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-21167

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Robert Brown on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children have had access to quality care and early learning before entering school in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1996.

We cannot provide figures of the percentage of children in school who have had quality care and early learning before entering school, but we can provide estimates of the percentage of three, four and five-year-olds who are registered for pre-school education at a particular time of the year.

Local authorities are required to offer every child a part-time pre-school place from the term following their third birthday. Pre-school provision is not compulsory.

The percentage three, four and five-year-olds registered for pre-school education in each year since 1996 where available in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority areas are given in the table below.

Registrations for Pre-School Education as a Percentage of the Estimated Number of Children in the Local Authority

	West Dunbartonshire			East Dunbartonshire
	Ante Pre-School	Pre-School	Deferred Entry	Ante Pre-School	Pre-School	Deferred Entry
January 2005	76%	94%	7%	94%	96%	6%
January 2004	82%	90%	8%	94%	99%	8%
January 2003	83%	99%	6%	91%	95%	4%
January 2002	56%	77%	4%	90%	97%	9%
September 1999	19%	25%	2%	8%	30%	1%
September 1997	15%	54%	1%	9%	30%	0%
September 1996	16%	33%	1%	9%	23%	7%

The following points should be noted:

Ante pre-school registrations are calculated as the percentage of all children aged three in January or September of a given year. Children become eligible for pre-school education in the term following their third birthday and therefore census figures relating to the first or second term of the year will normally be less than 100% as they do not count children who start pre-school in the spring term. Children may be enrolled early at the discretion of the local authority and the ante-pre-school figures are likely to include a number of such children.

Pre-school registrations are presented as a percentage of the estimated number of four-year-olds, and deferred entry registrations are presented as a percentage of the estimated number of five-year-olds.

The local authority is that in which the pre-school education is provided rather than where the children are resident; children may attend pre-school centres in local authorities other than that in which they are resident.

Children are counted once for each pre-school registration they have. It is possible there may therefore be double counting of some children.

In September 1996 and September 1997 the census excluded centres providing pre-school education in partnership with the local authority.

Question reference: S2W-21170

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what success it has had in achieving reductions in the levels of violent crime related to drug use in (a) Scotland and (b) the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1999 and what targets it has set for such reductions in this period.

I refer the member to question S2W-21155 answered on 12 December 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Information on crimes recorded by the police in Scotland is published in the statistical bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2004-05, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37835).

Question reference: S2W-21332

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any assets seized from drug dealing have been redistributed to the (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Prior to 2004-05 funding from the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was distributed to the Glasgow NHS Board to support addiction services for the homeless and to set up the Scottish Network of Families Affected by Drugs (SNAFAD). In 2004-5 funds were used to support the national Drug Dealers Don’t Care campaign. In 2005-06 funds will be reinvested to visibly repair the harm caused to those communities hardest hit by serious crime and drug-related crime. An announcement will be made in due course.

Question reference: S2W-21371

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34502 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 March 2003, what the grant aided expenditure settlement allocation was for (a) East Dunbartonshire Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06, showing the annual percentage change since 2003-04.

Details of the Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocations for East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils are set out in the following table.

Council	2003-04 GAE (£ million)	2004-05 GAE (£ million)	% Increase Since 2003-04	2005-06 GAE (£ million)	% Increase Since 2004-05	% Increase Since 2003-04
East Dunbartonshire	152.646	165.225	8.24	174.943	5.88	14.61
West Dunbartonshire	154.660	164.698	6.49	174.674	6.06	12.94

Council

2003-04 GAE

(£ million)

2004-05 GAE

(£ million)

% Increase Since 2003-04

2005-06

GAE (£ million)

% Increase Since 2004-05

% Increase Since 2003-04

East Dunbartonshire

152.646

165.225

8.24

174.943

5.88

14.61

West Dunbartonshire

154.660

164.698

6.49

174.674

6.06

12.94

Question reference: S2W-21649

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to report on the performance and integrity of National Statistacs in Scotland.

I am pleased to announce the publication of the Chief Statistician’s Annual Report for the year 2004-05. This sets out progress on the development of statistics and on the performance of the Scottish Executive in relation to the principles and procedures set out in the National Statistics Framework and Code of Practice. Published copies are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37846) and via the web at the following address http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/12/0594523/45241.

Question reference: S2W-21331

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has undertaken, or plans to undertake, to tackle drug misuse in the (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area, showing how much money has been allocated in each area.

Significant Executive mainstream funding goes to East and West Dunbartonshire local authority areas but we cannot disaggregate specific expenditure on drug related activities. There are various ring-fenced funding streams but most of these are not allocated on a local authority basis. The exception is the Community Safety Partnership Award, which has a drugs element. Details of expenditure since 2001 are shown in the following table.

	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
East Dunbartonshire	0	94,530	98,507	96,373	87,674
West Dunbartonshire	18,500	118,491	122,875	120,508	108,595

Question reference: S2W-20843

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations have been carried out at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank in each year since it has been within the NHS.

Information on the number of operations undertaken by the Golden Jubilee National Hospital since 1 July 2002 is provided in the following table. The Hospital expects to undertake over 13,000 operations in 2005-06.

	Number of Operations
1 July 2002 to 31 March 2003	3,346
Year ending 31 March 2004	7,212
Year ending 31 March 2005	9,706

Source: Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

Question reference: S2W-21155

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what success it has had in achieving reductions in the levels of street crime in (a) Scotland and (b) the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area since 1999 and what targets it set for such reductions in this period.

Neither the recorded crime nor the court proceedings statistics held centrally contain information which would enable figures to be provided at the level of detail requested.

The Executive has targets in place to reduce the number of recorded incidents of serious violent crime and to increase the detection rate, both of which are to be achieved by March 2006. The latest statistics show that non-sexual crimes of violence across Scotland decreased by 3% between 2003-04 and 2004-05. Within this category, recorded robberies decreased by 10% - the lowest level since 1980.

Question reference: S2W-21160

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 12 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the incidence of (a) underage drinking, (b) drinking by young adults and (c) drinking by children and what resources it has allocated for this purpose.

Reducing harmful drinking by children and young people is one of the key priorities of the Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems published in 2002. The plan sets out a range of actions in relation to school and community based education and the promotion of positive alternatives. It also includes actions to ensure children affected by alcohol problems have access to appropriate services, and new resources for parents to help them to discuss alcohol issues with their children.

The Executive will shortly be publishing an update to this Plan, setting out further actions.

Executive action in relation to young adults has focused on encouraging them to take responsibility for their behaviour when drunk and to think more about the negative effects of this behaviour. Action includes a television advertising campaign and a high profile press and poster campaign, and supporting NHS Health Scotland and Alcohol Focus Scotland in providing information and advice.

A breakdown of funding to tackle drinking by children and young adults is not available. Scottish Executive spend specifically on alcohol will amount to £11.9 million in 2005-06. Alcohol misuse is also targeted through other joint drugs/alcohol activities.

Question reference: S2W-21428

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 12 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question 20891 by Ben Bradshaw MP on 31 October 2005 (Official Report, c 690W), why it has not taken a position on the Environmental Levy on Plastic Bags (Scotland) Bill when its Extended Impact Assessment concluded that there would be a broad environmental disbenefit if a levy was introduced on the lines proposed.

The Extended Impact Assessment concluded that the proposed levy on plastic bags would achieve net environmental benefits in five out of eight environmental indicators. It also concluded, however, that there would an increase in the amount of waste arising in Scotland. A summary of the Extended Impact Assessment can be found on the Scottish Executive’s website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/08/1993102/31039.

The proposed levy on plastic bags is a complex matter and the Environment and Rural Development Committee, who are considering the Bill at Stage One, has recently requested further information.