Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-12825

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses each local authority has purchased privately, and at what cost, in order to meet obligations under homelessness legislation.

The information requested is not held centrally.

We do collect information on the number of dwellings purchased by each local authority from the private sector, and this is shown in the table below for 2003 and for the first half of 2004.

	2003	2004 (Q1 and Q2)
Purchased for Demolition	Purchased for Other Purpose	Total Acquired	Purchased for Demolition	Purchased for other Purpose	Total Acquired
Scotland	49	3	52	16	18	34
Aberdeen City	0	1	1	0	2	2
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
Dundee City	8	0	8	0 (Q1 only)	0 (Q1 only)	0 (Q1 only)
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	1	0	1
East Dunbartonshire	0	1	1	0	1	1
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	7	7
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh, City of	0	0	0	No data	No data	No data
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0 (Q1 only)	2 (Q1only)	2 (Q1 only)
Falkirk	Not known	Not known	Not known	Not known	Not known	Not known
Fife	10	0	10	6	1	7
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0
Highland	0	0	0	0	1	1
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	1	1	0 (Q1 only)	0 (Q1only)	0 (Q1 only)
Moray	0	0	0	1	1	2
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	3	3
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire	28	0	28	6	0	6
Scottish Borders, The	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	3	0	3	2	0	2
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0

Question reference: S2W-12709

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, medical graduates left Scotland for their first post in each of the last three years, broken down by medical school and category of graduate.

The following table shows the destination of graduates from Scottish Medical Schools taking up their first NHS appointments as Pre-Registration House Officers (PRHOs) in each of the last three years. It is not possible from this data to differentiate between type or category of medical graduate.

The number of students who graduate in any given year will fluctuate due to factors such as variables within university selection procedures, drop-out rates and the proportion of graduating students who have taken an intercalated degree mid-way through their undergraduate medical education. There are currently 876 students in their final clinical year in Scottish medical schools.

Taking up PRHO Posts in:	Graduates of Scottish Medical Schools Taking up PRHO Posts as at 30 September
2002	2003	2004
No	%	No	%	No	%
Scotland	748	93.5	721	91.5	644	88.5
England and Wales	32	4	48	6	57	8
Northern Ireland	4	0.5	6	1	9	1
In HM Forces	0	-	1	-	1	-
Overseas	5	0.5	3	0.5	9	1
Not Known	12	1.5	6	1	4	0.5
Post not taken up	0	0	3	0.5	3	0.5
Total	801		788		727

Source: NHS Education for Scotland.

Notes: 1. Percentage totals have been rounded to nearest 0.5% and may therefore not add up to 100.

Question reference: S2W-12710

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of European funding has been secured for renewable energy projects in (a) each of the last three years and (b) this year.

European Structural Funds awards with a total value of £1,406,358 have been made to renewable energy projects within the current programming period (2000–06).

Awards for each of the years are:

2000	£259,920
2001	£327,000
2002	£0
2003	£411,013
2004	£408,425

In addition, European Funding of €6 million (approximately £4.2 million) was secured from the European Commission for the Talisman “Downvind” (Distant Offshore Windfarms with No Visual Impact in Deepwater) project under the Sixth Framework Research and Technology Development Programme in May 2004.

Question reference: S2W-12697

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to help small businesses to (a) access recycling facilities and (b) reduce waste and how it will ensure that sufficient processing capacity is available for the recycling of small businesses’ waste.

Under Section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities are under a duty to collect commercial waste, when requested to do so. We would encourage local authorities to consider recycling options for this waste. Small businesses can also arrange for their waste to be collected by private or voluntary sector bodies. Recycling is likely to become more attractive as an option, as costs of landfill rise and markets develop for recyclable materials.

The Scottish Executive has allocated £2 million over two years to a Capital Grants Programme. This programme, which is operated by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on our behalf, and has just been launched, will provide small grants to businesses to help provide recycling infrastructure. WRAP have also operated capital grants schemes for recycling infrastructure in the organics and aggregates sectors.

The Executive supports Envirowise and the Business Environment Partnership, including Business Environment Partnership North East, which provide advice to business on resource efficiency and waste minimisation. Advice is also available from private sector companies. The Executive have allocated £11.4 million over the next three years to enhance business resource efficiency services in Scotland and are seeking views from business representatives on how these resources can best be used.

Question reference: S2W-12712

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that all the conditions that will allow the reopening of export markets for the beef industry are met should the closure of the Over Thirty Month Scheme be announced, with particular reference to each of any relevant shortcomings highlighted in the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office’s executive summary of Final Report of a Mission Carried Out in the United Kingdom (Great Britain & Northern Ireland) from 26 April to 7 May 2004 concerning a General Review as regards Protective Measures Against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

The Scottish Executive accept the report of the EU Food and Veterinary Office Mission on BSE controls, which visited Scotland in May this year. The Executive is, in conjunction with other UK Departments, making good progress towards addressing the findings of the mission’s report. The report also acknowledged that progress had been made since previous missions had reported and that a number of further improvements were already in hand.

Question reference: S2W-12539

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 13 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will remove Crown immunity from planning controls and, if so, what steps it will take to achieve this and what the relevant timescales are.

The process of removing Crown immunity from planning control is under way. Primary legislation is included in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Work is continuing on secondary legislation necessary to deal with the application of planning requirements to the Crown. Crown immunity will not be removed until all the necessary legislation is in place, which is likely to be the end of 2005.

The inclusion of provisions in the above mentioned act for the removal of Crown immunity from planning legislation in Scotland was the subject of a Sewel motion in the Scottish Parliament on 20 November 2003. The issue was also considered by the Communities Committee of the Scottish Parliament on 12 November 2003. A copy of the related Sewel memorandum is held in the Parliaments’ Reference Centre (Bib. number 29666).

Question reference: S2W-12522

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each NHS board area have been prescribed Prozac in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of the population in each area and showing the year-on-year percentage change.

Question reference: S2W-12540

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 8 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive in which areas the Crown has immunity under Scots law.

Question reference: S2W-12523

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under (a) 5, (b) 12 and (c) 16 have been prescribed an antidepressant in each NHS board area in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of the total population within each age group and showing the year-on-year percentage change.

Question reference: S2W-12509

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 7 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction involving people under (i) 16 and (ii) 18 have been recorded in (1) total and (2) each NHS board area in each of the last five years, showing the year-on-year percentage change and expressed as a percentage of the population within that age bracket.

On drug addiction, the Scottish Drug Misuse Database records information on people as they come into contact with drug treatment services (Tables 1 and 2). Year-on-year variation in service provision may affect the availability of services within NHS board areas and trends should be interpreted with caution. The NHS hospital in-patient data that is shown in Table 3 relates to people discharged from acute general hospitals with a diagnosis of drug dependency.

Information on the number of people aged under 18, discharged with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence from acute general hospitals, is shown in Table 4. Because of the relatively low number of episodes a breakdown by NHS board area is not provided.

Over the five years, in total there were nine people aged under 16 discharged with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence from acute general hospitals.

Figures for percentage of the population within age groups have not been included due to the relatively small number of episodes for both alcohol and drugs.

Table 1

New Individual Patients/Clients Under 16 Years Old Reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database¹ Years Ending 31 March

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	156	175	234	244	384
Argyll and Clyde	21	30	38	16	26
Ayrshire and Arran	41	19	32	20	9
Borders	0	0	0	1	18
Dumfries and Galloway	1	1	1	13	8
Fife	20	26	51	40	70
Forth Valley	4	3	16	22	40
Grampian	10	10	6	25	25
Greater Glasgow	31	55	13	11	52
Highland	0	0	0	5	15
Lanarkshire	2	6	7	13	36
Lothian	24	15	42	62	72
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
Tayside	2	11	28	16	13
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: 1. All figures in this table exclude penal establishment inmatesand returns from needle exchanges

Table 2

New Individual Patients/Clients Under 18 Years Old Reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database¹ Years Ending 31 March

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	525	483	563	510	638
Argyll and Clyde	94	78	72	46	48
Ayrshire and Arran	106	68	104	69	34
Borders	5	4	8	5	24
Dumfries and Galloway	11	3	5	17	27
Fife	37	57	81	60	95
Forth Valley	16	10	27	31	55
Grampian	49	36	29	61	51
Greater Glasgow	87	108	47	35	83
Highland	2	2	5	8	28
Lanarkshire	24	23	31	26	53
Lothian	82	66	97	114	132
Orkney	0	0	0	0	1
Shetland	0	0	0	1	0
Tayside	13	29	60	37	28
Western Isles	1	1	0	0	0

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: 1. All figures in this table exclude penal establishment inmates and returns from needle exchanges

Table 3

Discharges from Acute General Hospitals ^1,2 for Drug Dependence 1999-2000 to 2003-04^P (NB Episodes Not Patients)

	Age on Admission	Year of Discharge
1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Argyll and Clyde	Under 16 years	6	10	9	3	3
Under 18 years	22	33	18	16	9
Ayrshire and Arran	Under 16 years	10	8	21	8	8
Under 18 years	36	45	49	30	19
Borders	Under 16 years	4	0	2	2	4
Under 18 years	5	0	7	8	8
Dumfries and Galloway	Under 16 years	1	2	0	1	0
Under 18 years	5	6	9	7	4
Fife	Under 16 years	0	3	5	3	8
Under 18 years	11	12	9	12	17
Forth Valley	Under 16 years	0	1	2	2	1
Under 18 years	0	4	5	3	4
Grampian	Under 16 years	7	3	4	7	3
Under 18 years	23	12	18	20	9
Greater Glasgow	Under 16 years	6	7	18	14	5
Under 18 years	30	26	42	32	23
Highland	Under 16 years	2	2	1	0	1
Under 18 years	6	2	3	2	6
Lanarkshire	Under 16 years	4	8	2	2	6
Under 18 years	12	13	10	9	13
Lothian	Under 16 years	4	3	10	8	4
Under 18 years	20	14	28	26	23
Orkney	Under 16 years	0	0	0	0	0
Under 18 years	1	0	0	1	0
Shetland	Under 16 years	0	0	0	1	0
Under 18 years	0	0	0	3	2
Tayside	Under 16 years	2	3	3	3	3
Under 18 years	6	5	7	9	6
Western Isles	Under 16 years	0	0	0	2	1
Under 18 years	1	2	0	4	1
Scotland	Under 16 years	46	50	77	56	47
Under 18 years	178	174	205	182	144

Source: ISD Scotland.

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Includes acute hospitals (excludes mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units and maternity hospitals).

2. Information on hospital discharges relates to episodes of in-patient or day case care rather than individual patients. Transfer cases have been included. The same patient may account for several hospital admissions during the course of a year (or across years) and will be counted each time in the attached table.

Table 4

Number of Discharges from Acute General Hospitals^1,2 Across Scotland for alcohol Dependence, Aged Under 18 Years, 1999-2000 to 2003-4^P

Diagnosis Discharge Period³

1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04 ^P
3	13	10	4	6

Source: ISD Scotland.

^PProvisional.

1. Includes acute hospitals (excludes mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units and maternity hospitals).

2. Information on hospital discharges relates to episodes of in-patient or day case care rather than individual patients. Transfer cases have been included. The same patient may account for several hospital admissions during the course of a year (or across years) and will be counted each time in the attached table.

3. Diagnostic information is defined by using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10). Alcohol dependence: F10.2.

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