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-30487

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 11 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost was of training a (a) doctor, (b) nurse, (c) physiotherapist and (d) speech and language therapist for the period between entering a degree or diploma course until full registration, inclusive of tuition, bursary and salary support costs, in the most recent period for which figures are available.

A. Doctors

The training for a doctor untilfull registration generally consists of five years at medical school and one yearin employment (now called Foundation Year 1). In the period between entry to medicalschool and full registration, the approximate cost of training a doctor is £219,000. It should be notedthat doctors generally continue training after full registration. The type and lengthof post-registration training is different for each doctor and the cost betweenindividuals can vary markedly.

B. Nurses

There are several routes intonurse training and different types of funding support. The approximate cost of anurse undertaking a typical three year diploma course is £38,000.

C. Physiotherapistsand D. Speech and Language Therapists

Information on the average costof training a physiotherapist and speech and language therapist is not heldcentrally. However, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists areincluded in the Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) group. Using the available datafor AHPs, the approximate cost of a four year training course is £37,000.

Question reference: S2W-30456

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average (a) sentence and (b) time served by convicted child sex offenders was in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force area.

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

The requested information isnot held centrally. However, information is available on the average sentence lengthof those persons sentenced by the courts to a period of imprisonment for a sexualoffence:

	2004-05	2005-06
Average determinate (non life) sentence in days	892	759
Number of life/section 205 sentenced receptions	8	12

The above data refer to prisonersrecorded as either current and previous sex offenders.

Question reference: S2W-30134

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 21 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) children were registered as NHS patients with dental practices in each year since 1996, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

The number of (a) adults and(b) children registered with NHS dental practices in each year, broken down by NHSboard, has been published in the Scottish Dental Practice Board Annual Reports.Reports for years 2001-02 to 2005-06, showing registrations for 2002-06 can be foundat the following website: http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sdpb/.Copies of reports for years 1995-96 to 2000-01, showing registrations for 1996-2001,have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 41297,41298, 41299, 41300, 41301, 41302).

The information requested isnot available for parliamentary constituency.

Question reference: S2W-30455

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent estimate is of the rate of recidivism amongst (a) child sex offenders, (b) other sex offenders, (c) violent crime offenders and (d) other classes of offender, broken down by police force area.

The available information onthe two year reconviction rates of persons originally convicted for a sexual crimeagainst a child, other sexual crime, violent crime and other types of crime in 2002-03is given in the following table.

The reconviction rates for personsoriginally convicted of a sexual crime against a child and other sexual crime arebased on relatively small numbers of offenders.

Persons released from a custodialsentence or given a non-custodial sentence in 2002-03:

Percentage Reconvicted withinTwo Years by Index Crime² and Police Force Area of Index Conviction¹

Police Force Area by Index Crime²	Total Number (=100%)	Percentage Reconvicted within Two Years	Percentage with a Custodial Reconviction within two Years
Scotland³	44,848	45	15
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	171	12	4
Other sexual crime⁵	289	20	6
Violent crime⁶	11,141	37	10
Other⁷	33,247	48	17
Northern	2,304	42	12
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	14	7	7
Other sexual crime⁵	16	13	6
Violent crime⁶	619	39	11
Other⁷	1,655	44	13
Grampian	3,821	44	12
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	18	6	0
Other sexual crime⁵	20	25	15
Violent crime⁶	1,102	35	7
Other⁷	2,681	48	15
Tayside	4,075	47	14
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	20	30	15
Other sexual crime⁵	24	38	17
Violent crime⁶	1,018	40	10
Other⁷	3,013	50	15
Fife	2,247	45	14
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	11	18	9
Other sexual crime⁵	24	8	0
Violent crime⁶	630	40	9
Other⁷	1,582	48	16
Lothian and Borders	6,760	41	14
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	22	14	0
Other sexual crime⁵	64	17	5
Violent crime⁶	1,831	33	9
Other⁷	4,843	44	16
Central	2,582	51	16
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	5	20	0
Other sexual crime⁵	15	7	0
Violent crime⁶	649	41	10
Other⁷	1,913	54	18
Strathclyde	21,774	46	16
Sexual crime against a child / children⁴	73	7	1
Other sexual crime⁵	123	23	6
Violent crime⁶	4,956	37	12
Other⁷	16,622	49	18
Dumfries and Galloway	1,284	46	17
Sexual crime against a child / children	8	13	0
Other sexual crime	3	0	0
Violent crime	336	42	10
Other	937	48	20

Notes:

1. For each offender in the 2002-03cohort, their index conviction is defined to be the conviction which resulted ina non-custodial sentence being imposed or the one which originally led to a custodialsentence being served.

2. An offender’s index crimeis the main offence for their index conviction.

3. Includes one person for whomthe police force was recorded as missing.

4. Includes sexual intercoursewith a girl aged under 13, sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16, personcausing the seduction of a girl in their custody or care; grooming children forthe specific purposes of sexual offences, procuration of sexual services from childrenunder 18, procuration of children under 18 for pornography and lewd and libidinouspractices involving a child victim.

5. Includes rape, attempted rape,indecent assault, lewd and libidinous practices (not involving a child victim),other indecency and breach of a sex offender order. Excludes prostitution offences.

6. Includes murder, culpablehomicide, attempted murder, serious assault, robbery, simple assault and other violence.

7. Includes criminal damage,drugs offences, breach of the peace, crimes against public justice, handling offensiveweapons, miscellaneous firearm offences, prostitution offences andother crimes and offences not elsewhere specified. Excludes motor vehicle offencesand some relatively minor miscellaneous statutory and common law offences.

Question reference: S2O-11522

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to conclude negotiations with prison staff over pay increases, in light of additional pressure on staff resulting from overcrowding in prisons and a 1995 agreement to complete negotiations by the end of October every year.

Question reference: S2W-30453

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of children born with foetal alcohol syndrome in each of the last 10 years.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome doesnot form a category that is routinely reported in Scotland. Nationaldata on babies born with congenital anomalies are collected centrally in Scotland usinga range of administrative NHS and General Register Office databases. There willbe an unknown level of underreporting as, while foetal alcohol syndrome is presentat birth it may not be recognised until later and may not be recorded unless thebaby requires subsequent hospital admission. Available information on babies bornwith foetal alcohol syndrome is contained within the following table.

The data relates to single birthsin Scotland where foetal alcohol syndrome was detected at birth orduring infancy, number and rates per 1,000 births by year of birth 1996 to 2005.

Year	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005 (prov)
Number	4	6	3	1	4	5	4	2	10	0
Rate	0.07	0.1	0.05	0.02	0.08	0.1	0.08	0.04	0.2	0

Year

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

(prov)

Number

Rate

0.07

0.1

0.05

0.02

0.08

0.1

0.08

0.04

0.2

Question reference: S2W-29857

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) violent crimes, (b) vehicle thefts and (c) burglaries there have been in each (i) police authority and (ii) local authority area in each of the last 20 years; what the year-on-year change has been; and what percentage of total crime figures was represented by each category in each year.

Question reference: S2W-30457

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children of school age have been cautioned for drug-related offences in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

Question reference: S2W-30159

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 15 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new jobs have been created in each year since 1997 where the contribution per job from public funds was (a) up to £10,000, (b) between £10,000 and £99,999, (c) between £100,000 and £499,999, (d) between £500,000 and £999,999, (e) between £1 million and £1,999,999 and (f) £2 million and above.

The Scottish Executive is committedto securing a more dynamic economy and recognises that public expenditure impactsboth directly and indirectly on economic performance, including positive effectson the labour market. Employment in Scotland has increased by nearly 220,000 since 1997.

Information on the directcontribution of public funds to job creation is available through the RegionalSelective Assistance (RSA) scheme. The RSA is the Scottish Executive’s mainnational scheme of financial assistance to industry, helping create andsafeguard jobs and encourage investment in the Assisted Areas (AAs) of Scotland.

The table below providesdetails of the number of planned jobs (created and safeguarded) where thecontribution per job is in the categories requested.

Calendar Year	No. of Planned Jobs
Calendar Year	Up to £10k per job		£10k-£100k per job		£100k-£500k per job	£500k-£1m per job	£1m-£2m per job	Over £2m per job
1997	7,564	3,320	6,893	871	0	0	0	0
1998	7,672	3,141	2,743	153	0	0	0	0
1999	6,999	2,806	2,869	1,087	0	0	0	0
2000	8,140	5,024	3,022	941	0	0	0	0
2001	4,134	1,221	1,163	77	0	0	0	0
2002	3,733	2,539	788	1,525	0	0	0	0
2003	2,568	3,036	714	399	0	0	0	0
2004	5,369	1,677	802	1,264	0	0	0	0
2005	6,094	1,605	897	612	0	0	0	0

Question reference: S2W-30374

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 15 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 2003, on what date it received the European Commission Agriculture Directorate General’s Guidance Note 6, on the application of article 36(1) - calculation of the number of animals eligible in the event that the foreseen split between cows and heifers is not respected.