The Scottish Government has not met with Stakeholders about the siting of a justice centre in the Borders as part of the Making Justice Work Programme.

Responsibility for Scotland’s courts is a matter for the judicially led and independent Scottish Court Service (SCS) and not the Scottish Government. As part of their long term vision for the court estate, SCS has outlined to the Justice Committee that they intend to consider the possibility of integrated justice centres in four areas. The first of these feasibility studies is underway in the Borders and SCS and Scottish Borders Council are jointly undertaking the study, along with other justice partners.

Responsibility for Scotland’s courts is a matter for the judicially led and independent Scottish Court Service (SCS) and not the Scottish Government. Neither Selkirk or Jedburgh Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Courts formed part of the court closures recently approved by the Scottish Parliament. If SCS were to present any future plans to close courts, these would need to go through the relevant processes, including Parliament.

The North of Scotland Planning Group comprise NHS Highland, Grampian, Tayside, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. The Group facilitates collaborative work across the three north of Scotland cancer centres, in NHS Highland, Grampian and Tayside via the North of Scotland Cancer Network. (NOSCAN)

Information on how many consultants in (a) medical and (b) clinical oncology in the north of Scotland region can be found in the following tables.

The number of vacancies in the north region, including positions vacant for more than six months are also shown in the tables. Information on the number of positions vacant for over three months is not held centrally.

Further to the information provided in the answer to S4W-18385, the Scottish Government has had detailed discussions with the UK, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Estonia on minimum unit pricing of alcohol policy. Discussions with the UK, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have been ongoing over the last few years and taken place at both ministerial and official level.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing spoke about minimum unit pricing at an alcohol conference in Estonia in October this year, and had discussions with Ministers and officials. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing also spoke at an alcohol conference in Brussels in April this year which was attended by representatives of several countries within the European Economic Area.

At this conference, Professor Tim Stockwell presented his empirical findings on minimum pricing in Canada. The most recent results show a 10% increase in minimum prices significantly reduced consumption by 8.43% for all beverages combined; and a 10% increase in the average minimum price for all alcoholic beverages was associated with a 32% reduction in wholly alcohol attributable deaths.

Table 1 shows a summary of the statistically significant results that were included in the response to question S4W-18444. All of these statistical analyses were carried out in response to requests from members of the public, as part of ISD’s information request service. The information requests were send to ISD either directly by the member of the public or indirectly through their Health Board or the Scottish Government.

Table 1. Summary of statistically significant results produced by investigations into suspected cancer clusters; 2004-2013.

Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

Data Extracted: (1) November 2007; (2) June 2008; (3) May 2013; (4) June 2013.

Notes:

1. Cancer registration is a dynamic process: the data presented here may differ from other published data relating to the same time period.

2. 95% confidence intervals define a range between which there is a 95% probability that the value of the O/E ratio lies. By convention, if the range between the lower and upper 95% confidence intervals does not include the value 1.00, it is interpreted as a statistically significant difference in risk between the population being studied and the larger reference area.

Table 1 shows how the observed numbers of cancer registrations compare with the expected figures. The expected numbers of cancer registrations are calculated by applying the incidence rates for Scotland to the area in question. The observed/expected (O/E) ratio is the ratio of the actual number of cancer registrations to the number that would be expected if incidence rates were the same as in the whole of Scotland. The observed numbers of cancer registrations are subject to random variation, particularly when numbers are small. The confidence intervals around the O/E ratio give a measure of the extent of this variation.

In addition to these four analyses, an analysis was also carried out for the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) in 2012 on the area around Dalgety Bay. This was part of a much larger investigation and is not included in Table 1. The results of that investigation will be published by COMARE in 2014. All of the other results were sent to the customer and to the appropriate health board. No further investigation was carried out by ISD.

The Scottish Government does not hold the specific information sought. We recognise the contribution twitching and bird-watching can make to the Scottish economy.

As 2013, the Year of Natural Scotland, comes to an end, we welcome the fact that our rich and varied bird-life continues to be a draw for people in Scotland and our visitors alike; from the renowned Fair Isle Bird Observatory, the famous RSPB osprey reserve at Loch Garten, to the award winning Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick.

The income of individual crofters will vary widely between crofters and may derive from a number of diverse sources. The Scottish Government does not collect details of private income.

However, the Scottish Government does hold information in relation to direct payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy. The most recent analysis undertaken in 2011 indicated that 8,100 of businesses operating agricultural holdings wholly located within the crofting counties (both crofts and non-crofts) received £116 million in single farm payments during that year. This averaged around £14,450 per business operating agricultural holdings in that area.

In addition to single farm payments, figures from 2012 indicate that some £33.4 million of Scottish rural development programme support was provided within the crofting counties. Amongst other things, this was spent on agri-environment measures, forestry, and other business developments.

Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) 2004 (as amended) education authorities are required to take specific action to help prospective school leavers with additional support needs to make the transition from school to post-school life successfully.

The Act places a duty on the education authority to request and share information from an appropriate agency or agencies, if any, which are likely to be involved with the prospective school leaver on leaving school.

Appropriate agencies, all in Scotland, which may be involved are:

any NHS board, any other local authority, Skills Development Scotland, any further education college, the Scottish Agricultural College and any institution of higher education.

The deployment and use of CS spray, including the issuing of guidance, is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Officers must ensure that the use of CS spray is fair, proportionate and justifiable.

Police Scotland does not use CS Gas, they use CS Spray. The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Labour market statistics from the Annual Population Survey provide figures on the number of people from other European countries living in Scotland and their contribution towards the economy in terms of their labour market participation. Data is not available for individual countries of origin due to the underlying sample sizes:

Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec datasets, ONS.