Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-01086

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 21 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been of people aged under 18 for possession of an offensive weapon in Tayside in each of the last four years.

Persons AgedUnder 18 in Tayside Police Force Area with a Charge Proved in Court forCarrying Knives or Possessing an Offensive Weapon¹, 2001-02 to 2005-06

Year	Having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or Point	Possession of an Offensive Weapon	Total
2001-02	6	12	18
2002-03	5	7	12
2003-04	9	10	19
2004-05	7	10	17
2005-06	15	10	25

Note: 1. Where mainoffence.

Question reference: S3W-01085

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 21 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been for possession of an offensive weapon in Tayside in each of the last four years.

The available informationis given in the following table.

Persons in TaysidePolice Force Area with a Charge Proved in Court for Carrying Knives orPossessing an Offensive Weapon¹, 2001-02 to 2005-06

Year	Having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or Point	Possession of an Offensive Weapon	Total
2001-02	62	81	143
2002-03	72	72	144
2003-04	46	82	128
2004-05	74	90	164
2005-06	88	89	177

Note: 1. Where mainoffence.

Question reference: S3O-00316

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 21 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what value it places on the role of the arts and culture in the regeneration of Scotland¿s cities.

Question reference: S3W-00594

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Linda Fabiani on 20 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial resources it has provided towards the staging of the Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Question reference: S3W-00595

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to increase the uptake of free school meals throughout all years of secondary school.

The Scottish Governmentsupports Education Authorities to promote uptake of school meals by making fundsavailable through the National Priorities Action Fund and sharing good practicethrough the Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit. The Schools (Health Promotionand Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 places a duty on all education authoritiesto promote the uptake of school meals, and in particular free school meals. This duty will commence in August 2008 andprogress will be monitored by HM Inspectorate of Education.

Question reference: S3W-00596

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to increase the uptake of free school meals throughout all years of primary school.

Question reference: S3W-00492

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Mike Pringle on 14 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the process of setting up the Scottish Commission for Human Rights will commence before the summer recess.

Question reference: S3W-00532

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the number and percentage of jobs in the public sector have been in each of the last five years in (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire local authority areas.

The official source for dataon public sector employment is the Quarterly Public Sector Employment (QPSE) series.However, the QPSE is not available below a national level.

Data on public sector employmentis available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey(APS) by local authority area. However, it is known that the LFS/APS overestimatesthe number of people employed in the public sector. This is due to the fact thatsector of employment is determined by the individual and some people believe theywork in the public sector when in fact they do not. Table 1 shows the number andproportion of people working in the public sector within Dundee City, Angus andAberdeenshire for five years up to 2005 (the latest calendar year which reliabledata are available at a local authority level) taken from the LFS/APS. Please note,as stated above, these are not directly comparable with the official public sectoremployment estimates from the QPSE series.

Also please note the estimatesare based on a sample survey, and as such, are subject to some sampling error. Takingaccount of sampling error there are no statistically significant differences inpublic sector employment levels between any of the years within Aberdeenshire, Angusor Dundee City.

Table 1 Public SectorEmployment in Selected Local Authorities, 2001-05

	Level			Percentage of Total Employment
	Aberdeenshire	Angus	Dundee	Aberdeenshire	Angus	Dundee
2001	26,000	14,000	20,000	21.3%	23.5%	31.4%
2002	22,000	11,000	19,000	19.3%	21.9%	30.7%
2003	22,000	13,000	17,000	18.9%	25.7%	27.4%
2004	26,000	14,000	19,000	21.8%	28.4%	31.8%
2005	27,000	14,000	20,000	22.8%	26.8%	31.8%

Sources: Labour Force Survey (LFS), Quarterscombined for 2001-02. In 2003 the Scottish figure is taken from the Annual ScottishLFS (ASLFS). In 2004 and 2005 the figures are taken from the APS. The APS and ASLFSinclude boosts to the main LFS. This means there is a discontinuity in the series.

Notes:

1. Data are based on head counts.

2. Data are based on a samplesurvey and therefore are subject to a degree of error.

3. Those who are known to workin the further and higher education have been removed to ensure that the data areas comparable as possible with the official public sector series.

Question reference: S3W-00600

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 13 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much regional selective assistance was given to companies based in (a) Dundee, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire in 2006-07 and how many jobs were (i) created or (ii) safeguarded.

Question reference: S3W-00599

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of people were long-term unemployed in each council ward in (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire on the most recent date for which figures are available.

The claimant count gives thenumber of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is produced by the Officefor National Statistics.

Tables 1 to 3 show the numberof long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefits in each councilward in Dundee City, Angus and Aberdeenshire respectively and also the long-termunemployed as a proportion of total unemployment in each ward. Long-term unemployedare defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over 12 months.The latest data available is for April 2007.

Table 1 Claimant CountUnemployment for Wards in Dundee City, April 2007

Ward	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment
Ardler	15	15.0%
Balgay	15	24.2%
Balgillo	0	-
Balgowan	25	16.0%
Barnhill	5	18.5%
Baxter Park	15	14.0%
Bowbridge	35	20.5%
Brackens	15	12.5%
Broughty Ferry	5	10.0%
Camperdown	20	13.2%
Claverhouse	25	17.7%
Craigiebank	15	20.5%
Douglas	40	20.4%
East Port	30	18.6%
Fairmuir	20	17.5%
Hilltown	30	15.0%
Law	20	12.3%
Lochee East	20	17.1%
Lochee West	35	23.0%
Logie	15	14.2%
Longhaugh	45	20.9%
Ninewells	25	17.7%
Pitkerro	30	15.1%
Riverside	5	17.9%
Stobswell	35	19.1%
Strathmartine	5	6.4%
Tay Bridges	20	17.7%
West Ferry	0	-
Whitfield	25	18.0%
Dundee City	590	16.8%

Source: Office for NationalStatistics.

Notes:

1. Long-term unemployed definedas those claiming for over 12 months.

2. Data on number of long-termunemployed rounded to the nearest five.

Table 2 Claimant count unemploymentfor wards in Angus, April 2007

Ward	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment
Arbirlot and Hospitalfield	5	8.2%
Arbroath North	5	11.6%
Brechin North Esk	15	28.3%
Brechin South Esk	20	22.0%
Brechin West	5	17.2%
Brothock	15	12.6%
Carnoustie Central	0	-
Carnoustie East	0	-
Carnoustie West	15	28.8%
Cliffburn	10	12.5%
Forfar Central	5	12.2%
Forfar East	10	20.4%
Forfar South	5	11.4%
Forfar West	5	17.2%
Harbour	30	24.0%
Hayshead and Lunan	10	16.9%
Keptie	5	8.3%
Kirriemuir East	5	10.0%
Kirriemuir West	5	20.0%
Letham and Friockheim	5	21.7%
Monifieth Central	0	-
Monifieth West	5	15.6%
Montrose Central	25	23.4%
Montrose Ferryden	20	17.4%
Montrose Hillside	5	10.0%
Montrose West	15	20.8%
Sidlaw East and Ashludie	5	13.9%
Sidlaw West	5	17.2%
Westfield and Dean	5	12.8%
Angus	275	17.4%

Source: Office for NationalStatistics.

Notes:

1. Long-term unemployed definedas those claiming for over 12 months.

2. Data on number of long-termunemployed rounded to the nearest five.

Table 3 Claimant CountUnemployment for Wards in Aberdeenshire, April 2007

Ward	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment
Aberchirder	5	20.0%
Aboyne	5	45.5%
Alford	5	62.5%
Banchory East and Crathes	0	-
Banchory West	0	-
Banff	5	9.3%
Banff West and Boyndie	5	18.5%
Belhelvie	0	-
Blackhouse	0	-
Boddam-Inverugie	0	-
Buchan North	0	-
Buchan North East	0	-
Buchanhaven	5	13.5%
Central Buchan	0	-
Chapel and Gadie	0	-
Clerkhill	0	-
Cruden	0	-
Dales-Towerhill	0	-
Donside and Cromar	5	35.7%
Durn	5	19.2%
Echt	0	-
Ellon Town	0	-
Elrick	0	-
Fraserburgh East	0	-
Fraserburgh North	0	-
Fraserburgh South	0	-
Fraserburgh West	0	-
Fyvie-Methlick	5	33.3%
Gamrie-King Edward	0	-
Huntly East	5	19.2%
Huntly West	5	18.5%
Insch	5	31.3%
Inverbervie, Gourdon and Johnshaven	5	20.8%
Inverurie Central	5	33.3%
Inverurie North	0	-
Inverurie South and Port Elphinstone	5	35.7%
Kemnay	5	23.8%
Kinellar and Westhill North	0	-
Kintore and Keithhall	0	-
Logie Buchan	0	-
Lonmay and St Fergus	0	-
Lower Deeside	0	-
Macduff	0	-
Mearns Central	5	33.3%
Mearns North	5	41.7%
Mearns South	5	16.7%
Meldrum	5	50.0%
Mid Deeside	0	-
Mintlaw-Longside	0	-
Mintlaw-Old Deer	0	-
Newmachar and Fintray	0	-
Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore	0	-
Peterhead Central-Roanheads	15	13.3%
Portlethen North	0	-
Portlethen South	0	-
South Buchan	0	-
Stonehaven Central	0	-
Stonehaven North and Fetteresso	0	-
Stonehaven South	0	-
Strathbogie	5	29.4%
Tarves	0	-
Turriff East	0	-
Turriff West	0	-
Udny-Slains	5	45.5%
Upper Deeside	5	27.8%
Upper Ythan	0	-
Westhill Central	0	-
Ythan	0	-
Aberdeenshire	150	11.6%

Source: Office for NationalStatistics.

Notes:

1. Long-term unemployed definedas those claiming for over 12 months.

2. Data on number of long-termunemployed rounded to the nearest five.