Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-24933

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 15 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the (a) numbers and (b) unemployment rates of claimants in each ward of (i) City of Edinburgh, (ii) East Lothian, (iii) West Lothian and (iv) Midlothian Council in each of the last five years, using claimant count as the basis for such calculations.

Data on the number and rates of people claiming an unemployment related benefit by multi-member electoral ward is not held centrally.

Data on the number of people who are claimant count unemployed by the old ward boundaries (which existed until the 2007 local government elections) is shown in the following tables.

This data is produced by the Office for National Statistics and shows both the number of people claiming an unemployment related benefit and the rate as a proportion of the resident working-age population. The Office for National Statistics produce this data for February 2004 onwards. Hence it is not possible to provide a full annual figure for 2004.

Table 1: Numbers And Rates of People Claimant Count Unemployed by City of Edinburgh Council Wards (2005-08)

Ward	Number of Claimants				Rate
Ward	2005	2006	2007	2008	2005	2006	2007	2008
Alnwickhill	71	76	73	68	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.5
Baberton	32	37	35	34	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.7
Balerno	29	26	33	35	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.7
Broughton	154	162	126	128	2.6	2.7	2.1	2.1
Calton	147	156	121	117	2.6	2.7	2.1	2
Colinton	31	33	25	29	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.5
Craigleith	59	57	38	40	1.4	1.3	0.9	0.9
Craiglockhart	36	36	26	26	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.6
Craigmillar	328	294	231	222	7.5	6.7	5.3	5.1
Cramond	45	41	36	35	1.1	0.9	0.8	0.8
Dalmeny / Kirkliston	84	87	77	75	1.7	1.8	1.5	1.5
Dalry	212	192	166	157	3.2	2.9	2.5	2.3
Davidson''s Mains	41	38	29	30	1	0.9	0.7	0.7
Dean	63	58	45	43	1.2	1.1	0.8	0.8
Duddingston	85	101	71	83	1.7	2.1	1.5	1.7
East Craigs	91	101	83	91	1.9	2.2	1.8	1.9
Fairmilehead	40	40	27	26	0.8	0.8	0.5	0.5
Firrhill	99	102	96	96	2.1	2.2	2.1	2.1
Fountainbridge	135	155	125	116	2.5	2.8	2.3	2.1
Gilmerton	91	88	60	70	1.6	1.6	1.1	1.2
Granton	222	247	218	218	4.8	5.4	4.7	4.7
Gyle	58	52	44	47	1.1	1	0.8	0.9
Harbour	224	235	200	196	4.5	4.7	4	3.9
Holyrood	200	204	190	188	3.9	4	3.7	3.7
Kaimes	183	174	155	126	3.8	3.6	3.2	2.6
Leith Links	131	139	115	112	2.6	2.7	2.3	2.2
Lorne	193	235	187	184	3.7	4.5	3.6	3.5
Marchmont	54	47	45	34	0.9	0.8	0.7	0.6
Meadowbank	123	131	121	117	2.2	2.3	2.2	2.1
Merchiston	77	60	55	49	1.3	1.1	1	0.9
Milton	110	111	100	94	2.5	2.5	2.3	2.2
Moat	132	140	134	113	2.7	2.9	2.7	2.3
Moredun	170	171	155	164	3.7	3.7	3.3	3.5
Mountcastle	99	105	87	82	2.1	2.2	1.9	1.7
Muirhouse / Drylaw	377	385	300	295	7.2	7.3	5.7	5.6
Murray Burn	260	281	256	274	4.9	5.3	4.8	5.2
Murrayfield	50	41	31	37	1	0.8	0.6	0.7
North East Corstorphine	57	47	42	45	1.3	1	0.9	1
New Town	73	75	60	52	1.3	1.3	1	0.9
Newhaven	204	220	193	201	4	4.3	3.8	3.9
Newington	47	50	41	38	1	1.1	0.9	0.8
North Morningside / Grange	61	56	49	38	1.3	1.2	1.1	0.8
Parkhead	215	231	210	211	4.4	4.7	4.3	4.3
Pilton	258	290	228	228	5	5.6	4.4	4.4
Portobello	104	108	89	73	2.4	2.4	2	1.6
Prestonfield	49	52	45	47	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.8
Queensferry	77	85	63	70	1.3	1.4	1.1	1.2
Restalrig	212	221	206	212	4.2	4.4	4.1	4.2
South East Corstorphine	48	50	44	47	1	1.1	0.9	1
Sciennes	60	53	35	33	1.1	1	0.6	0.6
Shandon	132	146	126	121	2.1	2.3	2	1.9
Sighthill	159	173	130	128	2.6	2.8	2.1	2.1
South Morningside	50	42	28	36	1	0.8	0.6	0.7
Southside	130	133	114	102	1.9	2	1.7	1.5
Stenhouse	125	132	112	106	2.8	2.9	2.5	2.4
Stockbridge	75	64	57	52	1.4	1.2	1.1	1
Tollcross	142	148	109	103	2.4	2.5	1.8	1.7
Trinity	52	52	50	46	1.1	1.1	1.1	1

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Table 2: Numbers And Rates of People Claimant Count Unemployed by East Lothian Council wards (2005-08)

Ward	Number of Claimants				Rate
Ward	2005	2006	2007	2008	2005	2006	2007	2008
Aberlady / Gullane / Dirleton	16	15	12	12	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.6
Cockenzie and Port Seton	35	34	27	36	1.3	1.2	1	1.3
Dunbar East	52	40	33	35	2.1	1.7	1.4	1.4
Dunbar / West Barns	58	39	34	43	2.6	1.7	1.5	1.9
East Linton / Gifford	34	28	26	28	1.3	1.1	1	1.1
Haddington Central	42	37	30	35	1.9	1.7	1.3	1.5
Haddington East / Athelstaneford	42	38	31	31	1.6	1.5	1.2	1.2
Haddington West / Saltoun	26	22	16	21	1.1	0.9	0.7	0.9
Longniddry	16	14	11	16	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.6
Musselburgh Central	39	44	33	37	1.6	1.8	1.4	1.5
Musselburgh East	43	48	39	42	2	2.1	1.8	1.9
Musselburgh North	39	38	37	46	1.9	1.9	1.8	2.2
Musselburgh South	31	27	30	35	1.2	1	1.2	1.4
Musselburgh West	28	28	30	30	1	1	1.1	1.1
North Berwick East	22	16	17	19	1	0.8	0.8	0.8
North Berwick West	16	17	14	17	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.8
Ormiston / Pencaitland	34	31	28	25	1.4	1.2	1.1	1
Prestonpans East	41	41	35	40	1.9	2	1.7	1.9
Prestonpans West	52	58	51	53	2.3	2.7	2.3	2.4
Tranent West	40	41	42	44	1.9	1.9	2	2.1
Tranent / Elphinstone	24	29	26	28	1	1.2	1.1	1.2
Tranent / Macmerry	59	55	46	54	2.5	2.3	1.9	2.3
Wallyford / Whitecraig	53	47	42	53	2.2	1.9	1.8	2.2

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Table 3: Numbers And Rates of People Claimant Count Unemployed by Midlothian Council Wards (2005-08)

Ward	Number of Claimants				Rate
Ward	2005	2006	2007	2008	2005	2006	2007	2008
Arniston / Cockpen	58	68	49	54	1.7	1.9	1.4	1.6
Bilston / Roslin	41	49	44	40	1.5	1.8	1.6	1.5
Bonnyrigg North	34	39	38	40	1.3	1.5	1.4	1.5
Bonnyrigg South	54	56	44	44	1.9	2	1.5	1.5
Dalkeith / Eskbank	70	77	55	52	2.9	3.1	2.2	2.1
Dalkeith / Newton	50	55	39	38	1.8	2	1.4	1.3
Dalkeith / Woodburn	89	97	70	82	3.2	3.5	2.5	2.9
Easthouses / Mayfield North	91	104	87	81	3.3	3.8	3.1	2.9
Gorebridge South	62	68	59	63	2.4	2.6	2.3	2.4
Loanhead	60	58	50	54	2.3	2.2	2	2.1
Mayfield South	56	64	45	51	2.1	2.4	1.7	1.9
Newbattle / Pathhead	29	29	29	27	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1
Newtongrange	59	56	42	55	2.1	2	1.5	1.9
Penicuik North	40	47	36	36	1.2	1.4	1.1	1.1
Penicuik South East	40	42	38	50	1.5	1.6	1.4	1.9
Penicuik South West	35	41	31	40	1.2	1.4	1.1	1.3
Penicuik / Roslin	51	51	46	46	1.8	1.8	1.6	1.6
Poltonhall / Rosewell	47	45	35	40	1.7	1.7	1.3	1.4

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Table 4: Numbers And Rates of People Claimant Count Unemployed by West Lothian Council Wards (2005-08)

Ward	Number of Claimants				Rate
Ward	2005	2006	2007	2008	2005	2006	2007	2008
Almond	75	77	82	92	2.5	2.6	2.8	3.1
Armadale Central	95	112	114	120	3.5	4.2	4.2	4.5
Armadale West	79	83	90	101	2.4	2.6	2.7	3.1
Blackburn	114	127	121	133	3.5	3.8	3.7	4
Boghall	92	106	100	110	3.6	4.2	3.9	4.3
Breich Valley	81	104	82	98	2.4	3	2.4	2.9
Calderwood	40	42	39	38	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.1
Carmondean	66	64	64	70	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.9
Craigshill	166	190	172	163	5.4	6.1	5.6	5.3
Croftmalloch	81	89	90	97	2.7	2.9	3	3.2
Deans	80	84	78	87	2.2	2.4	2.2	2.5
Dedridge	108	110	94	92	3	3.1	2.6	2.6
Durhamtoun	44	53	55	73	1.8	2.1	2.3	3
East Calder	40	43	43	45	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.4
Easton	51	58	56	63	1.8	2	1.9	2.1
Fauldhouse	86	100	97	96	2.6	3.1	3	3
Houston	45	66	65	67	1.5	2.1	2.1	2.2
Howden	99	89	80	78	2.7	2.5	2.2	2.2
Kingsfield	26	29	27	26	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.7
Kirkton	35	29	19	36	1	0.8	0.5	1
Knightsridge	87	96	80	78	2.2	2.4	2.1	2
Ladywell	114	125	112	108	3.6	4	3.6	3.4
Limefield	63	66	54	65	2.1	2.2	1.8	2.2
Linhouse	50	55	51	56	1.5	1.6	1.5	1.7
Middleton	62	74	59	71	2.1	2.5	2	2.3
Murieston	31	35	26	21	0.9	1	0.7	0.6
Newland	87	85	86	102	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.7
Oatridge	61	68	68	72	2	2.3	2.2	2.4
Polkemmet	110	122	121	129	3.8	4.3	4.2	4.6
Preston	46	40	31	39	1.2	1	0.8	1
St Michael''s	44	46	47	50	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.7
Strathbrock	57	70	67	66	2	2.4	2.3	2.3

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Question reference: S3W-24878

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people had a charge proved in court for supply of drugs offences in the Lothian and Borders police force area in each year since 2003, broken down by type of drug.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons with a charge proved for supply/possession with intent to supply drugs offences¹, by drug type in Lothian and Borders police force area, 2003-04 to 2007-08.

Drug Type	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Heroin	16	63	41	41	63
Cocaine	1	13	8	10	22
Ecstasy	6	12	8	7	13
Amphetamines	1	9	4	9	11
Cannabis	19	51	30	41	29
Other Class A	1	4	0	5	1
Other Class B	0	2	0	0	0
Other Class C	0	7	4	1	5
Not recorded²	126	133	173	118	106
Total	170	294	268	232	250

Source: Scottish Government court proceedings database.

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Type of drug not recorded against the offence.

Question reference: S3W-24935

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) children and (b) older people are in fuel poor households and what percentage of households are fuel-poor in (i) Edinburgh, (ii) each local authority area in the Lothians region and (iii) Scotland.

The table below shows the estimated percentage of children, pensioners and households living in fuel poverty for East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian. The estimates come from the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) for October 2004 to September 2005, October 2005 to September 2006, and 2007.

	East Lothian	Edinburgh	Midlothian	West Lothian	Scotland
Estimated %
% of Children in Fuel-Poor House-holds	9	5	13	5	9
% of Older Persons in Fuel-Poor House-holds	31	46	37	33	40
% of Fuel-Poor House-holds	21	19	20	14	22
Sample Size
Children	130	221	145	119	4,176
Older People	136	193	128	88	4,416
House-holds	249	555	250	245	9,273
+/- % Confidence Interval
% of Children in Fuel-Poor House-holds	3	2	3	2	1
% of Older Persons in Fuel-Poor House-holds	5	4	5	6	1
% of Fuel-Poor House-holds	3	2	3	2	1

The table also includes the SHCS sample size for each of the authority divisions and the 95% confidence interval. As the figures are derived from a survey they are estimates. So for example the percentage of children living in fuel poverty in East Lothian is 9% +/- 3%. So the 95% confidence interval is from 6% to 12%.

Fuel poverty measures are dependent on fuel prices. In the three-year period represented in the data, the overall level of fuel poverty is 22%, while by 2007 25% of households in Scotland were in fuel poverty.

The SHCS sample size is about 3,000 households per year. This is too small to provide reliable estimates at local authority for each year. Nonetheless one can estimate what the figures would have been in mid-2007 using the three year data and the 2007 fuel poverty levels. The following table shows the estimated level of fuel poverty in 2007 - using the three-year data and the 2007 national fuel poverty level.

Authority	2007 Estimated %
Authority	% of Children in Fuel-Poor Households	% of Older Persons in Fuel-Poor Households	% of Fuel-Poor Households
East Lothian	10	35	23
Edinburgh	6	51	22
Midlothian	15	41	23
West Lothian	6	37	15
Scotland	11	45	25

Question reference: S3W-24909

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle noise pollution caused by aircraft, particularly in residential areas.

The Scottish Government''s view is that the noise impact of airport operations in Scotland is best dealt with locally and it is for the airport to provide adequate facilities for consultation and discussion with users of the airport, local authorities and local representative organisations. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports are designated under section 35 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and consultative committees, independent of the airports'' operator, are established at both for this purpose.

BAA as operator, is the competent authority for producing a noise action plan under the Environmental Noise (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen airports have published noise action plans in December 2008 which are available on their websites. Further details on noise from the major Scottish airports can be found at http://www.scottishnoisemapping.org/.

Question reference: S3W-24908

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle noise pollution.

We are currently implementing the environmental noise action plans produced under the Environmental Noise (Scotland) Regulations 2006. These regulations implement EU Directive 2002/49EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise. We in Scotland were one of the first administrations in Europe to submit action plans produced under the terms of this directive. Further details can be found at http://www.scottishnoisemapping.org/.

A variety of measures is available to local authorities to monitor and control noise, including measures introduced in 2005 to tackle anti-social noise. These go beyond any scheme in EC in providing a fixed penalty notice deterrent for domestic noise offences and set objectively measured noise limits for any part of the day or night.

Question reference: S3W-24934

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 29 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) start-up and (b) failure rate was of small businesses in (i) Edinburgh and (ii) Scotland in each of the last 10 years.

Data on the number of VAT registrations are released annually by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (DBIS). These figures are used to monitor the number of business start-ups. The latest available data refers to all VAT registrations taking place in Scotland in 2007. Please note that these figures do not account for all business activity as only companies with a turnover above the VAT threshold are required to register.

The VAT registration rate in Scotland has remained relatively stable over the last 10 years. However, the registration figures for 2007 have increased substantially since 2006 and are the highest since the series began in 1994. It is likely that these figures partly reflect the impact of changes in tax rules in April 2007 surrounding managed service companies (MSC). We would not anticipate that the higher level of registrations seen in 2007 will be sustained once the business behaviour in response to the tax rule change diminishes.

Data and further information on VAT registrations can be found on the DBIS website at:

http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat/.

(a) Table 1 shows the rate of VAT registrations per 10,000 resident adults in both the City of Edinburgh local authority area and Scotland from 1997 to 2007.

Year	City of Edinburgh	Scotland
1997	40	30
1998	40	29
1999	35	28
2000	38	27
2001	35	27
2002	33	27
2003	36	29
2004	37	29
2005	36	28
2006	37	28
2007	40	35

Source: DBIS

Businesses de-registering from VAT do so due to closure or because turnover has fallen below the registration threshold. However, this does not necessarily mean the business has failed (i.e. lead to bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings).

(b) Table 2 shows the rate of VAT de-registrations per 10,000 resident adults in both the City of Edinburgh local authority area and Scotland from 1997 to 2007.

Year	City of Edinburgh	Scotland
1997	28	25
1998	30	25
1999	33	25
2000	30	25
2001	30	25
2002	31	25
2003	32	24
2004	27	24
2005	28	23
2006	27	22
2007	27	23

Source: DBIS

Question reference: S3W-24831

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was due in outstanding fines in each sheriff court in the Lothians region in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Over the five-year period 2004 to 2008, a total of £32.8 million in court fines was registered in the Sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders. For those fines still to be paid £0.7 million (2%) is in the process of being collected through agreed instalments and £2.1 million (6%) is currently in arrears, due to part or full payment default.

Collection figures for fines imposed over a five-year period will clearly show smaller amounts for the earlier years - and conversely larger amounts for the most recent years - since outstanding fines are collected over time, often through agreed installments over a number of years. Since March 2008, a team of dedicated Fines Enforcement Officers has used a range of sanctions including deduction from benefit and wages arrestment to tackle fines defaulters available to them. Collection rates are improving as a result.

The figures for each sheriff court are set out in the following tables:

2004

Sheriffdom	Value of Accounts Registered (£)	Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)	Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)
Duns	70,639	-	1,902
Edinburgh	2,135,739	14,203	38,435
Haddington	205,748	125	528
Jedburgh	146,675	2,137	4,155
Linlithgow	574,573	254	3,170
Peebles	61,533	-	145
Selkirk	131,811	1,640	3,250
Totals	3,326,717	18,360	51,585

2005

Sheriffdom	Value of Accounts Registered (£)	Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)	Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)
Duns	70,875	440	4,791
Edinburgh	17,427,422	10,563	43,169
Haddington	186,171	955	5,160
Jedburgh	174,574	1,300	7,499
Linlithgow	585,299	2,198	11,814
Peebles	51,323	-	2,015
Selkirk	168,276	821	2,776
Totals	18,663,941	16,277	77,225

2006

Sheriffdom	Value of Accounts Registered (£)	Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)	Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)
Duns	62,706	2,657	10,716
Edinburgh	2,649,895	46,908	154,434
Haddington	162,334	812	9,211
Jedburgh	134,535	6,433	14,925
Linlithgow	541,395	2,785	16,277
Peebles	56,704	3,113	5,764
Selkirk	162,423	5,669	10,285
Totals	3,769,993	68,377	221,612

2007

Sheriffdom	Value of Accounts Registered (£)	Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)	Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)
Duns	57,785	4,138	7,871
Edinburgh	2,154,615	93,491	379,606
Haddington	189,108	8,860	27,678
Jedburgh	111,826	9,693	14,881
Linlithgow	427,606	14,383	35,400
Peebles	52,421	1,487	8,659
Selkirk	119,822	10,623	11,671
Totals	3,113,184	142,674	485,766

2008

Sheriffdom	Value of Accounts Registered (£)	Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)	Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)
Duns	61,264	13,676	9,645
Edinburgh	2,997,242	273,146	1,123,547
Haddington	178,136	26,424	38,518
Jedburgh	114,125	36,574	17,458
Linlithgow	402,125	74,616	76,636
Peebles	44,055	5,227	6,754
Selkirk	96,093	17,998	15,744
Totals	3,893,040	447,660	1,288,301

>	Value of Accounts Registered	Balance being collected through instalments as at May 2009	Balance in arrears as at May 2009
Five year totals	£32,766,875	£693,348	£2,124,489

Question reference: S3W-24830

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners under the age of 18 there were at HM Prison Edinburgh in each year since 2004.

Question reference: S3W-24651

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 22 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the monetary value has been of the assets recovered from drug dealers in the Lothians and Borders police force area in each year since 1999.

The following tables set out the amounts secured by the civil recovery unit in respect of cash forfeiture and asset recovery cases originating in the Lothian and Borders police force area. It is not possible to break down these cases by criminality. The civil recovery unit was established in 2003 following the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Financial Year	Cash Forfeited: Lothian and Borders	Cash Forfeited: National
2003-04	£21,046.50	£672,823.71
2004-05	NIL	£797,839.33
2005-06	£33,723.18	£604,199.67
2006-07	£90,315.25	£1,200,427.29
2007-08	£151,872.70	£1,335,188.27
2008-09	£254,603.00	£1,961,333.33

Financial Year	Assets Forfeited: Lothian and Borders	Assets Forfeited: National
2003-04	NIL	£23,986.29
2004-05	£35,919.09	£203,407.93
2005-06	NIL	£761,602.33
2006-07	NIL	£496,214.77
2007-08	£242,254.18	£1,365,267.13
2008-09	NIL	£789,967.52

The following table sets out the value of confiscation orders secured by the national casework division in column 1 in respect of cases reported by Lothian and Borders police and in column 2 the orders secured nationally. The national casework division deals with the confiscation of proceeds of crime following conviction and secures confiscation orders instructing criminals to make payment of the sums noted. Details of payments made to these confiscation orders are collated not by Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service but by Scottish Court Service.

Financial Year	Value of Confiscation Orders: Lothian and Borders (Predicate Offence “ Misuse of Drugs Act 1971)	Value of Confiscation Orders: National
2003-04	£438,200.34	£1,494,365.05
2004-05	£107,916.84	£1,347,599.02
2005-06	£300,845.22	£3,469,739.48
2006-07	£457,242.77	£4,424,313.00
2007-08	£261,169.44	£2,847,037.02
2008-09	£205,610.60	£3,508,548.30

Question reference: S3W-24832

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) consultants and (d) auxiliary staff have been victims of violence in each NHS hospital in the Lothians region in each of the last 10 years.

This is a matter for NHS Lothian. The Scottish Government does not hold detailed information centrally on attacks on NHS staff.

The Scottish Government recognises that violence against staff is a major concern and has several initiatives to tackle this issue. It was announced on 17 June that over a million pounds of funding has been released for staff well-being projects through the Working Well Challenge Fund. Of this, £350,688 was awarded for projects addressing violence against staff, including a successful bid from NHS Lothian. Work is also ongoing through the occupational health and safety community across Scotland to tackle this issue.

Chamber and committees