- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 23 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it envisages any disruption to local authority services in Scotland as a result of preparing for the possible entry of the United Kingdom into European Monetary Union.
Answer
A Joint Central/Local Government Working Group has been established to ensure that any disruption that arises from a decision to join the Economic and Monetary Union is kept to a minimum as far as local authority services are concerned. The Scottish Executive and COSLA are members of the Group.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 13 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the future of the Glasgow Careers service.
Answer
The existing contract between the First Minister and Glasgow Careers Service Company expires on 31 March 2000. The company will be asked to re-contract and it is expected that the contract documentation will issue towards the end of September. Providing Glasgow Careers Service Company are able to meet the contract conditions the new contract will take effect from 1 April 2000 and will last for a period of 5 years.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 5 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any businesses in Scotland which were made bankrupt as a result of the late payment of bills by local authorities in Scotland in the financial years 1997/98 and 1998/99 and, if so, how many.
Answer
Official Insolvency Statistics are published quarterly by the Department of Trade and Industry. There were 2,585 individual insolvencies (sequestrations) and 501 company insolvencies in Scotland in 1997/98 and 3,090 individual insolvencies and 569 company insolvencies in 1998/99. A further breakdown of this information is not available.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 3 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that public sector organisations which are within its general responsibility and who are able to borrow in European currencies, review their currency portfolios or any derivative contracts in order to avoid being locked into higher interest payments in the event of the entry of the United Kingdom into European Monetary Union.
Answer
The only relevant public sector organisations currently borrowing from European Institutions are local authorities.The Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) are both represented on the Joint Central/Local Government Working Group set up to consider the introduction of the Euro and possible later entry by the United Kingdom. Our involvement is designed to minimise any disruption or disadvantage which may result from UK adoption of the Euro.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 2 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what is the expected impact on the financial systems of local authorities in Scotland in the event of the United Kingdom entering European Monetary Union and what measures will be put in place to deal with the impact.
Answer
There would be considerable implications for financial systems. For example systems including payroll, pension, purchasing and billing operations would need to be adapted to handle the Euro as would council tax and business rate collection arrangements. Coin-operated machines would need altered and pricing policies examined.The precise implications would vary from council to council. In the event of the UK joining it would be up to each council to identify the impact on its operations; and to plan accordingly. But in that event support and guidance would be offered based, amongst other things, on experience in first-wave countries and on pilot projects. Information and experience will be shared through the central/local government working group and the local authorities' own network of officials.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 July 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive to provide a list of the local authorities in Scotland who pay more than 25 per cent of their bills from contractors and suppliers after 30 days from the date due for payment.
Answer
Information on the percentage of invoices paid within 30 days is published by the Accounts Commission in their Annual Report "Comparing the Performance of Scottish Councils 1997-98" (Figure 3). Based on this information, the authorities that paid more than 25 per cent of their bills after 30 days during 1997-98 were as follows:Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Dundee City, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, City of Glasgow, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Stirling, and West Lothian.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 July 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans have been made to prepare local authorities in Scotland for the possible entry of the United Kingdom into European Monetary Union between 2002 and 2005.
Answer
The Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) are both represented on the Joint Central/Local Government Working Group set up by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) to consider the introduction of the Euro.In addition HM Treasury will step up its contacts with first-wave member states in order to learn from their experiences and will work with other Government Departments, the Scottish Executive and local government to develop pilot projects to act as a guide for preparations in other organisations.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 09 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 30 July 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing to schools in the current financial year in order to reduce the number of pupils being expelled.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is providing £6m in the current financial year to education authorities through the Excellence Fund and the pilot Alternatives to Exclusion Programme. These resources will support authorities in making provision for pupils at risk of exclusion and thereby assist them achieve the national objective of reducing exclusion by a third by 2002 and to ensure that full time education is provided for all pupils excluded for over three weeks.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 July 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the estimated cost to local authorities in Scotland of converting from Sterling to the Euro and whether local authorities will be expected to meet this cost from their existing resources.
Answer
The cost of changeover would depend on the approach taken. By undertaking advance planning and preparations, we will ensure that local authorities are in a position to make a smooth and cost-effective changeover.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 29 July 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to recognise Glasgow's metropolitan status in serving an area much wider than its designated boundaries.
Answer
We already recognise the additional pressures which Glasgow and other major urban centres face. The local government finance settlement takes account of commuters and other non-residents in the assessments for a number of council services.These distribution arrangements are kept under review, with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, through the joint local government finance Distribution Committee.
