- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Lyon on 7 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households had a domestic connection to the internet on the last date for which information is available, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) socio-economic group.
Answer
The
2003-2004 Scottish HouseholdSurvey (SHS) report contains the most recent information on access to the internet.However, the survey does not provide data broken down by parliamentary constituencyor by social class.
Instead, helpful informationis available in the 2003-04 SHS report which provides data on adult (home or other)access to the internet, broken down by local authority. This breakdown by local authority is available every twoyears, covering two year periods. The data for 2005-06 will be published in 2007.For reasons of representativeness, data for single years (e.g. 2003, 2005) can onlybe presented by the five largest local authorities and a further nine local authoritygroupings. Single year data for 2005 will be published in August.
An indication of household accessis available at national level each quarter, broken down by household type, urban/ruralclassification and net annual household income (which is used as an indicator forthe SHS instead of other socio-economic groupings).
This and other data on internetaccess and use from the 2003-2004 Scottish Household Survey Report can befound at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/08/03155211/52413#620. Alternatively, a copy of thereport can be obtained from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number37213).
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 6 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it offers to businesses to develop European language skills among their employees.
Answer
The enterprise networksprovide assistance to businesses on a wide range of issues, including information,advice and guidance on European language skills. Their websites provide accessto resources such as free online courses in a variety of European languagesfrom the BBC, advice from learndirect scotland on local language classes, and links to otherorganisations such as the Business Language Information Service.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of Scottish exports to each other country within the European Union in the last year for which figures are available, also expressed as a percentage of the total value of Scottish exports to EU countries.
Answer
The following table details thevalue and percentage of Scottish Exports to other countries within the EuropeanUnion for 2004.
Table 1: EstimatedScottish Exports to EU countries, 2004
| | Estimated Value of Scottish Exports (£ Million) | Estimated Percentage |
| All EU countries | 8,825 | 100% |
| Netherlands | 1,645 | 18.6% |
| Germany | 1,600 | 18.1% |
| France | 1,165 | 13.2% |
| Spain | 775 | 8.8% |
| Eire | 700 | 7.9% |
| Belgium | 555 | 6.3% |
| Italy | 525 | 5.9% |
| Sweden | 380 | 4.3% |
| Denmark | 325 | 3.7% |
| Finland | 315 | 3.6% |
| Portugal | 155 | 1.8% |
| Greece | 150 | 1.7% |
| Poland | 120 | 1.4% |
| Austria | 110 | 1.2% |
| Czech Republic | 95 | 1.1% |
| Hungary | 90 | 1.0% |
| Lithuania | 25 | 0.3% |
| Cyprus | 20 | 0.2% |
| Luxembourg | 20 | 0.2% |
| Slovakia | 15 | 0.2% |
| Estonia | 10 | 0.1% |
| Latvia | 10 | 0.1% |
| Malta | 10 | 0.1% |
| Slovenia | 10 | 0.1% |
Source: Scottish Executive:Global Connections Survey 2004.
Estimates are rounded to thenearest £5 million and exclude exports from some service sectors: air and watertransport; financial intermediation; insurance and pension funding sewage andrefuse disposal.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated average cost was of a first out-patient appointment at a consultant-led out-patient clinic in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer
Cost information relating specificallyto first out-patient appointments is not available.
However, the average cost ofa consultant out-patient appointment, based on total attendances (i.e. first andfollow-up appointments) is available. This equalled £98 per attendance in financialyear 2004-05.
This includes activity and expenditureat consultation type clinics in addition to those which perform minor treatmentsand procedures.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 1 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent under the Sure Start Scotland programme in (a) Dundee, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire since 1999.
Answer
Since 1999, Dundee, Angusand Aberdeenshire have received £7,704,000; £4,420,000 and £8,939,000 respectivelyunder the Sure Start Scotland programme.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 31 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) in Dundee; how many of these jobs have resulted from civil service dispersal, and how many new posts have been created as a result of locating OSCR in Dundee.
Answer
The Office of the Scottish CharityRegulator (OSCR) currently employs 36 staff, all of them based in Dundee. Two ofthese jobs resulted from civil service dispersal – the posts were previously basedin the Scottish Charities Office within the Crown Office. Thirty-four new postshave been created with the establishment of OSCR.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 31 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it is providing this year to organisations offering financial literacy training.
Answer
In March 2005 we announced supportfor three separate financial education pilot projects totalling £1.4 million overtwo years, in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland, Greater Easterhouse MoneyAdvice Project and Young Scot. The aim of these projects was to allow individualsto increase their financial capability and make better informed decisions aboutwhich products best meet their needs.
From April this year we haveprovided £10.6 million funding to the 11 local authorities with the greatest concentrationof financial exclusion and income deprivation – this will be spread over two years.Authorities will be able to utilise partof this funding towards financial literacy training.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many money advisers there are in each local authority area.
Answer
The following table gives thenumber of money advice posts paid for through Scottish Executive funding streamsin each local authority area in 2005. Local authorities also fund money advice poststhrough their own revenue streams. Up-to-date information on such posts is not held centrally and they are not included in the table.
Full‑Time Equivalent MoneyAdvice Posts Paid for Through Scottish Executive Funding Streams, 2005
| Local Authority | Full‑Time Equivalent Money Advice Posts, 2005* |
| Aberdeen City | 4.00 |
| Aberdeenshire | 3.80 |
| Angus | 3.43 |
| Argyll and Bute | 5.15 |
| Clackmannanshire | 3.00 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 4.54 |
| Dundee City | 5.00 |
| East Ayrshire | 3.75 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 3.00 |
| East Lothian | 1.00 |
| East Renfrewshire | 1.00 |
| Edinburgh City | 9.00 |
| Eilean Siar (Western Isles) | 3.93 |
| Falkirk | 5.86 |
| Fife | 7.00 |
| Glasgow City | 34.00 |
| Highland | 2.22 |
| Inverclyde | 1.00 |
| Midlothian | 1.00 |
| Moray | 3.50 |
| North Ayrshire | 9.00 |
| North Lanarkshire | 16.50 |
| Orkney Islands | 1.00 |
| Perth and Kinross | 2.60 |
| Renfrewshire | 7.00 |
| Scottish Borders | 3.60 |
| Shetland | 2.30 |
| South Ayrshire | 2.40 |
| South Lanarkshire | 12.40 |
| Stirling | 4.00 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 2.25 |
| West Lothian | 2.50 |
| Total | 170.73 |
Note: *From Scottish Executivefunding streams only.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline any recommendations arising from the research discussed at the seminar which it organised with the Economic and Social Research Council on 3 May 2006 on private arrangements for parent-child contacts.
Answer
This seminar was one in a seriesjointly hosted by the Executive and Social Research Council. The seminar examinedhow other countries have experienced and researched private contact arrangementsand how we might learn from this. We are now considering how to take further workforward.
- Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many third-year students are on biomedical degree courses, broken down by university.
Answer
In academic year 2004-05 therewere 460 third-year students on biomedical degree courses. The following table providesa breakdown by university.
Third-Year Students on BiomedicalDegree Courses, by Institution, 2004-05
| | Total Students |
| Total | 460 |
| The University of Glasgow | 160 |
| The University of Dundee | 95 |
| The University of Aberdeen | 50 |
| Napier University | 45 |
| University of Abertay Dundee | 40 |
| The University of Strathclyde | 35 |
| The University of Edinburgh | 20 |
| Heriot-Watt University | 10 |
Source: Higher Education StatisticsAgency (HESA)
Note: In this table 0, 1 and2 are rounded to 0. All other .numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest 5.Numbers may not sum to totals exactly due to rounding.
