Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-28900

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the most common motoring offences were for which a conviction or fine has been issued in each year since 1999, broken down by gender.

The available information onthe relative frequency of motoring offences resulting in a charge proved in courtis given in the following tables.

Motor Vehicle Offences witha Charge Proved in Scottish Courts – Male Offenders, 1999-2000 to 2004-05

Type of offence	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Total offences	69,201	55,333	62,014	67,516	68,524	62,538
Serious Driving Offences
Dangerous driving	934	808	924	1,163	1,131	1,181
Careless driving	3,713	2,724	3,347	3,439	3,707	3,396
Drunk Driving	7,754	6,517	6,719	9,440	8,075	8,964
of which:
Driving while unfit through drink or drugs	375	397	426	542	401	374
In charge while unfit through drink or drugs	56	48	50	65	59	43
Driving with excess blood alcohol	6,000	4,813	5,031	7,285	6,294	5,970
In charge with excess blood alcohol	306	242	246	407	354	334
Failing to provide breath specimen at the roadside	268	252	226	250	202	229
Failing to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at a police station	749	765	740	891	765	816
Failing to stop after accident	2,025	1,209	1,344	1,299	1,259	1,198
Driving while disqualified	3,124	3,214	3,264	3,894	3,768	3,358
Speeding Offences
Speeding in restricted areas	7,265	4,045	2,983	2,141	2,708	2,511
Other speeding offences1	6,752	4,565	6,105	6,574	8,382	9,122
Signal and Direction Offences
Traffic direction offences	1,577	1,136	1,485	1,053	849	729
Pedestrian crossing offences	223	166	211	152	184	136
Lighting, Construction and Use Offences
Lighting offences	1,020	743	1,041	937	875	642
Construction and use regulations	2,610	1,707	1,590	2,122	2,392	2,261
Documentation Offences
Vehicle excise licence offences	3,821	3,924	3,822	2,842	2,438	2,246
No test certificate	2,861	2,585	3,143	3,166	3,165	2,163
Driving licence offences	5,511	5,002	6,395	7,829	8,077	7,220
Third party insurance offences	13,904	12,639	15,324	17,501	17,461	14,790
Registration/identification offences	370	157	156	147	231	192
Other Offences
Failure to provide information to identify driver	75	66	175	264	244	212
Tachograph etc offences	1,598	962	814	968	1,077	1,353
Seat belt offences	2,627	2,129	2,069	1,804	1,746	1,079
Parking offences	254	55	14	16	8	8
Other offences	1,183	980	1,089	765	747	975

Note: 1. Includes motorway and clearway offences.

Motor Vehicle Offences witha Charge Proved in Scottish Courts – Female Offenders, 1999-2000 to 2004-05

Type of Offence	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Total offences	7,307	6,182	6,859	8,704	9,766	9,050
Serious Driving Offences
Dangerous driving	31	23	35	47	53	52
Careless driving	586	397	502	618	706	636
Drunk Driving	773	714	755	1,247	1,117	1,209
Driving while unfit through drink or drugs	61	36	47	66	57	77
In charge while unfit through drink or drugs	1	5	5	12	8	6
Driving with excess blood alcohol	544	535	577	972	835	891
In charge with excess blood alcohol	27	21	31	47	43	50
Failing to provide breath specimen at the roadside	42	22	27	29	38	35
Failing to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at a police station	98	95	68	121	136	150
Failing to stop after accident	268	159	179	220	266	216
Driving while disqualified	83	99	113	199	187	176
Speeding Offences
Speeding in restricted areas	1,084	617	465	445	622	616
Other speeding offences¹	672	526	779	999	1,364	1,589
Signal and Direction Offences
Traffic direction offences	134	141	187	195	139	136
Pedestrian crossing offences	56	40	33	33	34	33
Lighting, Construction and Use Offences
Lighting offences	103	72	91	103	90	67
Construction and use regulations	186	126	133	173	204	164
Documentation Offences
Vehicle excise licence offences	660	750	707	591	616	541
No test certificate	276	292	317	379	470	283
Driving licence offences	544	546	638	931	1,166	1,001
Third party insurance offences	1,341	1,292	1,516	2,136	2,305	1,967
Registration/identification offences	24	9	11	11	16	19
Other Offences
Failure to provide information to identify driver	9	8	11	31	26	31
Tachograph etc offences	5	6	6	3	2	4
Seat belt offences	305	272	287	282	272	156
Parking offences	69	11	4	-	-	-
Other offences	98	82	90	61	111	154

Note: 1. Includes motorway and clearway offences.

Question reference: S2W-28988

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28606 by Tavish Scott on 6 October 2006, whether it has given any consideration to the potential use of the National Entitlement Card for local crossrail projects and, if so, what guidance it has issued on the matter.

Question reference: S2W-28606

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to extend the National Entitlement Card scheme to enable there to be free concessionary travel by national rail transport.

Question reference: S2O-10738

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 5 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards the construction of a 50-metre swimming pool in Aberdeen to assist the preparation of Scotland¿s future international swimmers for championship events.

Question reference: S2W-28070

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much business each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies has done in each year since 1999 with (a) Royal Mail and (b) private companies for the transportation of correspondence.

I have asked the Chief Executives of the agencies to respond. Their responses are as follows:

Royal Mail	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Accountant in Bankruptcy(6)	n/a	n/a	n/a	£20,180	£28,540	£29049	£27,283
Communities Scotland(1)	£153,777	£155,258	£87,106	£80,424	£65,548	£38,084	£56,746
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service	£180,148	£147,130	£155,674	£69,810	£39,414	£110,625	£131,667
Fisheries Research Services(4)	£22,250	£23,100	£22,000	£21,138	£20,081	£20,724	£15,978
General Register Office for Scotland(15)	£6,049	£2,717	£727,574	£87,856	£101,120	£52,524	£127,757
Historic Scotland	£116,337	£119,780	£122,845	£111,561	£156,959	£136,345	£93,709
HMI Fire Service(12)	£985	£1,064	£1,673	£1,166	£1,054	£554	£499
HMI Constabulary (13)	£1,156	£3,849	£1,779	£1,702	£2,455	£1,831	£1,620
HMI Education(8)	n/a	n/a	£31,154	££36,700	£48089	£63,566	£77,650
HMI Prisons(14)	£652	£1,072	£608	£663	£497	£535	£615
National Archives for Scotland(9)	n/a	n/a	n/a	£9,574	£8,273	£8,163	£8,635
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator(11)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£1,000	£3,354	£11,600
Registers Of Scotland	£47,718	£63,902	£108,148	£84,730	£84,940	£73,411	£70,406
Scottish Agricultural Science Agency(18)	£12,914	£13,060	£10,803	£11,078	£7,403	£9,400	£10,769
Scottish Building Standards Agency(7)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£972	£3,160
Scottish Courts Service(5)	n/a	n/a	£574,000	£376,000	£360,000	£360,000	£362,000
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency(2)	n/a	n/a	£27,831	£23,017	£19,553	£18,892	£26,272
Scottish Prison Service(10)	£99,000	£94,000	£88,000	£104,000	£100,000	£86,000	£89,000
Scottish Public Pensions Agency	£82,114	£59,248	£75,640	£42,547	£120,091	£118,483	£90,289
Social Work Inspection Agency(3)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£5,368
Student Award Agency for Scotland(16)	n/a	n/a	£156,199	£178,970	£189,287	£150,905	£133,950
Transport Scotland.(17)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£13,974

Private Companies	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Accountant in Bankruptcy(6)	n/a	n/a	n/a	£4,711	£7,724	£10,025	£10,928
Communities Scotland(1)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£18,272	£33,919
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service	£211,428	£273,927	£380,035	£233,743	£287,503	£283,703	£223,014
Fisheries Research Services(4)	n/a	n/a	n/a	£10,098	£5,618	£2,100	£3,683
General Register Office for Scotland(15)	n/a	£92,714	£164,490	£12,251	£10,602	£8,619	£17,657
Historic Scotland	£30,099	£56,804	£44,614	£51,513	£33,353	£52,535	£87,539
HMI Fire Service(12)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£1,030
HMI Constabulary (13)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£2,063
HM Education(8)	n/a	n/a	£3,444	£321	£548	£2,591	£2,734
HMI Prisons(14)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£104
National Archives for Scotland(9)	n/a	n/a	n/a	£632	£134	£2,546	£581
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator(11)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£0	£11,626	£27,078
Registers Of Scotland	£289,016	£340,544	£351,892	£226,939	£268,347	£364,632	£354,973
Scottish Agricultural Science Agency(18)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Scottish Building Standards Agency(7)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£299
Scottish Court Service(5)	n/a	n/a	n/a	£266,000	£270,000	£297,000	£302,000
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency(2)	n/a	n/a	£434	£2,718	£2,018	£3,345	£2,046
Scottish Prison Service(10)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Scottish Public Pensions Agency	£264	£105	£59	£5,401	£5,831	£5,978	£5,552
Social Work Inspection Agency(3)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Student Awards Agency for Scotland(16)	n/a	n/a	£165,935	£186,007	£192,835	£152,863	£135,352
Transport Scotland(17)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£1,316

The following notes relateto the additional information given by the relevant agency.

1. Figures from 1999 to 2003taken from Communities Scotland Annual Accounts. Previous accounting system isno longer available to break these figures down therefore all costs shownagainst Royal Mail.

2. No figures availableprior to the introduction of the SEAS finance system at end of 2001-02.

3. Agency did not start upuntil 2005.

4. No figures available forPrivate Companies from 1999 to 2002.

5. No figures availableprior to the introduction of SEAS finance system in 2001-02. Figure for 2001-02Royal Mail is total spend for year including Private Companies.

6. Agency did not start upuntil April 2002.

7. Agency did not start up until2004. Figure for 2004-05 Royal Mail is total spend for year including PrivateCompanies.

8. Agency did not start upuntil April 2001.

9. No figures availableprior to the introduction of SEAS finance system at end of 2001-02.

10. All figures in RoyalMail include Private Company costs.

11. Agency did not start upuntil December 2003.

12. No breakdown of figuresavailable for this agency for private companies. Figure shown for 2005-06 isfor whole period.

13. No breakdown of figuresavailable for this agency for private companies. Figure shown for 2005-06 isfor the whole period.

14. No breakdown of figuresavailable for this agency for private companies. Figure shown for 2005-06 isfor whole period.

15. No full figures availablefor this agency in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

16. No figures availableprior to the introduction of SEAS finance system in 2001-02.

17. Agency started up during2005-06

18. All figures in RoyalMail include Private Company costs.

The expenditure by non-departmentalpublic bodies on the transportation of mail is a matter for these bodies. Theinformation is not held centrally.

Question reference: S2W-28069

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 28 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much business it has done in each year since 1999 with (a) Royal Mail and (b) private companies for the transportation of Executive correspondence.

The amount of business doneby the Scottish Executive in each year since 1999 with (a) Royal Mail and (b)private companies for the transportation of Executive correspondence is asfollows:

	Royal Mail	Private Companies	Total Per Year
1999-2000	£879,901	£83,447	£963,348
2000-01	£887,389	£122,722	£1,010,111
2001-02	£867,571	N/A (1)
2002-03	£636,579	£120,002	£756,581
2003-04	£555,913	£122,839	£678,752
2004-05	£445,919	£119,124	£565,043
2005-06	£388,783	£164,057	£552,840

Note: 1. No accurate figuresare held for private companies for 2001-02.

Question reference: S2W-28044

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase grant aided expenditure to local authorities to allow them to adopt unadopted roads, pavements and footways.

Question reference: S2W-28045

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many years at current spending rates it will take each local authority to repair and renew all (a) roads, (b) pavements and (c) other footways in its area in order to bring them up to an acceptable standard.

Question reference: S2W-27938

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 11 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for determining which illnesses should have waiting time targets of less than six months.

The Executive’s policy is toreduce waiting times for those patients waiting longest. That is why maximum waitingtime targets have been set for a first out-patient consultation, for diagnostictests and for in-patient and day case treatment. Waiting time targets have alsobeen set in our clinical priority areas of cancer and heart disease. Within these maximum waiting times, patients are prioritisedon the basis of clinical need, with those patients requiring the most urgent carebeing seen or treated more quickly.

Our waiting times targets areset out in Fair to All, Personal to Each: The Next Steps for NHSScotland,which was published in December 2004. This included commitments that by the endof 2007, no patient will wait more than 18 weeks for a first out-patient consultationand for in-patient and day case treatment, as well as a number of waiting time targetsfor condition-specific conditions such as coronary heart disease. In formulatingthese commitments, senior officials in my department undertook soundings with keyrepresentatives of NHSScotland as well as taking account of any current clinicalguidelines. This ensured that any targets set were clinically appropriate.

Question reference: S2W-27936

Asked by: Maureen Watt, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 11 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered introducing a waiting time standard for people who have suffered their first seizure, given that there are no neurology standards to prevent individuals with suspected epilepsy waiting for more than six months for intervention and treatment.

All patients are seen andtreated on the basis of clinical priority. The Executive has set nationalmaximum waiting times for first out-patient appointments and for hospital in-patientand day case treatment. These apply to patients waiting to be seen or treated inthe specialty of neurology. Within these maximum waiting times for routineattendances and admissions, patients are prioritised and treated according toclinical priority.

The majority of patients whorequire in-patient or day case treatment are treated quickly. 53% of patientstreated in NHSScotland hospitals are admitted immediately and never join awaiting list. Of those who do wait, 40% are admitted within one month and over70% within three months. For those who have to wait longer, the nationalmaximum waiting time was reduced from 12 months to nine months at the end of2003 and to six months at the end of 2005. This guaranteed waiting time will befurther reduced to 18 weeks by the end of 2007. NHSScotland is making excellentprogress towards this commitment. On 30 June 2006,4,027 patients with a guarantee had waited more than 18 weeks for in-patient/daycase treatment – the lowest figure ever recorded.

With regard to out-patientwaiting times, the majority of patients referred by a general medical or dentalpractitioner for a first out-patient appointment at a consultant-led clinic areseen quickly, with nearly 32% of patients being seen within one month ofreferral and 57% within nine weeks. For those who have to wait longer, the nationalmaximum waiting time is 26 weeks. This will be reduced to 18 weeks from the endof 2007. NHSScotland is making excellent progress towards this commitment. On 30 June 2006, 11,319patients without an availability status code had waited more than 18 weeks for in-patient/daycase treatment – the lowest figure ever recorded.

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