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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: S2W-27610

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many exemptions it has applied under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to requests for information in each month since January 2005.

Information on the use of exemptions by the Scottish Executive during 2005 is available in a report on informationrequest handling in the Scottish Executive. This report is available in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 39491) and on the Freedom of Information pages of the Scottish Executive website:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/04/monitor2.

The Executive will bepublishing the report for requests received during the first six months of 2006once the figures for this period have been analysed.

Question reference: S2W-27615

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for information received by it have not been responded to within the required 20 working day period stipulated by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in each month since Jan 2005 and expressed as a percentage of the total number of requests made.

Information on the number and percentage of requests dealt with by the Scottish Executive within the 20 working-day time period during 2005 is available in a report on information requesthandling in the Scottish Executive. This report is available in the Scottish Parliament’sReference Centre (Bib. number 39491) and on the Freedom of Information pages of the Scottish Executive website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/04/monitor2.The Executive will be publishing the report for requests received during the firstsix months of 2006 once the figures for this period have been analysed.

Question reference: S2W-27611

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the top five most commonly used exemptions it has applied under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 are to requests for information in each month since January 2005.

Information on the level of use of each exemption by the Scottish Executive during 2005 is availablein a report on information request handling in the Scottish Executive. Thisreport is available in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number39491) and on the Freedom of Information pages of the Scottish Executive website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/04/monitor2.

The Executive will bepublishing the report for requests received during the first six months of 2006once the figures for this period have been analysed.

Question reference: S2W-27437

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the basis was of its decision to set a target of a 10% reduction in the number of persistent young offenders by March 2006.

We identified thedisproportionately negative impact that the behaviour of a small minority ofyoung people were having on victims, communities and their own life chances.

We remain determined toprevent that behaviour wherever possible, and confront it when it does occur.That was and is the basis for our focus on persistent young offenders.

With almost one in threeoffence referrals to Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration attributableto persistent young offenders, the intention was to encourage concernedagencies to unite to tackle repeat offending and focus finite resources in waysthat could provide most support to those young people who need it, and the mostimmediate relief to communities affected by youth crime.

A 10% reduction in thenumber of persistent young offenders would have seen 120 of the most recidivistyoung people in Scotland lifted out of a life of crime, and each of them notbeing referred in respect of an average nine offences per annum. That couldpotentially have seen over 1,000 fewer victims of youth crime in each yearsince 2003-04.

Question reference: S2W-27441

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is confident that the figures published by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration in respect of persistent young offenders provide the most accurate picture of the scale of offending behaviour among young people.

We are content that thequarterly and annual youth justice figures published by the Scottish Children’sReporter Administration represent an accurate picture of offence referralsreceived by the administration.

Minor or one-off incidencesof offending behaviour where detected and admitted may not merit theconsideration of compulsory supervision via referral to the Children’sReporter, and could also be effectively dealt with by parental action,restorative police warnings or other diversionary activity.

Question reference: S2W-27509

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people were not in education, employment or training in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Annual estimates of thenumbers of young people not in education, employment or training nationally aretaken from the Annual Population Survey. For most local authorities, the samplesize of the survey for people aged 16 to 19 is too small to provide reliableestimates of those not in employment, education or training. Table 1 shows theestimates available from 2003 onwards.

Prior to 2003, the samplesize in Scotland was smaller and it was not possible to producereliable estimates of the numbers of young people not in education, employmentor training at a local level. Table 2 gives the estimates for Scotland forthe years 1999 to 2002.

Table 1: Proportion and Numberof 16 to 19-Year-Olds Not in Education, Employment or Training by Local AuthorityArea 2003 to 2005

	Mar 2003 to Feb 2004		Jan 2004 to Dec 2004		Jan 2005 to Dec 2005
	Proportion	Number NEET	Proportion	Number NEET	Proportion	Number NEET
Scotland	13.7%	35,000	13.2%	35,000	14.0%	36,000
Aberdeen City	*	*	*	*	*	*
Aberdeenshire	*	*	*	*	*	*
Angus	15.1%	1,000	*	*	15.3%	1,000
Argyll and Bute	12.6%	1,000	*	*	*	*
Clackmannanshire	*	*	*	*	*	*
Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	*	*	*	*
Dundee City	*	*	*	*	*	*
East Ayrshire	13.7%	1,000	17.5%	1,000	14.0%	1,000
East Dunbartonshire	8.5%	1,000	*	*	*	*
East Lothian	*	*	*	*	*	*
East Renfrewshire	10.1%	1,000	*	*	*	*
Edinburgh, City of	*	*	*	*	*	*
Eilean Siar	*	*	*	*	*	*
Falkirk	*	*	*	*	*	*
Fife	*	*	*	*	*	*
Glasgow City	19.0%	6,000	22.1%	7,000	25.8%	8,000
Highland	*	*	*	*	*	*
Inverclyde	17.7%	1,000	18.5%	1,000	14.8%	1,000
Midlothian	19.6%	1,000	15.6%	1,000	20.1%	1,000
Moray	*	*	*	*	13.3%	1,000
North Ayrshire	17.9%	1,000	20.5%	1,000	11.1%	1,000
North Lanarkshire	21.9%	4,000	*	*	21.2%	4,000
Orkney Islands	*	*	*	*	*	*
Perth and Kinross	*	*	*	*	*	*
Renfrewshire	*	*	*	*	*	*
Scottish Borders	13.9%	1,000	*	*	12.0%	1,000
Shetland Islands	*	*	*	*	*	*
South Ayrshire	15.9%	1,000	19.5%	1,000	11.9%	1,000
South Lanarkshire	*	*	*	*	*	*
Stirling	11.9%	1,000	16.3%	1,000	15.0%	1,000
West Dunbartonshire	16.6%	1,000	19.2%	1,000	16.2%	1,000
West Lothian	*	*	*	*	*	*

Source:Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey 2003-04 Annual Population Survey 2004 and2005.

Notes:

* -estimate withheld as below reliability threshold

1. Numbers(other than proportions) rounded to the nearest thousand.

2. Proportionsare calculated on unrounded figures.

3. Totalsmay not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

Table 2: Proportion and Numberof 16 to-19 Year Olds not in Education, Employment or Training, Scotland1999 to 2002

Year	Proportion	Number
1999	14.9%	37,000
2000	15.0%	38,000
2001	15.4%	38,000
2002	14.0%	35,000

Source:Labour Force Survey combined quarters.

Notes:

1. Numbers(other than proportions) rounded to the nearest thousand.

2. Proportionsare calculated on unrounded figures.

Question reference: S2W-27239

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 24 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26585 by Cathy Jamieson, what the total cost was of employing PA Consulting from April 2004 and May 2006.

Question reference: S2W-27606

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10945 by Cathy Jamieson on 20 October 2004, what progress has been made towards recognising the bravery and historic importance of the Scottish women of the suffrage movement.

After considering the options,ministers decided to commission a sculpture which would mark not only the contributionof Scottish women of suffrage but of all Scottish women - past, present and future- in getting the vote for women and advancing democracy.

I announced the name of the successfulartist on 8 March 2006 at an evening event in the Scottish Parliament, whichtook place against the backdrop of a small Executive-funded exhibition that includedsuffragette memorabilia and a large reproduction of a suffragette banner.

Further details aboutthe sculpture, including developing plans for the unveiling in December 2006, canbe found on the following Executive website page.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/18500/comsculp.

Question reference: S2W-27275

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 23 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what direction was given to Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) at the meeting scheduled with SCRA officials on 16 May 2006 about what should be reported in its next annual report in terms of national standards.

Question reference: S2W-27272

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 23 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, following the meeting scheduled with Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) officials on 16 May 2006, what level of analysis the SCRA is now required to provide to ministers regarding youth justice reporting.