Chamber and committees

Whilst the Scottish Government sets policy for NHSScotland, it is for NHS boards to plan and manage services for the populations they serve. The information requested is therefore not collected centrally.

The following table shows the number of construction enterprises registered in the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas from 2009 until 2013. Not all construction businesses operate as limited companies - many are sole traders or partnerships.

These data are taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register and are rounded to the nearest five.

Table 1: The number of VAT/PAYE registered¹ construction² enterprises, registered

in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas, March 2009 to March

2013

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).

The following table shows the number of employment jobs in the construction sector for the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas from 2009 until 2013. These data are taken from the Business Register and Employment Survey, published annually by the Office for National Statistics, and are rounded to the nearest hundred.

Table 1: Construction¹ sector employment jobs² in the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas, 2009-13

Source: 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.

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 2008 until 2012. These figures, which are taken from the Office for National Statistics Business Demography - 2012 publication, are the most up to date data available but do not include start-ups which are below the VAT/PAYE threshold.

Table 1: New business VAT/PAYE registrations in the Aberdeen City and

Aberdeenshire local authority areas, 2008-12

Source: Business Demography - 2012, Office for National Statistics

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

‘‘The following table provides a breakdown of drug finds within prisons in the Grampian area over the last five years.’’

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

‘‘The SPS does not have a list of banned items. Instead, section 2 of the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011 defines prohibited articles and includes controlled drugs, weapons, alcohol and mobile phones.

The following tables provide a breakdown of prohibited articles recovered from prisoners within Grampian prisons over the last five years.’’

Information regarding how many (a) nurses and (b) consultants have been employed by NHS Grampian in each of the last five years can be found in the following tables.

Table 1: Whole time equivalent nursing staff in post employed in NHS Grampian from 30 September 2009 to 30 June 2014.

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System, ISD Scotland

Table 2: Whole time equivalent consultant staff in post employed in NHS Grampian from 30 September 2009 to 30 June 2014.

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System, ISD Scotland

The number of applications under the Help to Buy (Scotland) Scheme for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire as at 30 September 2014 are set out in the following table:

Over the 2010 to 2012 period, it is estimated there were on average:

(a) 2,000 overcrowded households in Aberdeen City

(b) 3,000 overcrowded households in Aberdeenshire

These estimates are from the Scottish House Conditions Survey, based on the bedroom standard definition.

These are the best available estimates, derived from survey data with a combined sample size over three years of 290 households in Aberdeen City and 233 households in Aberdeenshire. This means these estimates are subject to a degree of sampling error and have margins of error associated with them.

Corresponding estimates of the number of people in overcrowded households is not readily available, as this would require an alternative weighting methodology to raise the sample data into population estimates.

As indicated in the government’s General Statement of Policy - Principles of Charging for Water Services 2015-21, published on 1 October 2014, we intend to bring vacant non-domestic properties into charge during the period 2015-21. The principles may be viewed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00459866.pdf.

A consultation will be issued later this year to seek views on this policy and the date for its introduction.