Chamber and committees

<>The General Medical Services contract came into effect on 1 April 2004 and patients no longer register with a specific GP. Instead they register with the practice as a whole (even though they may wish to see a particular GP most or all of the time). Latest figures and historical figures from 2004 are available from Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics in Scotland and can be accessed via this link: http://www.sns.gov.uk/default.aspx.

 

Scotland has more GPs per head of population than the rest of the UK

Country	No. of GPs in 2012	Population (Mid-year 2012)	GPs: per head  of population
Scotland	4,859	5,313,600	1:1094
England	40,265	53,493,700	1:1329
Wales	2,275	3,074,100	1:1351
Northern Ireland.	1,170	1,823,634	1:1559

The average number of patients per GPs are based on headcounts of GP partners and GPs employed on a salaried basis. They do not take account of GP retainees, trainee GPs or GP locums, who between them also provide a significant amount of care to patients.

The average number of registered patients per contracted GP

Health Board	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Ayrshire and Arran	1,358	1,342	1,316	1,296	1,290	1,305	1,351	1,384	1,401
Borders	1,189	1,147	1,146	1,195	1,125	1,096	1,108	1,086	1,129
Dumfries and Galloway	1,178	1,122	1,125	1,122	1,135	1,118	1,118	1,160	1,156
Fife	1,437	1,446	1,436	1,421	1,397	1,395	1,456	1,483	1,479
Forth Valley	1,383	1,384	1,399	1,317	1,342	1,323	1,344	1,332	1,321
Grampian	1,338	1,254	1,232	1,220	1,185	1,173	1,184	1,197	1,171
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,491	1,484	1,447	1,442	1,437	1,436	1,449	1,428	1,455
Highland	920	908	899	860	847	839	849	857	871
Lanarkshire	1,642	1,647	1,641	1,610	1,607	1,610	1,596	1,600	1,575
Lothian	1,387	1,329	1,305	1,306	1,305	1,289	1,306	1,263	1,270
Orkney	507	498	504	471	597	600	644	557	743
Shetland	761	924	926	717	719	685	759	736	692
Tayside	1,379	1,341	1,327	1,324	1,324	1,324	1,302	1,302	1,295
Western Isles	687	674	769	749	691	626	705	760	665

Scottish Government advertising spend is capped at £6,694,453. Spend for 2011-12 and 2012-13 is available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/Directorates/Communications/advertising-marketing/spend

Expenditure relating to promoting each government initiative is not held. However, in line with the Public Sector Reform (Scotland) Act, the Scottish Government has published its total Public Relations spend (as defined by the Act) for 2011-12 and this can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Information/expenditure/PSRA2010.

Spend for 2012-13 will be published in due course.

Spend by medium used is not held. Media planning and buying is managed by Carat, which is the single supplier on the media planning and buying framework.

Other organisations used by the Scottish Government for its marketing activities are APS, which is the single supplier for providing design, print and publishing services, and the agencies on the Marketing Services Framework which can be viewed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/directory/marketingservices/marketingservices/multilotsupplierlist

The Scottish Government does not hold these data below legacy police force level. Section 1.6 of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework Annual Report 2012-13 provides legacy police force level statistics on how many emergency response were recorded and the average response time of the legacy forces.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PoliceSPPF.

Police performance reporting is now a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. Working with partners, the SPA is now developing a new national framework for monitoring and managing the performance of policing in Scotland.

In advance of reform the Scottish Government collected the number of police officers and police staff at legacy force level. The Scottish Government does not hold these data below legacy police force level.

The Scottish Government reports on its commitment to provide 1,000 extra police officers in the Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics Scotland statistical series, providing the total number of police officers employed by the eight legacy police forces, available via the following web link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength.

Further data on the number of police officers and police staff employed by the eight legacy forces can be found in Scottish Policing Performance Framework Annual reports, available via the following web link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PoliceSPPF.

Information on the number of registered sex offenders in the eight legacy police force areas for the last five years, is available in Table 5.4.1 of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework Annual Report 2012-13. This is available via the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PoliceSPPF.

The Scottish Borders span the two legacy force areas of Lothian and Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, and statistics for each of those areas will include sex offenders from Scottish Borders communities. Figures for the Scottish Borders alone are not held centrally.

The management of sex offenders in Scotland is more stringent than ever with significant powers for law enforcement agencies including a disclosure scheme surveillance, electronic tagging, curfews and prohibitions on movement. We are also currently consulting on options for use of the latest satellite GPS technology which would make monitoring these individuals even more effective.

The Scottish Government does not hold these data below legacy police force level. Section 1.3 of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework Annual Report 2012-13 provides legacy police force level statistics on the public’s satisfaction with the way the police dealt with an incident that they reported.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PoliceSPPF.

Police performance reporting is now a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. Working with partners, the SPA is now developing a new national framework for monitoring and managing the performance of policing in Scotland.

The following table shows the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police as part of racist incidents in the Scottish Borders, from 2007-08 to 2011-12.

Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police as Part of Racist Incidents, Scottish Borders, 2007-08 to 2011-12

Year	Number of crimes/ offences
2007-08	49
2008-09	54
2009-10	44
2010-11	44
2011-12	32

Source: Scottish Government Racist Incidents dataset.

The statistical bulletin Racist Incidents Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2012-13 is scheduled for publication by the Scottish Government on 10 December 2013.

The following table shows the number of people proceeded against, convicted and the conviction rate in the Scottish Borders for a crime where a racial aggravator was recorded, 2007-08 to 2011-12.

Persons Proceeded Against, Persons Convicted and Conviction Rate for Crimes Where Racial Aggravator was Recorded, Scottish Borders, 2007-08 to 2011-12

Financial year	Proceedings	Convictions	%
2007-08	17	13	76
2008-09	11	11	100
2009-10	5	5	100
2010-11	10	9	90
2011-12	12	11	92

Source: Scottish Government Court Proceedings Database.

Where a person is proceeded against for more than one crime or offence in a single set of proceedings, analysis of sentencing outcomes are based on the main charge. The main charge is the one receiving the severest penalty if one or more charges are proved. The data referred to above therefore only includes people convicted of an offence where the racial aggravation has been applied to the main charge. This will therefore be an undercount of the true number of charges proved with a racial aggravator recorded.

Data on convictions and crime data are not comparable for a number of reasons. Convictions data is based on numbers of individual people proceeded against in court, while crime data is a count of individual crimes and offences recorded by the police. A single crime or offence recorded by the police may have more than one perpetrator, or alternatively, an individual may be the perpetrator of several cases of the same crime.

Additionally, there is the possibility that the crime or offence recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings, while a crime or offence may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings not concluded until a later year. Crimes and offences alleged to have been committed by children under 16 years old are also generally dealt with through the children’s hearings system rather than through the courts.

The research has been available on request since its completion. A copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 55396) and members of the Cross Party Group on Cycling have also been sent a copy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17143 on 26 September 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Scotland’s national parks are two of our greatest national assets and the Scottish Government fully recognises the valuable contribution they make to our tourism industry and wider Scottish economy. Our national park authorities, working closely with a range of partners, play a vital role in managing the parks, in supporting sustainable rural development, in promoting and enhancing the visitor experience and ensuring that the parks’ landscapes and special qualities are conserved and enhanced for future generations.

The Scottish Government’s priority, at a time of a 10.9% real terms reduction by the UK Government in the Scottish Government’s Fiscal Department Expenditure Limit (DEL) over 2010-11 to 2015-16, which includes a 26.6% capital budget reduction, has been to focus support on Scotland’s existing national parks. This includes supporting their five-year Partnership Plans and investing substantial capital in visitor infrastructure and facilities, rather than on the development of a separate national park strategy.

The Scottish Government has noted the recommendations made by the Scottish Campaign for National Parks (SCNP) and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland in their report ‘Unfinished Business’, and the welcome commitment to national parks in Scotland that this represents. However, the report’s recommendations, including the call for new national parks and the development of a national park strategy, must be viewed in the context of the current financial climate and the Government’s focus on supporting our existing national parks. This matter was discussed with representatives of SCNP and the Association for Protection of Rural Scotland when we met on 5 September 2013.