Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-03423

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2362 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 September 2003, how many operational police officers there were per head of population in each police force area in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S2W-03373

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 5 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-382 by Mr Tom McCabe on 9 June 2003, whether it can provide an estimate of how many residents of (a) voluntary and (b) private care homes have funded their care be means of selling their homes in each of the last three years and, if not, what steps it will take to gather this information in future, and how many residents of public sector care homes have funded their care by means of selling their home in each of the last three years.

The way in whichself-funding care home residents choose to fund their care is a private matterfor them. While most such residents will be benefiting from free personal andnursing care, many will not have been financially assessed by their localauthority; and some will be fully funding their care directly with the home,without local authority involvement. It is not possible therefore to estimatehow many residents of voluntary and private sector care homes have funded theircare by selling their homes, nor will it be possible in future for the samereasons. The information requested on public sector care homes is not heldcentrally.

We are, however, in theprocess of collecting information on the number of care home residents who havea deferred payment agreement in place with their local authority. Suchagreements obviate residents’ selling their home during their lifetime.

Question reference: S2W-02163

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1004 by Nicol Stephen on 14 July 2003, when it estimates that the research recommended by the Blue Badge review will be completed.

Question reference: S2O-00559

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when the review into the true cost of care will be completed and published.

Question reference: S2W-02724

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average council tax bill was in each of the last five financial years, expressed as a percentage of the average (a) wage and (b) state pension.

The Scotland averagecouncil tax per dwelling from 1998-99 to 2002-03 is shown in the following table.The amounts stated are also expressed as a percentage of the average gross annualearnings, and as a percentage of the average state pension.

	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Scotland average council tax per dwelling¹ (£)	688	707	739	776	814
As a percentage of gross annual earnings² (%)	3.78	3.73	3.74	3.69	3.67
As a percentage of average state pension³ (%)	20.8	20.5	21.0	20.5	20.5

Notes:

1. Figures are inclusive of disabledband reduction and all 25% and 50% discounts, but do not include council taxbenefit or water and sewerage charges. source: data supplied to the Scottish Executive by local authorities.

2. Gross annual earnings arefor full-time employees in Scotland. Source: Office for National Statistics.

3. Average state pension is atthe UK level and does not include payments made under the Minimum Income Guarantee.Source: DWP State Pension Statistics.

Question reference: S2W-02503

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many kidney transplants have been carried out in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Aberdeen in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S2W-02162

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) NHS dentists and (b) NHS dental practices there currently are in (i) Scotland, (ii) each constituency, and (iii) each NHS board area.

The number of NHS generaldental practitioners and NHS general dental practice currently in Scotland,each constituency and each NHS board area is shown in the following tables:

Number of NHS General DentalPractitioners (GDPs) in Scotland and Each Constituency; August 2003

Constituency	No. of NHS GDPs^1,2
Aberdeen Central	70
Aberdeen North	17
Aberdeen South	12
Airdrie and Shotts	23
Angus	40
Argyll and Bute	26
Ayr	45
Banff and Buchan	21
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	15
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	15
Central Fife	31
Clydebank and Milngavie	30
Clydesdale	30
Coatbridge and Chryston	31
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	27
Cunninghame North	30
Cunninghame South	27
Dumbarton	33
Dumfries	27
Dundee East	32
Dundee West	52
Dunfermline East	29
Dunfermline West	32
East Kilbride	43
East Lothian	30
Eastwood	47
Edinburgh Central	55
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	36
Edinburgh North and Leith	79
Edinburgh Pentlands	24
Edinburgh South	58
Edinburgh West	46
Falkirk East	24
Falkirk West	30
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	17
Glasgow Anniesland	25
Glasgow Baillieston	16
Glasgow Cathcart	31
Glasgow Govan	57
Glasgow Kelvin	76
Glasgow Maryhill	41
Glasgow Pollock	21
Glasgow Rutherglen	27
Glasgow Shettleston	35
Glasgow Springburn	35
Gordon	21
Greenock and Inverclyde	24
Hamilton North and Bellshill	47
Hamilton South	22
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	52
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	34
Kirkcaldy	37
Linlithgow	38
Livingston	40
Midlothian	18
Moray	24
Motherwell and Wishaw	31
North East Fife	28
North Tayside	42
Ochil	25
Orkney Islands	10
Paisley North	41
Paisley South	52
Perth	44
Ross, Skye and Inverness West	23
Roxburgh and Berwickshire	27
Shetland Islands	12
Stirling	41
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	43
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	27
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	26
West Renfrewshire	25
Western Isles	11
Scotland	2,154²

Number ofNHS General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) in Scotland and Each NHS Board Area; August 2003

NHS Board Area	No. of NHS GDPs^1,2
Ayrshire and Arran	139
Borders	45
Argyll and Clyde	189
Fife	146
Greater Glasgow	453
Highland	83
Lanarkshire	230
Grampian	183
Orkney	10
Lothian	399
Tayside	187
Forth Valley	109
Western Isles	11
Dumfries and Galloway	44
Shetland	12
Scotland	2,154²

Number ofNHS General Dental Practices in Scotland and Each Constituency; August 2003

Constituency	No. of NHS General Dental Practices³
Aberdeen Central	22
Aberdeen North	6
Aberdeen South	5
Airdrie and Shotts	11
Angus	13
Argyll and Bute	11
Ayr	22
Banff and Buchan	10
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	10
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	9
Central Fife	14
Clydebank and Milngavie	11
Clydesdale	13
Coatbridge and Chryston	12
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	7
Cunninghame North	14
Cunninghame South	9
Dumbarton	12
Dumfries	16
Dundee East	15
Dundee West	21
Dunfermline East	8
Dunfermline West	13
East Kilbride	15
East Lothian	14
Eastwood	20
Edinburgh Central	22
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	11
Edinburgh North and Leith	25
Edinburgh Pentlands	12
Edinburgh South	22
Edinburgh West	16
Falkirk East	8
Falkirk West	10
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	12
Glasgow Anniesland	9
Glasgow Baillieston	9
Glasgow Cathcart	12
Glasgow Govan	23
Glasgow Kelvin	28
Glasgow Maryhill	17
Glasgow Pollock	9
Glasgow Rutherglen	11
Glasgow Shettleston	14
Glasgow Springburn	15
Gordon	9
Greenock and Inverclyde	10
Hamilton North and Bellshill	14
Hamilton South	9
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	28
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	14
Kirkcaldy	10
Linlithgow	13
Livingston	14
Midlothian	9
Moray	8
Motherwell and Wishaw	12
North East Fife	11
North Tayside	13
Ochil	12
Orkney Islands	5
Paisley North	10
Paisley South	16
Perth	21
Ross, Skye and Inverness West	14
Roxburgh and Berwickshire	12
Shetland Islands	9
Stirling	18
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	19
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	10
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	10
West Renfrewshire	12
Western Isles	5
Scotland	965

Number of NHS General DentalPractices in Scotland and Each NHS Board Area; August 2003

NHS board area	No. of NHS General Dental Practices³
Ayrshire and Arran	68
Borders	19
Argyll and Clyde	75
Fife	57
Greater Glasgow	198
Highland	51
Lanarkshire	88
Grampian	70
Orkney	5
Lothian	161
Tayside	85
Forth Valley	46
Western Isles	5
Dumfries and Galloway	28
Shetland	9
Scotland	965

Source:MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

Notes

1. Thenumber of NHS general dental practitioners in post (not whole-time equivalentnumber, as working hours of each NHS general dental practitioner are notcollected centrally). Includes all general dental practitioners (principals,assistants, vocational trainees and salaried dentists) providing NHS generaldental services; excludes NHS dentists working in the Community Dental Serviceand the Hospital Dental Service.

2. The sumof the number of NHS general dental practitioners in each constituency/NHSboard area exceeds the number practising in Scotland: an NHS general dentalpractitioner may be counted more than once if he/she provides general dentalservices from more than one practice within a PCT/NHS board, or providesgeneral dental services in more than one PCT/NHS board area.

3. An NHSgeneral dental practice is a practice where at least one dentist within thepractice provides NHS general dental services.

Question reference: S2W-02121

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 16 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many housing association houses for rent have been built in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

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

Details of the number ofhousing association units built for rent is given in the following table.

Housing Association HousesBuilt for Rent Between 2000-01 and 2002-03

Local Authority	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Aberdeenshire	38	183	160
Angus	131	36	107
Argyll and Bute	134	65	-
City of Aberdeen	87	142	77
City of Dundee	130	309	91
City of Edinburgh	407	509	291
City of Glasgow	1,374	1,309	1,136
Clackmannanshire	16	44	28
Dumfries and Galloway	52	178	60
East Ayrshire	13	60	36
East Dunbartonshire	16	39	-
East Lothian	46	27	4
East Renfrewshire	30	41	30
Falkirk	32	45	81
Fife	127	182	157
Highland	134	143	148
Inverclyde	127	101	88
Midlothian	28	-	33
Moray	22	-	26
North Ayrshire	91	8	76
North Lanarkshire	184	186	245
Orkney	14	35	23
Perth and Kinross	169	152	112
Renfrewshire	214	173	186
Shetland	2	16	13
South Ayrshire	61	64	163
South Lanarkshire	101	138	234
Stirling	59	29	78
The Scottish Borders	100	62	58
West Dunbartonshire	170	146	34
Western Isles	39	20	14
West Lothian	61	128	50
Total	4,209	4,570	3,839

Question reference: S2O-00391

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 11 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the number of serious and fatal road accidents on the A90 in Aberdeenshire.

Each year the Scottish Executive analyses accidents across the trunk road network, which includes theA90, in order to identify and bring forward an annual programme of targetedroad safety improvements.

A recent safety review of the route between Dundee and Aberdeen identified safety measures at the CharlestownInterchange, Bridge of Muchalls and Muchalls Bends, which will be progressed thisfinancial year. Three other locations on the A90 in Aberdeenshire, including atLaurencekirk, are currently being investigated by BEAR Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-01556

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 13 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it provides for research into the causes of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Executive ealth Department, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO is largely a response mode funder of research and this role is well known and advertised throughout the healthcare and academic community. The CSO is not currently directly funding any research projects into the causes of MS but would be pleased to consider funding research proposals for innovative MS studies of a sufficiently high standard. These would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

Chamber and committees