Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-21011

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to improve the health of young people through reductions in (a) smoking by 12 to 15-year-olds, (b) the incidence of teenage pregnancy among 13 to 15-year-olds and (c) the rate of suicides among young people in the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1997.

Question reference: S2W-21010

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of young people have (a) been smokers between the ages of 12 and 15, (b) fallen pregnant between the ages of 13 and 15 years and (c) committed suicide in (i) Scotland and (ii) the (1) West Dunbartonshire and (2) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1997.

The Executive is taking a number of actions aimed at reducing smoking in young people. These include considering the evidence for raising the age for purchasing tobacco from 16 to 18 years old; reviewing prosecution policy to allow evidence obtained by test purchasing to be admissible in court; working with retailers to raise their awareness of their legal responsibilities on age-related sales, and smoking cessation pilots offering advice and support to young people on stopping smoking.

However, one of the main factors in smoking prevention for young people will be the introduction of the smoke-free public places legislation in March 2006. This will help de-normalise smoking in Scottish society and help protect them from the health risks associated with second-hand smoke.

The Executive is committed to reducing the number of unwanted teenage pregnancies within the national sexual health strategy Respect and Responsibility. The National Sexual Health Advisory Committee is supporting implementation of the national strategy with the involvement of both statutory and voluntary agencies working in the sexual health field. Local initiatives are for NHS boards to plan within their own sexual health strategies.

The Executive’s Choose Life suicide prevention strategy and action plan was launched in December 2002 and identified young people as a priority group for action. Each local authority area in Scotland has its own Choose Life Action Plan, including East and West Dunbartonshire. Full details of each plan can be viewed on www.chooselife.net.

(a) Smokers between the ages of 12 and 15

The information for smokers between the ages of 12 and 15 is given in table 1, which shows regular smoking by age and by gender for the survey years between and including 1996-2004 at national level. The proportion of young people smoking regularly in Scotland has been provided since 1982.

Information on young people smoking in West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire is shown in table 2. Local level information is only available for 2002. However, new local data will be available in early 2007.

Information on other categories of smoking i.e.: tried once, occasional and ex‑smoker, is available at http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/salsus.htm.

Table 1: Percentage of Regular Smokers¹ by Age and Gender for the Survey Years Between and Including 1996-2004, Scotland

	1996	1998	2000²	2002	2004³
Boys
12 years	5	3	2	^{_ 4}	^_
13 years	8	9	5	6	5
14 years	21	14	12	^_	^_
15 years	30	25	15	16	14
Girls
12 years	4	4	2	^_	^_
13 years	10	11	10	9	7
14 years	21	19	22	^_	^_
15 years	30	27	24	24	24

Notes:

1. Usually smoke at least one cigarette a week.

2. Smoking, drinking and drug use biennial school surveys (1982-2000).

3. SALSUS (2002-04).

4. Data for 12 and 14 year olds (S1 and S3) was not collected.

Table 2: Percentage of Regular Smokers^1,2 in West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire

	West Dunbartonshire	East Dunbartonshire	Scotland
13 year olds	7	6	8
15 year olds	21	14	20

Notes:

1. SALSUS 2002.

2. Information is available locally either by age or by gender.

(b) Fallen Pregnant Between the Ages of 13 and 15

Comprehensive information on teenage pregnancies, broken down by age and by both NHS board and local authority area, is published by the Information and Statistics Division of National Health Services Scotland and is available electronically at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=2106&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

(c) Committed Suicide

The following table shows deaths by intentional self harm per 100,000 population in persons aged 10 to 24 and are presented as a three year moving average, as the rates are based on very small numbers of cases. This can help to reduce the effect of potentially misleading large fluctuations in rate which can result from small increases or decreases in actual deaths from intentional self harm. However, given the small number of deaths in each local authority area, the rates should still be interpreted with caution.

	West Dunbartonshire	East Dunbartonshire	Scotland
1997-99	11.0	8.2	9.1
1998-2000	7.4	9.7	10.2
1999-01	7.4	6.4	10.5
2000-02	11.1	6.4	10.1
2001-03	11.0	6.4	8.8
2002-04	14.5	8.0	8.2

Question reference: S2W-21012

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households with children have been in temporary accommodation in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 1997.

The Scottish Executive collects snapshot data on the number of households in temporary accommodation as at the end of each quarter. Data on households with dependent children have been collected since March 2001. Data on households in temporary accommodation, including numbers of households with dependent children as a percentage of all households, are available on-line in the publications section of the housing statistics branch reference site http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

Question reference: S2W-20833

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) households and (b) pensioners' homes in the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area benefited under the central heating programme in (1) 2002-03, (2) 2003-04 and (3) 2004-05 and how many are expected to benefit in (A) 2005-06 and (B) 2006-07.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Eaga Partnership Ltd administers the central heating programme for pensioners’ homes in the private sector. However, in the private sector the information requested is not held by local authority area, but by main postcode. Therefore, it is not possible to supply the information requested in relation to installations undertaken by Eaga.

The central heating programme is a demand led scheme, the number of installations in any particular area is dependent on the number of eligible applicants applying to the programme.

In respect of those installations undertaken by local authorities and housing associations, the information requested is set out in the following tables.

Central Heating Installations by Local Authority Area 2002-03 to 2004-05

Local Authority	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	76	54	0
Total	76	54	0

Replacement of Partial Central Heating Installations by Local Authority Area 2002-03 to 2004-05

Local Authority	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	5
West Dunbartonshire	0	3	129
Total	0	3	134

Question reference: S2W-20974

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to improve the performance of the poorest-performing 20% of pupils at standard grade to bring them in line with the performance of other pupils in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

The Executive is implementing a range of commitments set out in Ambitious, Excellent Schools to heighten expectations, strengthen leadership and raise ambition; give more freedom for teachers and schools; provide greater choice and opportunity for pupils and better support for learning and ensure tougher, intelligent accountabilities. This sets the framework for local authorities to enable all young people to achieve their full potential. West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire Councils are responsible for this within their local areas.

Question reference: S2W-20950

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since 1997 to reduce the incidence of (a) drug misuse, (b) injecting by drug abusers and (c) needle sharing in the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

As set out in the Scottish Executive’s national strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, it is for local drug action teams (DATs) and constituent partners to plan and deliver the full range of drug treatment and care services in line with local needs and priorities and to spend available resources accordingly. DATs report annually to the Executive through Corporate Action Plans which are published on the Drug Misuse Information Scotland website at: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/dat/dat.htm.

Table 1 provides information from the Scottish Drug Misuse database on new clients entering treatment, reports of injecting, and sharing of needles from 1997-8 to 2003-04 for both East and West Dunbartonshire.

Table 1a. East Dunbartonshire

	1999 -98	1998 -99	1999 -2000	2000 -01	2001 -02	2002 -03	2003 -04
New individual patients reported^1,2	32	58	132	122	100	85	101
Injecting information available³ (=100%)	31	58	130	120	83	82	99
% Injected in previous month	32	36	48	40	47	21	35
% Injected in past	10	12	23	17	13	23	25
% Never injected	58	52	28	43	40	56	39

Sharing information available⁴ (=100%)	8	14	46	41	29	10	20
% Shared needles/syringes in past month	63	71	41	32	72	20	35
% Shared needles/syringes in past (not previous month)	25	14	15	24	7	20	20
% Never shared needles/syringes	13	14	43	44	21	60	45

Table 1b. West Dunbartonshire

	1999 -98	1998 -99	1999 -2000	2000 -01	2001 -02	2002 -03	2003 -04
New individual patients reported^1,2	325	362	301	298	262	308	338
Injecting information available³ (=100%)	317	356	300	293	253	295	330
% Injected in previous month	44	45	44	42	39	45	35
% Injected in past	20	20	22	22	19	24	29
% Never injected	37	35	34	36	42	31	35

Sharing information available⁴ (=100%)	119	129	117	100	75	108	108
% Shared needles/syringes in past month	26	29	26	27	35	26	27
% Shared needles/syringes in past (not previous month)	26	31	35	43	24	23	27
% Never shared needles/syringes	48	40	38	30	41	51	46

Notes:

1. New individual: any person who is attending for (a) the first time ever or (b) it has been at least six months since the last attendance at the service

2. All figures in this table exclude peal establishment inmates and information received from needle exchanges

3. Includes intra-venous, intra-muscular and skin popping.

4. Refers to sharing “injecting equipment” for years 1997-98 to 200-01 and sharing needles/syringes fro 2001-02 to 2003-04.

Question reference: S2W-20972

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 7 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to increase the number of households with access to the internet in disadvantaged areas of the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area and what evaluation has been undertaken of any past initiatives in this regard.

Question reference: S2W-21002

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 6 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive who is currently in overall charge of the management of health services in the NHS Argyll and Clyde area and who is the board's Medical Director.

On 19 May this year I announced my intention to dissolve NHS Argyll and Clyde and to redraw the boundaries of neighbouring boards to take on responsibility for planning and delivering health care services in the area.

The Executive has consulted publicly on options for these boundaries and I intend to make an announcement soon. Until the present board is dissolved at the end of March 2006, it remains statutorily responsible for services in its area. In practice, the board is liaising closely with NHS Greater Glasgow and NHS Highland about a range of issues, including any decisions affecting the future provision of services.

The board’s medical director is Dr Liz Jordan.

Question reference: S2W-20834

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 6 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how mortality rates per 100,000 population from (a) coronary heart disease, (b) stroke, (c) diabetes, (d) cancer, (e) smoking-related illnesses and (f) alcohol-related illnesses in the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area compare with the Scottish average in each year since 1996

The information requested is set out in the following tables:

(a) Coronary Heart Disease¹, Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (Not Age Standardized)

	Scotland	East Dunbartonshire	West Dunbartonshire
1996	288	229	324
1997	276	203	339
1998	264	189	287
1999	263	192	291
2000	245	189	271
2001	235	167	266
2002	231	176	245
2003	226	163	284
2004	212	154	241

Source: 1996-1999, ICD9 codes 410-414, 2000-2004, ICD10 codes I20-I25

Note: 1. Ischaemic Heart Diseases.

(b) Stroke¹, Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (Not Age Standardized)

	Scotland	East Dunbartonshire	West Dunbartonshire
1996	140	86	120
1997	137	105	134
1998	136	94	126
1999	134	101	139
2000	134	123	123
2001	131	101	137
2002	133	114	114
2003	128	100	125
2004	121	86	122

Source: 1996-1999, ICD9 codes 430-438, 2000-2004, ICD10 codes I60-69.

Note:1. Cerebrovascular Diseases

(c) Diabetes¹, Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (Not Age Standardized)

	Scotland	East Dunbartonshire	West Dunbartonshire
1996	10	7	16
1997	10	8	5
1998	11	4	9
1999	13	7	11
2000	12	9	10
2001	14	5	16
2002	13	13	16
2003	14	9	8
2004	15	9	15

Source: 1996-1999, ICD9 code 250, 2000-2004, ICD10 codes E10-E14.

Note: 1. Diabetes Mellitis.

(d) Cancer¹, Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (Not Age Standardized)

	Scotland	East Dunbartonshire	West Dunbartonshire
1996	298	261	325
1997	293	294	317
1998	291	247	326
1999	292	245	329
2000	295	262	304
2001	300	251	343
2002	298	276	296
2003	299	270	336
2004	296	278	323

(e) Smoking-Related Illnesses

This information is not held centrally.

(f) Alcohol-Related Illnesses¹, Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (Not Age Standardized)

	Scotland	East Dunbartonshire	West Dunbartonshire
1996	15	17	20
1997	17	9	23
1998	18	15	19
1999	20	8	23
2000	22	10	24
2001	24	17	28
2002	26	17	45
2003	27	16	42
2004	26	17	40

Source: 1996-1999, ICD9 codes 291, 303, 305.0, 425.5, 571.0-571.3, 2000-2004, ICD10 codes F10, I42.6, K70.

Note: 1. Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol, alcoholic cardiomyopathy and alcoholic liver disease.

Question reference: S2W-20856

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 5 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive when it now expects the first trains to run on the Larkhall to Milngavie rail line.

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