Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-22423

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 3 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each parliamentary constituency earn (a) £3.60, (b) £3.61 to £3.80, (c) £3.81 to £4 and (d) £4.01 to £4.50 per hour, expressed also as a percentage of total employees in each constituency.

The preferred source for earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

The latest ASHE estimates available by Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) are for 2003. However, as ASHE is a sample survey we cannot provide data for the requested pay bands as there are too few people in each pay band to produce reliable and non-disclosive estimates.

Table 1 shows the estimated number and proportion of employee jobs that are paid £4.50 or below by SPC. Table 2 shows a more detailed breakdown of low pay bands for Scotland.

These estimates are based on employee jobs rather than people in employment. One person in employment can have more than one job.

Those who are self employed are not included.

Table 1: Number and Proportion of Jobs Paid £4.50 or Below by Constituency, 2003

Parliamentary Constituency	Number of Employee Jobs¹	Proportion of All Employee Jobs¹
Aberdeen Central	2,000	7.8%
Aberdeen North	2,000	6.4%
Aberdeen South	2,000	4.9%
Airdrie and Shotts	1,000	2.2%
Angus	2,000	5.4%
Argyll and Bute	*	*
Ayr	1,000	5.6%
Banff and Buchan	2,000	8.3%
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	1,000	7.8%
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	2,000	8.2%
Central Fife	2,000	5.6%
Clydebank and Milngavie	1,000	5.4%
Clydesdale	2,000	4.7%
Coatbridge and Chryston	1,000	3.5%
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	2,000	6.8%
Cunninghame North	2,000	7.1%
Cunninghame South	1,000	3.2%
Dumbarton	2,000	6.1%
Dumfries	2,000	7.8%
Dundee East	2,000	5.4%
Dundee West	2,000	6.1%
Dunfermline East	1,000	4.2%
Dunfermline West	2,000	5.4%
East Kilbride	2,000	5.7%
East Lothian	1,000	4.4%
Eastwood	1,000	2.7%
Edinburgh Central	1,000	2.7%
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	1,000	3.1%
Edinburgh North and Leith	1,000	2.9%
Edinburgh Pentlands	2,000	4.5%
Edinburgh South	2,000	4.6%
Edinburgh West	1,000	2.1%
Falkirk East	1,000	4.9%
Falkirk West	2,000	5.8%
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	2,000	12.1%
Glasgow Anniesland	2,000	6.8%
Glasgow Baillieston	2,000	7.9%
Glasgow Cathcart	2,000	7.4%
Glasgow Govan	*	*
Glasgow Kelvin	1,000	3.1%
Glasgow Maryhill	2,000	9.2%
Glasgow Pollok	1,000	6.2%
Glasgow Rutherglen	2,000	7.5%
Glasgow Shettleston	1,000	5.4%
Glasgow Springburn	1,000	5.2%
Gordon	2,000	4.2%
Greenock and Inverclyde	1,000	3.1%
Hamilton North and Bellshill	3,000	8.1%
Hamilton South	2,000	8.2%
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	2,000	4.6%
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	2,000	7.5%
Kirkcaldy	1,000	5.9%
Linlithgow	2,000	6.2%
Livingston	2,000	5.6%
Midlothian	2,000	5.6%
Moray	2,000	5.3%
Motherwell and Wishaw	2,000	6.3%
North East Fife	1,000	4.4%
North Tayside	2,000	6.0%
Ochil	1,000	5.0%
Orkney and Shetland	1,000	4.6%
Paisley North	4,000	14.8%
Paisley South	2,000	6.6%
Perth	2,000	7.0%
Ross, Skye and Inverness West	2,000	7.3%
Roxburgh and Berwickshire	1,000	4.3%
Stirling	2,000	7.1%
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	1,000	4.1%
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	3,000	7.5%
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	2,000	5.8%
West Renfrewshire	1,000	3.0%
Western Isles	1,000	12.1%

Table 2: Number and proportion of employee jobs by pay band, Scotland, 2003

Gross Hourly Pay	Number of Employee Jobs¹	Proportion of All Employee Jobs¹
Less than or equal to £3.60	16,000	0.8%
£3.61 to £3.80	6,000	0.3%
£3.81 to £4.00	6,000	0.3%
£4.01 to £4.50	86,000	4.3%
Greater than £4.50	1,908,000	94.4%
All	2,022,000	100.0%

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

* - Data are confidential, 1947 statistics of trade act.

1. Employees whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.

2. Estimates include those on training rates of pay.

3. As survey results, these are subject to a degree of error and implied differences may not be significant and instead be within a given error range.

4. Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand.

5. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

6. Proportions are calculated on un-rounded figures.

Question reference: S2W-19624

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the net change in the number of employee jobs in each Glasgow parliamentary constituency has been in each year since 1999.

The following table shows the net change in the number of employee jobs in each Glasgow parliamentary constituency from 1999 to the latest year for which data is available (2004). Changes between 2002 and 2003 are not included as there is a discontinuity between the data for 2002 and 2003 as a result of a change in the way in which data for Parliamentary constituencies is constructed.

Annual Change in the Level of Employee Jobs in Glasgow Parliamentary Constituencies, 1999-2003

Parliamentary Constituency	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2003-04
Glasgow Anniesland	300	3,100	-200	-400
Glasgow Baillieston	100	2,100	-600	-300
Glasgow Cathcart	100	-1800	-1,200	-1,000
Glasgow Govan	2,000	5,700	700	2,400
Glasgow Kelvin	5,700	8,300	1,500	5,700
Glasgow Maryhill	-800	2,900	-2,800	-700
Glasgow Pollok	2,500	300	100	1,200
Glasgow Rutherglen	2,800	-2,100	-1,000	700
Glasgow Shettleston	-1,300	1,400	900	600
Glasgow Springburn	1,100	1,800	-200	600
Total	12,500	21,500	-3,000	8,700

Source: Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).

Notes:

1. These figures are aggregates from which agriculture class 0100 (1992 SIC) have been excluded.

2. The data are rounded to the nearest hundred.

3. Totals may not equal the sum of the constituent parts due to rounding.

4. Data for 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 based on 1991 census wards. Data for 2003-04 are based on 2003 CAS wards.

5. ABI data are workplace based.

Question reference: S2W-22422

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average percentage employment rates of the working age population were in each parliamentary constituency in the (a) 12 months to June 1997, or closest equivalent period, and (b) last 12-month period for which figures are available.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of employment rates. Data from the LFS are not available for the 12 months to June 1997. However, employment rates are available for the periods March 1996 to February 1997 and March 1997 to February 1998. The latest annual data available are for January 2004 to December 2004. All these employment rates are given in table 1.

Table 1: Employment Rates¹ by Constituency, Scotland

Parliamentary Constituency	March 1996 to February 1997	March 1997 to February 1998	January 2004 to December 2004
Aberdeen Central	74.3	74.0	71.8
Aberdeen North	82.0	81.7	78.3
Aberdeen South	77.7	81.0	78.4
Airdrie and Shotts	65.5	65.8	72.1
Angus	81.8	78.7	75.9
Argyll and Bute	76.1	70.6	79.8
Ayr	71.8	77.0	72.5
Banff and Buchan	69.3	72.6	76.1
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	68.5	66.2	83.7
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	64.1	64.7	73.4
Central Fife	64.3	66.6	74.8
Clydebank and Milngavie	63.9	67.8	76.0
Clydesdale	72.0	70.3	74.6
Coatbridge and Chryston	64.7	62.1	67.3
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	69.5	70.2	76.8
Cunninghame North	63.1	66.3	69.1
Cunninghame South	70.1	64.2	66.4
Dumbarton	63.8	73.1	72.0
Dumfries	73.1	71.4	80.3
Dundee East	67.7	70.3	69.1
Dundee West	62.0	64.6	67.2
Dunfermline East	70.5	71.6	72.3
Dunfermline West	73.5	78.6	79.8
East Kilbride	77.5	75.0	78.1
East Lothian	74.5	73.7	76.2
Eastwood	77.6	81.5	79.3
Edinburgh Central	62.4	64.7	72.2
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	72.5	76.8	76.9
Edinburgh North and Leith	70.7	72.2	78.3
Edinburgh Pentlands	73.5	77.3	74.9
Edinburgh South	63.0	66.5	68.7
Edinburgh West	75.7	76.5	83.1
Falkirk East	75.0	73.1	77.2
Falkirk West	69.7	74.2	76.6
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	74.3	68.2	77.1
Glasgow Anniesland	57.8	60.2	68.1
Glasgow Baillieston	51.3	55.4	56.8
Glasgow Cathcart	55.5	64.4	77.0
Glasgow Govan	63.7	68.7	72.1
Glasgow Kelvin	63.8	66.4	68.3
Glasgow Maryhill	45.4	49.0	55.0
Glasgow Pollok	61.4	57.6	62.5
Glasgow Rutherglen	64.1	63.8	69.9
Glasgow Shettleston	44.7	48.3	52.7
Glasgow Springburn	50.0	49.7	63.9
Gordon	84.0	85.4	81.0
Greenock and Inverclyde	72.1	73.0	68.9
Hamilton North and Bellshill	68.4	65.6	70.5
Hamilton South	67.0	60.6	73.7
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	76.4	77.0	82.0
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	66.8	63.9	72.5
Kirkcaldy	69.4	73.1	79.0
Linlithgow	78.1	79.3	76.2
Livingston	76.2	81.0	81.3
Midlothian	79.1	78.2	80.1
Moray	80.7	71.5	78.2
Motherwell and Wishaw	62.8	64.5	72.3
North East Fife	76.5	70.8	82.8
North Tayside	80.6	77.4	77.5
Ochil	63.3	65.1	73.8
Orkney and Shetland	82.4	81.1	85.5
Paisley North	60.9	63.2	71.1
Paisley South	68.3	71.4	74.5
Perth	81.7	78.2	78.8
Ross, Skye and Inverness West	72.4	77.0	83.1
Roxburgh and Berwickshire	73.7	75.8	78.0
Stirling	74.3	72.5	76.3
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	75.4	76.5	79.4
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	80.8	79.4	81.3
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	78.0	75.9	79.8
West Renfrewshire	78.4	75.8	75.4
Western Isles	71.9	78.7	79.2

Source: Local Area Labour Force Survey, Annual Population Survey.

Notes:

1. Employment rates are for those of working age - age 16 to 59 for women and age 16 to 64 for men.

2. As survey results, these are subject to a degree of error and implied differences may not be significant and instead be within a given error range.

Question reference: S2W-22012

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 31 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what correlation it considers that there is between early tooth loss caused by dental decay and (a) failure to thrive, (b) impaired speech development, (c) absence from school, (d) inability to concentrate in school, (e) reduced self-esteem and (f) mental ill-health.

Question reference: S2W-22013

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 31 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what research into the effects of early tooth loss it uses to inform the development, application and subsequent resourcing of (a) education policy, (b) dental health policy, (c) other health policy and (d) any other policy.

There are a wide range of structured groups that impact on policy in Scotland as well as a range of professionals able to advise the Scottish Executive Health Department directly or through the Chief Dental Officer.

These structured advisory groups inform and shape dental policy, educational policy and related policies. The Chief Dental Officer also takes advice from academics and dental professionals throughout the UK and Europe as required.

Question reference: S2W-22546

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 30 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) police officers and (b) firefighters have worked extra hours in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S2W-22547

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 30 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many extra hours have been worked by (a) police officers and (b) firefighters in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S2W-21977

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its employees have been dismissed in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-21978

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of unfair dismissal have been brought against it in each year since 1999; how many of these cases it lost; how many cases are outstanding, and what the total cost was of these proceedings.

The Scottish Executive does not hold, on a central database, information related to the number of claims for unfair dismissal that have been brought against it since 1999, the outcome of such claims and the costs involved in responding to such claims. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. At present there is one ongoing claim for unfair dismissal against the Scottish Executive.

The Central Office of the Employment Tribunals in Scotland, the Eagle Building, 215 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, holds a public record of all Employment Tribunal cases brought in Scotland and may be able to provide some information relevant to your question.

Question reference: S2W-22021

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 27 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many penalty notices have been issued in each year since 1999 in respect of the illegal use of fireworks, broken down by police force area.

In England and Wales, under the penalty notice for disorder scheme, the police can issue penalty notices for certain firework offences, but this scheme does not apply in Scotland. The Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 creates a police power to issue fixed penalty offences for certain offences associated with antisocial behaviour. The scheme is currently being piloted in Tayside, but the list of fixed penalty offences included in the scheme does not include any offence relating to fireworks.

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