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-22543

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each local authority area in the South of Scotland parliamentary region have been housed in temporary accommodation in each year since 2006.

The information requested is in the following table. The table shows, for each local authority area in the South of Scotland parliamentary region, the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter having been placed there during a homelessness application or as an outcome of the application.

Households in Temporary Accommodation at the End of Each Quarter During 2006, 2007 and 2008

Local Authority Area	2006
Local Authority Area	31 March	30 June	30 September	31 December
Dumfries and Galloway	238	242	238	253
North Ayrshire	172	161	179	174
East Ayrshire	100	119	89	92
East Lothian	188	184	216	175
Midlothian	131	153	185	204
Scottish Borders	46	46	60	77
South Ayrshire	212	219	217	206
South Lanarkshire	432	367	315	319

Local Authority Area	2007
Local Authority Area	31 March	30 June	30 September	31 December
Dumfries and Galloway	262	263	240	250
North Ayrshire	184	184	188	214
East Ayrshire	99	87	82	90
East Lothian	192	180	188	203
Midlothian	310	225	167	160
Scottish Borders	86	91	92	110
South Ayrshire	234	244	249	233
South Lanarkshire	365	387	368	376

Local Authority Area	2008
Local Authority Area	31 March	30 June	30 September	31 December
Dumfries and Galloway	277	284	303	281
North Ayrshire	246	249	253	244
East Ayrshire	107	106	91	118
East Lothian	207	204	225	237
Midlothian	195	290	317	296
Scottish Borders	120	115	87	101
South Ayrshire	224	220	248	247
South Lanarkshire	383	415	412	400

Question reference: S3W-22541

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under 15, (b) 15 to 18, (c) 19 to 21 and (d) over 21 were admitted to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary to receive treatment for excess alcohol consumption in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08.

Information on patients admitted for excess alcohol consumption is not centrally available. However, information on patients admitted for all alcohol-related conditions is available. The number of patients discharged for all alcohol-related conditions by the specified age groups is shown in the following table.

Number of patients discharged from general acute hospitals with an alcohol-related diagnosis: patients treated in Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary by age group, 2006-07 and 2007-08:

Age Group	2006-07	2007-08
Under 15 years	9	23
15 - 18 years	19	28
19 - 21 years	14	12
22 years and over	472	483
Total	514	546

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Note: Data for 2007-08 is provisional.

Question reference: S3W-22542

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area were (a) alcohol and (b) drug related and of these how many were of people aged (i) under 18, (ii) 18 to 29, (iii) 30 to 55 and (iv) over 55, from 1999 to 2008.

The total numbers of alcohol-related deaths in NHS Dumfries and Galloway (1979-2007) are given in table 2 of the alcohol-related deaths website for the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS):

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/deaths/alcohol-related-deaths/index.html.

Numbers of alcohol-related deaths in NHS Dumfries and Galloway are shown in the following table, for the age-groups and years requested:

Table 1: Alcohol-Related Deaths in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area

	17 and Under	18 to 29	30 to 55	56 and Over	All Ages
1999	-	*	7	8	*
2000	-	-	9	11	20
2001	-	-	11	12	23
2002	-	-	13	12	25
2003	-	*	9	21	*
2004	-	-	7	19	26
2005	-	-	10	21	31
2006	-	-	16	17	33
2007	-	-	15	13	28
2008	-	*	10	15	*

Source: GROS.

Note: *Numbers under five have not been shown, as these could be disclosive. “ Zero.

2008 figures are provisional.

The total numbers of drug-related deaths in NHS Dumfries and Galloway (1996 to 2007), are given in Table HB1 of Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2007, published by GROS in August 2008:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/drug-related-deaths/index.html.

Figures for 2008 will be available in August 2009.

Numbers of drug-related deaths in NHS Dumfries and Galloway are shown in the following table, for the age-groups and years requested:

Table 2: Drug-Related Deaths in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway Area

	17 and Under	18 to 29	30 to 55	56 and Over	All Ages
1999	-	*	*	*	7
2000	-	*	*	-	7
2001	-	6	*	*	*
2002	-	5	*	-	*
2003	-	*	5	-	*
2004	-	*	5	-	*
2005	-	*	*	-	*
2006	-	-	5	-	5
2007	-	6	*	-	*

Source: GROS.

Note: *Numbers under five have not been shown, as these could be disclosive. “ Zero.

Question reference: S3W-22096

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it no longer provides level 4 budget detail on request.

Question reference: S3W-22097

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with HM Treasury about the timing of the next Comprehensive Spending Review at UK level.

Question reference: S3W-21603

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive in what instances, and to what extent, HM Treasury has applied the policy discussed in paragraph 8.4 of Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly: Statement of Funding Policy, or its equivalent, to reduce the Scottish block grant since 1999.

Question reference: S3W-21131

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29587 by Robert Brown on 17 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

Details of actual substantive costings available centrally are set out in the following table in the same categories as the Financial Memorandum to the School Education (Ministerial Powers and Independent Schools) (Scotland) Bill. The annual costs relate to the last 2 financial years:

Year	Scottish Executive/Government		HMIE		Costs to Schools
Year	Set up	Annual Costs	Set up	Annual Costs	Set up	Annual costs
2006-07	£0	£2,800	£0	£23,400	£0	£6,000
2007-08	£0	£3,500	£0	£23,100	£0	£7,500

The figures in the table relating to the costs to the government and to schools are only estimates which have been based on the unit costs set out in the Financial Memorandum.

Question reference: S3W-21133

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 18 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29579 by Robert Brown on 30 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

Question reference: S3W-21120

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29609 by Robert Brown on 17 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

Details of set-up and annual costs available centrally are set out in the following table in the same categories as the Financial Memorandum to the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill. The annual costs relate to 2007-08 “ the last full financial year:

Scottish Government		Local Authorities		Other Bodies and Individuals
Set up	Annual Costs	Set Up	Annual Costs	Set Up	Annual Costs
£0.193 million	n/a	n/a	£1.085 million	n/a	£0.023 million

Question reference: S3W-21119

Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29611 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

Details of actual substantive costings available centrally are set out in the following table in the same categories as the Financial Memorandum to the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill. The figures relate to expenditure by the Scottish Government, and annual costs relate to expenditure in 2007-08, the last full financial year. The Scottish Government does not hold details of expenditure by local authorities or others as an immediate consequence of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006.

	Set-Up	Annual Costs
Scottish Police Services Authority Board	N/A	£74,000
Scottish Police Services Authority Chief Executive	N/A	£132,000
Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland	£1.1 million (costs in first year of operation including set-up costs)	£1 million
Payments to Special Constables	N/A	£668,000
Mandatory Drug Testing “ time, materials, assessment and treatment.	£44,000	£1,633,173
Improved Control of Public Processions	N/A	£325,000