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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-23366

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to ensure, so far as practicable, equity of access to transport for which the national concessionary travel scheme is available.

Question reference: S2W-23361

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pregnancies there were amongst (a) 12, (b) 13, (c) 14, (d) 15 and (c) 16-year-olds in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S2W-23368

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the voluntary sector regarding the operation and extent of the national concessionary travel scheme.

Voluntary organisations wereincluded in the consultation, which was run between 24 October to 5 December 2005, onthe orders for the Scotland-wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled people towhich over 130 responses were received.

In addition the Royal NationalInstitute for the Blind has been involved in discussions on the needs of the visuallyimpaired in using smartcards for the Scotland-wide Free Bus scheme for Older andDisabled people.

I have also met with the ScottishPensioners Forum where discussion included the concessionary travel scheme and howit will affect older people.

Question reference: S2W-22745

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 3 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the procedures for requesting permission to land at airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, in particular in respect of flights by the CIA or by agencies to whom the CIA has outsourced services, are affected by NATO accords or other similar agreements and whether these procedures apply equally to military and civilian flights.

This is a reserved matter. The UK Department for Transport grants permission, under the Chicago Convention through the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and the Air Navigation Order 2005, for foreign aircraft to operate commercial civil flights in the UK where they land and take on board or discharge passengers or cargo and where payment is given or promised in respect of that carriage. Prior permission is not required where payment is not given for carriage or where no passengers are taken on board or discharged.

NATO accords do not affect the routine use of national airspace or airports. Permission for foreign military flights is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. No prior clearance is required for US military aircraft or civil aircraft on US Government business to land in the UK. Aircraft carrying dangerous air cargo or VIPs (e.g. senior Government officials, senior politicians and Heads of State) must be notified to the Ministry of Defence.

Question reference: S2W-23362

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Robert Brown on 3 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 16 to 18 remained with foster carers in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

The numbers of looked after children aged 16 or 17 years old in foster care on the 31 March each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area, are shown in the following table. It should be noted that figures exclude children on short-term placements only and that some figures were estimated due to missing or incomplete data.

Number of Children Looked After Aged 16 and 17¹ by Foster Carers on the 31 March

Local Authority	1999¹	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Local Authority	17 Years and Over	16 and 17 Years Old	16 and 17 Years Old	16 and 17 Years Old	16 and 17 Years Old	16 and 17 Years Old	16 and 17 Years Old
Aberdeen City	7^(e)	12^(e)	11^(e)	15^(e)	7^(e)	9^(e)	6
Aberdeenshire	11	20	18	15	12	10	10
Angus	*	8	6	11	13	11	14
Argyll and Bute	*	*	0	5	9	5	*
Clackmannanshire	*	*	*	*	*	5	6
Dumfries and Galloway	*	17	18	9	9	16	12
Dundee City	*	13	14	17	14	17	17
East Ayrshire	7	6	6	7	10	5	*
East Dunbartonshire	0	*	*	*	*	*	*
East Lothian	5	10	8^(e)	23	21	9	9
East Renfrewshire	*	0	*	*	*	*	*
Edinburgh, City of	21^(e)	29	35	27	28^(e)	33	19
Eilean Siar	*	*	*	*	*	5	*
Falkirk	14	11	17	20	19	14	18
Fife	*	14	20	18	22	23	26
Glasgow City	64	41	42	45	64	69	62
Highland	15	16	18	11	12	8	20
Inverclyde	0	N/A	5	*	*	*	*
Midlothian	13^(e)	14	7	5	7	8	6
Moray	*	N/A	N/A	7^(e)	6	6	5
North Ayrshire	6	*	7	*	5	5	*
North Lanarkshire	5	7	9	6	15	14	12
Orkney Isles	0	*	*	*	*	0	*
Perth and Kinross	*	8	7	*	8	5	5
Renfrewshire	7	6	6	8	8	7	*
Scottish Borders	5	15	10	11	10	14	10
Shetland	*	*	5	*	0	0	*
South Ayrshire	0	*	*	6	*	*	*
South Lanarkshire	*	*^(e)	7^(e)	*	5	11	10
Stirling	6	*	*	*	7	11	7
West Dunbartonshire	5	*	*	*	8	6	7
West Lothian	*	10	13	0	10	*	16
Total	223	291	307	293	348	336	325

Notes:

1. For 1999, age categories differed to subsequent years.

N/A - age splits not available and no estimates provided.

^(e)- data has been estimated.

Cells containing * represent small numbers that are suppressed to maintain confidentiality.

Question reference: S2W-23013

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of the 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey, how many households would be considered to be in fuel poverty if council tax benefit was not included in the calculation of income.

Question reference: S2W-23012

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of the 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey, how many households with children under five would be considered to be in fuel poverty if (a) the higher heating regime defined in the 1996 survey report was applied and (b) fuel prices rose by (i) 5%, (ii) 10%, (iii) 15%, (iv) 20% and (v) 25%.

If the higher heating regimeused in the 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey report had been used tocalculate fuel poverty for the 2002 report the number of households withchildren under five considered to be in fuel poverty would be 11,000. Theeffects on this figure of additional fuel cost increases of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%and 25% are demonstrated in table 1.

Table 1: Effect Of Inclusionof Under Five Heating Regime and Additional Costs on Number and % of Householdswith Children Under Five in Fuel Poverty

	Number of Households with Children Under Five in Fuel Poverty	% of Households with Children Under Five in Fuel Poverty
2002 Fuel Poverty Statement (FPS) Heating regime	9,000	4
FPS regime with under 5 heating regime	11,000	5
FPS regime with under 5 heating regime and fuel costs increased by 5%	12,000	5
FPS regime with under 5 heating regime and fuel costs increased by 10%	16,000	7
FPS regime with under 5 heating regime and fuel costs increased by 15%	18,000	8
FPS regime with under 5 heating regime and fuel costs increased by 20%	20,000	9
FPS regime with under 5 heating regime and fuel costs increased by 25%	23,000	10

Question reference: S2W-23011

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive why, for the purposes of calculating the number of households in fuel poverty, households with children under five are no longer considered by the Scottish Household Survey to require a higher heating regime.

Question reference: S2W-23387

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities make provision for mobility training.

Question reference: S2W-23388

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities provide escorts for elderly and infirm people wishing to access public transport.

We do not hold thisinformation centrally. However, the Executive is committed to enabling accessby disabled people to public transport. Research has been commissioned toexamine how to improve transport for disabled people. This will include anassessment of the importance of improved public transport concessions fordisabled people but will go beyond that to include wider issues than justaffordability. This research project is expected to be completed in April 2006.