Chamber and committees

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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-14072

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13367 by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2005, what the rate of recorded burglary was per thousand population, broken down by police force area in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04.

The available information is given in the table.

Crimes of Housebreaking per 1,000 population, 1999-2000 to 2003-2004

Police Force	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
All Scotland	10.4	9.4	9.0	8.0	7.2
Central	8.6	7.6	6.6	6.5	6.4
Dumfries and Galloway	8.0	7.2	6.1	6.2	4.8
Fife	11.3	9.2	9.5	9.3	9.7
Grampian	11.5	13.1	10.6	9.0	8.1
Lothian and Borders	8.8	7.0	7.0	6.6	7.1
Northern	3.0	3.0	2.7	2.8	2.8
Strathclyde	12.1	10.9	10.5	9.1	7.7
Tayside	9.7	8.5	9.8	8.1	5.7

Question reference: S2O-05552

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its advice from officials is not to fund the Borders Railway and whether the matter will require a ministerial direction.

Question reference: S2W-14071

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13366 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 January 2005, what percentage of people in Scotland lived in overcrowded housing, broken down by local authority area, in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04.

The information requested is in table 1. As the information is only available at local authority level for 1999 and 2000 and 2001 and 2002, additional information is contained in table 2.

Table 1: Percentage of People in Scotland who Live in Overcrowded Households, by Local Authority

	1999 and 2000		2001 and 2002
	%	Base	%	Base
Aberdeen City	6	2,662	6	2,680
Aberdeenshire	4	3,071	4	3,149
Angus	4	1,508	4	1,520
Argyll and Bute	8	1,356	4	1,289
Clackmannanshire	5	1,408	5	1,265
Dumfries and Galloway	5	2,085	6	1,925
Dundee City	6	1,648	8	1,842
East Ayrshire	6	1,558	5	1,667
East Dunbartonshire	3	1,535	4	1,579
East Lothian	6	1,390	3	1,432
East Renfrewshire	3	1,278	4	1,321
Edinburgh City	6	5,422	5	5,025
Eilean Siar	6	1,552	5	1,371
Falkirk	6	1,966	4	1,867
Fife	4	4,485	4	4,472
Glasgow City	11	6,661	10	6,777
Highland	3	2,656	4	2,822
Inverclyde	12	1,242	8	1,219
Midlothian	8	1,530	7	1,588
Moray	3	1,519	3	1,490
North Ayrshire	6	1,930	5	1,727
North Lanarkshire	9	4,002	9	4,128
Orkney	3	1,301	2	1,457
Perth and Kinross	4	1,766	3	1,682
Renfrewshire	8	2,144	8	2,154
Scottish Borders	4	1,434	4	1,472
Shetland	5	1,506	4	1,570
South Ayrshire	4	1,594	6	1,571
South Lanarkshire	8	3,871	7	3,860
Stirling	4	1,511	3	1,404
West Dunbartonshire	8	1,238	7	1,170
West Lothian	4	2,055	4	1,958
Scotland	6	70,884	6	70,453

Table 2: Percentage of People in Scotland who Live in Overcrowded Households, by Local Authority Grouping

	1999		2000		2001		2002		2003
	%	Base	%	Base	%	Base	%	Base	%	Base
Edinburgh	7	2,625	5	2,797	5	2,621	5	2,404	5	2,549
Glasgow	12	2,896	11	3,765	9	3,559	10	3,218	10	3,241
Fife	5	2,272	4	2,213	4	2,044	4	2,428	4	2,293
North Lanarkshire	9	2,022	9	1,980	7	2,086	11	2,042	9	2,051
South Lanarkshire	7	1,928	9	1,943	6	1,994	8	1,866	6	1,901
Highlands and Islands	5	4,892	4	4,998	4	5,057	4	4,942	3	4,765
Grampian	5	2,813	5	2,920	5	2,931	5	2,898	3	2,795
Tayside	4	2,441	5	2,481	6	2,435	5	2,609	5	2,276
Central	5	2,351	5	2,534	4	2,304	3	2,232	3	2,214
Dunbartonshire	6	1,350	5	1,423	7	1,422	5	1,327	6	1,210
Renfrewshire and Inverclyde	8	2,148	7	2,516	7	2,474	7	2,220	5	2,406
Ayrshire	6	2,503	5	2,579	6	2,614	4	2,351	4	2,168
Lothians	8	2,643	3	2,332	5	2,607	4	2,371	5	2,321
Southern Scotland	5	1,824	4	1,695	5	1,706	5	1,691	4	1,658
Scotland	7	34,708	6	36,176	6	35,854	6	34,599	5	33,848

Source: The Scottish Household Survey (SHS), 1999-2003.

Notes:

1. Figures for 2004 have not yet been published.

2. Comparisons between years and areas should be treated with caution as the statistics may differ due to, for example, sampling variability.

3. For the purposes of this PQ, ‘overcrowded households’ are defined as being households which are below the bedroom standard. The calculation of the number of bedrooms required is based on the assumption that a separate bedroom is required for:

- each cohabiting couple;

- any other person aged 21years or over;

- each pair of young persons of the same sex aged 10-20 years; and

- each pair of children under 10 years (regardless of sex).

Unpaired young persons aged 10-20 are paired with a child under 10 of the same sex if possible or allocated a separate bedroom. Any unpaired children under 10 are also allocated a separate bedroom.

4. The results are given for calendar years as the survey is not designed to be representative for any council area for a financial year.

5. Table 1 gives figures for two-year periods, as the SHS is not designed to be representative for all councils over a one-year period.

6. Table 2 gives figures for each calendar year for local authority groupings. For further information on these groups, please refer to the SHS publications:

(www.scotland.gov.uk/shs).

7. The base numbers show the size of the population sub-group questioned in the survey (i.e. people examined in each area) but cannot be used to calculate how many respondents gave a certain answer.

Question reference: S2W-14070

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 14 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13365 by Peter Peacock on 21 January 2005, what percentage of young people left school at 16, broken down by local authority area, in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004.

Question reference: S2W-13833

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of paraphernalia has been distributed in needle and syringe exchanges following amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and whether any financial restrictions have had an impact on the amount of additional paraphernalia that needle exchange programmes can distribute as a preventative measure against blood-borne viruses.

This information is not currently available. The Executive is currently in the process of commissioning research, jointly with the National Treatment Agency in England, to undertake a national survey of needle exchange services in Scotland and England. The findings will give a clear indication of the extent and nature of paraphernalia distribution by needle exchanges, including pharmacy schemes.

In addition to specific allocations for Blood Borne Viruses and drug treatment, health boards are given a unified budget to meet the health care needs of their resident population. It is for boards to decide how best to utilise this funding to meet local and national priorities.

Question reference: S2W-13824

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a review of substitution treatment and the dosage supplied in order to develop its effectiveness in addressing injecting drug misuse and in reducing the transmission of hepatitis C.

Question reference: S2W-13823

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider increasing substitution treatment as an alternative to needle exchange in respect of tackling hepatitis C in prisons.

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

The Scottish Prison Service is steadily increasing its commitment to substitution treatment. While such treatment reduces the demand for injecting drugs, it does not remove the risk of spread of blood borne infection from sharing needles. International experience is that operating needle exchange schemes can be an effective additional measure to protect the population, rather than as a replacement for substitution. The Scottish Prison Service is currently considering its approach to measures such as making needle exchanges available to prisoners. It has not reached a decision.

Question reference: S2W-13832

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many needles and syringes were distributed to illicit drug injectors last year and how it will address any shortfall in the number of needles and syringes being provided.

Information provided by drug and alcohol action teams in the annual Corporate Action Plans indicates that 3,937,553 needles and syringes were distributed across Scotland in 2003-04.

The Lord Advocate’s guidance on needle exchange was changed in December 2002 to allow needle exchange facilities to give out a greater number of needles and syringes, per individual per transaction. The impact of this change is currently being evaluated by the Executive under the Scottish Drug Misuse Research Programme. The final report of the study will be made available later this year.

Question reference: S2W-13831

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made in respect of the numbers of sterile injecting equipment required for each episode of illicit drug injecting in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Executive has published research which estimates that the numbers of injecting drug users in Scotland in 2000 and 2003 were 22,805 and 18,737 respectively. The frequency of injecting by any drug user will vary considerably. However, by assuming that the number of injecting episodes varies between one and three per day, the estimated numbers of sterile injecting equipment required per year were 8 to 25 million in 2000 and 7 to 20.5 million in 2003.

The reports of the National Prevalence Studies in 2000 and 2003 can be viewed at:

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/prevalence.htm

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/prevalence3.htm.

Question reference: S2W-13825

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 February 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that pharmacies, drug misuse and harm-reduction services are not punitive in their outlook when working with those involved in drug misuse.

Staff attitudes are central to effective engagement with drug users and it is recognised that punitive and/or judgemental attitudes are counterproductive. The Scottish Executive has published research which describes good practice in prescribing, and clearly explains the risk to public health of re-using and sharing injecting equipment. A range of training programmes delivered by Scottish Training on Drugs and Alcohol addresses attitudes towards drug use and drug users.

The Right Medicine - A Strategy for Pharmaceutical Care in Scotland acknowledges the contribution that pharmacists can play in delivering services to drug misusers in Scotland.