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: S2W-29925

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average student loan debt of graduates has been in each year since 1999.

The following table shows theaverage graduate student loan debt since 1999.

Cohort	Average Debt
1999	£2,863
2000	£3,174
2001	£3,876
2002	£4,294
2003	£4,924
2004	£5,421
2005	£5,722
2006	£5,737

Source: Student Loans Company(SLC).

Question reference: S2W-29873

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been charged with an offence under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 and what percentage of those have been convicted, broken down by police force area.

Information available from theCrown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database indicatesthat, at 14 September 2006, a total of 392 charges under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act2005 had been prosecuted. A breakdown of this total by police force area is givenin the following table.

Offences Prosecuted Under EmergencyWorkers (Scotland) Act 2005¹^,2,3

Police Force Area	Charges Prosecuted	% Convicted	% Still Subject to Active Court Proceedings
Central	8	75	25
Dumfries and Galloway	14	86	14
Fife	31	61	29
Grampian	22	64	9
Lothian and Borders	102	52	30
Northern	10	40	20
Strathclyde	189	40	48
Tayside	16	56	25
Scotland	392	49	36

Notes:

1. The information in this tablehas been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case managementdatabase. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processingof reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies.If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the databasewill record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based.The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the numberof individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The table reflects the positionat 14 September 2006.

Question reference: S2W-29874

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) shortest and (b) longest prison sentence has been given to anyone convicted under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Statistics on convictions arepublished annually by the Scottish Executive Justice Department each spring. Thelatest set of annual statistics published on 27 April 2006are for 2004-05, which predates the enactment of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act2005 on 9 May 2005. The preliminary data currently available for 2005-06show that custodial sentences imposed in convictions where the main offence involvedwas an offence under the 2005 act ranged from two months to eight months.

Question reference: S2O-11231

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 30 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that all pupils have equality of access to a full and varied curriculum.

Question reference: S2W-29878

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been undertaken of the implementation of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Question reference: S2W-29876

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money it has ring-fenced to promote awareness among emergency staff of the provisions of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

The Executive is working withthe STUC to tackle violence against all workers serving the public. We are now inthe third year of an awareness campaign. Its objectives are to raise awareness of the issue, emphasise that violence, whether physical or verbal, against those whoserve the public is unacceptable, encourage workers to report any incidents andemployers to put in place systems to assess and address these issues. The campaignwebsite and advice line will refer enquirers to guidance and advice on best practice.The Executive has provided £516,000 for this programme. http://www.infoscotland.com/violenceatwork.

Question reference: S2W-29877

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received with regard to the implementation of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Question reference: S2W-29782

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish best practice guidance on taxi and private hire licensing.

Question reference: S2W-29783

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a uniform approach to the licensing of limousine and other private hire vehicles by local authorities would be of benefit to the public.

Question reference: S2W-29666

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the main offences were for which cyclists have been found guilty in each year since 1999.

The available information isgiven in the following table.

Persons witha Charge Proved for Cycling Offences¹ in Scottish Courts, 1999-2000 to2004-05

Offence	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Dangerously riding a bicycle or tricycle	4	3	5	3	4	-
Carelessly or inconsiderately riding a bicycle or tricycle	-	-	2	5	4	5
Drunk when riding a bicycle	10	1	4	11	8	3
Bicycles, other offences	6	3	22	47	19	9
Total	20	7	33	66	35	17

Note: 1. Where main offence.