- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 11 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps is it taking to increase the support available to people suffering from dementia.
Answer
Improvingservices for those with dementia and their carers is a priority for the Scottish Government and further options for change and improvement are beingexplored through the
Better Health, Better Care consultation which runsto 12 November 2007. The outcomes will complement the rangeof initiatives already underway to increase support available to those withdementia.
I have alsoappointed a Dementia Forum to inform and advise current and future attention onthis important agenda. That agenda includes; a forthcoming integrated care pathwaystandard for dementia; the funding for a partnership dementia services redesignproject through NHS Forth Valley and the Dementia Services Development Centre;attention on ensuring all new and refurnished primary care premises aredesigned to be dementia friendly; work with NHS Education for Scotland todevelop a competency based framework for mental health staff working with olderadults and grant funding over the next three years to support both AlzheimerScotland and the Dementia Services Development Centre.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 5 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or intends to take, to encourage the greater use of biodiesel.
Answer
Biodiesel as a blendedtransport fuel with standard fossil and mineral diesel is already sold in outletsacross the UK without the need for separate labelling orpumps. The biofuel component of blended fuels will increase to 5% as part of theRenewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) target by 2010. New vehicle engine warrantieswould be invalid if biofuel content greater than 5% were used. To provide furthercertainty to transport fuel suppliers and stimulate production, the Chancellor of the Exchequer extended the period of RTFO fuel duty incentive of 20p per litre onbiodiesel and bioethanol production until 2009-10.
We are developingplans to consult with key stakeholders to consider what reasonable steps can betaken to encourage wider use of higher blends of biofuels for all road vehicles.We continue to monitor UK and European discussions aimed at increasingthe RTFO target beyond 2010.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that cancer patients and others who receive regular treatment in NHS hospitals are exempt from hospital car parking charges.
Answer
The currentguidance to NHS boards on hospital car park charging states that boards mustprovide free parking to certain categories of patients, such as those on longerterm treatments including radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
The management ofhospital car parks is a local matter for NHS boards, in line with currentguidance issued by the previous administration earlier this year which the Scottish Government isreviewing. I announced the review on 14 September 2007 and I anticipate thatthe review group will report back to me by the end of November.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of hospital car parking charges on people attending casualty units at short notice to be with friends or family suffering from life-threatening conditions resulting from acute illness or involvement in serious accidents.
Answer
By introducinghospital car park charges, NHS boards can better manage car parks and greatlyimprove the availability of parking spaces for patients, visitors and carersattending hospitals.
The currentguidance on hospital car park charging states that boards must provide freeparking or concessions to certain categories of car park users, includingfrequently attending visitors for longer stay patients, patients in highdependency units and patients in intensive care areas.
The management ofhospital car parks is a local matter for NHS boards, in line with currentguidance issued by the previous administration earlier this year which the Scottish Government isreviewing. I announced the review on 14 September 2007 and I anticipate that the review group will reportback to me by the end of November.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of hospital car parking charges on residents living near hospitals where charges have been introduced.
Answer
Noassessment has been made by the Scottish Government on the impact of hospitalcar parking charges on residents living near hospitals. The introduction of car parking charges, orthe revision of existing arrangements, is a matter for NHS boards in light oflocal circumstances and I would expect NHS boards totake account of local residents as part of their planning and consultationprocess before introducing charges.
The management ofhospital car parks is a local matter for NHS boards, in line with currentguidance issued by the previous administration earlier this year which the Scottish Government isreviewing. I announced the review on 14 September 2007 and I anticipate that the review group will reportback to me by the end of November.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to NHS boards on whether it is acceptable to fine outpatients whose hospital car parking tickets have expired as a result of treatment taking longer than anticipated or appointments being delayed.
Answer
The ScottishGovernment has issued no guidance to NHS boards on the issuing of fines to out-patientsor any other hospital car park user. The management of hospital car parks is alocal matter for NHS boards, in line with current guidance issued by theprevious administration earlier this year which the Scottish Government is reviewing. Iannounced the review on 14 September 2007 and Ianticipate that the review group will report back to me by the end of November.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what knife crime figures have been in each year from 1995 to 2007, also showing the number of (a) street robberies involving blades, (b) people who died following blade attacks and (c) number of people admitted to hospitals with knife wounds, broken down by day of the week.
Answer
With theexception of homicide cases, statistics on knife crimes are not held centrally.The number of homicide cases in each year from 1995 to 2006, in which themethod of killing was with a sharp instrument, are shown in the following table.Homicide figures for 2006-07 are due to be published on 18 December 2007.
Number ofHomicides Where the Method of Killing was with a Sharp Instrument1,1995-96 to 2005-06
Year | Number of Homicides |
1995-96 | 69 |
1996-97 | 49 |
1997-98 | 39 |
1998-99 | 39 |
1999-2000 | 67 |
2000-01 | 48 |
2001-02 | 56 |
2002-03 | 60 |
2003-04 | 55 |
2004-05 | 72 |
2005-06 | 34 |
Note: 1. Includesknives and other sharp instruments.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes and offences have been committed in each year since 1992 and, of these, what proportion led to a custodial sentence (a) nationally and (b) broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The number of crimesand offences recorded by the police are shown in the following tables. The statisticsdealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable asa person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than onevictim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may bealtered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by thepolice in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year. Thus theavailable statistics on court proceedings and recorded crime cannot be combinedin any meaningful way, for instance to show what proportion of recorded crimes leadto a custodial sentence.
Crimes and OffencesRecorded by the Police by Local Authority, 1992 to 1994 and 1995-96 to 2006-07
| 19921 | 19931 | 19941 | 19951 |
All Scotland | 998,786 | 958,959 | 964,027 | 927,566 |
Aberdeen City | 45,969 | 42,628 | 47,380 | 47,441 |
Aberdeenshire | 27,869 | 27,479 | 29,965 | 29,855 |
Angus | 19,234 | 17,830 | 18,830 | 17,871 |
Argyll and Bute | 12,684 | 12,068 | 11,387 | 12,066 |
Clackmannanshire | 7,276 | 7,287 | 7,282 | 6,661 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 27,643 | 25,061 | 26,018 | 24,697 |
Dundee City | 37,292 | 36,999 | 36,485 | 33,818 |
East Ayrshire | 24,334 | 21,918 | 20,537 | 20,425 |
East Dunbartonshire | 13,289 | 12,559 | 12,279 | 11,483 |
East Lothian | 10,700 | 10,142 | 11,086 | 11,671 |
East Renfrewshire | 12,131 | 11,762 | 11,751 | 12,256 |
City of Edinburgh | 96,892 | 94,344 | 91,036 | 87,925 |
Eilean Siar (W.Isles) | 2,347 | 2,360 | 2,615 | 2,750 |
Falkirk | 25,616 | 24,043 | 23,447 | 22,240 |
Fife | 59,666 | 65,053 | 73,378 | 65,855 |
City of Glasgow | 197,857 | 186,282 | 182,803 | 174,414 |
Highland | 30,184 | 29,815 | 29,372 | 32,908 |
Inverclyde | 17,602 | 16,310 | 16,649 | 14,797 |
Midlothian | 13,158 | 12,592 | 11,386 | 11,693 |
Moray | 13,111 | 13,720 | 15,098 | 14,378 |
North Ayrshire | 25,488 | 24,080 | 21,711 | 20,840 |
North Lanarkshire | 58,560 | 56,463 | 53,341 | 49,758 |
Orkney Islands | 1,415 | 1,179 | 1,281 | 1,081 |
Perth and Kinross | 23,915 | 22,090 | 22,684 | 22,340 |
Renfrewshire | 37,393 | 33,700 | 32,077 | 30,658 |
Scottish Borders | 15,094 | 14,413 | 16,821 | 14,800 |
Shetland Islands | 1,617 | 1,902 | 1,899 | 1,863 |
South Ayrshire | 19,972 | 19,934 | 19,612 | 20,518 |
South Lanarkshire | 64,628 | 61,585 | 59,707 | 55,098 |
Stirling | 13,550 | 13,315 | 14,257 | 13,656 |
West Dunbartonshire | 18,697 | 17,619 | 17,266 | 17,006 |
West Lothian | 23,603 | 22,427 | 24,587 | 24,744 |
| 1995-961 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 |
All Scotland | 927,244 | 901,103 | 917,170 | 954,561 | 934,886 | 914,562 |
Aberdeen City | 47,137 | 48,173 | 49,706 | 52,982 | 54,508 | 49,807 |
Aberdeenshire | 30,214 | 32,844 | 31,015 | 35,089 | 32,123 | 27,898 |
Angus | 17,518 | 13,742 | 15,748 | 16,332 | 19,985 | 13,713 |
Argyll and Bute | 12,115 | 11,934 | 11,577 | 11,031 | 12,159 | 13,168 |
Clackmannanshire | 6,826 | 5,926 | 6,117 | 6,319 | 6,164 | 6,675 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 25,423 | 28,100 | 28,913 | 32,842 | 28,270 | 25,673 |
Dundee City | 33,362 | 34,277 | 30,801 | 29,795 | 28,775 | 27,961 |
East Ayrshire | 20,314 | 18,164 | 19,699 | 20,756 | 20,026 | 18,999 |
East Dunbartonshire | 11,598 | 10,829 | 10,908 | 10,903 | 9,510 | 9,624 |
East Lothian | 10,840 | 9,409 | 10,324 | 10,548 | 11,390 | 9,679 |
East Renfrewshire | 12,134 | 10,449 | 8,613 | 9,413 | 9,789 | 7,827 |
City of Edinburgh | 86,516 | 84,086 | 87,281 | 87,261 | 92,972 | 91,160 |
Eilean Siar (W.Isles) | 2,721 | 3,040 | 2,303 | 1,995 | 1,946 | 1,667 |
Falkirk | 22,754 | 22,266 | 20,994 | 21,273 | 23,874 | 21,063 |
Fife | 65,143 | 64,158 | 63,754 | 70,932 | 59,713 | 65,750 |
City of Glasgow | 175,590 | 169,043 | 179,675 | 183,635 | 191,702 | 193,718 |
Highland | 33,614 | 33,072 | 29,494 | 30,927 | 31,885 | 32,609 |
Inverclyde | 15,099 | 16,353 | 16,563 | 17,725 | 16,416 | 15,448 |
Midlothian | 11,322 | 11,147 | 12,201 | 12,501 | 12,074 | 10,653 |
Moray | 14,583 | 15,844 | 15,248 | 13,690 | 11,735 | 11,334 |
North Ayrshire | 21,225 | 19,787 | 20,878 | 20,964 | 18,325 | 18,374 |
North Lanarkshire | 49,799 | 51,158 | 54,056 | 54,870 | 50,400 | 52,195 |
Orkney Islands | 1,117 | 1,167 | 1,263 | 1,569 | 1,337 | 1,215 |
Perth and Kinross | 21,664 | 20,947 | 19,980 | 19,580 | 16,844 | 21,403 |
Renfrewshire | 31,175 | 29,677 | 29,807 | 31,185 | 29,840 | 28,161 |
Scottish Borders | 13,787 | 14,125 | 15,077 | 16,284 | 18,906 | 20,007 |
Shetland Islands | 1,878 | 1,646 | 2,274 | 1,700 | 1,591 | 1,584 |
South Ayrshire | 21,415 | 19,574 | 19,110 | 20,199 | 19,146 | 16,887 |
South Lanarkshire | 54,046 | 46,482 | 50,945 | 49,151 | 46,281 | 45,594 |
Stirling | 13,480 | 13,134 | 12,503 | 15,834 | 13,800 | 13,143 |
West Dunbartonshire | 18,162 | 18,537 | 17,396 | 19,479 | 17,699 | 15,570 |
West Lothian | 24,673 | 22,013 | 22,947 | 27,797 | 25,701 | 26,003 |
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-052 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
All Scotland | 958,144 | 942,403 | 1,030,090 | 1,076,685 | 1,017,673 | 1,024,857 |
Aberdeen City | 50,440 | 55,215 | 60,458 | 62,028 | 60,449 | 59,953 |
Aberdeenshire | 27,280 | 24,876 | 24,468 | 26,861 | 25,027 | 28,821 |
Angus | 18,418 | 18,032 | 19,614 | 18,694 | 20,350 | 19,379 |
Argyll and Bute | 12,573 | 12,717 | 14,157 | 13,725 | 12,722 | 13,742 |
Clackmannanshire | 7,292 | 8,184 | 8,238 | 7,976 | 8,649 | 9,957 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 24,057 | 26,736 | 34,605 | 41,547 | 39,800 | 42,316 |
Dundee City | 30,912 | 33,264 | 37,469 | 41,070 | 37,284 | 37,894 |
East Ayrshire | 18,832 | 19,184 | 22,631 | 37,668 | 18,633 | 18,531 |
East Dunbartonshire | 9,173 | 8,979 | 8,813 | 10,458 | 9,642 | 9,857 |
East Lothian | 10,414 | 10,381 | 9,147 | 8,606 | 8,655 | 9,444 |
East Renfrewshire | 8,277 | 7,769 | 8,246 | 8,476 | 9,270 | 8,535 |
City of Edinburgh | 94,703 | 91,833 | 119,824 | 134,114 | 119,482 | 114,194 |
Eilean Siar (W.Isles) | 2,086 | 1,995 | 2,201 | 2,671 | 2,862 | 2,828 |
Falkirk | 24,728 | 25,332 | 26,433 | 25,157 | 26,739 | 33,289 |
Fife | 65,309 | 67,874 | 67,854 | 72,773 | 68,006 | 67,629 |
City of Glasgow | 200,769 | 178,265 | 182,564 | 172,950 | 170,990 | 164,882 |
Highland | 35,524 | 36,136 | 34,611 | 36,226 | 38,981 | 40,964 |
Inverclyde | 15,027 | 13,863 | 14,412 | 15,063 | 13,399 | 13,002 |
Midlothian | 11,508 | 11,225 | 10,640 | 13,491 | 12,583 | 11,071 |
Moray | 12,806 | 11,686 | 11,650 | 12,641 | 11,595 | 13,802 |
North Ayrshire | 19,193 | 19,254 | 19,083 | 21,528 | 21,596 | 21,142 |
North Lanarkshire | 56,448 | 69,108 | 84,909 | 75,960 | 66,834 | 66,321 |
Orkney Islands | 1,116 | 1,364 | 1,497 | 1,382 | 1,470 | 1,537 |
Perth and Kinross | 25,586 | 24,297 | 31,484 | 30,624 | 31,056 | 31,087 |
Renfrewshire | 28,400 | 26,438 | 27,281 | 26,990 | 24,400 | 27,500 |
Scottish Borders | 21,191 | 17,982 | 25,239 | 27,202 | 25,078 | 25,574 |
Shetland Islands | 1,510 | 1,604 | 1,960 | 1,927 | 2,210 | 2,077 |
South Ayrshire | 17,128 | 17,800 | 15,258 | 17,530 | 17,159 | 18,149 |
South Lanarkshire | 47,598 | 42,671 | 45,817 | 48,899 | 50,813 | 46,185 |
Stirling | 15,102 | 17,088 | 19,875 | 17,268 | 16,581 | 20,843 |
West Dunbartonshire | 15,933 | 15,433 | 16,351 | 17,853 | 18,075 | 18,176 |
West Lothian | 28,811 | 25,818 | 23,301 | 27,327 | 27,283 | 26,175 |
Notes:
1. The local authoritybreakdown of the recorded crime figures from 1992 to 1994 and 1995-96 are basedon the data held at a district level. For those authorities which were formed from“parts” of districts, the figures were pro-rated using population figures.
2. Data from 2004-05onwards shows the impact of the implementation of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard(SCRS), which was expected to increase the numbers of minor crimes recorded by thepolice, such as minor crimes of vandalism and minor thefts.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 20 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has spent on communications to residents in each year since 1999 in (a) cash and (b) real terms.
Answer
The information requestedis not held centrally. Information on the expenditure of local authorities is collectedannually via Local Financial Returns (LFRs). However, the LFR returns do not collectinformation at the level of detail requested.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison places have been available in each Scottish parliamentary region or equivalent in each year since 1979.
Answer
I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
A table showingthe average annual prisoner population across all sites since 1979 has beenplaced in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43685). SPSdoes not hold historical information on prisoner places in the formatrequested.