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-07424

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been to each delivery mechanism of the Scotland Rural Development Programme since 2007, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Question reference: S4W-07561

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 6 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many library staff were employed by (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special schools in (i) Aberdeen and (ii) Aberdeenshire in (A) 2009-10, (B) 2010-11 and (C) 2011-12.

Question reference: S4W-07425

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 6 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) academic, (b) non-academic managerial and (c) other non-academic staff were employed in each (i) college and (ii) university in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in 2010-11.

Table 1: Staff at Aberdeenshire higher education institutions (HEIs), 2010-11 full-time equivalent (FTE) by institution and activity:

Institution

Activity

Academics

Non-academic Managers

Non-academic Others

Total

Aberdeen, University of	1,360	5	1,455	2,820
Robert Gordon University	540	75	575	1,190
Total	1,900	80	2,030	4,010

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

Note: Student numbers are rounded to the nearest five.

Table 2: Staff at Aberdeenshire Colleges, 2010-11 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) by Institution and Activity

Institution

Activity

Academics

Non-academic Managers

Non-academic Others

Total

Aberdeen College	245	20	190	455
Banff and Buchan College of Further Education	170	10	60	240
Total	415	30	250	690

Source: Scottish Funding Council.

Note: Student numbers are rounded to the nearest five.

Question reference: S4W-07423

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses NHS Grampian has employed in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S4W-07426

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people live in overcrowded dwellings in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire.

According to the Scottish House Condition Survey (2008-10) (a) 2,000 households in Aberdeen are overcrowded using the bedroom standard and (b) 2,000 households in Aberdeenshire are overcrowded using the bedroom standard.

The bedroom standard was derived in the 1960s by the Government Social Survey as an indicator of population density. A standard number of bedrooms is calculated for each household in accordance with the age/sex/marital status and the relationship of the household members to each other. If the actual number of bedrooms is less than the number required, the dwelling is considered to be overcrowded.

Question reference: S4W-07348

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many exclusions there were from (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Aberdeen, (ii) Aberdeenshire and (iii) Angus in 2011-12, broken down by reason for exclusion.

Information on exclusions from 2011-12 is not being collected and published centrally. The next publication of exclusions data will be from the academic year 2012-13 in December 2013.

Tables 1 and 2 below show how many exclusions there were in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus in 2010-11, in both primary and secondary schools, broken down by reason for exclusion. The reason for exclusion figures have been rounded to the nearest five for disclosure and quality reasons.

Table 1. Number of Exclusions in Primary Schools Broken Down by Reason for Exclusion, 2010-11.

	Aberdeen City	Aberdeenshire	Angus
Total Number of Exclusions¹	316	102	94

Reason For Exclusion

Damage to personal property of pupil	0	0	0
Damage to personal property of staff	0	0	0
Damage to school property	25	10	10
Extortion from pupil	0	0	0
Fighting	20	10	5
Fire raising	0	0	0
General or persistent disobedience	135	35	35
Indecent exposure	0	0	0
Insolent or offensive behaviour	55	15	15
Malicious communications against pupil	0	0	0
Malicious communications against staff	0	0	0
Parental non-cooperation	0	0	0
Physical assault using improvised weapon against pupil	5	0	5
Physical assault using improvised weapon against staff	5	0	5
Physical assault using weapon against pupil	5	0	0
Physical assault using weapon against staff	5	0	0
Physical assault with no weapon against pupil	60	30	20
Physical assault with no weapon against staff	40	25	25
Refusal to attend class	25	5	10
Slander and libel (incl. website) against pupil	0	0	0
Slander and libel (incl. website) against staff	0	0	0
Spitting	0	0	0
Stalking of pupil	0	0	0
Substance misuse - alcohol	0	0	0
Substance misuse - not alcohol	0	0	0
Sustained peer exclusion for the purpose of causing significant distress	5	0	0
Theft from pupil	0	0	0
Theft from staff	0	0	0
Threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon, pupil	5	0	0
Threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon, staff	5	0	0
Threat of physical violence, no weapon, against pupil	10	5	0
Threat of physical violence, no weapon, against staff	5	5	5
Threat of sexual violence against pupil	0	0	0
Threat of sexual violence against staff	0	0	0
Threat to personal property against pupil	0	0	0
Threat to personal property against staff	0	0	0
Threat to school property	5	0	5
Verbal abuse of pupil	35	15	10
Verbal abuse of staff	80	40	35
Other	30	5	15

Note: 1. Includes temporary and permanent exclusions.

Table 2. Number of Exclusions In Secondary Schools Broken Down by Reason for Exclusion, 2010-11.

	Aberdeen City	Aberdeenshire	Angus

Total Number of Exclusions¹	951	699	340

Reason For Exclusion

Damage to personal property of pupil	0	0	0
Damage to personal property of staff	0	0	0
Damage to school property	10	20	10
Extortion from pupil	0	0	0
Fighting	75	40	15
Fire raising	0	5	0
General or persistent disobedience	210	240	95
Indecent exposure	0	5	5
Insolent or offensive behaviour	115	125	45
Malicious communications against pupil	5	0	0
Malicious communications against staff	0	0	0
Parental non-cooperation	0	0	0
Physical assault using improvised weapon against pupil	10	10	0
Physical assault using improvised weapon against staff	5	0	0
Physical assault using weapon against pupil	5	5	0
Physical assault using weapon against staff	0	0	0
Physical assault with no weapon against pupil	140	135	60
Physical assault with no weapon against staff	15	15	10
Refusal to attend class	5	25	5
Slander and libel (incl. website) against pupil	0	0	0
Slander and libel (incl. website) against staff	0	0	0
Spitting	0	0	0
Stalking of pupil	0	0	0
Stalking of staff	0	0	0
Substance misuse - alcohol	15	10	10
Substance misuse - not alcohol	10	15	5
Sustained peer exclusion for the purpose of causing significant distress	0	0	0
Theft from pupil	10	0	5
Theft from staff	5	0	0
Threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon, pupil	0	0	0
Threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon, staff	0	0	0
Threat of physical violence, no weapon, against pupil	15	10	5
Threat of physical violence, no weapon, against staff	10	10	0
Threat of sexual violence against pupil	0	0	0
Threat of sexual violence against staff	0	0	0
Threat to personal property against pupil	0	0	0
Threat to personal property against staff	0	0	0
Threat to school property	5	10	0
Verbal abuse of pupil	20	40	10
Verbal abuse of staff	235	255	115
Other	85	70	25

Note 1. Includes temporary and permanent exclusions.

Question reference: S4W-07347

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether class sizes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Aberdeen and (ii) Aberdeenshire have decreased since May 2007.

Question reference: S4W-07298

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of services available from Portlethen railway station and what discussions it has had with First ScotRail on this issue.

Question reference: S4W-07349

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been suspended for alcohol-related issues in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in the last year.

Question reference: S4W-07295

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with NESTRANS regarding the Aberdeen Crossrail project.