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-32218

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 March 2007
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there were for head teachers in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority.

Information on head teacher vacanciesis not collected separately from deputy head vacancies. The following table showsvacancies (full-time equivalent) over three months for head teachers and deputyhead teachers in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority (LA):

	Primary (February)					Secondary (February)
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Aberdeen City	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0
Aberdeenshire	0	0	4.2	6.8	0	0	0	1	1	0
Angus	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dundee City	0	0	5	5	1	0	1	3	3	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh, City of	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eilean Siar	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	1	1	0	6	1	0	0	0	0	4
Glasgow City	13	25	0	7	0	2	0	0	0	0
Highland	4	2	2	2	3	0	0	0	1	1
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Orkney Islands		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	5	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stirling	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	2	2	5	1	2	1	0	1	0	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Scotland	24	41	35.2	31.8	11	7	5	8	6	8
Average number of vacancies per annum	0.8	1.3	1.2	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3

Notes:

1. Informationis from the teacher vacancies survey returned by LAs at February each year.

2.Aberdeenshire data not available for 2002 and 2004.

3. Vacanciesover three months are taken as an indicator of long-term issues whereas total vacanciesreported by Las include normal turnover of staff.

Question reference: S2W-32220

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 March 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of patients urgently referred by their GP with suspected cancer were subsequently diagnosed with cancer in the latest period for which figures are available.

Question reference: S2W-31963

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 9 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the gender breakdown is of staff in each grade in (a) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) its Legal and Parliamentary Services department.

The following table shows CrownOffice and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and Legal and Parliamentary Services(LPS) Staff in Post (Headcount) as at February 2007 by level/pay band and gender.

COPFS

Level/Pay Band	Total Staff	Female	Male
SCS	38	14 (37%)	24 (63%)
G	22	9 (41%)	13 (59%)
F(L)	111	64 (58%)	47 (42%)
F	10	3 (30%)	7 (70%)
E(L)	276	177 (64%)	99 (36%)
Trainee Solicitors	41	33 (80%)	8 (20%)
E	31	12 (39%)	19 (61%)
D	215	144 (67%)	71 (33%)
C	152	126 (83%)	26 (17%)
B	648	503 (77%)	145 (23%)
A	9	1 (11%)	8 (89%)
Totals	1,553	1,086 (70%)	467 (30%)

LPS

Level/Pay Band	Total staff	Female	Male
SCS	25	7 (28%)	18 (72%)
NA*	12	5 (42%)	7 (58%)
C2	42	23 (55%)	19 (45%)
C1	58	36 (62%)	22 (38%)
B3	6	2 (33%)	4 (67%)
B2	11	7 (64%)	4 (36%)
B1	4	2 (50%)	2 (50%)
A4	2	2 (100%)	0 (0%)
A3	17	13 (76%)	4 (24%)
A2	14	7 (50%)	7 (50%)
Totals	191	104 (54%)	87 (46%)

Note: *NA: notassimilated into an Executive grade – these staff are trainee solicitors.

Question reference: S2W-32038

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sex offenders released on licence were recalled to prison (a) after and (b) without committing a further crime in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-32039

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 9 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women were working part-time in (a) 1979 and (b) 2006 and, of these, how many were earning below the lower earnings limit for national insurance.

Information on the number ofwomen working part-time in 1979 is not held centrally. The number of women workingpart-time in October to December 2006 was 508,000. This is estimate is taken fromthe Labour Force Survey.

Information on the number ofwomen working part-time earning below the lower earnings limit for national insurancein 1979 is not held centrally. In 2006 it was estimated that 124,000 female part-timeemployees earned below the lower earnings limit for national insurance which was£84 a week. This estimate is taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Both of these estimates are basedon sample surveys and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.

Question reference: S2W-32037

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the re-offending rate was of sex offenders who (a) attended and (b) did not attend the Sex Offender Treatment Programme in each of the last five years.

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

Theinformation requested is not available. The only available information is on reconvictionrates for those originally convicted of crimes of indecency and is supplied in thefollowing table.

PersonsReleased from a Custodial Sentence or given a Non-Custodial Sentence, 1998-99 to2002-03. Percentage Reconvicted Within Two Years

	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Those originally convicted of crimes of indecency¹	19	17	19	17	17

Note: 1. Including rape, attemptedrape, indecent assault, lewd and libidinous practices, other indecency and breachof a sex offender order. Excludes prostitution offences.

Question reference: S2W-31892

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 7 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what economic inactivity levels were for 18 to 24-year-olds who were not in full-time education in each quarter since 1990.

Estimates of economic inactivityare taken from the Labour Force Survey. Thefollowing table shows the levels of people aged 18-24 who were economically inactive and not in full-time education forevery quarter from 1994 to the latest available data in 2006.

Data on people aged 18 to 24 who were economically inactive and not in full-time education isnot available prior to 1994.

The estimates are based on asample survey, and as such, are subject to some sampling error. Any changes in theestimates over time may not be statistically significant when sampling error istaken into account.

Table 1 – Economically InactiveLevels of People Aged 18 to 24, Scotland, 1994-2006.

Quarter	Economically Inactive Level	Quarter	Economically Inactive Level
Spring 1994	42,000	Summer 2000	41,000
Summer 1994	47,000	Autumn 2000	34,000
Autumn 1994	46,000	Winter 2000	38,000
Winter 1995	42,000	Spring 2001	33,000
Spring 1995	39,000	Summer 2001	39,000
Summer 1995	43,000	Autumn 2001	37,000
Autumn 1995	43,000	Winter 2001	36,000
Winter 1995	37,000	Spring 2002	32,000
Spring 1996	38,000	Summer 2002	32,000
Summer 1996	41,000	Autumn 2002	34,000
Autumn 1996	39,000	Winter 2002	35,000
Winter 1996	35,000	Spring 2003	38,000
Spring 1997	35,000	Summer 2003	38,000
Summer 1997	39,000	Autumn 2003	37,000
Autumn 1997	39,000	Winter 2003	34,000
Winter 1997	35,000	Spring 2004	38,000
Spring 1998	38,000	Summer 2004	46,000
Summer 1998	36,000	Autumn 2004	36,000
Autumn 1998	30,000	Winter 2004	40,000
Winter 1998	28,000	Spring 2005	41,000
Spring 1999	34,000	Summer 2005	41,000
Summer 1999	41,000	Autumn 2005	37,000
Autumn 1999	55,000	Winter 2005	36,000
Winter 1999	45,000	Spring 2006	35,000
Spring 2000	40,000

Source: LabourForce Survey.

Note: 1. Data rounded to the nearest thousand.

Question reference: S2W-31962

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33049 by Mr Andy Kerr on 21 January 2003, what hourly rates and what grades are applied for staff when calculating the costs of individuals working in its Legal and Parliamentary Services department on projects and tasks.

Scottish Executive core departmentsall operate within the same pay system. The average gross hourly rates for the paybands of staff working in the Scottish Executive’s core departments for financialyear 2006-07 are given in the following table:

Pay Band	Hourly Rated Based on Gross Average Pay*
A2**	£10.34
A3	£12.19
A4	£13.52
B1	£16.79
B2	£20.62
B3	£26.97
C1	£36.65
C2	£43.55
C3	£47.36
Fast Stream	£20.76
Senior Civil Service 1	£59.49
Senior Civil Service 1A	£72.73
Senior Civil Service 2	£84.87
Senior Civil Service 3	£108.69

Notes:

* Gross average pay includesbasic salary, employers’ superannuation contributions and national insurance payments.

** Bands A1 and A2 were mergedwith effect from 1 August 2006.

Question reference: S2W-32033

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 6 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GPs there were per 1,000 population in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

The following tables show thenumber of GPs per 1,000 population by NHS board.

Old Health Board Configuration	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Argyll and Clyde	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Ayrshire and Arran	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Borders	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0
Dumfries and Galloway	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.0
Fife	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7
Forth Valley	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Grampian	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9
Greater Glasgow	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Highland	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.2
Lanarkshire	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.6
Lothian	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9
Orkney	1.4	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.8	1.8	1.8	2.0	2.1
Shetland	1.1	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.3	1.4	1.4
Tayside	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.9
Western Isles	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.2	1.4	1.3	1.5	1.5	1.6
Scotland	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8

New NHS Board Configuration	2006
Ayrshire and Arran	0.8
Borders	1.0
Dumfries and Galloway	1.0
Fife	0.7
Forth Valley	0.8
Grampian	1.0
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	0.8
Highland	1.2
Lanarkshire	0.7
Lothian	0.9
Orkney	2.1
Shetland	1.3
Tayside	0.9
Western Isles	1.4
Scotland	0.9

Sources:

GMS Data Warehouse as at 28 February 2007,ISD Scotland (for GP data 1997-2004).

Practitioner ContractorDatabase (PCD) as at 28 February 2007, ISD Scotland (for GP data 2005-06).

CHI/UPI database, forpatient registration data.

Notes:

1. GP head count comprises Performer,performer salaried and performer retainee GPs. These data do not take account ofwhether GPs work full-time or part-time.

2. Figures are at 1 October eachyear.

3. New NHS board configurationapplicable from 1 April 2006.

Question reference: S2W-31924

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 5 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of class sizes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are above the national average.