Chamber and committees

All children are legallyentitled to free pre-school education. The age at which they are eligible isset down in The Provision of School Education for Children under School Age(Prescribed Children) (Scotland) Order 2002. Free provision in nurseries, playgroupsand day care is also available to some children. However, this is generallydiscretionary and provided on the basis of need, in accordance with the policyof the relevant local authority.

The information requested istherefore only available for pre-school education services. The number ofchildren who receive pre-school education or child care, and the number andpercentage of three and four year olds registered for pre-school education eachyear from 1999-2004 is published in Pre-school and Childcare Statistics 200”(Bib. number 33362) and 2005 figures are published in “Pre-school andChildcare Statistics 2005” (Bib. number 40112).

Twenty-four people have beenconvicted under the Cattle Identification Regulations and the Cattle Database Regulationssince August 2000. This information is available by Procurator Fiscal (PF) areaas follows:

1 August 2000 to 31 December 2000: one conviction, Greenock PF area.

2001: one conviction each atAyr,Campbeltown, Falkirk, Peterhead, Stranraer, and Stirling PF areas.

2002: one conviction each atKilmarnock and Lanark PF areas.

2003: two convictions in Ayr and one eachin Dumfries and Kirkcaldy PF areas.

2004: five convictions in Ayr, two in Lanarkand one each in Dumfries and Jedburgh PF areas.

2005: one conviction in LanarkPF area.

2006: one conviction inStranraer PF area.

On 10 June 2006 Defra made SEERADaware that the enforcement powers of the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998(CIR) and the Cattle Database Regulations 1998 (CDR) may not be effective as theywere not updated when Council Regulation (EC) 820/97 was revoked and replaced byCouncil Regulation 1760/2000 in August 2000. In order to put the enforcement powersin the regulations beyond doubt, amendments were made, with my approval, on a GBbasis to update references in the CIR and CDR pending consideration of the Defraadvice. The amending legislation came into force on 15 June 2006.

Following consideration of theposition of Scottish CIR and CDR convictions from August 2000 to June 2006, it wasdetermined that these convictions should be set aside as unsafe. The Crown Officeand Procurator Fiscal Service will be writing to the 24 people convicted advisingthem about this decision and repayment of fines.

Data on the number of VATregistrations and de-registrations are collected by the Small Business Service, an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.Businesses thatare registered for VAT can be tracked from the time they first register untilthe time that they notify HM Revenues & Customs that they have ceasedtrading or that their turnover has fallen below the VAT threshold.

The table below shows thesurvival rates of Scottish businesses initially registered between 1997 and2002 which were still registered in 2003, broken down by Local EnterpriseCompany area.  These are the latest available data:

LEC Area	Year Registered
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Ayrshire	47.8%	49.6%	56.5%	67.1%	79.6%	91.2%
Borders	53.4%	62.3%	70.1%	78.0%	85.8%	94.0%
Dunbartonshire	48.5%	47.1%	57.5%	67.8%	80.3%	93.8%
Dumfries and Galloway	56.4%	60.0%	68.8%	77.9%	90.3%	96.9%
Fife	50.6%	52.2%	62.4%	70.1%	80.8%	92.8%
Forth Valley	52.7%	54.0%	61.0%	66.5%	81.1%	91.9%
Glasgow	34.0%	39.9%	49.8%	61.5%	75.1%	89.7%
Grampian	52.0%	56.7%	64.2%	73.9%	85.9%	92.6%
Lanarkshire	47.7%	51.0%	55.1%	66.1%	75.6%	91.0%
Lothian and Edinburgh	45.1%	49.2%	58.2%	69.8%	79.3%	91.1%
Renfrewshire	42.9%	45.9%	56.6%	64.7%	76.7%	93.4%
Tayside	50.3%	53.4%	61.7%	70.1%	83.9%	92.9%
Inverness and Nairn	54.4%	60.6%	65.4%	73.5%	81.4%	94.8%
Moray Badenoch and Strathspey	55.6%	60.8%	71.0%	76.5%	85.1%	92.7%
Caithness and Sutherland/Ross and Cromarty*	60.1%	63.3%	71.0%	73.6%	85.4%	91.5%
Orkney/Shetland*	64.6%	75.1%	71.1%	76.6%	93.9%	97.2%
Skye and Lochalsh/Western Isles*	60.1%	56.3%	69.2%	74.8%	88.4%	90.5%
Lochaber/Argyll and the Islands*	61.7%	68.0%	73.0%	75.2%	87.8%	95.4%
Scotland	47.8%	51.5%	59.5%	69.0%	80.5%	92.0%

Source: Small BusinessService, DTI.

Note:*Data has beenaggregated for these LECs.

Although the principalreason for business de-registration is when a business has ceased trading,businesses can de-register for VAT for other reasons e.g. a de-registrationcould be associated with a merger with another firm to form a new business.

Please note that thesefigures do not account for all business activity as only companies with aturnover above the VAT threshold are required to register.

Care should be taken whendrawing conclusions from differences in survival rates between regions. While survivalrates are linked to economic conditions, lower survival rates for businessesmight also indicate an increase in economic performance. Higher levels ofbusiness entry and exit, known as “productive churn”, are more likely to leadto improvements in productivity and economic growth, with highly productive orinnovative businesses displacing less efficient businesses.

Available information on thenumber of drug-related deaths involving heroin, ecstasy, or amphetamines isgiven in tables a to c below. As individual deaths may involve a number ofdrugs, it is not possible to say how many deaths were caused by each specificdrug. Because many drugs of abuse may be obtained legally but subsequently usedillegally, it is not possible to provide information on “other illicit” drugs. The information is not available for 1990-95. Data ondrug-related deaths in 2005 will be published on 31 August.Table d below gives figuresfor alcohol-related deaths. This uses a definition recently introduced by theOffice for National Statistics (ONS) following wide consultation.  The use ofthis new definition means that the totals differ from those given in the answerto question S2W-17919. Further information on the new definition may be foundon the ONS website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=14496.

The effect of the change isto count as “alcohol-related” deaths from certain causes which were notpreviously so defined. In 2005, 181 people died from these causes.

It is unusual for doctors tomention tobacco (or smoking) as a contributory cause of death when completingdeath certificates. For example, of the 55,747 deaths registered in 2005,tobacco/smoking was mentioned on fewer than 300 occasions. However, in Healthin Scotland 2004, the Chief Medical Officer reported that some 13,000 Scotsdie each year from smoking-related illness.

Table a: Deaths InvolvingHeroin/Morphine¹

NHS Board	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	84	74	121	167	196	216	248	175	225
Argyll and Clyde	3	7	15	21	26	16	25	22	22
Ayrshire and Arran	2	2	2	7	14	21	22	12	12
Borders		1			1	1		1	1
Dumfries and Galloway	1	3	2	5	4	6	6	6	4
Fife		3	1	6	4	8	5	4	12
Forth Valley		1		4	4	4	16	7	8
Grampian	11	10	14	26	18	28	32	27	26
Greater Glasgow	57	37	67	69	85	78	96	60	85
Highland			1	4		2	4		4
Lanarkshire	4	6	12	16	20	17	25	19	25
Lothian	4	3	7	8	15	29	14	9	17
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside	2	1		1	5	5	2	8	9
Western Isles						1	1

Note:1. The table shows a combined total for heroin/morphine as it is believed that,in the overwhelming majority of cases where morphine has been identified inpost-mortem toxicological analyses its presence is as a result of heroin use.

Table b:Deaths Involving Ecstasy

NHS Board	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	9	2	3	8	11	20	20	14	17
Argyll and Clyde	1				1	1	2	1	3
Ayrshire and Arran						1	2		2
Borders									1
Dumfries and Galloway
Fife			1		1	1		1	1
Forth Valley							1
Grampian	2			2	2	4	4	2	1
Greater Glasgow	2	1	1	2	3	8	2	6	3
Highland
Lanarkshire		1	1	1	2	2	4	1	1
Lothian	3			2	1	3	5	2	2
Orkney
Shetland					1
Tayside	1								3
Western Isles				1				1

 

Table c:Deaths Involving Amphetamines

NHS board	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	5	6	7	7	3	5	13	10	10
Argyll and Clyde	1		1					1
Ayrshire and Arran				1		2
Borders	1
Dumfries and Galloway						1		1
Fife			1		1				1
Forth Valley		1
Grampian	1						4	1	2
Greater Glasgow	1	1	2	2			2	3	5
Highland								1
Lanarkshire		2	1			1	5	1
Lothian	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2
Orkney
Shetland							1
Tayside		1		2				1
Western Isles

 

Table d:Alcohol-Related Deaths

NHS Board	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Scotland	657	624	582	633	741	832	983	1,061
Argyll and Clyde	71	70	60	65	80	92	117	132
Ayrshire and Arran	58	45	32	41	40	45	63	104
Borders	8	8	6	7	12	11	8	10
Dumfries and Galloway	7	13	12	11	14	14	15	15
Fife	33	27	20	36	33	40	41	28
Forth Valley	34	28	35	36	33	26	29	51
Grampian	53	48	46	52	54	66	66	62
Greater Glasgow	189	138	127	162	199	240	324	300
Highland	14	30	26	24	45	44	35	45
Lanarkshire	53	70	73	75	78	83	86	114
Lothian	82	95	83	70	92	98	124	130
Orkney	2	1	3	1	1	4	3	3
Shetland	6	6	6	1	3	2	3	4
Tayside	44	45	51	49	53	58	63	60
Western Isles	3		2	3	4	9	6	3

 

Table d:Alcohol-Related Deaths (Continued)

NHS Board	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	1,127	1,249	1,292	1,398	1,487	1,525	1,478	1,513
Argyll and Clyde	146	142	150	163	174	173	138	177
Ayrshire and Arran	79	80	84	91	106	109	100	87
Borders	16	10	10	13	19	12	22	13
Dumfries and Galloway	19	16	20	23	25	31	26	31
Fife	51	55	75	57	75	63	61	76
Forth Valley	49	54	58	72	62	64	67	59
Grampian	63	92	97	99	85	95	96	97
Greater Glasgow	319	354	341	386	394	406	387	376
Highland	40	46	63	52	66	58	59	62
Lanarkshire	136	143	126	141	171	163	171	184
Lothian	130	164	187	191	194	203	198	221
Orkney	4	2	5	10	4	7	7	3
Shetland	3	1	1	5	1	3	6	6
Tayside	67	83	72	92	100	125	128	109
Western Isles	5	7	3	3	11	13	12	12

 

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. As this is an operational matter for the ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency (SEPA) I have asked Dr Campbell Gemmell, Chief Executiveof SEPA, to respond to the question direct.

It is a matter for the ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency to determine the staffing complement required to meetits statutory obligations and to appoint such employees as it thinks fit withinthe terms of its management statement and financial memorandum, subject to affordabilitywithin the financial constraints imposed by the annual budget settlement approvedby the Scottish Parliament.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. As this is an operational matter for the ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency I have asked Dr Campbell Gemmell, Chief Executiveof SEPA, to respond to the question direct.

The Accountant in Bankruptcydoes not hold records of sequestrations by age. However, the Accountant in Bankruptcyundertook an exercise to extract what data could be retrieved manually.

Thedata available covers the period 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2006. During that periodthere were 11,354 awards of sequestration on debtor petitions. Of those, 8,965 containeddetails of the debtor’s date of birth (79%). Of those there were 563 cases in whichthe debtor was aged 16 to 24 at the date of sequestration (6.3% of cases recordinga date of birth, 5.0% of all cases). The youngest debtor was 18 years old at thedate of sequestration.

The following table breaks thesedown by financial year. For reference, it includes published figures on total insolvenciesfor the financial years 2000-01 to 2004-05. Figures for 2005-06 are included butthese have not yet been published by the Accountant, therefore when final publishedfigures are available there may be some small variance.

Year	Number of Debtor Petitions for 16-24 Year Olds	Total Number of Debtor Petitions	Percentage of Petitions for 16-24 Year Old Debtors
2000-01	112	1,801	6.2
2001-02	108	2,129	5.1
2002-03	100	1,797	5.5
2003-04	58	1,714	3.4
2004-05	63	1,655	3.8
2005-06	122	2,258	5.4
Total	563	11,354	-

 

The following table providesa breakdown of the DNA profiles as held on the Scottish DNA database on 8 August 2006*:

Force	Under 16	16-18	19-21	Over 21
Dumfries and Galloway	52	465	787	5,094
Strathclyde	183	4, 540	9, 188	68, 158
Lothian and Borders	529	2, 130	3, 736	27, 583
Fife	552	1, 482	1, 745	13, 689
Tayside	359	1, 099	1, 631	12, 850
Grampian	400	988	1, 689	14, 891
Central Scotland	329	1, 311	1, 529	10, 463
Northern	165	936	1, 401	10, 270

Note: *The police can taken aDNA sample from anyone who is arrested ordetained for an imprisonable offence. The DNA profile can be retained on the ScottishDNA Database until a decision is made either not to proceed with the case for whichit was taken or the person is not convicted. At present, if there is no convictionor the case does not proceed, profiles are removed from the database. Therefore,numbers taken from the database are only valid at the time which they are taken.The figures in the answer were extracted on 8 August 2006.