Parliamentary questions

Gavin Brown

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

6 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent in the Lothians region on anti-knife crime campaigns in each of the last five years, broken down by campaign.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The only knife crime communication campaign undertaken by the Scottish Government over the past five years ran between November 2006 and April 2007, and £220,489 was spent on its delivery throughout the Lothian region. However, we are continuing to work in pa…

3 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have registered as homeless in the Lothians region in each year since 2002, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is available from table 25 of the annual reference tables published on the Scottish Government website on 29 September 2008 and subsequently updated on 17 March 2009. The tables can be accessed at: <a href="http://www.scotla…

3 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have registered as homeless in the Lothians region in each month since May 2007.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table indicates the numbers of applications assessed as homeless in the Lothians from May 2007 until September 2008 (the latest point for which data has been published): <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <t…

3 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people registered as homeless in the Lothians region in each of the last four quarters for which information is available, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is available from table 11 of the quarterly time series reference tables published on the Scottish Government website on 17 March 2009. The tables can be accessed at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housin…

3 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were declared bankrupt in the last quarter of 2006, also broken down by sheriffdom.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: There were 1,519 awards of bankruptcy made during the last quarter of 2007 (from 1 October 2007 to 31 December 2007). A breakdown of the figures by sheriffdom is shown in the following table. Awards made by the Court of Session and remitted to a sheriff court…

3 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were declared bankrupt in the last quarter of 2007, also broken down by sheriffdom.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: There were 1,469 awards of bankruptcy made during the last quarter of 2006 (from 1 October 2006 to 31 December 2006). A breakdown of the figures by sheriffdom is shown in the following table. Awards made by the Court of Session and remitted to a sheriff court…

1 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing, whether the proposed route to the bridge passes through greenbelt land.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Yes, the connecting road between the Forth Replacement Crossing and the A90 at South Queensferry passes through green belt land.

1 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing, for what reasons a flyover is required close to Dundas Home Farm.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: A junction is required on the south of the Forth to enable traffic to access between the new southern approach road to the bridge and A904. The location of the proposed South Queensferry junction shown at the public exhibitions in January has been re…

1 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing, to what extent mineworkings affected the decision to change the route from that originally proposed.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Mineworkings were not a major factor in the change of route from the indicative route announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in December 2007 to the route I announced to Parliament in December 2008. Mineworkings were, h…

1 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing, what modelling has been carried out to calculate the noise and visual impacts on Dundas Home Farm residents.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Noise and visual impact assessments are on-going now that the engineering design has been refined and will be reported in the Environmental Statement (ES) later this year.

1 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place with residents of Dundas Home Farm regarding the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland attended a group meeting with residents of Dundas Home Farm on 23 April to discuss a number of issues including design development and environmental mitigation measures. This follows discussions with a number of residents at the pu…

1 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place regarding the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing with the affected owners of land and properties adjacent to the revised road layout.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: During 2008 engineers consulted with all landowners who were affected by ground investigation work which was designed to assist with the review of the route options. Following my announcement to Parliament in December 2008, Transport Scotland held a …

26 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes were committed by people under 18 in 2008 and of these how many were committed by (a) first-time and (b) repeat offenders and how many of the repeat offenders committed (i) two, (ii) three, (iii) four, (iv) five to 10 and (v) more than 10 crimes.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information has been taken from the Scottish Government''s Court Proceedings database and does not include young people who have been referred to the reporter. In 2006-07, the latest year for which data is available, there were 8,838 instances o…

26 Mar 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 2007-08.

Answer · Shona Robison: Table 1 shows the provisional number of patients discharged from general acute hospitals with an alcohol-related diagnosis in 2007-08 by the specified age groups in the Lothian NHS board area. Table 2 shows the provisional number of patients discharg…

26 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of alcohol poisoning there were in the Lothians in 2008, broken down by hospital.

Answer · Shona Robison: The data for calendar year 2008 is not currently available. The latest available provisional information is for year ending 31 March 2008. The number of discharges for alcohol poisoning in acute hospitals treated in NHS Lothian in 2007-08 are as foll…

24 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) drivers and other staff and (b) passengers were attacked on Lothian Buses vehicles in 2008.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Government does not hold individualised data on any crimes or offences recorded by the eight police forces in Scotland, and as such does not hold information on the victims of crimes or the locatio…

23 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes of shoplifting have been recorded in each month since January 2007, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of crimes recorded by the police is published on an annual basis and it is not possible to provide this information on a monthly basis. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21942 on 19 March 2009. All answers to …

23 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in the Lothians region in each year since 2004, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The information requested (from October 2004 to March 2008) can be found at <a href="http://www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com/">www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com</a>. The Antisocial Behaviour Framework Promoting Positive Outcomes: Working Tog…

23 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in the Lothians region are waiting to register with an NHS dentist, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. Dentists are not obliged under their NHS terms of service to advise NHS boards of any waiting lists they may hold. NHS Lothian may hold information on those waiting to register with its salaried dental service.…

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were declared bankrupt in the last quarter of 2008, also broken down by sheriffdom.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Accountant in Bankruptcy maintains the Register of Insolvencies in Scotland and publishes statistics on personal insolvencies in Scotland quarterly on their website, and by financial year in their annual report. Since 1 April 2008, whilst credi…

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of days served in HMP Edinburgh was for people convicted of handling an offensive weapon in each of the last five years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The information requested is shown in the following table: Mean Time Served by Prisoners Admitted to HMP Edinburgh whose Main Cr…

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths in the NHS Lothian area were (a) alcohol and (b) drug related and, of these, how many were of people aged (i) under 18, (ii) 18 to 29, (iii) 30 to 55 and (iv) over 55, from 1999 to 2008.

Answer · Shona Robison: The total numbers of alcohol-related deaths in the NHS Lothian area, in each year from 1979 to 2007, are given in table 2 of the Alcohol-related deaths section of the web site of the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), which can be found at this addr…

18 Mar 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many agricultural regulations it has removed since 2007.

Answer · Richard Lochhead : 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/sor0326-01.htm">http://www.sco…

16 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people charged with assault to injury from 1 October 2008 to 31 January 2009 have received a direct measure, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the number of charges of 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 from 1 October 2008 to 31 January 2009. The figures …

16 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal for vandalism in each month since August 2008, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: 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…