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: S2W-30964

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the residence-based claimant count unemployment rate was for each council ward in South Lanarkshire in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-30958

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the residence-based claimant count unemployment rate was for each council ward in Orkney in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-30948

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the residence-based claimant count unemployment rate was for each council ward in East Renfrewshire in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-30943

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the residence-based claimant count unemployment rate was for each council ward in Dumfries and Galloway in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-30886

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has undertaken, or plans to undertake, to tackle drug misuse in each (a) local authority and (b) NHS board area and how much money has been allocated to each area for this purpose in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Executive providesfunding, through local authorities and health boards, to Alcohol and Drug ActionTeams (ADATs) to tackle drug misuse. It is up to the ADATs to decide how to allocate resourcesaccording to local needs and priorities. Detail of the services and initiativesADATs fund are set out in their annual Corporate Action Plans which are availableat http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/index.htm.

The following table details totalfunding provided, since 1999, to health boards to tackle drug misuse.

NHS Board	1999-2000 (£000)	2000-01 (£000)	2001-02 (£000)	2002-03 (£000)	2003-04 (£000)	2004-05 (£000)	2005-06 (£000)	2006-07 (£000)
Argyll and Clyde	901	984	1,111	1,338	1,388	1,988	2,226	2,226
Ayrshire and Arran	535	609	737	987	987	1,037	1,155	1,155
Borders	96	118	160	162	162	170	189	189
Dumfries and Galloway	96	124	298	258	258	271	482	482
Fife	445	514	698	789	789	829	1,378	1,378
Forth Valley	172	226	462	557	557	585	828	828
Grampian	972	1,085	1,283	1,314	1,314	1,963	2,202	2,202
Greater Glasgow	3,502	3,670	4,387	4,488	4,488	5,488	6,392	6,392
Highland	137	181	300	414	414	435	489	489
Lanarkshire	497	607	862	1,449	1,449	1,522	1,591	1,591
Lothian	2,776	2,922	3,214	3,539	3,539	3,719	4,645	4,645
Orkney	16	20	24	32	32	34	54	54
Shetland	37	42	46	55	55	58	72	72
Tayside	1,151	1,225	1,348	1,483	1,483	1,559	1,965	1,965
Western Isles	20	25	43	87	87	92	101	101
Total	11,352	12,352	14,973	16,952	16,952	19,752	23,769	23,769

The following table details totalfunding provided, since 2001, to local authorities to tackle drug misuse.

Local Authority	2001-02 (£000)	2002-03 (£000)	2003-04 (£000)	2004-05 (£000)
Aberdeen City	282	282	282	282
Aberdeenshire	302	302	302	302
Argyll and Bute	119	119	119	119
Borders	141	141	141	141
Clackmannanshire	65	65	65	65
Dumfries and Galloway	195	195	195	195
East Ayrshire	161	161	161	161
East Dunbartonshire	147	147	147	147
East Lothian	120	120	120	120
East Renfrewshire	119	119	119	119
East Renfrewshire	119	119	119	119
Edinburgh City	600	600	600	600
Falkirk	192	192	192	192
Fife	464	464	464	464
Glasgow City	812	812	812	812
Highland	277	277	277	277
Inverclyde	113	113	113	113
Moray	113	113	113	113
North Ayrshire	185	185	185	185
North Lanarkshire	436	436	436	436
North Lanarkshire	436	436	436	436
Renfrewshire	235	235	235	235
South Ayrshire	152	152	152	152
South Lanarkshire	408	408	408	408
South Lanarkshire	408	408	408	408
Stirling	113	113	113	113
West Dunbartonshire	126	126	126	126
West Dunbartonshire	126	126	126	126
Midlothian	108	108	108	108
West Lothian	205	205	205	205
Orkney	26	26	26	26
Shetland	30	30	30	30
Angus	146	146	146	146
Dundee City	192	192	192	192
Perth and Kinross	178	178	178	178
Western Isles	37	37	37	37
Total	6,800	6,800	6,800	6,800

The following table details fundingprovided to health boards to support the work of ADATs.

NHS Board	1999-2000 (£000)	2000-01 (£000)	2001-02 (£000)	2002-03 (£000)	2003-04 (£000)	2004-05 (£000)	2005-06 (£000)	2006-07 (£000)
Argyll and Clyde	110	110	174	179	179	179	179	179
Ayrshire and Arran	110	110	169	173	173	173	173	173
Borders	80	80	113	115	115	115	115	115
Dumfries and Galloway	80	80	117	120	120	120	120	120
Fife	110	110	167	169	169	169	169	169
Forth Valley	110	110	160	161	161	161	161	161
Grampian	110	110	229	231	231	231	231	231
Greater Glasgow	110	110	221	232	232	232	232	232
Highland	110	110	153	157	157	157	157	157
Lanarkshire	110	110	188	190	190	190	190	190
Lothian	110	110	277	281	281	281	281	281
Orkney	65	65	90	91	91	91	91	91
Shetland	65	65	90	91	91	91	91	91
Tayside	110	110	216	222	222	222	222	222
Western Isles	65	65	90	92	92	92	92	92
Total	1,455	1,455	2,455	2,505	2,505	2,505	2,505	2,505

Question reference: S2W-30884

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded convictions there have been for drug trafficking in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriff court.

The available information isgiven in the following table.

Persons with a Charge Provedin Scottish Courts for Drug Trafficking^1,2, by Court, 2000-01- 2004-05

Court	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Sheriff Court
Aberdeen	52	47	68	57	88
Airdrie	23	25	31	25	29
Alloa	9	7	17	28	27
Arbroath	5	9	9	12	18
Ayr	27	24	41	40	28
Banff	1	11	7	9	5
Campbeltown	6	4	2	3	2
Cupar	10	10	8	7	8
Dingwall	7	2	6	6	20
Dornoch	-	-	4	1	1
Dumbarton	24	15	23	26	37
Dumfries	16	17	21	6	21
Dundee	32	17	44	27	40
Dunfermline	15	17	23	20	18
Dunoon	4	2	3	5	5
Duns	-	-	2	4	2
Edinburgh	111	103	87	103	189
Elgin	13	10	6	16	15
Falkirk	28	43	43	41	39
Forfar	16	7	7	7	11
Fort William	8	4	8	5	3
Glasgow	253	249	275	327	332
Greenock	38	24	44	43	35
Haddington	2	5	4	7	17
Hamilton	63	74	60	55	83
Inverness	6	28	14	36	41
Jedburgh	4	9	7	9	17
Kilmarnock	42	59	69	103	77
Kirkcaldy	22	23	33	33	43
Kirkcudbright	1	3	1	6	13
Kirkwall	2	4	3	4	4
Lanark	5	9	4	9	4
Lerwick	2	4	7	1	6
Linlithgow	32	14	27	27	56
Lochmaddy	-	1	-	1	1
Oban	10	7	3	5	6
Paisley	30	23	22	25	25
Peebles	5	2	1	2	5
Perth	41	51	52	47	64
Peterhead	5	11	16	13	12
Portree	-	2	3	1	-
Rothesay	1	-	-	-	-
Selkirk	7	3	8	8	10
Stirling	18	29	21	33	30
Stonehaven	3	2	1	-	-
Stornoway	2	2	5	3	5
Stranraer	9	12	22	18	19
Tain	4	7	4	12	10
Wick	4	6	7	3	2
All Sheriff Courts	1,018	1,037	1,173	1,279	1,523
All Courts³	1,331	1,370	1,524	1,623	1,759

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes illegal importation,production and supply of drugs, money laundering and other related offences.

3. Includes High Court convictions.

Question reference: S2F-02662

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 18 January 2007

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Executive considers it an appropriate time to rethink drugs policy.

Question reference: S2W-30908

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28311 by Ross Finnie on 22 September 2006, whether it will publish the legal advice received by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department.

Our policy is not to publishthe legal advice we receive, this being covered by solicitor-client confidentiality.I am satisfied, however, that last year’s decision to set aside convictions in Scotlandunder the Cattle Identification Regulations did not undermine decisions taken topenalise farmers who did not meet the conditions of the bovine subsidy schemes.The application of bovine scheme penalties did not rely on domestic legislation;the requirement to apply penalties, and our authority to do so, was laid down inEU legislation.

Question reference: S2W-30836

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any special advisers have made use of an official car in the last 12 months, excluding travel when accompanying a minister.

Question reference: S2W-30537

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 15 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent by each of its departments on external legal advice in each of the last five years.

Over the period since 2001-02,payments by the Scottish Executive and its agencies for external legal serviceshave been made as follows:

Year	£000
2001-02	159
2002-03	563
2003-04	847
2004-05	2,030
2005-06	2,300
2006-07 (to date)	2,500

It is not possible to break thesefigures down to show expenditure by individual departments and agencies withoutincurring disproportionate cost.

For later years, these figuresreflect work outsourced under the terms of a framework contract for the provisionof legal services in place since June 2003.