Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-21796

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would support the creation of a centre for the Scottish diaspora.

Question reference: S2W-21797

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 13 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what role it considers that radio has in supporting and promoting Scottish culture.

Question reference: S2W-20702

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what up-to-date information it has on the benefit to the economy of cruise line traffic.

While some information on cruise liner traffic is available, for example from the annual reports of some harbour authorities, this does not permit a wider assessment of the economic benefits of this business to Scotland. However, I understand that VisitScotland is carrying out research into the cruise liner market in Scotland which will address this issue. I have asked VisitScotland to write to the member once this research has been completed.

Question reference: S2W-20901

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding has been given for capital investment to (a) National Services Scotland, (b) the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, (c) the Protein Fractionation Centre and (d) Alba Bioscience in each of the last five years.

National Services Scotland are given an annual capital allocation which they then apportion to it’s internal divisions.

The funding shown for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS), the Protein Fractionation Centre (PFC) and Alba Bioscience has therefore been made available from the total capital resource allocated to NSS.

The information requested is as follows:

Year	Capital funding to NSS (£ million)	Capital funding to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (£ million)	Capital funding to the Protein Fractionation Centre (£ million)	Capital funding to Alba Bioscience (£ million)
2000-01¹	11.600	8.400²	0.080	0.200
2001-02²	9.800	5.070²	0.600	2.420³
2002-03⁴	8.300	1.240²	0.120	0.140
2003-04	18.400	1.450²	0.320	0.090
2004-05⁵	25.900	0.740²	0.030	0.040

Notes:

1. The allocations in 2000-01 included the new Transfusion Centre at Gartnavel Hospital.

2. The allocation shown for SNBTS includes the figure for the Protein Fractionation Centre and Alba Bioscience.

3. Allocation to Alba Bioscience in 2001-02 was mainly for relocation and re-equipping costs, with the balance to SNBTS being for Gartnavel.

4. Allocation to NSS in 2003-04 included £1.7 million for intangible assets, £4.4 million for systems and £5.1 million for relocation fro million Trinity Park House and other properties.

5. The allocation to NSS in 2004-05 included £7.0 million for property move, £6.8 million for systems and system upgrades, £1.9 million for NSD services capital requirements and £1.5 million for new GMS. There was also £4.7 million for Oracle and Business Objects licenses treated as intangible asset acquisitions.

Question reference: S2W-20899

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding has been allocated to (a) National Services Scotland, (b) the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, (c) the Protein Fractionation Centre and (d) Alba Bioscience in each of the last five years.

National Services Scotland (NSS) are given an annual revenue allocation from which they apportion the relevant funding to their Internal Divisions.

The funding shown for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS), the Protein Fractionation Centre (PFC) and Alba Bioscience has therefore been made available from the total revenue resource allocated to NSS.

The level of funding allocated is a shown in the table:

	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
NSS	165,191	166,181	179,147	194,795	223,811
SNBTS¹	45,605	46,697	48,273	50,284	55,675
PFC	6,885	5,555	5,698	6,654	7,725
Alba Bioscience	696	763	510	765	566

Note: 1. The allocation shown for SNBTS includes the resources for the Protein Fractionation Centre and Alba Bioscience.

With regard to the income generated by the bodies mentioned above, this information is as shown in the following table:

	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
National Services Scotland¹	14,673*	25,654	27,661	31,145	35,392
Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service²	7,225	8,392	9,762	9,976	9,948
Protein Fractionation Centre	2,700	3,435	3,627	3,210	3,633
Alba Bioscience	1,395	1,306	1,982	2,047	2,192

Notes:

1. The income shown for National Services Scotland includes the figures for SNBTS, the Protein Fractionation Centre and Alba Bioscience.

2. The income shown for SNBTS includes the figures for the Protein Fractionation Centre and Alba Bioscience.

*This figure does not include income from Other NHS bodies the details of which are unavailable.

Question reference: S2W-20900

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of income has been generated by (a) National Services Scotland, (b) the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, (c) the Protein Fractionation Centre and (d) Alba Bioscience from sales and services in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-20440

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners suffered from, or presented with, (a) mental health problems, (b) dyslexia, (c) other literacy problems, (d) numeracy problems, (e) alcoholism or drink-related problems, (f) drug addiction or substance abuse, (g) homelessness and (h) debt or financial problems in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of prisoners, and how many staff employed in prisons dealt with these problems annually, broken down by field of specialisation.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

(a) This information is not available.

(b) This information is not available.

(c) and (d)

Not all prisoners are screened for literacies. However, based on assessments undertaken on prisoner samples over this period around 50% demonstrated literacy problems, and slightly more had problems with numeracy.

(e) and (f)

Both drugs and alcohol are combined under substance misuse, and were not collated separately until August 2005:

	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Total recorded entries into prisons	20 667	22 137	23 702	23 508
Total addictions presentations	14 300	16 867	14 570	18 186
Presentation as a % of total admissions	69%	76%	61.5%	77%

(g) This information is not available.

(h) This information is not available.

The staff figures sought are not available. Most SPS employees in SPS prisons, contracted staff in SPS prisons and contractors such as HM Prison Kilmarnock deal with these prisoner issues.

Question reference: S2W-20789

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 1 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19966 by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005, how many accidents in each year since 1999 involved motor vehicle drivers or riders with illegal alcohol levels, broken down by (a) severity of accident and (b) number of casualties.

The estimated numbers of accidents which involved motor vehicle drivers or riders with illegal alcohol levels and the numbers of casualties in such accidents, for each year from 1999 to 2002, were published in Table 22 of Road Accidents Scotland 2003, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 34523).

The equivalent figures for 2003 are given in the following table.

Number of Accidents	Fatal injury	40
	Serious injury	180
	Slight injury	530
	Total injury accidents	750
Number of Casualties	Killed	50
	Seriously injured	230
	Slightly injured	850
	Total casualties	1,130

Question reference: S2O-08251

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 1 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it and its agencies, and NHS boards, provide for women¿s football at a grassroots level, in light of the health and social benefits of participation in the game.

Sportscotland has committed £400,000 towards supporting the Scottish Women’s Football Association’s current four-year development plan. In addition, implementation of the Action Plan for Youth Football will help deliver a step change in the development of women’s and girls’ football. Women’s and girls’ football also benefits from many facility awards and our substantial investment in initiatives such as Active Schools.

Question reference: S2W-20913

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 30 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many third generation artificial playing pitches have been built in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Chamber and committees