Chamber and committees

The Claimant Countgives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is producedby the Office for National Statistics.

The following tableshows the number of long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefitsin each council ward in Dumfries and Galloway and also the long-term unemployed as a proportion of the resident working-agepopulation and as a proportion of total unemployment in each ward.

Long-term unemployedare defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over 12 months.The latest data available are for May 2007.

Table 1: ClaimantCount Unemployment for Wards in Dumfries and Galloway, May 2007

Ward	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	% of Resident Working age Population who are Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment
Annan Central	5	0.3%	10.0%
Annan East	5	0.4%	7.7%
Annan West	5	0.3%	9.4%
Caerlaverock	5	0.3%	20.8%
Cairn Valley	*	*	*
Canonbie and Kirtle	5	0.2%	21.7%
Castle Douglas - Dee	10	0.5%	21.3%
Castle Douglas - Urr	5	0.2%	17.9%
Chapelcross	5	0.2%	14.3%
Cree	5	0.3%	14.7%
Criffel	5	0.2%	14.3%
Dalbeattie - Craignair	10	0.5%	22.7%
Dalbeattie - Milton	10	0.4%	26.3%
Dryfe and Lockerbie East	10	0.4%	25.0%
Georgetown	*	*	*
Heathhall	5	0.1%	19.2%
Hoddom and Kinmount	5	0.4%	16.1%
Kirkconnel	15	1.0%	17.9%
Kirkcudbright - Bengairn	5	0.3%	13.5%
Kirkcudbright - Tarff	5	0.3%	14.3%
Langholm and Upper Eskdale	5	0.4%	17.2%
Lincluden	15	0.7%	16.1%
Lochar	5	0.3%	13.5%
Lochmaben	5	0.2%	18.5%
Lochside	25	1.2%	18.8%
Lochvale	*	*	*
Lockerbie and Upper Annandale	5	0.5%	17.2%
Loreburn	20	1.0%	17.1%
Luce	*	*	*
Marchmount	10	0.5%	17.9%
Maxwelltown	5	0.3%	11.6%
Mid Nithsdale	5	0.3%	22.7%
Moffat	5	0.2%	31.3%
Nithsdale East	5	0.3%	19.2%
Palmerston	15	0.7%	18.3%
Rhins North	5	0.2%	16.7%
Rhins South	10	0.4%	26.3%
Sanquhar and District	10	0.5%	22.7%
Solway Border	5	0.2%	15.6%
Stewartry North	5	0.2%	15.2%
Stewartry West	*	*	*
Stranraer East	10	0.6%	30.3%
Stranraer North	25	1.2%	17.7%
Stranraer South	5	0.2%	16.7%
Troqueer	10	0.5%	23.3%
Whithorn	5	0.2%	12.8%
Wigtown	10	0.5%	29.4%
Dumfries and Galloway	330	0.4%	16.0%

Source: Office forNational Statistics

Notes:

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

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

3. *Data suppresseddue to small numbers.

4. Proportions calculatedon unrounded data.

The Claimant Countgives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is producedby the Office for National Statistics.

The following tableshows the number of long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefitsin each local authority area in the South of Scotland parliamentary region and alsothe long-term unemployed as a proportion of the resident working-age populationand as a proportion of total unemployment in each local authority.

Long-term unemployedare defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over 12 months.The latest data available are for May 2007.

Table 1: ClaimantCount Unemployment for Local Authorities in the South of Scotland Parliamentary Region, May 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
Dumfries and Galloway	330	0.4%	16.0%
Scottish Borders	110	0.2%	12.4%
South Ayrshire	300	0.5%	16.3%
East Ayrshire *	525	0.7%	19.9%
East Lothian *	65	0.1%	9.3%
Midlothian *	90	0.2%	11.2%
North Ayrshire *	565	0.7%	17.0%
South Lanarkshire *	510	0.3%	12.2%
All **	2,495	0.4%	15.2%

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.

3.*Only part of the local authority located in the South of Scotland parliamentaryregion but the data are for the full local authority area.

4.**The figure for ALL is a total of the local authorities in the table. It does notprovide an estimate for the South of Scotland parliamentary region.

The ScottishExecutive collects snapshot information on the number of households intemporary accommodation at the end of each quarter through the HL2 return. Thisrelates to households which have been placed in temporary accommodation by alocal authority under the Homeless Persons legislation, and includes householdsfor whom the local authority’s decision and final action is still pending, aswell as households which were secured such accommodation as a final action.

The following tablegives the number of households in temporary accommodation on the 31 March 1996 through to 31 March 2006. The table is broken down by whether the localauthority is wholly or partly in the South of Scotland region. Data for 31 March 2007 will be published in autumn 2007.

Numberof Households in Temporary Accommodation as At 31 March (South Of Scotland Region): 1997 To 2006

Local Authorities Wholly in Region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Dumfries and Galloway	47	46	74	65	76	103	154	188	250	238
South Ayrshire	175	172	157	161	152	137	122	159	172	212
Scottish Borders	23	38	16	24	35	35	6	32	40	46

 

Local Authorities Partly in Region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
East Ayrshire	26	41	43	30	21	16	44	51	71	100
East Lothian	66	51	46	43	52	69	86	111	187	188
Midlothian	39	37	35	30	38	21	84	14	154	131
North Ayrshire	32	39	54	72	51	132	202	291	384	528
South Lanarkshire	130	142	203	181	197	246	316	345	337	432

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

The available informationon persons with a charge proved in court is given in the following tables.

Persons AgedUnder 18 in Dumfries and Galloway Police Force Area with a Charge Proved in Court for Carrying Knives orPossessing an Offensive Weapon¹, 2001-02 to 2005-06

Year	Having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or Point	Possession of an Offensive Weapon	Total
2001-02	2	1	3
2002-03	4	4	8
2003-04	-	2	2
2004-05	5	3	8
2005-06	5	2	7

Note: 1. Where mainoffence.

Persons Aged 18 andOver in Dumfries and Galloway Police Force Area with a Charge Proved in Court forCarrying Knives or Possessing an Offensive Weapon¹, 2001-02 to 2005-06

Year	Having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or Point	Possession of an Offensive Weapon	Total
2001-02	15	14	29
2002-03	21	27	48
2003-04	17	17	34
2004-05	23	17	40
2005-06	11	22	33

Note: 1. Where mainoffence.

The Public LocalInquiry on the Clyde wind farm was concluded 13 October 2006. The Inquiry report was received by Executiveofficials on 8 June 2007. Following careful consideration of the reporter’srecommendations and any other material issues relevant to the proposeddevelopment, ministers will determine the application. Once the determinationis made, an announcement will be issued and the details placed on the Executivewebsite.

The following table shows thenumber of fatal, serious and slight accidents on Scotland’s trunk roads in 2006.

Route	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
A1	1	4	38	43
A6091	0	2	10	12
A68	1	13	30	44
A7	2	6	18	26
A701	2	1	11	14
A702	2	5	28	35
A720	0	7	59	66
A725	0	3	48	51
A726	0	1	19	20
A737	0	7	36	43
A738	0	1	1	2
A75	5	22	34	61
A751	0	0	0	0
A76	4	9	21	34
A77	3	12	55	70
A78	1	12	46	59
A8	1	8	51	60
A80	2	3	14	19
A82	7	31	100	138
A828	1	3	8	12
A83	2	10	37	49
A830	1	1	6	8
A835	0	5	8	13
A84	3	7	14	24
A85	2	15	48	65
A86	1	1	9	11
A87	0	8	28	36
A876	1	0	3	4
A887	0	0	2	2
A889	0	0	0	0
A893	0	0	0	0
A898	0	0	4	4
A9	12	33	124	169
A90	11	32	126	169
A92	2	12	61	75
A95	1	2	19	22
A96	9	7	73	89
A972	0	0	5	5
A977	1	1	0	2
A985	1	10	12	23
A99	1	1	8	10
M73	0	0	9	9
M74	2	14	86	102
M77	0	1	14	15
M8	4	19	210	233
M80	2	2	22	26
A823(M)	0	1	1	2
M876	0	0	5	5
M898	0	0	1	1
M9	0	4	31	35
M90	0	8	24	32

 

Thefigures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they wereextracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the twodates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections to earlier returns.

Transport Scotland hasoperational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more informationif required.

Details of expenditure on upgrading each trunk road in each year since 1999 are shown in the following table.

Route	2001-02 (£ Million)	2002-03 (£ Million)	2003-04 (£ Million)	2004-05 (£ Million)	2005-06 (£ Million)	2006-07 (£ Million)
A1	1.34	25.83	5.5	7.11	1.26	0.06
A6091	0.1	0.02		0.01
A68	1.4	0.14	0.12	0.19	0.24
A7	0.01	0.36	0.05	0.21	0.23
A701	0.01	0.02
A702		0.01	0.3	1.09	1.74
A720	0.1	0.19	0.12	0.12	0.02	0.04
A74(M)	0.07	0.03	0.01	0.05	0.08
A75	0.06	0.12		0.06	0.02	0.01
A76	1.01	0.64	1.21	0.66	0.73
A77	1.22	4.24	2.44	0.46	2.32	2.19
A78	0.63	1.03	17.41	10.07	2.13	0.99
A8	0.35	7.71	15.99		0.24	0.12
A80		2.12	6.07	8.08	9.19	0.43
A82	0.36	0.36	0.41	0.13	0.16	0.02
A828	0.25	0.08	0.09	0.08	0.12
A83		0.13	0.28	0.13	0.27
A830	3.15	6.04			0.06	0.12
A835	0.02		0.02	0.33	0.04
A84		0.47	0.11		0.16
A85	0.05	0.06	0.01	0.02	0.08
A86		0.01	0.57	0.02	0.01
A87		0.01	0.34	0.12
A898	0.13
A9	0.01	0.64	0.68	2.44	2.34	0.52
A90	4.95	11.58	2.35	1.75	3.35	17.54
A92	0.02	0.83	2.26	0.36	0.2
A95	0.38	0.69	0.77	0.55	0.58
A96	0.67	2.24	4.65	0.15	0.5	0.23
A977		0.25	0.01	0.06
A985		0.41	9.05	6.51		0.09
M73					0.72
M74	0.02			0.19
M77	1.76	1.53	3.15	3.14	6.08
M8	0.85	1.78	0.09	0.66	1.14
M9		0.03		0.52
M90		0.1	0.12	0.17

 

The figures shown are rounded to the nearest £0.01 million and are adjusted to take account of accruals. They are for new construction and minor improvement schemes that have been completed, and do not include maintenance costs. Preparation costs on schemes are only included where construction has been completed. The figures do not include service payments on the completed A74(M) /M6 DBFO (between Abington and the Border) and M77 Design, Build, Finance and Operate schemes.

Complete figures for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 are not available. The figures for 2006-07 show the estimated outturn but some minor adjustments may still be made until the accounts for the year are closed.

Expenditure on minor trunk road improvement schemes in 2006-07 on a route basis has not been published yet. However, expenditure on these schemes, split by Trunk Road Unit area, is shown in the following table.

Area	Spend (£ Million)
North East	7.04
North West	0.78
South East	1.53
South West	1.75

The following tables show (a)how much has been spent on accident remedial schemes on each Trunk Road in financialyear 2006-07 and (b) how much has been spent in each Trunk Road Operating Companyarea on non-route specific safety improvements in financial year 2006-07.

Roadsafety improvements are also delivered as an integral element of larger trunk roadimprovement and maintenance schemes or by national education programmes. It is notpossible to quantify the proportion of the costs of these schemes which specificallyrelate to road safety improvements.

(a)

Route	Spend (£)
A1	43,431
A68	264,495
A7	69,823
A701	181,371
A702	78,576
A720	60,264
A726	16,521
A737	86,904
A75	69,712
A76	166,361
A77	133,333
A78	48,903
A8	20,432
A80	8,058
A82	79,955
A823(M)	7,048
A828	105,596
A83	52,255
A830	2,088
A835	49,220
A84	10,777
A85	94,467
A87	32,800
A9	161,743
A90	126,362
A92	176,871
A95	13,106
A96	45,677
A972	2,160
A985	1,659
A99	30,820
M74	111,886
M8	251,813
M9	5,253
M80	307,890
M876	15,654

 

(b)

Trunk Road Unit	Spend (£)
North East	477,628
North West	36,960
South East	383,338
South West	181,949

 

Thefigures quoted are provisional and may change due to late invoices.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.

Pedestrian safetyimprovements on trunk roads are delivered as an integral element of road safetyand road improvement schemes. It is not possible to quantify how much of theoverall spend relates to pedestrian safety.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for moreinformation if required.

The Scottish Funding Councilis working with the Crichton partners and local stakeholders to develop anacademic strategy for the Crichton Campus which will best meet the academic andeconomic needs of Dumfries and Galloway. The Scottish Executive is an active member of thegroup working to produce the academic strategy. One of the areas the strategywill consider is undergraduate provision. The strategy, which is due to becompleted in early summer, will inform the future actions necessary to achievethese aims.