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: S3W-32914

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations have been made to the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism regarding minimum pricing for alcohol.

Representations have been made by various organisations to various ministers regarding minimum pricing since discussions on minimum pricing started in 2007. Some of these representations have been in support of minimum pricing and some have been opposed (responses to the Scottish Government''s Alcohol Framework consultation can be found at the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/26115423/Contents).

Question reference: S3W-32909

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact minimum pricing would have on the Scotch whisky industry.

As part of the process of introducing primary legislation, a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is undertaken in order to assess the potential impacts of a policy proposal on those sectors and groups likely to be affected. The RIA relating to the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Bill, which includes the proposal to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol, can be found at the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/924/0092060.pdf.

Question reference: S3W-32910

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what weight it has given to statements made by the Scotch Whisky Association that minimum pricing would damage Scotch whisky exports by £600 million a year.

Question reference: S3W-32663

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Lothian were directly connected with knife and bladed objects crime-related incidents in each of the last five years for which information is available, also broken down by age of patient.

It is not possible to reliably determine from centrally available NHS discharge records whether the reason for admission to an acute hospital is for a crime-related incident. However, a diagnosis of Assault by sharp object can be determined from hospital discharge records.

Information on the number of occupied bed days in NHS Lothian where there is a diagnosis of Assault by sharp object is presented in the following table.

It should be noted that a small proportion of injuries caused by a sharp object will be coded as accident, self-harm or undetermined intent yet may be related to a criminal incident. Such cases are not included in the table below.

Number of Acute Occupied Bed Days¹ in NHS Lothian² Connected with an Assault by Sharp Object³, Patient Discharged during Year Ending 31 March 2005-2009, by

Age Group⁴

Total Number of Bed Days

	Financial Years
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
All Ages	378	269	240	182	344
0-19	47	33	37	21	44
20-29	104	100	105	82	166
30-39	144	81	75	32	106
40-49	32	42	20	23	22
50+	51	13	3	24	6

Source: ISD SMR01 , March 2010.

Notes:

1. Occupied Bed Days are calculated using the length of stay variable (i.e. date of discharge minus date of admission).

2. Data are taken from the national Scottish Morbidity Record Scheme 01 (SMR01), which records all inpatient and day case discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric specialties in NHS hospitals in Scotland. An SMR01 episode is generated when a patient is discharged from hospital, but also when a patient is transferred between hospitals, specialties or to the care of a different consultant. The date of discharge was used to extract the data.

3. Discharges connected to assault by a sharp object have been defined using the International Classification of Disease codes ICD10 (X99) and episodes have been selected on all secondary diagnosis positions.

4. In order to minimize the risk of disclosure due to small numbers, figures for ages 0-19 and 50+ have been aggregated.

For information; the numbers of admissions connected to assault by a sharp object in NHS Lothian was provided in the answer to S3W-32124 on 15 March 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD''s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

Question reference: S3W-32481

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been admitted to a hospital as a result of overdosing on methadone in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital.

The following table shows the number of patients discharged from hospitals in Scotland with a diagnosis of poisoning by methadone over the last 10 years, broken down by health board of treatment. A breakdown by hospital of treatment is not available due to small numbers and the potential risk of disclosure.

We recognise that we need to know more about these individuals and their circumstances to protect others from overdose. That is why the Scottish Government is working closely with the National Drugs Deaths forum, comprising of experts including (amongst others) general practitioners, paramedics, pathologists and individuals in recovery. The forum is leading on the development of the drug-related deaths database. The Scottish Government has invested significantly in this database so that the circumstances around each death are better understood and consequently preventions better planned, at a local and national level.

General Acute Inpatient and Day Case Discharges¹, Patients with a Diagnosis of Poisoning by Methadone^2,3,4,5 in any Position: 1999-2000 to 2008-09^P

NHS Board of Treatment⁶	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	12	8	12	10	10
NHS Borders	*	-	-	-	*
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	*	-	*
NHS Fife	8	10	10	15	10
NHS Forth Valley	-	*	*	*	*
NHS Grampian	24	10	23	18	6
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	33	42	43	45	47
NHS Highland	7	*	*	*	*
NHS Lanarkshire	*	6	8	11	16
NHS Lothian	77	70	47	63	46
NHS Orkney	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Tayside	28	19	26	28	21
NHS Western Isles	-	-	*	*	-
NHSScotland⁶	196	171	177	198	161

NHS Board of Treatment	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09^P
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	27	18	30	21	23
NHS Borders	*	*	*	*	-
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	*	-	6
NHS Fife	5	14	5	9	24
NHS Forth Valley	-	*	*	*	*
NHS Grampian	11	5	*	12	25
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	46	36	55	37	52
NHS Highland	*	*	*	*	*
NHS Lanarkshire	14	14	10	11	8
NHS Lothian	40	55	61	73	70
NHS Orkney	-	-	*	-	-
NHS Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Tayside	17	8	9	8	9
NHS Western Isles	-	-	*	-	-
NHSScotland⁶	169	158	186	179	225

Notes:

1. Excludes mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals.

2. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization''s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10): T403 - Poisoning by methadone

3. Includes cases where the poisoning is either intentional or unintentional.

4. Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures. The recording of poisoning by methadone may vary from hospital to hospital.

5. Figures shown for specific diagnoses include an element of double counting where a patient is discharged in more than one year.

6. Includes all patients treated in Scotland regardless of whether they are resident in Scotland.

*Indicates small numbers that have been suppressed due to potential risk of disclosure.

Question reference: S3O-10138

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people charged with assault to injury have received a direct measure since 1 April 2008.

Approximately 71,000 charges of assault are recorded by the police each year. Eight hundred and fifteen people in 2008-09 and 546 in 2009-10, have been issued with direct measures for assault to injury by procurators fiscal in terms of the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007.

The new direct measures, introduced with unanimous support by this Parliament in 2007, have helped to make the summary criminal courts in Scotland faster and more effective and over 50,000 police officers and members of the public have been spared the need to go to court to give evidence.

Question reference: S3W-32660

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32154 by Kenny MacAskill on 17 March 2010, what (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average length of prison sentence was given to those with a charge proved under sections 52 and 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 in (i) 2004-05, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2006-07, (iv) 2007-08 and (v) 2008-09.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Receiving a Custodial Sentence in Scottish Courts, for Offences Under Sections 52 or 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982¹, in Lothians Region, 2004-05 to 2008-09

Sheriff Court/ Financial Year	Number of Persons	Sentence in Days
Sheriff Court/ Financial Year	Number of Persons	Minimum	Maximum	Average
Edinburgh
2004-05	4	243	821	494
2005-06	8	274	1,096	472
2006-07	4	274	1,096	708
2007-08	1	731	731	731
2008-09	9	182	1,826	622
Haddington
2004-05	1	274	274	274
2005-06	0	0	0	0
2006-07	1	152	152	152
2007-08	0	0	0	0
2008-09	0	0	0	0
Linlithgow
2004-05	0	0	0	0
2005-06	0	0	0	0
2006-07	1	152	152	152
2007-08	0	0	0	0
2008-09	4	122	395	226
All Lothian sheriff courts
2004-05	5	243	821	450
2005-06	8	274	1,096	472
2006-07	6	152	1,096	523
2007-08	1	731	731	731
2008-09	13	122	1,826	500

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S3W-32461

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the findings of the Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2008-09 statistical bulletin, how many incidents of motor vehicle offences were committed in the Lothians region in each of the last three years, also broken down by (a) dangerous and careless driving, (b) drink/drug driving, (c) speeding, (d) unlawful use of vehicle, (e) vehicle defect offences and (f) other crimes.

Question reference: S3W-32661

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what disposals at Edinburgh High Court were applied to people convicted of possession of child pornography in the Lothians region in each of the last five years and what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average length of prison sentence was for such offenders.

The available information is given in the following table. All convictions at Edinburgh High Court for these offences resulted in a custodial sentence being imposed.

The figures may include some cases where the offence was committed outside the Lothians region.

Persons Receiving a Custodial Sentence at Edinburgh High Court, for Offences Under Sections 52 or 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982¹, 2004-05 to 2008-09

Financial Year	Number of Persons	Sentence in Days
Financial Year	Number of Persons	Minimum	Maximum	Average
2004-05	0	0	0	0
2005-06	0	0	0	0
2006-07	1	304	304	304
2007-08	1	1,186	1,186	1,186
2008-09	4	731	3,224	1,841

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S3W-32662

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost to NHS Lothian was of treating knife-related incidents in each of the last five years, also showing the percentage increase.