- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any legal advice that it received prior to, during or after launching its consultation on local income tax on the competence of its proposals under the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of a nationally set and nationally collected local income tax.
Answer
It is the practice of successive governments, reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code and the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, that the fact and content of legal advice is not revealed.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-32523 by Cathy Jamieson on 26 March 2007, how many individuals were charged with posession of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) crack cocaine, (d) ecstacy and (e) cannabis in the Lothian and Borders police board area in 2006-07, showing the percentage change from 2005-06 figures.
Answer
As explained in the answer to the earlier question referred to above, the statistics held centrally on recorded crimes do not show the number of charges, nor is it possible to break down the drug offences by the type of drug involved. The available information is shown in the following table.
Number of Crimes Recorded of Possession and, Possession with Intent to Supply, Lothian and Borders Police Force area, 2005-06 and 2006-07
| | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | % Change from 2005-06 to 2006-07 |
| Number of crimes of possession of drugs | 4,204 | 3,985 | -5.2 |
| Number of crimes of possession of drugs with intent to supply | 1,884 | 2,532 | 34.4 |
| Total crimes of possession of drugs and possession of drugs with intent to supply | 6,088 | 6,517 | 7.0 |
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under 15, (b) 15 to 18, (c) 19 to 21 and (d) over 21 were admitted to hospitals in the Lothians to receive treatment for excess alcohol consumption in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06, (iv) 2006-07 and (v) 2007-08.
Answer
Table 1 shows the number of patients discharged from general acute hospitals with an alcohol-related diagnosis between 2003-04 and 2006-07, in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.
Table 2 shows the number of patients discharged from NHS psychiatric units and mental illness hospitals with an alcohol-related diagnosis between 2003-04 and 2005-06, in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2006-07 and 2007-08 is not yet available.
Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures, because where alcohol misuse is suspected but unconfirmed it may not be recorded by the hospital. Information is based on discharges rather than admissions because the data sources used are discharge summaries.
Table 1: The Number of Patients Discharged from General Acute Hospitals in NHS Lothian with an Alcohol-Related Diagnosis, 2003-04 to 2006-07
| Age Group | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Under 15 Years | 36 | 31 | 30 | 59 |
| 15-18 Years | 117 | 107 | 130 | 171 |
| 19-21 Years | 135 | 147 | 136 | 173 |
| Over 21 Years | 3,730 | 3,875 | 3,945 | 4,039 |
Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01), date: 15 April 2008.
Table 2: The Number of Patients Discharged from Psychiatric Units and Mental Illness Hospitals in NHS Lothian with an Alcohol-Related Diagnosis, 2003-04 to 2005-06
| Age Group | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
| Under 15 Years | - | - | - |
| 15-18 Years | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 19- 21 Years | 8 | 11 | 9 |
| Over 21 Years | 635 | 636 | 643 |
Source: ISD Scotland (SMR04), Date: 15 April 2008.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions were issued for Prozac in the Lothians in each of the last 10 years and what the total cost was to NHS Lothian in each year.
Answer
The following table shows the number of prescriptions dispensed and the gross ingredient cost of fluoxetine (Prozac) in NHS Lothian for the financial years ended 31 March 1998 to 2007. The data given refer to prescriptions dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors, but do not take into account medicines dispensed by hospitals or hospital-based clinics.
| Year Ended 31 March | No of Items Dispensed | Gross Ingredient Cost (£) |
| 1998 | 44,207 | 1,313,401 |
| 1999 | 48,902 | 1,473,903 |
| 2000 | 54,820 | 1,606,761 |
| 2001 | 60,466 | 862,483 |
| 2002 | 67,036 | 686,732 |
| 2003 | 73,386 | 712,034 |
| 2004 | 78,018 | 597,005 |
| 2005 | 79,528 | 380,120 |
| 2006 | 84,220 | 375,005 |
| 2007 | 92,728 | 509,101 |
Note: The information in the table has been provided by NHS National Services Scotland.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 17 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-2566 by Stewart Stevenson on 13 March 2008, whether the period of keeping Scottish Water under review has now commenced and, if so, when it began, how many staff are involved, what procedures are being followed and when it expects to report on its conclusions.
Answer
Following the Parliamentary motion of 21 February 2008, we are keeping under review the structure and operations of Scottish Water as part of our regular work on the water industry in Scotland.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 15 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers were attacked in schools in the Lothians in each of the last five years, broken down by school for which the information is available.
Answer
This information is not collected centrally. The most recent collection of incidents of violence or antisocial behaviour against school staff related to 2002-03. The results are available on the Scottish Government website using the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/01/18797/ExcelSpreadsheet.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 15 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of P1 to P3 pupils across the Lothians were in class sizes of (a) 18 and under, (b) 19 to 25, (c) 26 to 30 and (d) over 30 in each school year from 2003-04 to 2007-08, broken down by school.
Answer
Information of class sizes for each year, broken down by school, is available on the Scottish Government website, using the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/ClassSizeDatasets.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 12 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications for the building of affordable housing in the Lothians were made by (a) housing associations and (b) the private sector in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Government has been putting in place monitoring arrangements to assess both the number of planning applications for affordable housing that received planning consent and the amount of affordable housing contained within them. The official statistics collected from planning authorities as a result of this monitoring will be published on the 29 April 2008. The reporting period covered is for the 2005 to 2007 financial years.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 12 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications for the building of affordable housing in the Lothians by (a) housing associations and (b) the private sector were rejected in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Information on the number of applications for affordable housing that were refused planning consent is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 12 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes were built by (a) housing associations and (b) the private sector in the Lothians parliamentary region in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Information on new house building is published on the Scottish Government website at:
(a) http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildHA,
and
(b) http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildPrivate.
The last two tables in the workbooks show the latest available completions data for the period requested by financial and calendar years, and local authority area. Data are not currently available by parliamentary region, and it is intended to make these data available through the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics website later this year.
