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-17639

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 25 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many press officers it employed and what their cost was in each year since 1999.

Information from 2002 onwardsis set out in the tables below. (It would only be possible to provide data priorto this date at disproportionate cost.) The information covers mainstream pressofficers. It does not include any staff working on support activities to the ministerialpress teams; e.g. staff working in strategic communications or media monitoringactivities.

Staff in post figures are shownas a 1 January snapshot each year and also include the position as at 1 July 2005.

As at:	Press Officers in Post
01/01/2002	44
01/01/2003	45.5
01/01/2004	42.5
01/01/2005	44
01/07/2005	44.8

Costs are salary costs, (whichinclude employers’ costs, but not overtime or any ancillary office costs; e.g. accommodation),in each financial year and also include the spend in the first two months of 2005-06.

Financial Year	Salary Costs
2002-03	£1,633,946
2003-04	£1,709,727
2004–05	£1,897,159
01/04/2005 – 31/05/2005	£316,051

The increase in spend reflectsthe Scottish Executive corporate pay increases each year. It is also worth commentingthat the spend in 2003-04 was slightly lower than expected because a number of postsfell vacant in the course of that year.

Question reference: S2W-17636

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 25 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive within what interest rate range, relative to the base rate, core funding for PFI and PPP contracts has been in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-17805

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 25 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many valuations of PFI/PPP assets where transfer of ownership to the public sector will take place on conclusion of the contract have been undertaken and what the total value was in each case.

None.

The improved or new assets constructedas a result of PPP projects will usually be accounted for on the contractor’s balancesheet. Valuations and accounting treatment during the contract are the responsibilityof the PPP contractor. When the asset is eventually transferred to the public sectorclient at the end of the contract, the asset will take its place on the public sectorbalance sheet and be valued and maintained accordingly.

Question reference: S2W-17884

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the drop-out rates for modern apprenticeships were in each year from 1994 to 2004.

1. The drop-out rate for modernapprentices (MAs) is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands andIslands Enterprise. This information is not held centrally.

2. However, the Executive didcommission research in 2003 which looked at MA completion rates. The completionrates were as follows:

2000–01: 48%

2001–02: 51%

2002–03: 48%

3. The research pointed out thatalthough the completion rate at that time (2003) was 48%, many apprentices who leftthe programme went into further or higher education, found or remained in full-timeemployment or changed their vocational qualification.

4. Since the research, a numberof recommendations have been implemented and the completion rates now stand at 55%.

Question reference: S2W-17663

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 22 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many carers were recorded by the 2001 Census, broken down into those (a) aged under 18, (b) aged 18 to 64, (c) aged 65 to 74, (d) aged 75 and over and (e) whose age was not known in each local authority area.

The information requested isin the following table.There are no people in category (e) because an age was imputedif no date of birth was supplied on the census form.

Council	All Carers	Aged Under 18	Aged 18 to 64	Aged 65 to 74	Aged 75 and Over
Scotland	481,579	16,842	393,459	49,834	21,444
Aberdeen City	16,758	455	13,537	1,908	858
Aberdeenshire	17,009	596	14,030	1,692	691
Angus	9,492	291	7,673	1,067	461
Argyll and Bute	8,509	271	6,681	1,028	529
Clackmannanshire	4,812	182	3,983	456	191
Dumfries and Galloway	14,043	454	11,042	1,776	771
Dundee City	13,942	457	11,162	1,529	794
East Ayrshire	12,454	495	10,216	1,205	538
East Dunbartonshire	11,656	415	9,553	1,202	486
East Lothian	8,830	255	7,191	922	462
East Renfrewshire	9,206	289	7,547	954	416
Edinburgh, City of	38,876	1,162	31,291	4,192	2,231
Eilean Siar	2,813	103	2,278	284	148
Falkirk	14,914	527	12,375	1,440	572
Fife	33,808	1,142	27,505	3,570	1,591
Glasgow City	56,611	2,308	46,700	5,353	2,250
Highland	18,505	724	14,915	2,031	835
Inverclyde	8,167	243	6,679	885	360
Midlothian	8,187	285	6,791	804	307
Moray	6,835	311	5,457	769	298
North Ayrshire	13,486	535	10,969	1,431	551
North Lanarkshire	33,219	1,205	27,903	3,074	1,037
Orkney Islands	1,706	71	1,382	179	74
Perth and Kinross	12,134	390	9,628	1,415	701
Renfrewshire	18,031	623	14,920	1,824	664
Scottish Borders	9,172	286	7,264	1,072	550
Shetland Islands	1,968	86	1,631	173	78
South Ayrshire	11,385	342	9,029	1,352	662
South Lanarkshire	31,896	1,115	26,475	3,146	1,160
Stirling	8,129	266	6,644	857	362
West Dunbartonshire	9,879	410	8,101	961	407
West Lothian	15,147	548	12,907	1,283	409

Source: 2001 Census of Population.

Question reference: S2W-17662

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 22 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths have been recorded where (a) clostridium difficile-associated disease, (b) MRSA, (c) vancomycin-resistant enterococci, (d) multi-resistant acinetobacter spp and (e) penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae was mentioned on the death certificate and in how many cases it was also the underlying cause of death in each year since 2001.

The information requested isgiven in the following table.

Deaths Associatedwith Certain Causes Mentioned on Death Certificates

	2001	2002	2003	2004
(a) clostridium difficile-associated disease
- mentioned on death certificate	139	137	157	206
- of which, underlying cause	57	70	75	98
(b) MRSA
- mentioned on death certificate	136	155	170	188
- of which, underlying cause	36	46	39	42
(c) vancomycin-resistant enterococci
- mentioned on death certificate	0	3	2	1
- of which, underlying cause	0	0	0	0
(d) mult-resistant acinetobacter spp
- mentioned on death certificate	0	0	0	0
- of which, underlying cause	0	0	0	0
(e) penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae
- mentioned on death certificate	0	0	0	0
- of which, underlying cause	0	0	0	0

The following is a correctedanswer (published on 29 August 2005); see below.

George Lyon: The information requested isgiven in the following table.

Deaths Associatedwith Certain Causes Mentioned on Death Certificates

	2001	2002	2003	2004
(a) clostridium difficile-associated disease
- mentioned on death certificate	139	137	157	206
- of which, underlying cause	57	70	75	98
(b) MRSA
- mentioned on death certificate	136	155	170	188
- of which, underlying cause	36	46	39	42
(c) vancomycin-resistant enterococci
- mentioned on death certificate	0	3	2	1
- of which, underlying cause	0	0	0	0
(d) mult-resistant acinetobacter spp
- mentioned on death certificate	0	0	0	0
- of which, underlying cause	0	0	0	0
(e) penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae
- mentioned on death certificate	0	0	0	0
- of which, underlying cause	0	0	0	0

These data should be treatedwith great caution: detailed information on healthcare associated infections asa cause of death from specific infections can be difficult or impossible to interpretsafely. As at the end of 2004 there was no international code for recording MRSAas a cause of death: the MRSA data above were abstracted from hand-written noteson the original paper certificates, and are not taken from formal national electronicdatasets. In addition, detailed recording of specific healthcare associatedinfections as a cause of death is often influenced by the then current level ofprofessional and public awareness – e.g. in recording clostridium difficile ratherthat the more commonly used generic category, intestinal infection: apparent increasesin cases may therefore not reflect the true underlying picture.

Question reference: S2W-17873

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) current UK nuclear operators, (ii) overseas nuclear power operators and (iii) investors in respect of conditions which would be necessary for them to consider constructing or financing new nuclear power plants in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-17584

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) maximum and (b) median number of remand prisoners was in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by prison.

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

The information is given in the following table :

2004	(a)	(b)
Aberdeen	98	69
Barlinnie	529	445
Cornton Vale	115	79
Dumfries	45	29
Edinburgh	210	175
Greenock	123	93
Inverness	61	44
Kilmarnock	94	77
Low Moss	1	0
Perth	178	150
Polmont	131	103
Shotts	1	0

Question reference: S2W-17444

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average (a) unsecured debt and (b) annual income per person was in each year since 1997.

(a) The Executive does not currently collect information on the debt of individuals. A recent report from the Department for Trade and Industry contains some information on debt for Great Britain, however we do not have this information at Scotland level. The report can be accessed via the following link: http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/pdf1/debtdtionmori.pdf.

It is planned that the proposed Office for National Statistics survey on wealth and assets will collect information on household debt. The survey is in its early development stages. If it goes ahead, some data for Scotland should be available from this source.

(b)The following table presents estimates of the median weekly total individual income for Scotland, based on a three year rolling average, from 1996-97 to 2003-04.

Table: Median Total Individual Income¹, Scotland, Averages for three rolling years, 1996-97 to 1998-99 to 2001-02 to 2003-04 (£ Per Week, 2003-04 Prices)

Year	All Adults
1996-97 to 1998-99	177
1997-98 to 1999-2000	181
1998-99 to 2000-01	184
1999-2000 to 2001-02	191
2000-01 to 2002-03	199
2001-02 to 2003-04	206

Source: Family Resource Survey- Individual Incomes Analysis.

Note: 1. Excludes any income which is not accrued directly to the individual in their own right, but also excludes student loans, social fund loans and benefits in kind.

Total income includes all elements of income that are accrued to the individual in their own right. This includes income from earnings, self-employment, occupational pensions, investments, social security benefits and tax credits. Elements of income that are generally accrued by a household rather than an individual are excluded, e.g. housing benefit and council tax benefit, and income from letting/sub-letting.

Question reference: S2W-17707

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in updating its plans for the prison estate.

I asked the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to update its Prisons Estates Strategy in the light of the Napier judgement and other developments since the Estates Review was completed in 2002. As part of that work, the SPS will be discussing options for prison services in the north east of Scotland with a range of local and national interests over the coming weeks. The SPS will then report to me. I will thereafter decide on the way forward.