Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

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: S4W-09799

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 12 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether single outcome agreements measure the (a) resources spent and (b) outcomes achieved in tackling poverty.

Question reference: S4W-09800

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 12 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how it will help local authorities embed preventative approaches in single outcome agreements.

Question reference: S4W-09869

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Public Audit Committee’s assessment that many people from deprived communities feel that it is inevitable that they will have health problems like heart disease, and what action it will take to change this perception.

The Scottish Government is committed to addressing the unfair and unjust health differences which disproportionately affect those living in Scotland’s most deprived communities. That is why the Keep Well anticipatory health checks are targeted at people over 40, living in Scotland’s poorest communities and most at risk of poor health.

Our approach to tackling health inequalities was set out in Equally Well, the report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities. A key feature being the shift in emphasis from dealing with the consequences of health inequalities to tackling the underlying causes such as poverty, employment, support for families and improving physical and social environments.

This has included the promotion of an assets-based approach, engaging with communities, to build on the resources that they have at their disposal, to promote self-esteem and the coping abilities of individuals and their communities. Examples of this work include the Equally Well test sites, which sought to promote collaboration amongst local public service providers with the aim of reducing inequalities in health and wellbeing. The Ministerial Task Force will meet on 29 November to examine progress.

Question reference: S4W-09871

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether staffing shortages are having an impact on cancer screening.

Question reference: S4W-09850

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people are unemployed in each local authority area, also broken down by those unemployed for over (a) six and (b) 12 months, expressed as a percentage of the population.

The official measure of unemployment based on the ILO (International Labour Organisation) definition is not reliable for these disaggregations at local authority level. However, an alternative measure of unemployment is the claimant count. This gives the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits, and as it is based on administrative records collected by the Department of Work and Pensions, it is available for small areas and various disaggregations within these areas. The latest claimant count data is for August 2012.

The claimant count level and rate for 16 to 24-year-olds (as a proportion of the resident population aged 16 to 24) in each local authority, broken down by those claiming for more than (a) six and (b) twelve months, is shown in the following table.

Claimant Counts Levels and Rates for Young People (aged 16 to 24) by Duration of Claim for Scottish Local Authority Areas, August 2012

Local Authority

All Claimants

(a) Claiming for over 6 Months

(b) Claiming for over 12 Months

Level¹

Percentage²

Level¹

Percentage²

Level¹

Percentage²

Aberdeen City	855	2.8	250	0.8	100	0.3
Aberdeenshire	700	2.8	185	0.7	85	0.3
Angus	845	7.6	245	2.2	115	1.0
Argyll and Bute	475	5.2	150	1.6	75	0.8
Clackmannanshire	640	11.1	275	4.7	145	2.5
Dumfries and Galloway	1,115	7.7	430	3.0	210	1.5
Dundee City	1,935	8.8	795	3.6	405	1.9
East Ayrshire	1,650	11.7	560	4.0	275	1.9
East Dunbartonshire	610	5.2	190	1.6	85	0.7
East Lothian	640	6.0	230	2.1	100	0.9
East Renfrewshire	475	4.7	130	1.3	65	0.7
Edinburgh, City of	2,960	4.4	895	1.3	405	0.6
Eilean Siar	105	4.5	25	1.1	10	0.5
Falkirk	1,345	7.9	510	3.0	245	1.4
Fife	3,630	8.0	1,280	2.8	620	1.4
Glasgow City	7,085	8.6	2,425	2.9	1,120	1.4
Highland	1,015	4.8	290	1.4	125	0.6
Inverclyde	920	10.0	280	3.0	110	1.2
Midlothian	745	8.0	285	3.1	135	1.5
Moray	430	4.5	135	1.4	55	0.6
North Ayrshire	1,960	12.8	710	4.6	360	2.3
North Lanarkshire	3,955	10.5	1,500	4.0	735	1.9
Orkney Islands	60	3.2	20	0.9	10	0.5
Perth and Kinross	700	4.2	180	1.1	85	0.5
Renfrewshire	1,670	8.5	620	3.2	285	1.5
Scottish Borders	745	6.9	290	2.7	140	1.3
Shetland Islands	60	2.7	20	0.8	5	0.3
South Ayrshire	1,010	8.5	340	2.9	130	1.1
South Lanarkshire	3,020	8.7	1,170	3.4	565	1.6
Stirling	655	5.0	250	1.9	120	0.9
West Dunbartonshire	1,125	10.4	440	4.1	245	2.2
West Lothian	1,500	7.6	535	2.7	215	1.1
Scotland	44,640	7.1	15,625	2.5	7,385	1.2

Source: Claimant count, not seasonally adjusted, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Levels rounded to nearest

2. Rates (percentages) based on resident population aged 16 to 24 using mid-2010 population estimates.

Question reference: S4W-09849

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are unemployed in each local authority area, also broken down by those unemployed for over (a) six and (b) 12 months, expressed as a percentage of the population.

The official measure of unemployment based on the ILO (International Labour Organisation) definition is not reliable for these disaggregations at local authority level. However, an alternative measure of unemployment is the claimant count. This gives the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits, and as it is based on administrative records collected by the Department of Work and Pensions, it is available for small areas. The latest claimant count data is for August 2012.

The claimant count level and rate (as a proportion of the resident population aged 16 to 64) in each local authority, broken down by those claiming for over (a) six months and (b) 12 months, is shown in the following table.

Claimant Counts Levels and Rates by Duration of Claim for Scottish Local Authority Areas, August 2012

Local Authority

All Claimants

(a) Claiming for over 6 Months

(b) Claiming for over 12 Months

Level¹

Percentage²

Level¹

Percentage²

Level¹

Percentage²

Aberdeen City	3,360	2.2	1,345	0.9	735	0.5
Aberdeenshire	2,125	1.3	790	0.5	425	0.3
Angus	2,400	3.5	900	1.3	530	0.8
Argyll and Bute	1,735	3.1	815	1.5	540	1.0
Clackmannanshire	1,795	5.4	890	2.7	570	1.7
Dumfries and Galloway	3,445	3.8	1,610	1.8	930	1.0
Dundee City	6,120	6.5	3,110	3.3	1,980	2.1
East Ayrshire	4,990	6.4	2,355	3.0	1,490	1.9
East Dunbartonshire	1,810	2.7	775	1.2	440	0.7
East Lothian	1,960	3.2	825	1.3	435	0.7
East Renfrewshire	1,400	2.5	530	0.9	300	0.5
Edinburgh, City of	11,355	3.3	4,910	1.4	2,815	0.8
Eilean Siar	520	3.2	250	1.6	150	0.9
Falkirk	4,545	4.6	2,195	2.2	1,285	1.3
Fife	11,140	4.7	5,155	2.2	3,115	1.3
Glasgow City	25,255	6.1	11,660	2.8	7,095	1.7
Highland	3,775	2.7	1,455	1.0	795	0.6
Inverclyde	3,010	5.8	1,310	2.5	735	1.4
Midlothian	2,175	4.2	940	1.8	520	1.0
Moray	1,385	2.5	550	1.0	305	0.5
North Ayrshire	6,010	7.0	2,890	3.4	1,785	2.1
North Lanarkshire	12,345	5.8	5,940	2.8	3,515	1.6
Orkney Islands	180	1.4	70	0.6	45	0.4
Perth and Kinross	2,210	2.4	775	0.8	425	0.5
Renfrewshire	5,570	5.0	2,535	2.3	1,505	1.4
Scottish Borders	2,095	3.0	930	1.3	535	0.8
Shetland Islands	215	1.5	70	0.5	40	0.3
South Ayrshire	3,160	4.5	1,400	2.0	735	1.1
South Lanarkshire	9,425	4.6	4,355	2.1	2,575	1.3
Stirling	1,955	3.4	870	1.5	505	0.9
West Dunbartonshire	3,835	6.4	1,920	3.2	1,190	2.0
West Lothian	4,375	3.8	1,785	1.6	880	0.8
Scotland	145,680	4.2	65,900	1.9	38,910	1.1

Source: Claimant count, not seasonally adjusted, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Levels rounded to nearest five.

2. Rates (percentages) based on resident population aged 16 to 64 using mid-2010 population estimates.

Question reference: S4W-09848

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many people attended the West of Scotland Action Forum on Youth Employment on 21 August 2012 and how many were private sector employers.

Question reference: S4W-09808

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the statement of Dr Michael Williams, Reader in International Relations at Royal Holloway College, University of London, that Trident would still be based in a Scotland separated from the rest of the UK and, if this were the case, whether there would be a lease arrangement and for how long.

Question reference: S4W-09765

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 4 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of welfare reform on its plans for preventative spending.

Question reference: S4W-09803

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 4 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the reason is for the further delay in publication of the report of the public inquiry into the outbreak of Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital and when it will now be published.