, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S1W-20798

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in improving the employment prospects of single parents.

In Scotland, New Deal for Lone Parents has helped almost 13,300 lone parents to find work by September 2001.The Scottish Executive launched in July a new £24 million package of initiatives which aims to encourage lone parents into Scotland's universities and colleges by making it easier for them to meet the childcare costs that prevent many from taking that vital first step to jobs and better incomes. An estimated 6,500 students could benefit from this overall package of support.Also one of the key aims of the Scottish Executive's Childcare Strategy, which includes funding for local authorities of almost £50 million between 2001-02 and 2003-04, is to ensure that affordable, accessible, good quality childcare is available to all parents, including single parents, to enable them to take up employment and training opportunities.

Question reference: S1W-20674

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 19 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) outturn expenditure was in each year from 1992-93 to 2000-01 and (b) estimated outturn expenditure will be in each year from 2001-02 to 2003-04, where relevant shown in real terms, in respect of (i) the Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland approved development programme, (ii) Scottish Homes' own stock capital investment, (iii) new town stock capital investment, (iv) housing revenue account borrowing consent, (v) housing revenue account permitted spend from receipts, (vi) non-housing revenue account spending, (vii) local authority spending on private sector repair and improvement grants, (viii) the rough sleepers initiative, (ix) the empty homes initiative, (x) new housing partnerships/ community ownership, (xi) housing support grant, (xii) warm deal/central heating installation programme/fuel poverty and (xiii) capital projects funded from revenue by local authorities.

Where available, the information requested is set out in the following tables. The figures are all expressed in cash terms.

Year	Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland approved development programme
	£ million
1992-93	282.6
1993-94	306.6
1994-95	319.5
1995-96	325.0
1996-97	304.0
1997-98	210.3
1998-99	199.8
1999-2000	209.5
2000-01	215.8
2001-02	213.0¹
2002-03	214.5¹
2003-04	To be confirmed

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	Scottish Homes own stock capital investment
	£ million
1992-93	75.3
1993-94	75.0
1994-95	61.7
1995-96	50.8
1996-97	44.5
1997-98	29.5
1998-99	23.9
1999-2000	19.5
2000-01	11.5
2001-02	5.4¹
2002-03	2.0¹
2003-04	To be confirmed

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	New Town stock investment
	£ million
1997-98	7.3¹
1998-99	14.5¹
1999-2000	8.1¹
2000-01	8.6¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	HRA capital allocations
	£ million
1992-93	128.9
1993-94	161.6
1994-95	174.6
1995-96	168.7
1996-97	171.0
1997-98	171.9
1998-99	174.6
1999-2000	154.6
2000-01	154.6
2001-02	176.5¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	HRA usable receipts
	£ million
1992-93	286.6
1993-94	279.4
1994-95	284.5
1995-96	238.3
1996-97	161.5
1997-98	69.1
1998-99	63.0
1999-2000	69.4
2000-01	70.0
2001-02	65.5¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	Non-HRA spending
	£ million
1993-94	116.7
1994-95	122.3
1995-96	113.6
1996-97	91.5
1997-98	56.7
1998-99	55.9
1999-2000	51.9
2000-01	48.1

Three above figures include local authority private sector repair and improvement grants which are not separately disaggregated.

Year	Rough Sleepers Initiative
	£ million
1997-98	2.1
1998-99	3.2
1999-2000	5.6
2000-01	10.0
2001-02	14.6¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	Empty Homes Initiative
	£ million
1997-98	2.0
1998-99	5.2
1999-2000	3.8
2000-01	4.9
2001-02	7.6¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	New Housing Partnerships community ownership
	£ million
1997-98	10.3
1998-99	29.7
1999-2000	35.4
2000-01	52.0
2001-02	100.5¹
2002-03	93.5¹
2003-04	117.4¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	Housing Support Grant
	£ million
1992-93	48.5
1993-94	35.1
1994-95	25.2
1995-96	22.4
1996-97	19.5
1997-98	15.6
1998-99	12.7
1999-2000	10.6
2000-01	9.6
2001-02	9.0¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	Warm Deal-Central Heating Installation Programme Fuel Poverty
	£ million
1999-2000	3.0
2000-01	13.0
2001-02	33.5¹
2002-03	37.5¹
2003-04	47.5¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Year	Capital Financed from Revenue
	£ million
1992-93	14.6
1993-94	21.5
1994-95	24.7
1995-96	40.4
1996-97	22.8
1997-98	60.5
1998-99	87.3
1999-2000	106.8
2000-01	125.8
2001-02	115.8¹

Note:1. Estimates.

Question reference: S1W-20675

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 19 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how much private investment was attracted in real terms in each year from 1992-93 to 2000-01 by (a) housing associations or co-ops for rented housing, (b) housing associations or co-ops for low cost home ownership and (c) other housing providers grant-funded by Scottish Homes.

The following table sets out, in 2000-01 real terms, the private finance committed to projects approved in each of the following years:

Year	Housing associations or co-ops for rented housing	Housing associations or co-ops for low cost home ownership	Other housing providers grant-funded by Communities Scotland
	£ million	£ million	£ million
1992-93	42.6	33.5	83.4
1993-94	47.4	38.9	90.2
1994-95	58.3	37.2	120.4
1995-96	61.6	73.0	102.6
1996-97	54.2	48.0	109.3
1997-98	50.8	28.3	68.2
1998-99	66.8	22.0	76.5
1999-2000	95.7	11.6	94.9
2000-01	108.4	7.8	50.6

Question reference: S1W-20676

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 19 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how much private investment it estimates will be attracted in real terms in each year from 2001-02 to 2003-04 by (a) housing associations or co-ops for rented housing, (b) housing associations or co-ops for low cost home ownership, and (c) other housing providers grant-funded by Communities Scotland.

The following table sets out, in 2000-01 real terms, the private finance expected to be committed to projects approved in 2001-02. No estimates are available beyond this.

Year	Housing associations or co-ops for rented housing	Housing associations or co-ops for low cost home ownership	Other housing providers grant-funded by Communities Scotland
	£ million	£ million	£ million
2001-02	100.0¹	8.4¹	9.3¹

Note: 1. Estimates.

Question reference: S1W-20525

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 12 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure any valuations of large scale voluntary transfers by Communities Scotland make provision for irrecoverable costs associated with any repairs to owner-occupiers' property held in common with rented housing association stock.

I have asked Bob Millar, chief executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Communities Scotland, on behalf of Scottish Homes, commissions from a panel of professionally qualified independent valuers valuations of the rented housing stock to be transferred.To date no provision has been made in any of the valuations for the non-recovery of owners' contributions as private properties are not part of the core stock being sold.Although this has been raised by acquiring landlords, Communities Scotland take the view that it is inappropriate to include costs in the valuation which do not directly relate to the stock being valued for sale.

Question reference: S1W-20474

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce the incidence of lung disease.

Question reference: S1W-20193

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 5 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to local authorities on the funding of agencies that provide non-housing debt advice.