Chamber and committees

The number of workers employed in agriculture covered by the Orders made by the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board is 24,924. This is made up of 13,500 full-time and 11,424 part-time and seasonal workers. (Economic Report On Scottish Agriculture-2007 Edition)

Information on the numbers of workers employed in horticulture and forestry who are covered by these Wages Orders is not held centrally.

 

The following is the original answer (published on 27 August 2007); see below.

 

The number of workers covered by the orders made by the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board is 67,011. This is made up of 26,097 full-time and 40,914 part-time and seasonal workers (June 2006 census).

 

Because of definitionaldifficulties, no routine figures are prepared on smoking-related deaths. However,research studies have estimated that each year more than 13,000 people in Scotland die from smoking related diseases, including lung cancer, coronary heartdisease and stroke.The Atlas of Tobacco Smoking inScotland was published in July 2007 and drawn to the attention of all MSPs. It presents smokingprevalence estimates for NHS boards, councils, community health partnerships (CHPs)and Scottish parliamentary constituencies, and also for intermediate zones and postcodesectors. It also includes estimates of smoking-attributable deaths for individualNHS boards and CHPs. Thefull report can be viewed at: www.scotpho.org.uk/tobaccoatlas.

This study was basedon methodology developed for the report Mortality from smoking in developed countries1950-2002, which was published in June 2006 and included a section on Scotland.

http://www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~tobacco/.

http://www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~tobacco/scot.pdf.

Previous studies haveexamined deaths from conditions associated with exposure to tobacco smoke, but definitionsand methodologies vary. Please see the ASH Scotland website for information about these estimates http://www.ashscotland.org.uk/ash/3549.html.

Studies have alsoestimated the number of deaths from passive smoking. For example, please see thefollowing link for details of the estimates produced by one such study:

http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/448.aspx.

I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

Reception figures(2004) show that two out of three prisoners (66%) tested positive for all substancesof misuse on admission to prison.

Self-reported figuresfrom the SPS Prisoner Survey (2006) show that 23% of prisoners were worried thatalcohol would be a problem on release from prison, with 29% of prisoners reportingusing illegal drugs in the month immediately prior to survey completion.

Robust estimates of the size of Scottish drugs markets are not currently available. A research projectis currently in progress which is aiming to produce an initial estimate of the size/valueof illicit drug markets in Scotland, and of the economic and social costs associatedwith illicit drug use. This research is due to be completed in March 2008.

There are no plansto develop the Allandale rail station.

The STAG appraisal,submitted to Transport Scotland by consultants acting on behalf of FalkirkCouncil early in 2006, concluded that the development of an alternative park andride facility at Bannockburn would provide better value for money. It wasagreed in October 2006 that Bannockburn should be taken forward to a Design andAppraisal stage and that no furtherwork should be undertaken on Allandale.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

The average cost ofconstructing a home for social rent during 2006-07 was £117,762. This can be brokendown as follows:

Average Acquisition Cost	£8,935
Average Works Cost	£96,003
Average Fees	£8,022
Average other Costs	£4,802
Total	£117,762

 

Transport Scotland is currently reviewing fare policy objectives. Evidenceis being gathered to inform this review and research into the effect of rail farepricing on passenger numbers is likely to be included in this work.

I am informedby the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) that there is no single data set that provides information onthe average consumption of milk by socio-economic group between 1980 and the presenttime. Thus, data on the average consumption of milk by socio-economic group wasobtained from the National Food Survey of GB, which only provides information upto the year 2000. The data is not Scotland specific.

The data from 1980 up to the year 2000 is providedin table 1 by seven income groups (A, B, C, D, E1, E2 and Old Age Pensioners (OAP)).Households with one or more earners are categorised into groups A to D. Those ingroup A earn more than those in group D. Households without an earner are categorisedinto either group E1 or E2, with those in group E1 earning more than those in groupE2.

Table 1 Household Consumption of Whole Milk andSkimmed Milks (Per Person, Per Week) by Income Group of Head of Household in Great Britain

Year	(ml)	Socio-Economic Status
		A	B	C	D	E1	E2	OAP	All Households
2000	Whole milk	479	531	629	895	684	955	921	665
	Skimmed milk	1,136	1,081	1,077	1,057	1,486	1,153	1,424	1,138
1999	Whole milk	363	489	652	888	628	976	885	634
	Skimmed milk	1,127	1,150	1,030	1,026	1,459	1,015	1,268	1,125
1998	Whole milk	503	579	658	791	657	1,070	982	693
	Skimmed milk	1,171	1,091	1,047	1,018	1,471	1,009	1,260	1,110
1997	Whole milk	478	533	715	953	802	1,095	982	712
	Skimmed milk	1,016	1,172	1,102	1,098	1,331	1,019	1,247	1,136
1995	Whole milk	541	653	793	1,092	1,049	1,001	1,092	812
	Skimmed milk	1,156	1,134	1,082	931	1,305	1,005	1,160	1,103
1993	Whole milk	604	703	895	1,052	1,069	1,240	1,322	898
	Skimmed milk	1,205	1,124	971	867	1,308	798	1,008	1,031
1990	Whole milk	938	1,102	1,271	1,491	1,388	1,471	1,649	1,232
	Skimmed milk	892	762	648	515	999	593	559	709
1989	Whole milk	1,105	1,232	1,358	1,512	1,702	1,696	1,832	1,376
	Skimmed milk	794	722	544	457	806	505	438	622
1988	Whole milk	1,167	1,393	1,545	1,639	1,695	1,794	1,893	1,513
	Skimmed milk	763	588	459	339	685	375	440	527
1985	Whole milk	1,648	1,722	1,911	2,017	2,101	2,077	2,282	1,888
	Skimmed milk	344	316	217	104	280	152	230	244
1980	Whole milk	2,390	2,335	2,312	2,276	2,678	2,534	2,592	2,364
	Skimmed milk	---------	---------	---------	---------	---------	---------	---------	---------

 

The following tabledetails the payments made to First ScotRail Limited since 4 October 2004 when the current franchise agreement commenced. All figuresare based on the franchise payment amounts specified in the franchise agreementadjusted, which allows for adjustments for price indexation, performance penaltiesor payments and variations or changes made to the agreement. The SRA and SPT wereresponsible for franchise payments during 2004-05 and the early part of the 2005-06years.

2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
£102,855,123	£184,711.497	£282,106,973

 

The Scottish Governmentrecognises that the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act1995 may include people with dyslexia. Our policies in relation to disability aretherefore inclusive of people with dyslexia.