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: S4W-13019

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 21 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers have been employed in (i) Aberdeen and (ii) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

Information on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers is published on the Scottish Government website as supplementary data to the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland publication. Primary school teacher information by local authority is available in table 7.1 and secondary school teacher information is in table 8.1 of the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/Summarystatsforschools/teachcensus2012.

Question reference: S4O-01826

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect communities in the north east from flooding.

Question reference: S4W-12579

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many construction workers were employed in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

Table 1 shows the number of employment jobs in the construction sector for the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas from 2008 until 2011. The data is taken from the Office for National Statistics Business Register and Employment Survey, results from which are only available from 2008 to 2011.

Table 1: Construction¹ sector employment jobs² in the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas, 2008-2011

	2008	2009	2010	2011
Aberdeen City	7,400	7,300	6,800	6,600
Aberdeenshire	8,800	8,100	7,700	8,600

Sources: Business Register and Employment Survey, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Construction - Section F according to Standard Industrial Classification (UK SIC 2007).

2. Employment jobs include all employee jobs within VAT/PAYE registered enterprises, and also working owners of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises. The employment jobs estimate does not include those that are self-employed in enterprises that are not registered for VAT/PAYE i.e. the smallest sole proprietors or partnerships.

3. Data is rounded to the nearest hundred.

Question reference: S4W-12578

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many new business start-ups there were in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

New business start-ups are measured using new business VAT/PAYE registration figures.

Table 1 shows the number of new business VAT/PAYE registrations in the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas from 2007 until 2011. The data is taken from the Office for National Statistics Business Demography 2011 publication, which contains the most up to date data available.

Table 1: New business VAT/PAYE registrations in the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas, 2007-2011

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Aberdeen City	1,220	935	790	1,035	1,215
Aberdeenshire	1,385	1,045	820	880	1,175

Source: Business Demography 2011, Office for National Statistics

Question reference: S4W-12580

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many construction companies were registered in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

Table 1 below shows the number of construction enterprises registered in the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas from 2008 until 2012. The data is taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register and is rounded to the nearest 5.

Table 1: The number of VAT/PAYE registered¹ construction² enterprises, registered in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas, March 2008- March 2012

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Aberdeen City	635	640	625	620	625
Aberdeenshire	1,400	1,430	1,440	1,445	1,420

Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Data refers to VAT/PAYE registered enterprises only. Unregistered enterprises, sole traders and partnerships who are not registered for PAYE or VAT, are not included.

2. Construction - Section F according to Standard Industrial Classification (UK SIC 2007).

Question reference: S4W-12481

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Procurement Reform Bill will be published.

The Scottish Government has signalled its intention to introduce a Procurement Reform Bill before summer recess.

A public consultation on a range of issues relating to the procurement process ran from 10 August to 2 November 2012. A total of 251 consultation responses were received.

Independent analysis of the consultation responses and a summary report were published on the 25 January 2013 on the Scottish Government website.

The analysis of the consultation, along with other views and research, will help inform the development of the Bill as it makes its way through the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S4W-12576

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many dentists were practising in Grampian in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-12582

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to mental health services in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government sets national direction of policy on mental health and provides funding to agencies - including NHS Boards and Local Authorities - to support implementation of policy.

The management of local actions in implementing national policy, and decisions on local spending priorities are the responsibility of relevant local agencies. It is therefore the responsibility of NHS Boards and local authorities to work with their partners and regularly review spending decisions to deliver fit for purpose services which respond to local needs.

Funding on mental health promotion, early intervention and appropriate treatment for people with mental health problems will continue to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland and Local Authorities by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4W-12577

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses there have been in NHS Grampian in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-12581

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to alcohol support services in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

Responsibility is devolved to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to commission (informed by robust needs assessment) evidence based, person centred and recovery-focused treatment services to meet the needs of their resident populations. Decisions on spend for alcohol and drug services are made locally by the ADPs.

The Scottish Government allocates funding to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) via NHS Boards. In those areas where there is more than one ADP, the NHS Board should agree with ADPs how this funding should be distributed between them.

Information on funding allocations to each of the three Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray) in NHS Grampian is not held centrally.

The following table details alcohol prevention, treatment and support funding allocations to NHS Grampian for the last five years.

NHS Board	Allocation 2008-09	Allocation 2009-10	Allocation 2010-11	Allocation 2011-12	Allocation 2012-13
Grampian	£2,014,386	£2,804,595	£2,804,595	£2,880,681	£3,010,872