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: S4W-07877

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-07511 by Kenny MacAskill on 12 June 2012, what geographical areas Scotland will be broken into under the proposed single police force for the purpose of statistics of recorded crime, its detection and the rates of solved crime.

Question reference: S4W-07925

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reoffending rate for criminal offences was in (a) 1999 and (b) 2011 or according to the latest published data.

<>Information on reconviction rates is published annually by the Scottish Government. These are available at the following location (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubReconvictions).

The latest data published in August 2011 relates to the cohort of offenders who received a non-custodial sentence or were released from a custodial sentence in 2008-09. The planned publication date for reconviction rates for the 2009-10 cohort is August 2012.

Question reference: S4W-07926

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are in care and how many were in care in May 1999.

The latest statistics show that at 31 July 2011 there were 16,171 children looked after by local authorities in Scotland.

Figures are not available for May 1999, but are available for 31 March 1999, when there were 11,191 children looked after by local authorities in Scotland.

These statistics are available in Table 1.1 in Children’s Social Work Statistics Scotland, No 1: 2012 Edition available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork.

Question reference: S4W-07909

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are living in a workless household and how many there were in May 1999.

The latest available data for workless households comes from the Labour Force Survey household dataset for April-June 2011.

The number of children living in a workless household in Scotland during the period April-June 2011 was 145,000. During the period April-June 1999 in Scotland, the number of children living in a workless household was 162,000.

Source: Labour Force Survey household dataset (not seasonally adjusted)

Note:

1. Households including at least one person aged 16 to 64.

2. Children refers to children under the age of 16.

3. Estimates only include those households with at least one person aged between 16 to 64.

4. A workless household is a household that includes at least one person aged 16 to 64 where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment.

Question reference: S4W-07927

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were referred to the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration for (a) protection and (b) offences in (i) 1999 and (ii) 2011 or according to the latest published data.

This is an operational matter for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA). I have asked the Principal Reporter to respond. His response is set out in the following table:

	1998-99	2010-11
Children referred on offence grounds	14,951	8,126
Children referred on non-offence grounds	21,953	33,710
Total children referred	30,164	39,217

Some children may be referred on both offence and non-offence grounds in the course of the year. The total does not therefore match the sum of the offence and non-offence referrals.

Data for 2011-12 is due for publication on 5 July 2012. The SCRA online statistical service can be accessed at:

http://www.scra.gov.uk/publications/online_statistical_service.cfm for 2010/11.

Question reference: S4W-07915

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dependent drinkers there are and how many there were in May 1999.

There is no standard definition of a dependent drinker which is used in population surveys. The Scottish Health Survey used the CAGE questionnaire between 1998 and 2010 which asks current drinkers a set of six questions about their drinking. Answering two or more of the questions positively is generally seen as an indicator of possible “problem drinking”.

The following table details the proportion of adults aged 16 to 74 who reported two or more CAGE items in 1998 and 2010. The survey was not run in 1999. As the questions are asked of current drinkers only, and the proportion of non-drinkers has changed over time, these figures have also been provided.

Potential Problem Drinking Among Adults (aged 16-74)

Year	Population	% of Current Drinkers	Estimated Number of Current Drinkers	% of “Problem Drinkers”¹	Estimated Number of “Problem Drinkers”	% of Current Drinkers Who are “Problem Drinkers”
1998	3,727,386	90%	3,354,647	9%	301,918	8%
2010	3,904,671	86%	3,365,826	12%	403,899	10%

Sources: National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates; Scottish Health Survey 1998 and 2010.

Note: 1. For more details on the CAGE questionnaire, please refer to chapter 3 of the 2010 Scottish Health Survey annual report. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/27084018/0.

Question reference: S4W-07908

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many workless households there are and how many there were in May 1999.

The latest available data for workless households comes from the Labour Force Survey household dataset for April-June 2011.

The number of workless households in Scotland during the period April-June 2011 was 359,000. During the period April-June 1999 in Scotland, the number of workless households was 393,000.

Note:

1 - Households including at least one person aged 16 to 64.

2 – Estimates only include those households with at least one person aged between 16-64.

3 - A workless household is a household that includes at least one person aged 16 to 64 where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment.

Source: Labour Force Survey household dataset (not seasonally adjusted).

Question reference: S4W-07790

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the sharing of intelligence services.

Question reference: S4W-07728

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when the latest allocation of European Fisheries Fund grants will be made.

Question reference: S4W-07730

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the criteria for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to be agreed.