Christine Grahame

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) household, (b) commercial and (c) total waste was recycled by each local authority in each of the last three years.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Details on local authority recyclingrates up to 2005-06 are available on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency(SEPA) website at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/data/data_digest.htm">www.sepa.org.uk/nws/data/data_digest.htm</a>.</p><p>Data on mu…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with a registered disability it has employed in each year since 1999, broken down by grade and expressed also as a percentage of total staff numbers.

Answer · John Swinney: The following percentages ofself-declaration forms were received from disabled Scottish Executiveemployees:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=76 nowrap valign=top> <p>Payband</p> </td> <td width=85 nowrap valign=b…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much, and by what percentage, each NHS board budget increased in each year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05 (a) in total and (b) per capita and what each board’s average annual increase was over that timescale.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested isgiven in NHS Boards’ Budget Increases 1999-00 to 2004-05 tables available inthe Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 43249).</p>

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households were living in property that was below tolerable standard in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish House ConditionSurvey, which is the only consistent national source of information on housesbelow tolerable standard, estimates that there were 20,000 households living inhouses below the standard in 2002. This is 0.9% of all households in Scotla…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were admitted to hospital suffering from hypothermia in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of continuous stayswith a diagnosis of hypothermia over the last five years is presented by NHS boardin table 1 and by age in table 2.</p><p>Table 1. Numberof Continuous Stays^1,2 Discharged with a Diagnosis of Hypothermia³by N…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in the fisheries sections of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by responsibility.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The following table showsstaff numbers by area of responsibility in Divisions covering Fisheries whichare part of the Marine Directorate, namely Sea Fisheries Conservation, SeaFisheries Management, and Freshwater Fisheries and Aquaculture, in each of thelast …

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in the environment sections of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by responsibility.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The following table showsstaff numbers by area of responsibility in Divisions covering Environment whichare parts of the Environmental Quality Directorate and Climate Change and WaterIndustry Directorates, in each of the last three years.</p><table border=1 c…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget for its Environment and Rural Affairs Department was in each of the last five years, broken down by issue and detailing year-on-year percentage increases and decreases.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Details of the budgets areset out in Tables 1.01 to 1.12 of the Environment and Rural Development Chapterof the Draft Budget 2007-08 which can be found at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/05131713/3">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Pu…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of unemployment is, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · John Swinney: The Claimant Count gives thenumber of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is produced by theOffice for National Statistics.</p><p>The following table showsthe number of unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefits in eachlocal author…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school classes had 25 or more pupils in each of the last four years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The number ofprimary school classes with 25 or more pupils is shown in the following table.Information for secondary schools is not collected.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=407> <thead> <tr> <td width=151 nowrap valign=bottom> <p>L…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the social work expenditure on care of elderly people was in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority and expressed also per head of population.

Answer · Shona Robison: Net expenditure figures areprovided from 2002-03 onwards. Expenditure figures prior to 2002-03 are notcomparable. The information requested is given in the following table:</p><p>Net expenditure¹per Local Authority on Older People</p><table border=…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been notified of any funding deficits in the operation of the concessionary fares scheme and, if so, what the deficits have been each year since the scheme came into operation, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: In the first year ofoperation (2006-07) the concessionary fares scheme for older and disabled peopleexperienced no funding deficits.</p>

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been notified of any funding surpluses in the operation of the concessionary fares scheme and, if so, what the surpluses have been for each year since the scheme came into operation, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: In the first year ofoperation (2006-07) the concessionary fares scheme for older and disabled peopleexperienced a surplus of £6.2 million. The surplus for bus travel was £5 millionand the ferry surplus was £1.2 million.</p><p>These surpluses wereactively mana…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the police clear-up rate has been in each year since 1999 for serious violent crimes, as referred to in Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008, expressed also as a percentage of all serious violent crimes and broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The requested information isgiven in the following table.</p><p>Clear Up Rate for Serious ViolentCrime by Local Authority Area, 1999-2000 to 2005-06</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=560> <thead> <tr> <td width=149 nowrap valign=top> <…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses have been (a) built and (b) renovated in each local authority area in the (i) private and (ii) social rented sector in each of the last five years, broken down into (A) housing association and (B) local authority builds.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The information requested onhow many houses have been built is given in tables 1a, 1b and 1c of Private,Local Authority and Housing Associations House Completions 2002-2006, a copy ofwhich has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.num…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic (a) fatalities and (b) injuries there have been (i) in each of the last three years and (ii) so far this year, broken down by (A) police force area and (B) parliamentary region, expressed also as a percentage of all road traffic accidents and showing year-on-year per…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The numbers of road accidentfatalities and injuries by police force area are published each year in <i>KeyRoad Accident Statistics</i> (provisional figures) and <i>Road AccidentsScotland</i> (detailed figures). These figures, together with statistics for parl…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been carried out of the potential impact on the Scottish economy if proposals by the UK Government to reduce rail services on the east coast mainline proceed. 

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested isshown in the following tables.</p><p>Percentage ofFemale Police Officers in Each Police Force as a Percentage of Total Staff </p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=116 valign=top> <p>All Ran…

9 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to students in part-time education at further education colleges in each year since 1999.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Various different types of funding are available to students in part-time education studying at advanced and non-advanced level at further education colleges. Where available the amounts of funding are given as follows (Table 1). Figures are rounded.</b></p> …

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by each NHS board in each of the last five years on (a) administration and (b) management, expressed (i) as a percentage of its total budget and (ii) per head of population.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Administrative andmanagement staff make an invaluable contribution to the operation of the healthservice, organising services in a way which provides equitable access to thehighest possible levels of sustainable quality care and ensuring that thepatient's jou…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual NHS staff costs were in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board, expressed also as a percentage of each board’s total budget and showing year-on-year changes.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We are committed toNHSScotland being an exemplar employer. Enhancements to staff terms andconditions provide benefits to staff by recognising their contribution throughfair pay, greater flexibility and improved development opportunities; they alsohelp deliver…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of tuberculosis there were in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested isshown in the following table: </p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td nowrap valign=bottom> <p>NHS Board</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=bottom> <p align=center>2002</p> </td> <td nowrap valig…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been for cancer patients from (a) diagnosis and (b) urgent GP referral to start of treatment in each of the last 12 quarters.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: (a) Information on waiting timesfrom diagnosis to treatment is only collected centrally for patients with breastcancer. The data presented in the following table therefore refer to breast cancerpatients only.</p><p>Number of Breast Cancer Patients with the Me…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many isolation beds there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on isolation facilities in NHS boards in Scotland was collated by Health Protection Scotland during February 2004 as part of a one off exercise to support Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) preparedness planning. Since that time no further n…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how mortality rates per 100,000 population from (a) coronary heart disease, (b) strokes, (c) diabetes, (d) cancer, (e) smoking-related illnesses and (f) alcohol-related illnesses in the Scottish Borders compared with the Scottish average in each year since 1997.

Answer · Jim Mather: The available data are shownas follows:</p><p>Age-standardisedMortality Rate per 100,000 Population Selected Causes of Death, Scotland andNHS Borders Area, 1997-2005</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=670> <thead> <tr> <td width=221 nowra…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost increase to the NHS was between 1999-2000 and 2006-07 in respect of (a) medical secretaries, (b) record keepers, (c) health educators, (d) IT technicians, (e) financial managers, (f) caterers, (g) launderers, (h) cleaners and (i) all other staff and what proportion of the to…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The NHS is a team operation.Staff such as those listed above, play a vital role in keeping a hospitalrunning smoothly. Behind every nurse or doctor there is someone making sure theirequipment works, that test results are processed accurately, that appointment…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women (a) were diagnosed with and (b) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Data on newly diagnosed cancersin Scotland are recorded on the Scottish Cancer Registry. The mostrecent year of data currently available is 2004.</p><p>Data on deaths in Scotland arerecorded by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The most recent …

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what capital funding has been given to (a) NHS National Services Scotland, (b) the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, (c) the Protein Fractionation Centre and (d) Alba Bioscience in each of the last four years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: National ServicesScotland (NSS) is given an annual capital allocationof c.£5 million to meet minor capital requirements across all its internal divisions.All further capital funding is by way of additional allocation from the HealthDepartment for specific pro…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) longest wait for urgent breast cancer referrals were in each year since 2003, broken down by NHS hospital.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on median and longestwaits for urgent breast cancer referrals for the years and in the format requested,is available from in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under:</p><p>Table a: Number of urgently referred breast cancer patients withth…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the rates of (a) overweight and (b) obesity have been among (i) children under 11 years, (ii) children aged from 11 to 18 and (iii) adults in each year since 2003.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested isavailable from several sources, but not necessarily for all of the specific agegroups or years requested.</p><p>The <i>Scottish Health Survey</i> gives estimates of theprevalence of obesity and overweight in children and adults. Th…

4 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average body mass index was in each NHS board area in each year since 2004.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested isnot available for each year since 2004.</p><p>The <i>Scottish Health Survey</i> gives average Body MassIndex (BMI) for children and adults. The most recent data available is for the year2003. NHS board level results are only availa…