Parliamentary questions

Gavin Brown

1,064 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

24 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the independent assessment of the energy options open to Scotland, as recommended by the Council of Economic Advisers, was completed.

Answer · Jim Mather: The independent assessment of the energy options open to Scotland was presented for consideration on 18 September 2009. It is currently being reviewed.

24 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the independent assessment of the energy options open to Scotland, as recommended by the Council of Economic Advisers, was commissioned.

Answer · Jim Mather: The independent assessment of the energy options open to Scotland was commissioned in July 2009.

24 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under 15, (b) 15 to 18, (c) 19 to 21 and (d) over 21 were admitted to hospitals in the Lothians to receive treatment for excess alcohol consumption in 2008-09.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-22376 on 21 April 2009 which contains the most recent data available (2007-08) for the age groups requested. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search…

24 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have properties in Scotland with a combined rateable value of (a) up to £8,000, (b) from £8,001 to £10,000 and (c) from £10,001 to £15,000, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · John Swinney: Information on the number and combined rateable value of businesses in the form requested is not held centrally. However, the number and rateable value of non-domestic properties for each of the local authority areas is shown in the following table: …

24 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been housed in temporary accommodation in the Lothians parliamentary region in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The table shows, for each local authority area in the Lothians parliamentary region, the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter from 31 March 2007 to 31 March 2009, the latest date for which information is availabl…

21 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been issued with fines for vandalism in each year since 2006-07, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The available information is given in the following table. The source of this information is the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database, which is derived from data held on the Criminal History System. Prosecution in court is only one of a range of pos…

21 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of graffiti and vandalism have taken place in the Lothians region in each month since May 2007, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Information is available on the annual number of crimes of vandalism, malicious damage and malicious mischief recorded by the police. No information is held centrally on a monthly basis. The information for 2007-08 and 2008-09 is given in table 8 of each of t…

21 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal for vandalism in each month since February 2009, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The following table shows the number of charges under Section 52(1) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (wilfully or recklessly destroy or damage property), where the initial decision taken by the procurator fiscal was to deal with the off…

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of drugs for the treatment of alcohol dependence dispensed by NHS Lothian in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The answer is given in the following table. The Gross Ingredient Costs given relate to medicines dispensed in the community and do not include the cost of medicines dispensed in hospitals or in hospital-based clinics. (Gross Ingredient Cost (GIC) is the cost …

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many grants have been made under the Cashback for Communities initiative to applicants in each parliamentary constituency in the Lothians region and what the value of each grant was.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: CashBack for Communities has funded two grant schemes for the youthwork sector through YouthLink Scotland, from which several grants were made in each of the Lothian local authorities. The grants awarded under the second grant scheme will be announced in Nove…

16 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it now has an expected date of publication for its independent assessment of the energy options open to Scotland, as recommended in the First Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Answer · John Swinney : This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0924-01.htm">http://www.scott…

15 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the local economy in Edinburgh has benefited from a live music scene in each of the last five years and how this compares with other cities over the same period.

Answer · Michael Russell: There is no doubt that Scotland''s cities, including Edinburgh, will benefit from having a thriving live music scene. However, defining these benefits in precise economic terms is difficult. The City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Arts Council, o…

15 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many gun-related crimes there were in the Lothian and Borders police force area in 2008-09.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Statistics on Recorded Crimes and Offences involving Firearms for 2008-09 are due to be published on 27 October 2009. For statistics for 2007-08, the latest year for which data is currently available, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W…

15 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with dementia in the NHS Lothian area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Shona Robison: The requested information is not held centrally. Under the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) element of the current General Medical Services contract GPs have since March 2006 maintained a register of patients who they know have a diagnosis of dem…

15 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) arrested, (b) charged, (c) prosecuted, (d) found guilty and (e) given a custodial sentence in cases involving (i) domestic violence, (ii) rape, (iii) violence against the person and (iv) burglary in the Lothian and Borders police force area in 2008-09.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Data on numbers of arrests and charges are not held centrally. The latest available data, to 2007-08, was given in the answer to question S3W-23564 on 15 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the …

15 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates to be the (a) volume and (b) proportion of food from (i) supermarkets, (ii) households, (iii) restaurants and other eating establishments and (iv) other sources that became food waste in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

14 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in the NHS Lothians area in each of the last three years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the number of people diagnosed with prostate cancer are available by NHS board and year (1986-2006) on the Information Services Division website: <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1488.html#Cancer%20of%20the%20prostate">http://www.isdsc…

14 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) crimes, (b) non-sexual crimes of violence, (c) serious assaults, (d) crimes of rape and attempted rape, (e) crimes of housebreaking, (f) crimes of vandalism, (g) crimes of handling an offensive weapon, (h) drug crimes and (i) murders have occurred in each year since 2006-07.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the total number of crimes committed in Scotland is not available as not all crimes are reported to the police. The following table gives information on the number of (c) serious assaults and (i) murders which have been recorded by th…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to enable marine energy projects to receive enhanced renewables obligation certificates in addition to grant funding, to help secure commercial capital investment in the first demonstration projects.

Answer · Jim Mather: The enhanced Renewables Obligation Certificates levels were designed and introduced to support commercial projects - that is, projects which did not need additional grant funding. These aspects of the legislation can only be changed on the basis of e…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether marine energy projects in Scotland that have received grants from the UK or Scottish Government will be eligible for all five renewables obligation certificates (ROC) for wave energy or for three ROCs for tidal energy, as provided for by the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order …

Answer · Jim Mather: The Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Amendment Order 2009 states that the enhanced ROC bands for wave and tidal power (five and three ROCs respectively) are not available for stations which have received grant funding from the Scottish or UK Governments.

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many charges under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 reported to the Procurator Fiscal in the Lothians region have been the subject of court proceedings in each year since 2005, broken down by (a) section of the Act and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) database does not contain information to identify local authority areas and the individual jurisdictions do not always match the local authority areas. As a result, the information has been split into the…

10 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) crimes and (b) offences have been recorded in the Lothian and Borders police force area in each year since 1995.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The total numbers of crimes and offences recorded by Lothian and Borders police force since 1995 are given in the following table: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=86 nowrap valign=bottom > <p align=center…

9 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in August 2009, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the number of charges of (a) assault and (b) assault to injury where the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure. The 222 charges relate to a tota…

9 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in July 2009, broken down by sheriff court.

9 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding education.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop : This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0917-01.htm">http://www.scot…

8 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensees in the Lothians region have not applied for a new personal licence to sell liquor, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.

8 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders were incarcerated in HMP Edinburgh for carrying an offensive weapon in each of the last three years and how many had a previous history of (a) incarceration and (b) incarceration for the same offence.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: Historical data is not available relating to who was in custody for a specific offence over the last three years. The following data refe…

8 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the recycling rates for (a) domestic and (b) municipal waste were in each local authority area in each of the last five years, also showing the year-on-year increase and national average compared with the national target.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: In response to your question please find following two tables detailing: The total recycling and composting rates for household waste for the last five years; The total recycling and composting rates for municipal waste for the last five y…

17 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences were recorded in the Lothians region in each of the last three years for the (a) sale of alcohol to a person under 18, (b) purchasing of alcohol for consumption by a person under 18, (c) purchase of alcohol or its consumption on a licensed premises by a person under 18 a…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table: Number of Recorded Offences Related to Underage Alcohol Consumption1, in the Lothians Region, 2005-06 to 2007-08 <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr…

17 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there were in the Lothians region in each of the last three years for the (a) sale of alcohol to a person under 18, (b) purchasing of alcohol for consumption by a person under 18, (c) purchase of alcohol or its consumption on a licensed premises by a person under 18 …

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table. Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Offences Related to Underage Alcohol Consumption1, in the Lothians region, 2005-06 to 2007-08 <table border=1 cellspacing=0 c…