- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to ameliorate the impact of water metering on businesses that use a disproportionate and unavoidably high volume of water.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-2624 on 23 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses it anticipates will be (a) better and (b) worse off following the phased introduction of general water metering for non-household premises from March 2008.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-2624 on 23 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has that water metering for non-household premises will lead to lower bills and improved infrastructure.
Answer
The introduction ofwater metering to non-household premises was driven by customers’ responses to theformer Executives’
Paying for Water Services consultation in 2004. It wasclear at that time that customers considered metering as the fairest and most transparentmethod of paying for water services. The analysis of the consultation can be viewedat:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20671/52284.An effect of thischange will be that customers who use less water should attract a smaller charge.Future charge levels for customers will however depend on a number of factors. Theseinclude specific consumption patterns, rateable values (used to calculate the surfacewater drainage element of the bill), the steps that customers take to manage theirdemand on the public system, the wholesale charging scheme that Scottish Water willapply to licensed retailers and how these retailers decide to charge customers withthe introduction of retail competition from 2008.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive which categories of business it expects to be (a) better and (b) worse off following the introduction of water metering for non-domestic premises.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-2624 on 23 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider devolving more specialist medical training posts from Edinburgh to Ayrshire and Arran NHS board and, if so, in what specialisms.
Answer
NHS Education forScotland (NES) is responsible for determining the specific allocation of specialistmedical training posts across Scotland. The Scottish Government is responsible fordetermining the overall number of training posts in Scotland informed by workforce planning at local and national level.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that vacant consultant posts in NHS Ayrshire and Arran are filled.
Answer
NHS Ayrshire and Arran have recently appointed 11 consultants as a result ofrecent local recruitment campaigns and their consultant vacancy rate is falling.The Scottish Government continues to work with all health boards to reduce consultantvacancy levels and thereby increase the number of consultants in post. There area number of initiatives currently in place to assist boards in this process, including:
matching the careeraspirations of doctors about to complete their training with current and expectedconsultant vacancies thereby improving the flow of information between doctors intraining and health boards;
providing funding,through an advance appointments scheme, to allow newly qualified consultants totake up post in tandem with the current consultant for a period of up to six monthsthereby easing the transition from doctor in training to consultant, and
improving the advertisingarrangements for consultant vacancies.
Health boards nowproduce workforce plans which include demand predictions for all staff groups. Theseplans are used to help match workforce supply and demand at both a national andlocal level.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 22 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the Facey review of the Arbuthnott Formula for resource allocation for NHSScotland.
Answer
I understand thatthe NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee is currently finalising its reportand will be submitting it to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing overthe next few weeks. No decisions have yet been made on publication.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 22 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce further restrictions on people smoking in public.
Answer
Scottish smoke-freelegislation, already one of the most comprehensive in the world, has only been inplace for 18 months. Although the Scottish government remains committed to reducingthe impact of tobacco on Scotland’s health, there are currently no plans tointroduce further restrictions to the legislation.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 21 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in receipt of the Warm Deal received all five measures of energy advice, cavity wall insulation, energy saving bulbs, loft insulation and water tank lagging, available under the grant, in each year since its inception.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
In addition to thefive measures listed, households can also qualify for pipe lagging and draught proofing.All dwellings benefiting from the Warm Deal programme received one of the availablemeasures plus energy advice and low energy light bulbs, as a minimum.
Information is notheld centrally on that part of the programme managed by local authorities. In thatpart of the programme managed by the Managing Agent, the number of dwellings receivingall measures is not recorded separately. However, the following table shows thenumber of dwellings, improved by the Managing Agent, that received energy advice,low energy light bulbs and more than one of the other measures.
| Year | Dwellings Improved by the Managing Agent | Dwellings Receiving  > Minimum Measures |
| 1999-20001 | 24,767 | 1,249 |
| 2000-01 | 26,555 | 2,126 |
| 2001-02 | 22,328 | 1,779 |
| 2002-03 | 21,755 | 1,167 |
| 2003-04 | 21,600 | 1,104 |
| 2004-05 | 14,953 | 1,025 |
| 2005-06 | 15,500 | 152 |
| 2006-07 (estimate) | 3,177 | (not yet available)2 |
| Total | 150,635 | 8,602 |
̀ư±·´Ç³Ù±đ²ơ:
1. This figure includesdwellings improved under The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme and The New Energy EfficiencyDeal for Scotland scheme which were still operational in 1999-2000.
2. Final outturn figurefor 2006-07 not yet available.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 14 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Warm Deal grant has been in each year since its inception in (a) cash and (b) real terms.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
The maximum Warm Dealgrant available to eligible householders in each year since its inception in 1999-2000is £500.
The value of the maximumWarm Deal grant in real terms, using 1999-2000 as the base year, is shown in thefollowing table.
| Year | Warm Deal Grant Real Terms (£) |
| 1999-2000 | 500 |
| 2000-01 | 493 |
| 2001-02 | 481 |
| 2002-03 | 467 |
| 2003-04 | 454 |
| 2004-05 | 442 |
| 2005-06 | 433 |
| 2006-07 | 421 |
Notes:
1. Figures calculatedusing GDP deflators as at 28 June 2007.
2. Figures roundedto the nearest £.
