Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 3532 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S2W-09482

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 27 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the population has access to the internet from home, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows the percentage of the adultpopulation with home access to the internet broken down by local authorityarea. This is taken from the Scottish Household Survey and shows data for 2001-02. We expect the 2002-03 figures to be published on 5 August 2004.

Adult Population	%
Aberdeen City	35
Aberdeenshire	35
Angus	31
Argyll and Bute	30
Clackmannanshire	26
Dumfries and Galloway	21
Dundee City	24
East Ayrshire	25
East Dumbartonshire	43
East Lothian	35
East Renfrewshire	42
Edinburgh City	36
Eilean Siar	24
Falkirk	28
Fife	29
Glasgow City	22
Highland	34
Inverclyde	27
Midlothian	30
Moray	29
North Ayrshire	21
North Lanarkshire	25
Orkney	29
Perth and Kinross	32
Renfrewshire	28
Scottish Borders	31
Shetland	40
South Ayrshire	30
South Lanarkshire	30
Stirling	37
West Dunbartonshire	25
West Lothian	32
Scotland	29

Question reference: S2W-09382

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 26 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any external finance limits were overshot by public bodies within its responsibility in the last financial year and, if so, by which bodies and what action was taken in response.

External Finance Limits (EFL) apply to cash accounting and as the Scottish Executive has operated on a resource accounting system since 2002-03 they no longer apply.

I am pleased to report that all of the non-departmental public bodies spent within their agreed final budgets. There are however, four health boards who are expected¹ to exceed their Revenue Resource Limit:

NHS Argyll and Clyde

NHS Grampian

NHS Lanarkshire

NHS Western Isles

NHS boards are clear that any such overspends are carried forward to the next year, and that we expect plans to eliminate them to be in place.

The audited annual accounts for NHS boards are not yet available and the number of boards with deficits may change.

Question reference: S2W-08360

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the revised business case for the Borders railway and when it will be published.

Question reference: S2W-09383

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital beds there are in each health board area per 1,000 head of population.

Information on average available staffed beds, rate per 1,000 population in each NHS board area for the year ending 31 March 2004 is shown in the table below.

NHSScotland - Average Available Staffed Beds, Rate Per 1,000 Population^1,2; by Health Board Area: Year Ending 31 March 2004^P

Scotland	5.9
Argyll and Clyde	6.5
Ayrshire and Arran	5.6
Borders	6.1
Dumfries and Galloway³	5.6
Fife	5.0
Forth Valley	4.9
Grampian³	6.0
Greater Glasgow	7.1
Highland	6.1
Lanarkshire	5.4
Lothian	5.4
Orkney	4.9
Shetland	4.6
Tayside	6.4
Western Isles	8.7

Source: ISD Scotland [FormISD(S)1].

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Includes joint-user and contractual hospitals.

2. Crude rates per 1,000 mid-year population forecast at 30 June 2003. These figures should be considered with caution as they take no account of cross boundary flow, ie, beds will not necessarily serve only the local population.

3. Some information is estimated.

Question reference: S2W-09380

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8994 by Mr Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004, which NHS boards applied for approval for schemes to assist eligible patients with travel expenses in order to access primary NHS dental treatment and, of these, how many applications were successful in (a) 1999-00, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04 and how the availability of these schemes was publicised.

Question reference: S2W-09385

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8971 by Mr Tom McCabe on 24 June 2004, when the review of the current guidance for continuing care criteria in Management Executive Letter (1996) 22 will be concluded, when the results will be published and which personnel are conducting the review.

Question reference: S2W-09304

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the expenditure per mile was on roads maintenance in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S2W-09307

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes of indecency were reported in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area and, of these, how many were successfully prosecuted in each year.

Information on crimes reported to (as opposed to recorded by) the police is not available centrally. Information on crimes of indecency recorded by the police broken down by police force area is published for each year in table 4A of the relevant statistical bulletins Recorded Crime in Scotland, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 7079, 13119, 20798, 27678 and 33018).

The available information on persons with a charge proved in court where a crime of indecency was the main offence is given in the following table. Statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim, while a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Charges recorded by the police may also be altered as a result of the judicial process.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for a Crime of Indecency¹, 1998-2002

Police Force Area	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002³
Central	24	16	26	25	18
Dumfries and Galloway	11	8	18	19	5
Fife	37	57	32	41	44
Grampian	99	66	38	41	42
Lothian and Borders	99	129	85	94	80
Northern	21	31	28	37	33
Strathclyde	637	548	385	306	289
Tayside	47	55	46	52	49
Scotland²	975	910	658	617	560

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes a small number of cases where force area is not known.

3. Figures may be underestimates due to recording delays.

Question reference: S2W-09294

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting period was for summary cases in each sheriff court district in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-09497

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) charged, (b) proceeded against and (c) had a charge proved for carrying knives in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Information on persons chargedby the police is not held centrally. The information available on persons proceededagainst in court is given in the tables. There is no simple relationship betweensheriff court and local authority areas as some sheriff courts deal with offendersfrom more than one local authority area.

Persons Proceeded Against inScottish Courts for Having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or Point¹,by Court, 1998-2002

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002³
Sheriff courts:
Aberdeen	26	23	23	28	31
Airdrie	15	23	30	36	33
Alloa	3	1	2	5	2
Arbroath	9	4	7	5	10
Ayr	22	23	34	26	25
Banff	0	0	1	1	3
Campbeltown	0	0	0	4	1
Cupar	0	1	1	2	1
Dingwall	1	0	2	1	0
Dornoch	0	1	0	0	0
Dumbarton	49	50	43	64	35
Dumfries	7	12	11	10	13
Dundee	47	45	38	47	49
Dunfermline	8	9	11	7	8
Dunoon	3	4	5	5	1
Duns	0	1	1	1	5
Edinburgh	125	109	94	99	119
Elgin	5	6	5	7	10
Falkirk	15	17	18	21	21
Forfar	0	3	6	5	5
Fort William	3	1	1	3	4
Glasgow	430	513	546	686	511
Greenock	42	48	60	48	76
Haddington	9	7	2	9	15
Hamilton	77	113	147	135	126
Inverness	13	7	1	6	12
Jedburgh	2	3	2	6	6
Kilmarnock	73	72	78	75	61
Kirkcaldy	6	9	8	25	28
Kirkcudbright	0	0	7	3	5
Kirkwall	0	4	0	2	0
Lanark	8	12	13	17	10
Lerwick	1	1	1	1	2
Linlithgow	16	10	16	17	27
Lochmaddy	0	0	0	1	0
Oban	2	4	3	3	2
Paisley	112	93	100	103	76
Peebles	2	0	0	0	2
Perth	12	5	12	18	15
Peterhead	11	4	2	4	8
Rothesay	2	0	1	7	3
Selkirk	8	5	4	5	6
Stirling	7	8	4	11	6
Stonehaven	1	0	0	1	0
Stornoway	3	1	1	0	2
Stranraer	7	11	0	3	3
Tain	0	4	3	1	1
Wick	1	1	2	3	2
Sub-total	1,183	1,268	1,346	1,567	1,381
District and stipendiary magistrates courts:
Aberdeen City	3	0	0	2	1
Aberdeenshire	1	2	1	9	4
Argyll and Bute	1	1	0	2	0
Clackmannanshire	0	1	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	1	0
Dundee City	1	3	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	2	0
Edinburgh, City of	0	0	0	2	1
Fife	4	2	1	0	0
Glasgow City	3	7	6	3	8
Highland	1	1	1	0	1
North Lanarkshire	1	3	2	0	0
Perth and Kinross	1	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	0	1	2	1	0
West Dunbartonshire	1	0	3	0	0
Sub-total	17	21	16	22	15
All courts²	1,201	1,291	1,364	1,593	1,396

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes persons proceededagainst in the High Court and where court type not known.

3. Recording delays mean thatcases where the charges were not proved may be under-stated in the totals for personsproceeded against.

Persons with a Charge Provedin Scottish Courts for having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or Point¹,by Court, 1998-2002

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Sheriff courts:
Aberdeen	25	20	19	23	29
Airdrie	13	14	22	25	27
Alloa	3	0	1	5	2
Arbroath	9	2	5	5	8
Ayr	16	18	27	21	23
Banff	0	0	1	1	2
Campbeltown	0	0	0	3	1
Cupar	0	1	1	2	1
Dingwall	1	0	1	1	0
Dornoch	0	1	0	0	0
Dumbarton	39	37	32	38	30
Dumfries	5	10	10	9	12
Dundee	32	36	33	38	42
Dunfermline	6	9	8	6	7
Dunoon	2	2	3	5	1
Duns	0	1	1	1	4
Edinburgh	120	96	86	88	106
Elgin	5	5	5	7	8
Falkirk	13	16	18	17	19
Forfar	0	2	5	5	5
Fort William	2	1	1	3	3
Glasgow	323	396	433	529	469
Greenock	39	37	52	43	73
Haddington	9	6	1	8	14
Hamilton	63	88	119	108	108
Inverness	10	4	1	5	12
Jedburgh	2	3	2	6	6
Kilmarnock	63	58	65	63	60
Kirkcaldy	5	7	8	22	21
Kirkcudbright	0	0	5	2	5
Kirkwall	0	4	0	2	0
Lanark	7	11	9	15	8
Lerwick	1	1	1	1	2
Linlithgow	16	9	14	14	25
Lochmaddy	0	0	0	1	0
Oban	2	4	3	1	2
Paisley	92	67	71	78	65
Peebles	1	0	0	0	2
Perth	6	2	8	12	12
Peterhead	10	1	1	4	6
Rothesay	1	0	1	7	3
Selkirk	8	5	4	5	6
Stirling	4	5	4	11	4
Stonehaven	0	0	0	1	0
Stornoway	3	1	1	0	2
Stranraer	5	7	0	2	3
Tain	0	4	3	1	1
Wick	1	1	2	3	2
Sub-total	962	992	1,087	1,247	1,241
District and stipendiary magistrates courts:
Aberdeen City	3	0	0	2	1
Aberdeenshire	1	2	1	9	4
Argyll and Bute	1	1	0	2	0
Clackmannanshire	0	1	0	0	0
Dundee City	1	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	2	0
Edinburgh, City of	0	0	0	2	1
Fife	3	2	1	0	0
Glasgow City	1	6	4	3	8
Highland	1	0	1	0	1
North Lanarkshire	1	2	2	0	0
Scottish Borders	0	1	2	1	0
West Dunbartonshire	1	0	3	0	0
Sub-total	13	15	14	21	15
All courts²	976	1,008	1,101	1,270	1,256

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes persons proceededagainst in the High Court and where court type not known.