Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-29428

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 14 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to create additional junior posts for physiotherapists in the NHS.

Decisions about the numbers andskill mix of staff are for NHS boards to make, according to the healthcare needsof their populations. Over the last 10 years, the numbers of physiotherapists workingin NHS Scotland has increased by almost 38%.

The Scottish Executive has supportedNHS boards in developing an appropriate and flexible skill mix, creating more opportunitiesfor junior staff by providing funding for Allied Health Professional Consultant and specialist practitionerposts, funding for Continuous Professional Development and funding for successionplanning through the provision of an AHP Leadership programme.

Question reference: S2W-29118

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times for appointments with a chiropodist have been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Information onchiropody/podiatry waiting times is not routinely collected nationally.

Aone-off census of allied health professional (AHP) services was carried out on 14 September 2005 to help ascertain the magnitude, variety anddiversity of AHPs’ caseloads. A broad range of information, including information onwaiting times, was gathered, and the reportWaiting for AHP Services - A Review Of The Numbers Waiting And PossibleWaiting Times For An Appointment With An AHP was published on 6 July 2006. Thisis available at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/collect2.jsp?pContentID=3896&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

The report provides summarydata concerning waiting times and numbers of patients waiting for appointmentson a particular day. The data suggests that 94% of patients could expect afirst appointment within 18 weeks and 75% of patients could expect a firstappointment in less than 10 weeks if they are to attend a clinic, six weeks ifthey are to be seen at home and two weeks if they are to be seen while an in-patient.

Question reference: S2W-29262

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 7 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many female remand prisoners have been sent from Aberdeen to Cornton Vale Prison in each of the last 24 months and, of these, how many were returned to Aberdeen for trial.

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

The number of prisoners transferredfrom Aberdeen to Cornton Vale Prison in each of the last 24 monthsis as follows:

Month	2004	2005	2006
January	0	7	0
February	0	6	0
March	0	3	0
April	0	3	0
May	0	4	0
June	0	2	0
July	0	7	0
August	0	4	0
September	0	15	0
October	0	0	0
November	2	0	0
December	9	0	0

The information requested onthe number of prisoners transferred to Aberdeen for trial is not available.

Question reference: S2W-29216

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes have been demolished in each local authority area in each year since 1999, also showing year-on-year percentage changes.

The following table shows thenumber of dwellings that have been demolished between 1999 and 2005.

Dwellings Demolished byLocal Authority Area: 1999 and 2005

Local Authority Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	5,552	5,911	6,105	5,204	4,205	4,890	4,323
% change from previous year		6%	3%	-15%	-19%	16%	-12%
Aberdeen City	-	-	-	-	17	-	-
Aberdeenshire	8	20	7	21	15	19	27
Angus	20	46	96	56	53	8	114
Argyll and Bute	15	12	17	10	40	54	155
Clackmannanshire	15	6	2	-	-	-	30
Dumfries and Galloway	15	2	1	3	13	6	9
Dundee City	493	634	474	544	277	1,001	432
East Ayrshire	49	62	84	168	373	169	408
East Dunbartonshire	6	79	77	-	5	6	11
East Lothian	-	-	-	-	2	3	-
East Renfrewshire	16	3	115	2	4	5	79
City of Edinburgh	555	281	369	339	180	316	119
Eilean Siar	49	24	24	14	11	43	25
Falkirk	-	1	-	-	-	-	80
Fife	309	17	18	154	53	118	7
City of Glasgow	2,496	2,882	2,947	2,206	1,406	1,774	2,011
Highland	1	8	9	11	17	1	8
Inverclyde	235	126	22	157	52	10	-
Midlothian	1	-	1	-	1	-	-
Moray	-	-	-	-	-	8	-
North Ayrshire	2	57	-	50	14	156	2
North Lanarkshire	215	76	529	117	152	36	21
Orkney	2	10	1	3	4	7	3
Perth and Kinross	4	7	13	11	6	7	-
Renfrewshire	158	157	193	229	802	554	162
Scottish Borders	44	33	8	8	-	1	1
Shetland	-	1	1	10	4	-	2
South Ayrshire	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
South Lanarkshire	41	90	45	214	88	160	415
Stirling	-	23	179	22	28	154	8
West Dunbartonshire	775	1,042	792	675	528	265	182
West Lothian	28	212	81	180	60	-	8

Source: Stock4 returns by local authorities to the Scottish Executive Development DepartmentAnalytical Services Division (Housing Statistics).

Note: 1. Nilis denoted by -.

Question reference: S2W-29208

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how it promotes rural home ownership grants.

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

We continue to promote rural home ownership grants throughoutrural Scotland through distribution of our brochures which explain thescheme.

In north east Scotland, copies of the brochures have been placed in AberdeenshireCouncil’s local housing offices. In addition, the Rural Housing Service has recentlystarted working with local people and community groups in Aberdeenshire to makethem aware of grants that are available and how they can be accessed. This includesproviding information about rural home ownership grants.

Angus Council’s website alsocontains information on rural home ownership grants.

Question reference: S2W-29215

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes have been compulsorily purchased in each local authority area in each year since 1999, also showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Where the Scottish ministersact as the confirming authority, the informationrequested is not held centrally. Once an order has been confirmed, the acquiringauthority has up to three years to implement the order. Ministers may not subsequentlybe informed whether the order has been implemented.

Where the Scottish ministersact as the promoter of trunk road schemes a draft compulsorily purchase order (CPO)is prepared for the acquisition of all land and property required to build the scheme.The schedule to the CPO gives a description of all plots including any propertiesto be acquired. There are no separate records kept of the number of homes acquiredfor each scheme. Residential properties included in a draft CPO are often acquiredby agreement in advance of the making of the order thereby enabling the owners topurchase alternative accommodation at the earliest opportunity.

Question reference: S2W-29209

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the eligibility criteria are for rural home ownership grants.

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

Rural home ownership grants aretargeted at areas where people have limited opportunities to build or buy a homethat meets their needs within their own communities. Grants are targetedat local people in employment who are first-time buyers. Previous homeowners canapply for grant assistance, although any capital gain from the sale of previousproperty is taken into account when deciding whether an application can be consideredfor funding.

Grant applicants should be onlow or modest incomes and are means tested. Grant awards are the minimum necessaryto allow projects to proceed, and do not normally exceed 33 per cent of approvedproject costs.

The size of the applicant householdis used to determine the size of the property that can be funded.

Question reference: S2W-29207

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many rural home ownership grant applications have been submitted in each relevant local authority area since 1999, also showing year-on-year percentage changes.

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

Information is available fromfinancial year 2002-03 onwards. The number of applications for rural home ownershipgrant submitted in each relevant local authority area in financial years 2002-03,2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, showing year-on-year percentage changes, is shownin the following table:

Number of Rural Home OwnershipGrant Applications Received by Relevant Local Authority Area (2002-03 to 2005-06)

Local Authority	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Aberdeenshire	1	2	2	2
Argyll and Bute	1	12	10	6
Highland	32	39	45	34
North Ayrshire	1	1	1	0
Orkney Islands	26	29	39	39
Perth and Kinross	8	1	25	1
Shetland Islands	3	4	4	6
The Scottish Borders	2	3	6	7
Western Isles	3	5	3	4
Total	77	96	135	99
Percentage changes	n/a	24.7%	40.6%	-26.7%

Question reference: S2W-29210

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many council houses have been sold in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

The following table shows thetotal number of sales of council dwellings from 1999 to 2005:

Sales of Council Dwellings: 1999to 2005

Local Authority Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	13,188	13,959	14,607	15,943	15,889	11,626	9,821
% change from previous year		6%	5%	9%		-16%	-16%
Aberdeen City	790	718	670	600	746	515	546
Aberdeenshire	320	441	387	449	393	277	325
Angus	228	256	194	236	251	237	314
Argyll and Bute	156	108	153	218	299	262	187
Clackmannanshire	124	104	136	191	230	120	109
Dumfries and Galloway	337	396	349	404	na	na	na
Dundee City	256	296	1,725	237	265	260	281
East Ayrshire	524	606	505	595	679	489	499
East Dunbartonshire	191	159	167	231	388	223	162
East Lothian	193	288	276	471	426	287	178
East Renfrewshire	60	118	127	167	141	86	100
City of Edinburgh	670	680	524	742	908	890	374
Eilean Siar	35	33	37	69	64	48	49
Falkirk	377	512	566	787	751	605	588
Fife	825	752	860	952	1,383	1,074	928
City of Glasgow	1,635	1,817	1,730	1,938	na	na	na
Highland	614	677	554	643	646	592	528
Inverclyde	364	389	287	286	282	..	..
Midlothian	204	186	241	330	384	276	158
Moray	165	158	147	203	183	195	198
North Ayrshire	391	420	387	493	585	499	487
North Lanarkshire	1,387	1,499	1,445	1,518	1,593	1,252	1,085
Orkney	45	29	22	24	34	27	18
Perth and Kinross	246	214	178	302	368	275	240
Renfrewshire	408	461	611	738	670	478	457
Scottish Borders	244	321	243	220	na	na	na
Shetland	108	71	54	85	60	33	50
South Ayrshire	247	227	235	280	470	380	249
South Lanarkshire	1,166	1,100	882	1,229	1,534	1,139	884
Stirling	212	231	218	309	295	264	176
West Dunbartonshire	251	209	224	305	430	331	295
West Lothian	415	483	473	691	846	440	356

Source: Sales 3 returns by localauthorities to the Scottish Executive Development Department Analytical ServicesDivision (Housing Statistics).

Notes:

1. Figures shown are for allsales including sales to sitting tenants,rent to mortgage, voluntary sales, sales to private developers, voluntary transfersto registered social landlords, tenants’ choice sales and other sales.

2. Due to housing stock transfers,figures for Dumfries and Galloway, City of Glasgow and Scottish Borders are excluded from 2003 onward, andthe percentage change between 2002 and 2003 is therefore not shown.

3. The following symbols areused:

- nil.

.. not available.

na not applicable.

Question reference: S2W-29212

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many affordable homes have been constructed in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

The following tables show thenumber of affordable homes approved by Communities Scotland by local authority areain each year since 1999 and the number of affordable homes completed since 2002-03,showing the percentage change. Information on completions is not available by localauthority area before 2002-03.

Table 1: Number of new and improvedhomes supported by the Development Programme approved by Communities Scotland.

Total Approved Units by LocalAuthority Summary 1999-2000 to 2005-06

Unitary Authority	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Aberdeenshire	206	206	193	309	221	147	246
Angus	123	115	108	93	98	48	172
Argyll and Bute	131	76	70	79	89	307	198
City of Aberdeen	209	190	113	111	233	153	72
City of Dundee	172	406	312	87	360	297	212
City of Edinburgh	764	370	324	271	517	422	858
City of Glasgow	1,873	1,463	1,638	1,589	1,373	1,139	920
Clackmannanshire	0	72	28	50	27	33	26
Dumfries and Galloway	125	162	96	98	154	188	196
East Ayrshire	63	72	36	0	40	10	96
East Dunbartonshire	81	0	10	4	13	142	66
East Lothian	33	18	34	0	163	47	106
East Renfrewshire	63	41	60	15	4	0	117
Falkirk	91	76	34	16	32	70	4
Fife	295	333	231	212	255	193	254
Highland	161	294	182	246	268	267	682
Inverclyde	144	193	184	135	128	147	219
Midlothian	28	0	45	14	1	31	128
Moray	56	35	10	4	92	159	222
North Ayrshire	93	39	126	71	79	86	125
North Lanarkshire	393	327	370	194	377	334	241
Orkney Islands	73	52	75	48	72	42	56
Perth and Kinross	334	103	148	182	152	396	258
Renfrewshire	255	206	276	269	353	109	318
Shetland Islands	38	7	40	7	38	59	18
South Ayrshire	81	146	95	80	60	70	121
South Lanarkshire	187	396	199	331	426	250	227
Stirling	115	107	59	35	114	19	33
The Scottish Borders	109	110	71	63	64	60	45
West Dunbartonshire	221	264	55	79	308	81	127
West Lothian	154	102	90	65	105	54	128
Western Isles	16	24	40	2	60	48	56
Total	6,687	6,005	5,352	4,759	6,276	5,408	6,547
Percentage Change	n/a	-10.2%	-10.9%	-11.1%	31.9%	-13.8%	21.1%

Table 2: Number of new and improvedhomes supported by the development programme completed.

Total Completions by Local Authorityfrom 2002-03 to 2005-06

Unitary Authority	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Aberdeenshire	174	154	268	213
Angus	128	84	108	93
Argyll and Bute	5	84	59	114
City of Aberdeen	125	79	129	137
City of Dundee	113	167	328	342
City of Edinburgh	457	199	461	569
City of Glasgow	1,493	1,608	1,414	1,231
Clackmannanshire	28	58	20	27
Dumfries and Galloway	60	128	83	141
East Ayrshire	102	2	6	11
East Dunbartonshire	0	4	8	142
East Lothian	4	30	159	35
East Renfrewshire	30	0	15	46
Falkirk	86	16	33	0
Fife	296	154	155	266
Highland	202	173	202	263
Inverclyde	150	101	127	130
Midlothian	33	27	4	111
Moray	35	2	55	178
North Ayrshire	76	78	75	80
North Lanarkshire	348	160	208	477
Orkney Islands	53	26	103	46
Perth and Kinross	132	159	159	128
Renfrewshire	205	121	184	335
Shetland Islands	15	3	84	6
South Ayrshire	163	42	94	19
South Lanarkshire	278	212	412	293
Stirling	113	61	95	52
The Scottish Borders	60	64	82	55
West Dunbartonshire	34	110	128	276
West Lothian	50	45	165	16
Western Isles	20	3	22	56
Total	5,068	4,154	5,445	5,888
Percentage Change	n/a	-18.0%	31.1%	8.1%

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