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-31743

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents involving airguns were recorded from 1999 to 2006 in each police force area.

The number of incidents involvingairguns, where a crime or offence was recorded, from 1999 to 2006 are shown in thefollowing table:

Number of Incidents Recordedby the Police in which an Air Weapon was Alleged to have Been Used, 1999-2000 to2005-06

Police Force Area	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06¹
Central	28	29	17	6	11	24	20
Dumfries and Galloway	3	10	24	15	14	21	8
Fife	16	12	19	20	14	6	6
Grampian	45	43	52	44	12	12	9
Lothian and Borders	167	214	104	121	263	309	244
Northern	0	0	2	0	0	0	1
Strathclyde	256	236	80	54	62	63	271
Tayside	40	29	66	36	51	36	35
All	555	573	364	296	427	471	594

Note: 1. For 2005-06 returns,all police forces agreed to identify weapons where possible, based on evidence suchas type of damage caused, even if the weapons were not recovered. This has resultedin a considerable increase in the alleged use of identified weapons, particularlyair weapons, and a decrease in the alleged use of unidentified firearms.

Question reference: S2W-29903

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 16 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals are considered to be low paid, broken down by local authority area.

Low pay can be defined in variousways. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) definesthe low pay group as those who work more than 15 hours per week and receive an hourlywage less than two-thirds the median wage in their country of residence. For thedata in the following table low pay is defined as earning less than two thirds of the median hourly earnings.

Table 1 Estimate of Number ofEmployees who are Low Paid by Local Authority Area, 2006

	Level
Aberdeen City	25,000
Aberdeenshire	27,000
Angus	10,000
Argyll and Bute	7,000
Scottish Borders	13,000
Clackmannanshire	7,000
Dumfries and Galloway	15,000
Dundee City	16,000
East Ayrshire	11,000
East Dunbartonshire	8,000
East Lothian	8,000
East Renfrewshire	6,000
Edinburgh, City of	39,000
Falkirk	14,000
Fife	34,000
Glasgow City	54,000
Highland	25,000
Inverclyde	8,000
Midlothian	7,000
Moray	9,000
North Ayrshire	11,000
North Lanarkshire	30,000
Orkney Islands	2,000
Perth and Kinross	13,000
Renfrewshire	16,000
Shetland Islands	2,000
South Ayrshire	11,000
South Lanarkshire	24,000
Stirling	8,000
West Dunbartonshire	10,000
West Lothian	15,000
Western Isles	2,000

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

Notes:

1. The estimates are based onthe hourly pay excluding overtime and shift premium payments.

2. The estimates are based on a samplesurvey, and as such, are subject to sampling error.

3. Estimates are rounded to thenearest thousand.

Question reference: S2W-31357

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 15 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all transport projects which have been undertaken since 1999 or are currently planned, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Over 1,000 transportprojects have been announced by the Scottish Executive since 1999 – these rangegreatly in scale and many impact across a number of constituency areas. Projectsare generally announced either through the a Scottish Executive or TransportScotland news release, available from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/or http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/,as a ministerial announcement or through the annual reports to Parliament ofgrants paid under section 70 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (copies of the report areavailable in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 22114, 28193, 33166, 36946 and 39974).

Question reference: S2W-31099

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulance staff have reported incidents of assault while carrying out their duties in single-staffed ambulances or rapid response units in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-31104

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether mechanics employed by the Scottish Ambulance Service to service and repair ambulances and rapid response vehicles also service and repair vehicles of NHS boards or private individuals.

Question reference: S2W-31096

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a Scottish Ambulance Service rapid response unit would ever be staffed solely by a probationary paramedic.

Question reference: S2W-31105

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Ambulance Service’s target of reaching 75% of Category A calls within eight minutes is being met.

Question reference: S2W-31100

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how long the training period is for an ambulance (a) technician and (b) paramedic.

The training period for an ambulancetechnician is nine weeks residential at the Scottish Ambulance College. Theprobationary period for a technician is one year following the training period.

Technicians must have a minimumof 18 months post technician experience before applying to become a paramedic. Theyattend six weeks residential training at the Scottish Ambulance College. Thisis followed by a minimum of four weeks clinical training in a teaching hospitalunder the supervision of medical staff where they must demonstrate competence andknowledge in various clinical skills and techniques. Once qualified, the paramedicsmust register with the Health Professions Council to which they are professionallyaccountable. The Scottish Ambulance Service takes a supporting role in their continuousprofessional development, with paramedic staff undertaking refresher training annually.

Question reference: S2W-31098

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many back-up ambulances have been called to assist rapid response units attending Category B calls in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-31097

Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Solidarity Group
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many back-up ambulances have been called to assist rapid response units attending Category A calls in each of the last five years.