Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8808 on 4 February 2008. 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 police recorded crime statistics collected centrally are based on an aggregate return at local authority level, and do not distinguish the circumstances of the crime, such as the occupation of the victim. Following the introduction of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act in 2005, a new crime code (Minor Assault of an Emergency Worker) was created. However the figures cannot be broken down by category of worker.

In the most recent year for which figures are available, 2006-07, Scottish Water reported distribution losses and losses from customers'' supply pipes of 366,095 Ml. Treatment costs for this amount of water are estimated as approximately £16.5 million which includes volume driven energy, chemicals and associated sludge management.

The Scottish Government does not have a target for the level of public expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product. Our purpose is to focus the government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. This government''s purpose (and related targets) are set out in the Government Economic Strategy.

The Economic Pocket Databank is produced by the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser and its aim is to provide an update of the most recent available statistics for the Scottish economy. As a result, the content of this databank is reviewed on an on-going basis by Scottish Government officials with subsequent changes/revision to the publication. The figures relating to public expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product will not be updated for Scotland until June 2008 and earlier figures are available in previous versions of the Economic Pocket Databank and other Scottish Government publications. For previous versions of the Economic Pocket Databank please see the following Scottish Government website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Factfile/PocketDatabank.

The most recent published estimate is 51.0% of GDP, based on statistics produced in 2004-05 and published in December 2006. Updated figures will be available in June 2008.

The Scottish HouseholdSurvey provides local authority area estimates for households living in dwellingsbelow the bedroom standard for consecutive two-year periods from 1999-2000. Table1 shows the estimated percentage of Scottish households living in dwellings belowthe bedroom standard in each local authority area in 2005-06, and table 2 showsthe estimated percentage of children who live in such households. Estimates forearlier periods were provided in the answer to question S2W-32511 on 26 March 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Table 1: ScottishHouseholds Living Below the Bedroom Standard by Local Authority Area: 2005-06

	%	Base
Aberdeen City	2	1,236
Aberdeenshire	2	1,236
Angus	2	619
Argyll and Bute	3	594
Clackmannanshire	2	648
Dumfries and Galloway	2	817
Dundee City	2	912
East Ayrshire	2	655
East Dunbartonshire	3	526
East Lothian	3	549
East Renfrewshire	2	548
Edinburgh, City of	2	2,635
Eilean Siar	2	509
Falkirk	2	791
Fife	2	2,148
Glasgow City	5	3,284
Highland	1	1,185
Inverclyde	4	531
Midlothian	2	554
Moray	2	615
North Ayrshire	3	713
North Lanarkshire	5	1,846
Orkney Islands	2	624
Perth and Kinross	1	704
Renfrewshire	2	924
Scottish Borders	1	663
Shetland Islands	1	611
South Ayrshire	1	626
South Lanarkshire	3	1,642
Stirling	2	642
West Dunbartonshire	3	516
West Lothian	1	910

 

Table 2: ScottishChildren Living Below the Bedroom Standard by Local Authority Area: 2005-06

	%	Base
Aberdeen City	5	415
Aberdeenshire	6	634
Angus	5	272
Argyll and Bute	8	266
Clackmannanshire	8	274
Dumfries and Galloway	8	299
Dundee City	14	307
East Ayrshire	5	269
East Dunbartonshire	10	264
East Lothian	12	243
East Renfrewshire	9	337
Edinburgh, City of	10	863
Eilean Siar	6	213
Falkirk	10	357
Fife	9	927
Glasgow City	18	1,233
Highland	5	512
Inverclyde	16	259
Midlothian	8	282
Moray	6	325
North Ayrshire	10	340
North Lanarkshire	13	962
Orkney Islands	5	240
Perth and Kinross	5	301
Renfrewshire	7	487
Scottish Borders	4	265
Shetland Islands	5	314
South Ayrshire	7	245
South Lanarkshire	9	821
Stirling	8	308
West Dunbartonshire	10	229
West Lothian	4	448

Source: Scottish HouseholdSurvey, 2005-06.

Notes:

1. Base numbers showthe sample sizes of the population participating in the survey but cannot be usedto calculate how many respondents gave a certain answer. The base in table 1 refersto the number of households in the sample and in table 2 to the number of childrenin households in the sample.

2. Year-on-year changesshould be interpreted with caution as estimates can fluctuate from year to yeardue to sampling variability and small sample sizes. This is a particular issue fortable 2 where the sampling unit is the household but the unit of analysis is thenumber of children in the household.

3. The estimates areprovided for a two-year sweep as the survey is not designed to be representativeat local authority level for a single year.

4. The bedroom standardrepresents the minimum number of bedrooms required for a household.

The standard requiresthat a separate bedroom is available for:

each cohabiting couple;

any other person aged21 years or over;

each pair of youngpersons of the same sex aged 10 to 20 years, and

each pair of childrenunder 10 years (regardless of sex).

Unpaired young personsaged 10 to 20 are paired with a child under 10 of the same sex if possible or allocateda separate bedroom. Any unpaired children under 10 are also allocated a separatebedroom.

The ScottishGovernment collects snapshot information on the number of households intemporary accommodation at the end of each quarter through the HL2 return. Thisonly relates to households which have been placed in temporary accommodation bya local authority under the Homeless Persons legislation, and includeshouseholds for whom the local authority’s decision and final action is stillpending, as well as households which were secured such accommodation as a finalaction.

The following tablegives the number of households in temporary accommodation on the 31 March 1998 through to 31 March 2007 for local authorities wholly or partly in theLothians parliamentary region.

Numberof Households in Temporary Accommodation as at 31 March (Lothians ParliamentaryRegion): 1998 to 2007

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
East Lothian	51	46	43	52	69	86	111	187	188	192
City of Edinburgh	234	238	251	305	358	397	510	525	557	595
Midlothian	37	35	30	38	21	84	14	154	131	310
West Lothian	126	130	98	108	138	209	200	208	269	326

Source:HL2 returns submitted by local authorities to the Scottish GovernmentCommunities Analytical Services Division (Housing Statistics).

The ClaimantCount gives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and isproduced by the Office for National Statistics.

Table 1 shows thenumber of long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefits ineach council ward in the City of Edinburgh and alsothe long-term unemployed as a proportion of the resident working-age populationand as a proportion of total unemployment in each ward.

Long-termunemployed are defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over12 months. The latest data available are for October 2007.

Table 1: ClaimantCount Unemployment for Wards in City of Edinburgh, October 2007

Ward	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	% of Resident Working Age Population who are Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment
Balerno	0	0.0	0.0%
Baberton	5	0.1	15.2%
Dalmeny/Kirkliston	10	0.2	13.7%
Queensferry	10	0.1	19.2%
Cramond	5	0.1	17.9%
Davidson's Mains	5	0.1	19.2%
Muirhouse/Drylaw	30	0.6	12.0%
Craigleith	0	0.0	0.0%
Pilton	25	0.5	12.6%
Granton	25	0.5	13.4%
Trinity	5	0.1	10.6%
Newhaven	15	0.3	9.5%
East Craigs	5	0.2	7.1%
N.E. Corstorphine	5	0.1	11.9%
Murrayfield	5	0.1	19.2%
Dean	5	0.1	10.9%
Stockbridge	10	0.2	18.5%
New Town	10	0.1	20.0%
Broughton	15	0.3	15.2%
Calton	20	0.4	18.3%
Harbour	20	0.4	11.6%
Lorne	25	0.5	14.0%
Gyle	10	0.2	22.2%
S.E. Corstorphine	5	0.1	11.4%
Parkhead	25	0.5	13.7%
Craiglockhart	0	0.0	0.0%
Stenhouse	20	0.5	21.5%
Moat	20	0.4	17.9%
Shandon	15	0.3	14.2%
Dalry	25	0.4	17.1%
Fountainbridge	15	0.2	13.5%
Tollcross	5	0.1	5.2%
Southside	10	0.2	10.4%
Holyrood	30	0.6	17.3%
Meadowbank	20	0.3	18.3%
Mountcastle	10	0.2	12.3%
Leith Links	15	0.3	14.4%
Restalrig	20	0.4	9.8%
Portobello	15	0.3	22.1%
Milton	10	0.3	11.8%
Murrayburn	20	0.3	9.2%
Sighthill	5	0.1	4.5%
Colinton	0	0.0	0.0%
Firrhill	10	0.2	10.5%
Merchiston	0	0.0	0.0%
North Morningside/Grange	10	0.3	22.2%
Marchmont	5	0.1	11.9%
Sciennes	5	0.1	15.2%
Newington	5	0.1	13.5%
Prestonfield	0	0.0	0.0%
South Morningside	0	0.0	0.0%
Fairmilehead	0	0.0	0.0%
Alnwickhill	5	0.1	8.8%
Kaimes	15	0.3	10.9%
Moredun	15	0.3	11.3%
Gilmerton	5	0.1	8.9%
Craigmillar	25	0.6	12.8%
Duddingston	5	0.1	7.9%
City of Edinburgh	670	0.2	12.8%

Source:Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1.Long-term unemployed defined as those claiming for over 12 months.

2.Data on number of long-term unemployed rounded to the nearest five.

The ClaimantCount gives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and isproduced by the Office for National Statistics.

Table 1 shows thenumber of long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefits ineach local authority area in Lothians parliamentary region and also thelong-term unemployed as a proportion of the resident working-age population andas a proportion of total unemployment in each local authority.

Long-termunemployed are defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over12 months. The latest data available are for October 2007.

Table 1: ClaimantCount Unemployment for Local Authorities in the Lothians Parliamentary Region,October 2007

Local Authority	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	% of Resident Working Age Population who are Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment
East Lothian*	40	0.1%	6.7%
Edinburgh, City of	670	0.2%	12.8%
Midlothian*	85	0.2%	11.4%
West Lothian	205	0.2%	9.6%
All**	995	0.2%	11.4%

Source: Officefor National Statistics.

Notes:

Long-termunemployed defined as those claiming for over 12 months.

Data on number oflong-term unemployed rounded to the nearest five.

*Only part of thelocal authority located in the Lothians parliamentary region but the data arefor the full local authority area.

**The figure forALL is a total of the local authorities in the table. It does not provide anestimate for the Lothians parliamentary region.