Parliamentary questions
Gavin Brown
1,064 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in June 2009, broken down by sheriff court.
Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following tables show 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.</p> <p >The 257 charges relate to a tot…
23 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in the Lothians region have been suspended for drug-related issues in each local authority area in each of the last three years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of pupils suspended (temporarily excluded) for incidents of substance misuse (not alcohol) in each local authority in the Lothians region, in each of the last three years, is:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=…
23 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in the Lothians region have been suspended for alcohol-related issues in each local authority area in each of the last three years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of pupils suspended (temporarily excluded) for incidents of substance misuse (alcohol) in each local authority in the Lothians region, in each of the last three years, is:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top…
23 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people were not in education, employment or training in the Lothians region in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Annual Population Survey is the official source for data on people not in education, employment or training. The table below shows the estimates from the survey of the numbers of people aged 16 to 19 not in education, employment or training in the Lothian…
21 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people detained by the police in the Lothians region had drugs in their system in the latest year for which information is available, broken down by type of drug.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
21 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23208 by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 May 2009, whether it has information on the number of (a) children and (b) adults that were admitted to hospital as a result of malnutrition in 2008-09, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Centrally held information provides details for patients where malnutrition is identified on their hospital records. The definition of malnutrition employed in this analysis includes diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, nutritional deficiencies (e.g. vitamin A, thi…
21 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average class size was in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the Lothians region in May (i) 2005, (ii) 2006, (iii) 2007 and (iv) 2008, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Information on class sizes is not collected in May. A school census is conducted annually in September. Information on average class sizes by local authority is published in the statistical bulletins <i >Pupils in Scotland</i> for the years in question which …
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2006-07 for handling an offensive weapon had a criminal record at the time of prosecution, broken down by most recent offence.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There were 446 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2006-07. This relates to 430 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.</p> <p >Information about w…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2007-08 for handling an offensive weapon had a criminal record at the time of prosecution, broken down by most recent offence.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There were 376 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08. This relates to 367 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.</p> <p >Information about w…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2006-07 for handling an offensive weapon had previously been prosecuted for such an offence, broken down by main penalty issued.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There were 446 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2006-07. This relates to 430 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.</p> <p >The following table…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2007-08 for handling an offensive weapon had previously been prosecuted for such an offence, broken down by main penalty issued.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There were 376 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts in the Lothians region for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08. This relates to 367 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.</p> <p >The following table…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2006-07 for handling an offensive weapon and (b) on bail at the time of the offence.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There were 446 persons proceeded against for handling offensive weapons (where main offence) in the Lothians region in 2006-07, of which 79 had a bail aggravator recorded against them, indicating that the offence was committed while the offender was on bail.<…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) prosecuted in the Lothians region in 2007-08 for handling an offensive weapon and (b) on bail at the time of the offence.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There were 376 persons proceeded against for handling offensive weapons (where main offence) in the Lothians region in 2007-08, of which 67 had a bail aggravator recorded against them, indicating that the offence was committed while the offender was on bail.<…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the aims and objectives of the Scottish Investment Bank will be.
Answer · Jim Mather: The overarching objective of the Scottish Investment Bank will be to provide, on a co-investment basis with the private sector, a sustainable source of equity and debt finance to Scottish based, growth potential SMEs.</p>
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of funding available to the Scottish Investment Bank will not come from the Scottish Co-investment Fund, the Scottish Venture Fund or the Scottish Seed Fund.
Answer · Jim Mather: We are currently working to identify what further resources may be available to the Scottish Investment Bank. Until that work is finalised it is not possible to provide a figure for what proportion of funding will come from sources other than the three existi…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of funding available to the Scottish Investment Bank will come from the (a) Scottish Co-investment Fund, (b) Scottish Venture Fund and (c) Scottish Seed Fund.
Answer · Jim Mather: The proportion of funding currently available to the Scottish Investment Bank in percentage terms from the (a) Scottish Co-investment Fund, (b) Scottish Venture Fund and (c) Scottish Seed Fund is approximately (a) 60%, (b) 37% and (c) 3%.</p>
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be available to the Scottish Investment Bank.
Answer · Jim Mather: As the First Minister announced on 21 April, the Scottish Investment Bank will initially comprise approximately £150 million in available public sector resource. We are also considering what further resources might be available to enhance the scale of those f…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from the business community expressing concerns regarding the Scottish Investment Bank.
Answer · Jim Mather: No such representations have been received other than positive dialogue with business organisations on the subject at recent meetings.</p>
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place with the business community since the announcement in April 2009 of the establishment of a Scottish Investment Bank.
Answer · Jim Mather: Since the announcement on 21 April we have met with representatives from the Scottish Trade Union Council, LINC Scotland, the Federation of Small Businesses, CBI Scotland, Scottish Council for Development and Industry and Scottish Financial Enterprise. The pu…
16 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with the business community prior to the announcement in April 2009 of the establishment of a Scottish Investment Bank.
Answer · Jim Mather: As no changes were proposed to the three funds initially comprising the Scottish Investment Bank (the Scottish Seed Fund, Scottish Co-investment Fund and Scottish Venture Fund), there was no consultation with the business community prior to the announcement.<…
13 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in the Lothians region ran supported study or homework classes after the timetabled school day in each of the last five years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This information is not held centrally. Ultimately, it is for individual local authorities and schools to determine what to provide by way of out of school hours learning based on local needs and circumstances.</p>
13 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the NHS Lothian budget was spent on (a) mental health services, (b) prescription drugs and (c) antidepressants in each of the last five years.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The proportion of NHS Lothian''s budget that was spent on (a) mental health services, (b) prescription drugs and (c) antidepressants in each of the last five years is shown in the table below.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td …
13 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have waited more than (a) 6, (b) 12 and (c) 24 months for a hearing aid after an initial hearing test and diagnosis in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is currently not available centrally, however information relating to audiology waiting times in NHS boards has been collected since April 2007 and Information Services Division is actively working with the boards to improve the consistency, …
9 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have had a charge proved in court for supply of drugs offences in each police force area in each year since 2003, broken down by type of drug.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The available information is given in the following table.</p> <p >Persons with a charge proved for supply/intent to supply drugs offences<sup>1</sup>, by drug type, by police force area, 2003-04 to 2007-08:</p> <p >2003-04</p> <table border=1 cellspacing…
9 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of graduates who graduated in Scotland in each year since 1999 received a senior school education in the Lothians Region.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Information on the previous institution of study prior to attending higher education (HE) is collected by both the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) - for those doing HE at higher education institutions, and Scottish Funding Council - for those doing …
9 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduates who graduated in Scotland in each year since 1999 received their senior school education in the Lothians region.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Information on the previous institution of study prior to attending higher education (HE) is collected by both the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) - for those doing HE at higher education institutions, and Scottish Funding Council - for those doing …
6 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24486 by Kenny MacAskill on 10 June 2009, what action it will take to improve the collection of data on homicide cases, given that in 42% of cases in 2007-08 it was not known whether the person accused was drunk or under the influence of drugs.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There will always be homicide cases where the drink and drug status of the accused is unknown. A person accused of murder is not always arrested at the time of the offence, so in many cases their condition at that time cannot be assessed by a police surgeon o…
6 Jul 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 drug misuse in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Patients with a drug-related diagnosis may be treated in general acute hospitals or in mental illness hospitals. 2006-07 is the latest year for which information is available on mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units. 2007-08 is the latest year for wh…
6 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the 10 local authority (a) areas and (b) wards with the (i) highest and (ii) lowest life expectancies in (A) 2005-06, (B) 2006-07 and (C) 2007-08.
Answer · John Swinney: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) publishes each year life expectancy figures for local authority areas. These figures are based on data for a period of three consecutive years to provide large enough numbers to ensure accuracy. The most recent …
2 Jul 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of people with HIV/AIDS in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) NHS board area.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on HIV and AIDS in Scotland is collected and published by Health Protection Scotland. Due to the sensitive nature of this information and the breakdown requested, we are working closely with Health Protection Scotland to provide an answer to your …