Chamber and committees

Consideration is being given to all matters pertaining to the proposed transfer of responsibility for the Scottish passenger rail franchise from the Strategic Rail Authority to the Scottish Ministers.

Penalty payments are a contractual element of the ScotRail franchise agreement. Following the enactment of the Railways Bill the responsibility for the ScotRail franchise will pass from the Strategic Rail Authority to the Scottish ministers.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-14907 answered on 22 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Authorisation of pay and conditions agreements in the last 12 months of a franchise is an element of the ScotRail franchise agreement. Following the enactment of the Railways Bill the responsibility for the ScotRail franchise will pass from the Strategic Rail Authority to the Scottish ministers.

The total attendances at accident and emergency departments in Greater Glasgow are shown in the table.

NHSScotland - Accident and Emergency attendances¹: Locations in Greater Glasgow Health Board Area: Years ending 31 March 2000 to 2004

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004P
NHS Greater Glasgow	376,734	373,273	370 410	363,440	359,969
Glasgow Dental Hospital and School	21,084	19,933	18 895	17,968	15,870
Glasgow Royal Infirmary	73,671	73,857	71 917	69,105	68,166
Royal Hospital for Sick Children	37,555	37,678	38 394	37,838	37,132
Southern General Hospital	45,366	45,188	46 288	45,755	47,785
Stobhill Hospital	53,651	50,989	50 037	49,424	48,875
Victoria Infirmary	73,307	73,523	73 259	72,537	70,771
Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General	72,100	72,105	71 620	70,813	71,370

Source: ISD Scotland [Form ISD(S)1].

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Excludes patients attending for A&E treatment that are seen by GPs.

Reference: ISD/HIG/IR2005-00607

2. The total figures include return attendances as well as new presentations.

Date: 28 February 2005.

The available information comparing the number of assaults experienced by people in Scotland; the numbers reported by them to the police, and the numbers recorded by the police is published in Appendix Table A4.1 of The 2000 Scottish Crime Survey: Overview Report and Appendix Table A4.1 of Scottish Crime Survey 2003, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 20953 and 34818). Figures in these tables refer to 1999 and 2002 respectively. As the Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) was not an annual survey, information is not available for 2000, 2001 or 2003. The SCS does not provide figures below national level.

Information on the numbers ofserious assaults recorded by the police in the city of Glasgow and Scotland is publishedfor each year in table 8 of the relevant statistical bulletins Recorded Crimein Scotland, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre(Bib. numbers 7079, 13119, 20798, 27678 and 33018).

For information on the numberof petty assaults recorded by the police in the city of Glasgow and Scotland forthe years 1999 to 2002, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-1087 on22 July 2003. For the equivalent information for 2003, I refer themember to the answer to question S2W‑12502 on 7 December 2004.

For information on the numberof serious assaults recorded by the police in Strathclyde for the years 1999 to2003, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-9865 on 30 August 2004.

Information on the numbers ofpetty assaults recorded by the police in Strathclyde is published for each yearin table 4A of the relevant statistical bulletins Recorded Crime in Scotland,copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers7079, 13119, 20798, 27678 and 33018).

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The statistics available centrallyon crimes of assault recorded by the police do not distinguish the circumstances of the assault, such as the type ofany weapon involved.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14038 on 23 February 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The provision of airfield firefighting facilities is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority. Responsibility for responding to fires in the terminal building or other “land-side” areas at Glasgow Airport, and for determining the level of the response, rests with Strathclyde Fire Brigade. We understand that BAA consulted Strathclyde Fire Brigade on their recent proposals for redeployment of airport fire service resources, and that the brigade raised no objections.

The table below shows the increase in Scotland average band D council tax for each year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05. In total, over this period the Scotland average band D council tax has risen by £204 or 24.1%.

Year	Scotland Average Band D Council Tax (£)	Increase
		£	Percentage
1999-2000	849	-	-
2000-01	886	37	4.4%
2001-02	929	43	4.9%
2002-03	971	41	4.5%
2003-04	1,009	38	3.9%
2004-05	1,053	44	4.4%

 

Indicative council tax levels for 2005-06, supplied by local authorities in March 2004, show a projected annual increase in the Scotland average band D council tax of 4.6% to £1,101.

Local authorities have not yet set provisional budgets for 2006-07 and 2007-08 and so no information is available on the likely levels of council tax. However, the settlement local government received in the most recent Scottish Budget is based upon councils increasing council tax by no more than 2.5% in 2006-07 and 2007-08. We therefore continue to urge councils to keep council tax rises to reasonable levels in 2005-06 and beyond.