Parliamentary questions

Gavin Brown

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

10 Apr 2008 · 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 (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06, (iv) 2006-07 and (v) 2007-08.

Answer · Shona Robison: Table 1 shows the number of patients discharged from general acute hospitals with an alcohol-related diagnosis between 2003-04 and 2006-07, in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2007-08 is not yet available. Table 2 shows the number of patients …

10 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any legal advice that it received prior to, during or after launching its consultation on local income tax on the competence of its proposals under the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of a nationally set and nationally collected local income tax.

Answer · John Swinney: It is the practice of successive governments, reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code and the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, that the fact and content of legal advice is not revealed.

10 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, prior to launching its consultation on local income tax, what legal advice it received on the competence of its proposals under the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of a nationally set and nationally collected local income tax.

7 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10249 by Fergus Ewing on 29 February 2008, whether it will provide a breakdown by parliamentary constituency of knife crime in the Lothians in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The recorded crime data is based on an aggregate return at local authority level. As such, it is not possible to supply information about individual crimes, such as the type of weapon used in an assault, nor can we extract data by parliamentary constituency. …

7 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers were attacked in schools in the Lothians in each of the last five years, broken down by school for which the information is available.

Answer · Maureen Watt: This information is not collected centrally. The most recent collection of incidents of violence or antisocial behaviour against school staff related to 2002-03. The results are available on the Scottish Government website using the following link: <…

7 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of P1 to P3 pupils across the Lothians were in class sizes of (a) 18 and under, (b) 19 to 25, (c) 26 to 30 and (d) over 30 in each school year from 2003-04 to 2007-08, broken down by school.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Information of class sizes for each year, broken down by school, is available on the Scottish Government website, using the following link: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/ClassSizeDatasets">http://www.…

7 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-32523 by Cathy Jamieson on 26 March 2007, how many individuals were charged with posession of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) crack cocaine, (d) ecstacy and (e) cannabis in the Lothian and Borders police board area in 2006-07, showing the percentage cha…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: As explained in the answer to the earlier question referred to above, the statistics held centrally on recorded crimes do not show the number of charges, nor is it possible to break down the drug offences by the type of drug involved. The available informatio…

19 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-2566 by Stewart Stevenson on 13 March 2008, whether the period of keeping Scottish Water under review has now commenced and, if so, when it began, how many staff are involved, what procedures are being followed and when it expects to report on its co…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Following the Parliamentary motion of 21 February 2008, we are keeping under review the structure and operations of Scottish Water as part of our regular work on the water industry in Scotland.

4 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications for the building of affordable housing in the Lothians by (a) housing associations and (b) the private sector were rejected in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Information on the number of applications for affordable housing that were refused planning consent is not held centrally.

4 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications for the building of affordable housing in the Lothians were made by (a) housing associations and (b) the private sector in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The information requested is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Government has been putting in place monitoring arrangements to assess both the number of planning applications for affordable housing that received planning consent and the amount of affo…

4 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes were built by (a) housing associations and (b) the private sector in the Lothians parliamentary region in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Information on new house building is published on the Scottish Government website at: (a) <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildHA">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-R…

28 Feb 2008 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much water Scottish Water lost in leakages in the most recent year for which figures are available and how much this cost.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: In the most recent year for which figures are available, 2006-07, Scottish Water reported distribution losses and losses from customers'' supply pipes of 366,095 Ml. Treatment costs for this amount of water are estimated as approximately £16.5 million which i…

22 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what statistics it has for the number of people carrying knives in the Lothians region, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8808 on 4 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…

22 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks were recorded on (a) firemen, (b) police officers and (c) hospital staff in the Lothians region, broken down by parliamentary constituency, in each year for which the information is available.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The police recorded crime statistics collected centrally are based on an aggregate return at local authority level, and do not distinguish the circumstances of the crime, such as the occupation of the victim. Following the introduction of the Emergency Worker…

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for public expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not have a target for the level of public expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product. Our purpose is to focus the government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotl…

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it has stopped publishing figures for public expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product in the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser’s Economic Pocket Databank.

Answer · John Swinney: The Economic Pocket Databank is produced by the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser and its aim is to provide an update of the most recent available statistics for the Scottish economy. As a result, the content of this databank is reviewed on an on-going bas…

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what public expenditure is as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Answer · John Swinney: The most recent published estimate is 51.0% of GDP, based on statistics produced in 2004-05 and published in December 2006. Updated figures will be available in June 2008.

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18105 by Frank Mulholland on 17 December 2008, how many incidents of serious assault and robbery resulted in a fiscal fine being issued by procurators fiscal in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: No incidents of assault to severe injury and robbery were dealt with by means of a fiscal fine between April 2007 and October 2008. Guidance issued to procurators fiscal in October 2008 makes it clear that there is a presumption in favour of, at least, sherif…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18105 by Frank Mulholland on 17 December 2008, how many incidents of assault with intent to rape resulted in a fiscal fine being issued by procurators fiscal in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: No incidents of assault with intent to rape were dealt with by means of a fiscal fine between April 2007 and October 2008. Guidance issued to procurator fiscals in October 2008 makes it clear that fiscal fines must not be issued in cases which involve a signi…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18105 by Frank Mulholland on 17 December 2008, how many incidents of assault to severe injury or permanent disfigurement resulted in a fiscal fine being issued by procurators fiscal in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: No incidents of assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement were dealt with by means of a fiscal fine between April 2007 and October 2008. Guidance issued to procurators fiscal in October 2008 makes it clear that there is a presumption in favour of, …

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18105 by Frank Mulholland on 17 December 2008, how many incidents of assault and robbery resulted in a fiscal fine being issued by procurators fiscal in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: No incidents of assault and robbery were dealt with by means of a fiscal fine between April 2007 and October 2008. Notes: 1. The answer to this question has been prepared using the same data extract as was used in the preparation of the answer to que…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18105 by Frank Mulholland on 17 December 2008, how many incidents of assault to the danger of life resulted in a fiscal fine being issued by procurators fiscal in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: No incidents of assault to the danger of life were dealt with by means of a fiscal fine between April 2007 and October 2008. Guidance issued to procurators fiscal in October 2008 makes it clear that there is a presumption in favour of, at least, sheriff summa…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18105 by Frank Mulholland on 17 December 2008, how many incidents of serious assault resulted in a fiscal fine being issued by procurators fiscal in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: No incidents of assault to severe injury were dealt with by means of a fiscal fine between April 2007 and October 2008. Guidance issued to procurators fiscal in October 2008 makes it clear that there is a presumption in favour of, at least, sheriff summary pr…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all the offences that have resulted in a direct measure being issued by procurators fiscal since April 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information is available, however, showing the offences most frequently issued with a direct measure affected by Summary Justice Reform from April to September 2008. The follo…

7 Jan 2008 · 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 have been arrested for being drunk and disorderly in the Lothians region in each month since January 2008, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of arrests made by the police is not held centrally, only the number of crimes recorded.

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under the age of 18 have been convicted of carrying (a) knives and (b) other weapons in the Lothians region in each month since January 2008, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The most up to date published court proceedings data is for 2006-07 (covering the year to the end of March 2007). Data for 2007-08, covering the period April 2007 to March 2008, is still being processed and the data required is therefore not available at this…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13141 by John Swinney on 27 May 2008, whether it can now provide details on what the uptake has been of the Small Business Bonus Scheme, expressed as a percentage of eligible businesses and broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) discount ban…

Answer · John Swinney: As a result of expanded coverage and improved data collection and validation procedures, figures showing the uptake under the Small Business Bonus Scheme are now expected to be published in February 2009.

3 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been made available for the provision of affordable housing in the Lothians parliamentary region in each year since 2003-04.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:The funding made availablefor the provision of affordable housing in the Lothians parliamentary region eachyear since 2003-04 is set out in the…

3 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) households and (b) children lived in overcrowded housing in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish HouseholdSurvey provides local authority area estimates for households living in dwellingsbelow the bedroom standard for consecutive two-year periods from 1999-2000. Table1 shows the estimated percentage of Scottish households living in dwellings…

3 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been housed in temporary accommodation in each local authority area in the Lothians parliamentary region in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The ScottishGovernment collects snapshot information on the number of households intemporary accommodation at the end of each quarter through the HL2 return. Thisonly relates to households which have been placed in temporary accommodation bya local authority …