- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 13 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are for its social justice strategy as outlined in the document Social Justice...a Scotland where everyone matters, specifically for the milestones and targets within its responsibility, of the recommendation in the recent report into poverty in Scotland by the Scottish Affairs Select Committee that local social security offices be given local autonomy and local budgets and, in the light of any such implications, what representations will it make to Her Majesty's Government regarding this recommendation.
Answer
The member is referred to the answer given to question S1W-9367.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 12 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is with regard to the comments attributed to Hal Pawson, co-author of the report "Good Practice in Housing Management in Scotland", in Inside Housing maga'ine, 18 August 2000, regarding the absence of a strategy to deal with low demand housing from the Executive consultation document on housing.
Answer
The study, co-authored by Mr Pawson, is not yet completed. The Executive will respond to its full findings in due course.
The Consultation Paper, Better Homes for Scotland's Communities contains proposals to place a duty on local authorities to produce a single housing plan for their areas. We anticipate that this plan should be used to prepare a co-ordinated response to any problems of low demand in their areas. In addition, the Executive has a range of initiatives, including the New Housing Partnership and Social Inclusion Partnership initiatives, which can be used to help tackle problems of low demand in specific areas.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 12 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is with regard to the comments published in Inside Housing maga'ine, 18 August 2000, attributed to John Perry, UK Policy Director of the Chartered Institute of Housing, regarding the implications for housing investment in Scotland if stock transfer ballots fail and the extent to which stock transfer targets in Scotland are ambitious.
Answer
The Executive believes that community ownership is the most effective means of securing the step change in investment necessary to improve the condition of Scotland's council housing and giving tenants a greater say in the ownership and management of their houses. Around 拢170 million of the New Housing Partnerships programme has been earmarked for community ownership in the period up to March 2002 and the Chartered Institute of Housing has estimated this could attract some 拢2 billion of investment.
It will be for tenants to decide, in ballots, whether to support community ownership. In the meantime, there will continue to be significant investment in Scotland's housing. A further 拢200 million of the New Housing Partnerships programme is earmarked for development and regeneration projects. In addition, resources are made available for capital investment in council housing, for investment in new and improved housing by Scottish Homes, and for programmes such as the Warm Deal and the Rough Sleepers Initiative. During this year and next, a total of almost 拢1.2 billion of the Executive's budget has been allocated to housing programmes.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what appointments have been made so far to the Glasgow Housing Association, on what date these appointments start and which of these appointments were secondments, specifying in each case which organisation the person was seconded from.
Answer
The appointment of staff to the Glasgow Housing Association is a matter for that organisation. Any enquiries relating to the staffing of the Glasgow Housing Association should be directed to its Chief Executive.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 7 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give full details of the extent and consequences of the reported problems with this year's Standard Grades awards.
Answer
I made a statement to the Parliament yesterday on these matters.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that the present postcode area level information on benefit claimants be replaced with smaller area level information and what representations it intends to making to Her Majesty's Government in pursuit of this matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currently reviewing all local area statistics for Scotland. We are in discussion with data users and DSS, in order to identify the range of needs, and to assess what level of information is available.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 7 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that a record of subsequent developments in the working lives of New Deal participants should be placed in the public domain and whether it intends to make representations to Her Majesty's Government in pursuit of this matter.
Answer
Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which therefore takes the lead on the funding and delivery of New Deal throughout Great Britain, although in close consultation with its partners, including the Scottish Executive.
The New Deal evaluation programme is carrying out detailed monitoring of the post-New Deal experience of a sample of individuals. We are committed to a continuous improvement strategy for New Deal and the Scottish New Deal Advisory Task Force are actively monitoring performance and progress.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation made by Energy Action Scotland to the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs during its investigation into poverty in Scotland that a detailed cost/benefit analysis of the impact on Scottish households of living in cold damp homes versus warm dry and healthy homes be carried out.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has commissioned a pilot evaluation of the health and other benefits of home insulation and central heating.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that it might "wish to develop the effectiveness of money advice services which are delivered into Scotland's poorer communities" and whether it intends to act upon this recommendation.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committed to improving the effectiveness of money advice services in Scotland's deprived communities. We are working with relevant organisations on how best a national debtline for Scotland can be implemented to provide access to free, quality money and debt advice.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 7 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the recommendation in the recent report on poverty in Scotland by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs that a separate database to assist in the collection of statistics on poverty be developed in Scotland and what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government on the development of such a database.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currently developing a database of poverty related information for Scotland with assistance from the DSS and Inland Revenue. It is considering a wide range of currently available data sources in addition to the option of boosting existing surveys for Scotland, and introducing new data collections. A project is currently underway to investigate the possibility of using the Scottish Household Survey dataset to produce relevant analysis. An area of priority within the Executive is to develop a more comprehensive range of local area data. Information on poverty will be covered by this initiative.
