Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-10754

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 October 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times each minister has travelled overseas on official duties since being appointed, detailing the destination and date of each visit.

Question reference: S2W-10732

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 October 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes have been financed by Communities Scotland, expressed as a percentage of the estimated overall demand in each local authority area.

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

Working in close partnership with its key stakeholders, including local authorities, RSLs and other agencies, Communities Scotland bases its investment decisions on a combination of assessments in respect of the need for new housing supply, replacing poor quality housing stock and making provision for housing for particular needs. There is no single measure which encompasses the demand from these separate pressures.

The following table sets out the total number of housing approvals issued by Communities Scotland since 2001-02 until 2003-04, although it should be noted that Communities Scotland came into being in November 2001.

	Approvals 2001-02 to 2003-04
Aberdeen City	457
Aberdeenshire	723
Angus	299
Argyll and Bute	238
Clackmannanshire	105
Dumfries and Galloway	348
Dundee City	759
East Ayrshire	76
East Dunbartonshire	27
East Lothian	197
East Renfrewshire	79
City Of Edinburgh	1,112
Falkirk	82
Fife	698
Glasgow City	4,600
Highland	696
Inverclyde	447
Midlothian	60
Moray	106
North Ayrshire	276
North Lanarkshire	941
Orkney Islands	195
Perth and Kinross	482
Renfrewshire	898
Scottish Borders	198
Shetland Islands	85
South Ayrshire	235
South Lanarkshire	956
Stirling	208
West Dunbartonshire	442
West Lothian	260
Western Isles	102
Scotland	16,387

Question reference: S2W-10795

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were employed in agriculture in each of the last five years, giving the percentage change on a year-on-year basis.

Question reference: S2W-10810

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children in (a) each NHS board area and (b) total were classified as clinically obese in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of the child population and giving the percentage change on a year-on-year basis.

Question reference: S2W-10807

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 30 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in (a) each local authority area and (b) total were defined as living in poverty in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of the population and giving the percentage change on a year-on-year basis.

The following table presents the number and proportions of persons living in low income in Scotland in each of the last five years. Estimates are available at Scotland level only, not by local authority area.

Proportion and Number of Individuals in Low Income Households, below 60% of GB Median Income, Scotland Thousands

Year	Absolute	Relative
Before Housing Costs	After Housing Costs	Before Housing Costs	After Housing Costs
%	Numbers	%	Numbers	%	Numbers	%	Numbers
1998-99	17	870	21	1,070	19	940	23	1,150
1999-2000	15	770	19	950	18	920	22	1,110
2000-01	15	740	18	880	19	960	24	1,190
2001-02	11	540	13	650	18	890	21	1,070
2002-03	12	580	14	690	19	960	22	1,100

The key low-income results, above, are for 60% of both the relative and absolute median thresholds. Estimates on the full range of income thresholds and explanation of how these estimates are calculated are published in Households Below Average Income, 1994-95 – 2002-03, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 32212).

The relative low income measure compares against the median in the same year. The absolute measure compares against the median in the baseline year of 1996-97. Both areas are uprated to remove the effects of inflation.

The figures are estimates based on a sample survey and are therefore subject to sampling variation. As such, small percentage changes are not significant when considered on a year-on-year basis; identification of trends should be based on several years of data.

Question reference: S2W-10811

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in (a) each NHS board area and (b) total were classified as clinically obese in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of the population and giving the percentage change on a year-on-year basis.

Information on the prevalence of adult information in Scotland by NHS board for the last five years is not centrally available. The latest source of this information is from the 1998 Scottish Health Survey and is shown in the following table.

Percentage and Number of Persons Aged 16-64 Years who are Obese

Health Board	% who are Obese, 1998	Estimated Population who are Obese, 1998	Percentage Difference 1998 to 1995¹
Scotland	19.8	653,277	17.8
Argyll and Clyde	22.8	62,452	42.1
Ayrshire and Arran	21.7	51,252	30.1
Borders	17.7	11,642	-5.5
Dumfries and Galloway	19.5	17,979	22.0
Fife	20.2	44,756	24.4
Forth Valley	17.5	31,547	3.0
Grampian	18.6	64,690	6.6
Greater Glasgow	18.6	104,856	18.4
Highland and Islands	21.1	37,292	9.6
Lanarkshire	22.3	81,025	10.7
Lothian	19.0	97,044	35.2
Tayside	19.4	48,466	7.7

Note: 1. The percentage difference was determined by calculating the change in the percentage obese between 1995 and 1998.

Question reference: S2W-10813

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 30 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours of exercise the average adult undertakes weekly.

Question reference: S2W-10812

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 30 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours of exercise the average child undertakes weekly.

Question reference: S2W-10730

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much, and by what percentage, each NHS board budget increased (a) in total and (b) per capita and what the average increase was in each board in each year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05.

Details are as follows:

NHS Board	1999-2000 Total Budget Increase (£000)	1999-2000 Total Budget Increase (%)	1999-2000 Per Capita Increase (£)	1999-2000 Per Capita Increase (%)
Argyll and Clyde	14,027	3.6	36	4.0
Ayrshire and Arran	15,378	4.7	43	4.9
Borders	4,494	4.6	41	4.5
Dumfries and Galloway	8,031	5.7	58	6.1
Fife	12,344	4.3	35	4.2
Forth Valley	11,657	5.0	37	4.3
Grampian	15,371	3.5	29	3.5
Greater Glasgow	42,415	4.9	52	5.5
Highland	2,686	1.4	12	1.2
Lanarkshire	22,118	4.9	37	4.6
Lothian	22,954	3.5	24	2.8
Orkney**	-846	-3.8	-46	-4.0
Shetland	766	3.2	42	4.0
Tayside	15,306	4.0	43	4.4
Western Isles	493	1.4	36	2.8
Total	187,194	4.1	37	4.1

Note: All boards received a minimum annual increase of 4.25(%) in initial unified budget. Total Budget Increases shown include funds relating to recurring and non-recurring allocations. Annual comparisons are, therefore, not necessarily comparing like with like.

** Adjustment to the method of funding the Scottish Ambulance Service and a reduction in the level of non-recurring bridging finance from 1998-99 to 1999-2000 distorts annual changes although this had no impact on the level of disposable income available to the board.

NHS Board	2000-01 Total Budget Increase (£000)	2000-01 Total Budget Increase (%)	2000-01 Per Capita Increase (£)	2000-01 Per Capita Increase (%)
Argyll and Clyde	29,208	7.3	74	7.8
Ayrshire and Arran	26,734	7.8	75	8.2
Borders	5,698	5.6	49	5.1
Dumfries and Galloway	5,777	3.9	47	4.6
Fife	22,189	7.4	60	7.1
Forth Valley	20,888	8.6	74	8.4
Grampian	32,505	7.1	65	7.5
Greater Glasgow	61,779	6.8	70	7.0
Highland	15,383	7.8	74	7.8
Lanarkshire	35,695	7.5	64	7.5
Lothian	48,377	7.1	56	6.4
Orkney	948	4.4	55	5.1
Shetland	1,854	7.5	97	8.9
Tayside	28,894	7.3	82	8.1
Western Isles	2,888	7.8	125	9.3
Total	338,817	7.2	67	7.3

Note: All boards received a minimum annual increase of 5.1(%) in initial unified budget. Total Budget Increases shown include funds relating to recurring and non-recurring allocations. Annual comparisons are, therefore, not necessarily comparing like with like.

NHS Board	2001-02 Total Budget Increase (£000)	2001-02 Total Budget Increase (%)	2001-02 Per Capita Increase (£)	2001-02 Per Capita Increase (%)
Argyll and Clyde	25,190	5.9	67	6.6
Ayrshire and Arran	19,198	5.2	66	6.7
Borders	4,443	4.2	41	4.1
Dumfries and Galloway	8,708	5.7	45	4.2
Fife	14,255	4.5	43	4.7
Forth Valley	11,762	4.4	38	4.0
Grampian	14,945	3.1	24	2.6
Greater Glasgow	62,294	6.4	117	10.8
Highland	17,837	8.4	84	8.2
Lanarkshire	40,983	8.0	89	9.7
Lothian	42,268	5.8	60	6.4
Orkney	2,123	9.5	126	11.0
Shetland	1,603	6.0	99	8.3
Tayside	33,524	7.9	77	7.0
Western Isles	4,078	10.2	195	13.3
Total	303,211	6.0	70	7.0

Note: All boards received a minimum annual increase of 5.5(%) in initial unified budget. Total Budget Increases shown include funds relating to recurring and non-recurring allocations. Annual comparisons are, therefore, not necessarily comparing like with like.

NHS Board	2002-03 Total Budget Increase (£000)	2002-03 Total Budget Increase (%)	2002-03 Per Capita Increase (£)	2002-03 Per Capita Increase (%)
Argyll and Clyde	22,421	4.9	59	5.4
Ayrshire and Arran	26,260	6.8	75	7.1
Borders	6,301	5.7	54	5.2
Dumfries and Galloway	10,762	6.6	77	7.0
Fife	19,501	5.8	53	5.6
Forth Valley	18,361	6.6	65	6.6
Grampian	36,112	7.2	74	7.7
Greater Glasgow	83,256	8.0	99	8.3
Highland	15,864	6.9	80	7.3
Lanarkshire	19,657	3.5	36	3.6
Lothian	3,135	0.4	4	0.4
Orkney	1,198	4.9	63	4.9
Shetland	2,735	9.7	126	9.8
Tayside	14,827	3.2	42	3.6
Western Isles	2,646	6.0	117	7.0
Total	283,036	5.3	58	5.5

Note: All boards received a minimum annual increase of 6.8(%) in initial unified budget. Total Budget Increases shown include funds relating to recurring and non-recurring allocations. Annual comparisons are, therefore, not necessarily comparing like with like.

NHS Board	2003-04 Total Budget Increase (£000)	2003-04 Total Budget Increase (%)	2003-04 Per Capita Increase (£)	2003-04 Per Capita Increase (%)
Argyll and Clyde	32,803	6.9	83	7.3
Ayrshire and Arran	33,080	8.0	90	8.0
Borders	9,381	8.0	78	7.1
Dumfries and Galloway	11,927	6.9	82	7.0
Fife	29,043	8.2	79	7.8
Forth Valley	18,037	6.1	63	6.0
Grampian	37,761	7.0	72	7.0
Greater Glasgow	57,965	5.2	66	5.1
Highland	19,794	8.0	89	7.5
Lanarkshire	50,008	8.7	89	8.6
Lothian	111,195	14.3	141	14.2
Orkney	1,337	5.2	62	4.7
Shetland	2,334	7.5	111	7.9
Tayside	22,156	4.7	60	4.9
Western Isles	3,750	8.1	150	8.5
Total	440,571	7.8	87	7.7

Note: All boards received a minimum annual increase of 7.4(%) in initial unified budget. Total Budget Increases shown include funds relating to recurring and non-recurring allocations. Annual comparisons are, therefore, not necessarily comparing like with like.

NHS Board	2004-05 Total Budget Increase (£000)	2004-05 Total Budget Increase (%)	2004-05 Per Capita Increase (£)	2004-05 Per Capita Increase (%)
Argyll and Clyde	55,048	10.8	132	10.8
Ayrshire and Arran	50,307	11.3	137	11.3
Borders	14,777	11.6	136	11.6
Dumfries and Galloway	21,849	11.8	148	11.8
Fife	44,750	11.7	127	11.7
Forth Valley	29,491	9.4	105	9.4
Grampian	32,459	5.6	62	5.6
Greater Glasgow	96,825	8.2	112	8.2
Highland	34,355	12.9	164	12.9
Lanarkshire	60,796	9.7	110	9.7
Lothian	34,168	3.9	44	3.9
Orkney	2,590	9.6	134	9.6
Shetland	854	2.6	39	2.6
Tayside	37,807	7.6	98	7.6
Western Isles	3,103	6.2	119	6.2
Total	519,179	8.5	103	8.5

Note: All boards received a minimum annual increase of 6.75(%) in initial unified budget. Total Budget Increases shown include funds relating to recurring and non-recurring allocations. Annual comparisons are, therefore, not necessarily comparing like with like.

Question reference: S2W-10727

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in the environment sections of the Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by responsibility.

The tables below show the number of permanent full time equivalent staff employed in the environment sections of the Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by pay band and area of responsibility.

Table A

Permanent Staff by Band as at 1 April 2002

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Environment Group	118.3	27.5	58.8	26.0	6.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Air, Climate and Engineering Division	17.8	4.8	8.0	5.0	0
Countryside and Natural Heritage	32.6	9.6	16.0	5.0	2.0
Ecological Advisers Unit	9.0	0.0	6.0	2.0	1.0
Environmental Protection Unit	28.6	5.6	15.0	7.0	1.0
Sustainable Development Directorate	7.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	0
Water Services Unit	21.3	4.5	11.8	4.0	1.0

Table B

Permanentstaff by band as at 1 April 2003

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Environment Group	130.3	24.3	73.8	27.5	4.7
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Air, Climate and Engineering Division	17.8	4.8	8.0	5.0	0
Countryside and Natural Heritage	37.4	9.4	22.0	5.0	1.0
Ecological Advisers Unit	13.0	0	11.0	2.0	0.0
Environmental Protection Unit	31.8	3.6	19.0	7.5	1.7
Sustainable Development Directorate	8.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0
Water Services Unit	20.3	3.5	10.8	5.0	1.0

Table C

Permanent Staff by Band as at 1 April 2004

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Environment Group	145.9	27.2	84.6	28.7	5.4
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Air, Climate and Engineering Division	18.8	3.8	10.0	5.0	0
Countryside and Natural Heritage	37.0	9.8	20.0	6.2	1.0
Ecological Advisers Unit	13.0	0.0	11.0	2.0	0.0
Environmental Protection Unit	40.1	5.1	26.8	6.5	1.7
Sustainable Development Directorate	13.7	3.0	6.0	4.0	0.7
Water Services Unit	21.3	4.5	10.8	5.0	1.0

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

Chamber and committees