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-17932

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of alcohol-related hospital admissions was repeat admissions in the Lothians region in each of the last five years.

Information on the number of discharges and percentage of repeat discharges¹ from general acute hospitals² with an alcohol-related diagnosis³; treated in NHS Lothian between 2002-03 and 2006-07 is in the following table. Information is collected on discharges and not admissions:

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Total number of discharges	5,163	5,071	5,230	5,423	6,097
Readmissions (%)	28%	26%	25%	27%	31%

Notes:

1. A repeat discharge is defined as a discharge with an alcohol-related diagnosis for a patient who has previously been discharged from hospital with such a diagnosis earlier in the same year. The total includes multiple repeat discharges for patients with more than two discharges in one year.

2. Excludes psychiatric hospitals and maternity hospitals. Transfers are also excluded. Includes Scottish residents only.

3. Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures. The recording of alcohol misuse may vary from hospital to hospital. Where alcohol misuse is suspected but unconfirmed it may not be recorded by the hospital.

Question reference: S3W-17730

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many firearms-related offences involved (a) shotguns, (b) handguns, (c) rifles and (d) airguns in each local authority area in the Lothians region in each of the last five years.

Number of crimes and offences recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, by main firearm used, Scotland 2007-08:

Local Authority	Main Firearm Type	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
East Lothian	Shotgun	0	0	1	0	0
East Lothian	Pistol/Revolver	0	1	1	0	0
East Lothian	Rifle	0	0	0	1	0
East Lothian	Air weapon	11	24	20	18	24
Edinburgh City	Shotgun	1	2	6	9	3
Edinburgh City	Pistol/Revolver	4	5	7	5	1
Edinburgh City	Rifle	0	0	0	1	0
Edinburgh City	Air weapon	151	147	132	98	67
Midlothian	Shotgun	1	0	0	2	0
Midlothian	Pistol/Revolver	1	1	0	0	1
Midlothian	Rifle	0	3	0	0	0
Midlothian	Air weapon	21	43	24	20	13
West Lothian	Shotgun	2	1	2	0	0
West Lothian	Pistol/Revolver	0	0	3	0	1
West Lothian	Rifle	0	0	1	0	0
West Lothian	Air weapon	45	74	48	31	26

Question reference: S3W-17731

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 20 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been suspended for alcohol-related issues in each local authority area in the Lothians region in each of the last five years.

The available information on the number of pupils of temporarily excluded from school in each local authority area in Lothian region for substance misuse “ alcohol from 2003-04 to 2006-07, is given in the following table.

Local Authority	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
East Lothian	0	5	2	2
Edinburgh City	12	0	0	6
Midlothian	8	6	0	3
West Lothian	8	4	2	10

Prior to 2003-04, although information was collected on the reason for exclusion, different categories were used and it is impossible to identify those excluded for substance misuse “ alcohol.

Question reference: S3W-17732

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many alcohol-related offences there were in the Lothians region in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area and type of crime or offence.

The following tables gives the total number of alcohol-related offences recorded in the Lothians region in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area and crime/offence group.

Description of Crime/Offence	2003-04
Description of Crime/Offence	City of Edinburgh	East Lothian	Midlothian	West Lothian	Total
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence:
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous Offences:
Drunkenness	222	6	14	102	344
Offences by Licensed Persons	12	0	6	1	19
Other Offences Against Liquor Licensing Laws	9	1	3	10	23
Consumption of alcohol in designated places, byelaws prohibited	1	2	7	100	110
Drunk when riding a bicycle	3	0	0	0	3
Motor Vehicle Offences:
Drunk driving	767	143	190	349	1,449
Total	1,014	152	220	562	1,948

Description of Crime/Offence	2004-05
Description of Crime/Offence	City of Edinburgh	East Lothian	Midlothian	West Lothian	Total
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence:
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous Offences:
Drunkenness	151	4	23	57	235
Offences by Licensed Persons	9	0	10	3	22
Other Offences Against Liquor Licensing Laws	7	0	8	8	23
Consumption of alcohol in designated places, byelaws prohibited	0	6	21	166	193
Drunk when riding a bicycle	4	1	1	0	6
Motor Vehicle Offences:
Drunk driving	811	121	147	335	1,414
Total	982	132	210	569	1,893

Description of Crime/Offence	2005-06
Description of Crime/Offence	City of Edinburgh	East Lothian	Midlothian	West Lothian	Total
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence:
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous Offences:
Drunkenness	103	5	10	21	139
Offences by Licensed Persons	39	5	15	2	61
Other Offences Against Liquor Licensing Laws	14	12	9	3	38
Consumption of alcohol in designated places, byelaws prohibited	0	14	79	108	201
Drunk when riding a bicycle	11	0	0	2	13
Motor Vehicle Offences:
Drunk driving	887	147	140	366	1,540
Total	1,054	183	253	502	1,992

Description of Crime/Offence	2006-07
Description of Crime/Offence	City of Edinburgh	East Lothian	Midlothian	West Lothian	Total
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence:
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous Offences:
Drunkenness	150	8	15	14	187
Offences by Licensed Persons	44	41	10	12	107
Other Offences Against Liquor Licensing Laws	39	33	17	14	103
Consumption of alcohol in designated places, byelaws prohibited	1	72	57	90	220
Drunk when riding a bicycle	7	0	0	0	7
Motor Vehicle Offences:
Drunk driving	836	152	184	382	1,554
Total	1,077	306	283	512	2,178

Description of Crime/Offence	2007-08
Description of Crime/Offence	City of Edinburgh	East Lothian	Midlothian	West Lothian	Total
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence:
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous Offences:
Drunkenness	209	12	17	26	264
Offences by Licensed Persons	29	22	17	45	113
Other Offences Against Liquor Licensing Laws	40	22	20	11	93
Consumption of alcohol in designated places, byelaws prohibited	8	66	58	71	203
Drunk when riding a bicycle	6	0	0	0	6
Motor Vehicle Offences:
Drunk driving	741	175	164	356	1,436
Total	1,033	297	276	509	2,115

Question reference: S3W-17551

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will cost to provide free school meals to all P1 to P3 pupils in each local authority in the Lothians region, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S3W-17550

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when all P1 to P3 pupils in each local authority in the Lothians region will receive free school meals, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S3W-17511

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 14 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many contacts were made to Business Gateway services in the Lothians (a) between 1 April 2006 and 30 March 2007, (b) between 1 April 2007 and 30 March 2008 and (c) since April 2008, broken down by local authority area.

Contacts to Business Gateway services during the periods specified and disaggregated by local authority area are as follows:

Local Authority	1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007	1 April 2007 to 21 March 2008	1 April 2008 to October 2008
City of Edinburgh	1,418	3,854	2,252
East Lothian	325	530	336
Midlothian	316	472	266
West Lothian	845	1,159	628
Total	2,904	6,015	2,469

Question reference: S3W-17150

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under the age of 16 have been treated for depression in the NHS Lothian area in each year since 1999.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Numbers of psychiatric in-patient discharges for patients of all ages, with a main diagnosis of depression in the NHS Lothian area, are being released in the answer to question S3W-17149 on 13 November 2008. However, for under-16s, these numbers are extremely small (under 10 in each of the years requested).

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.

Question reference: S3W-17151

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the cost to the economy in the Lothians region in each of the last five years of working days lost due to ill-health as a result of (a) depression and (b) other mental health problems.

Question reference: S3W-17149

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 November 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been treated for depression in the NHS Lothian area in each year since 1999.

The information requested is not held centrally.

However, the following table gives information on psychiatric in-patient discharges (i.e. not the whole number of treatments) since 1999 who had a main diagnosis of depression and were resident in the NHS Lothian area.

Year of Discharge (12 Months to 31 March)

	Number of Patients
1999	1,020
2000	965
2001	951
2002	905
2003	898
2004	852
2005	796
2006	755
2007	649
2008 (provisional)	650

Source: Scottish Morbidity Record 04 (SMR04) in-patient discharges from psychiatric specialties.