Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-27395

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of (a) any length, (b) no more than six months, (c) no more than one month in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by sheriff.

Question reference: S2W-27394

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of (a) any length, (b) no more than six months and (c) no more than one month in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by sheriff court.

The available information isgiven in the following table.

Women Receivinga Custodial Sentence in Scottish Sheriff Courts, 2002-03 To 2004-05, by Lengthof Sentence¹

Sheriff Court	2002-03			2003-04			2004-05
Sheriff Court	Not Over One Month	Not Over Six Months	Any Length	Not Over One Month	Not Over Six Months	Any Length	Not Over One Month	Not Over Six Months	Any Length
Aberdeen	24	71	80	4	51	62	14	60	71
Airdrie	4	21	25	1	19	26	1	34	43
Alloa	10	19	21	3	28	31	-	4	4
Arbroath	3	8	8	1	14	14	1	1	1
Ayr	17	100	104	16	86	89	27	76	77
Banff	2	4	4	-	-	-	1	7	7
Campbeltown	1	2	2	-	1	1	-	-	-
Cupar	-	2	2	-	1	1	3	10	10
Dingwall	1	8	8	-	3	3	-	3	4
Dornoch	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumbarton	1	8	8	2	27	29	2	18	19
Dumfries	5	53	55	1	32	33	-	30	35
Dundee	26	49	53	10	44	45	22	83	85
Dunfermline	-	15	18	2	24	26	2	18	20
Duns	3	3	3	2	2	2	-	-	-
Edinburgh	9	91	105	29	139	158	22	104	120
Elgin	3	29	31	2	21	23	3	21	22
Falkirk	24	51	54	10	22	24	9	23	24
Forfar	-	9	9	6	16	18	1	5	5
Fort William	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Glasgow	9	66	94	7	73	98	12	82	109
Greenock	7	33	34	3	16	17	5	14	22
Haddington	1	22	22	-	8	10	-	3	3
Hamilton	3	32	33	8	46	56	5	72	83
Inverness	1	13	15	6	21	24	-	11	11
Jedburgh	-	9	9	-	3	3	4	9	10
Kilmarnock	5	117	125	10	129	138	6	100	113
Kirkcaldy	4	22	23	3	28	28	6	44	54
Kirkcudbright	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	4	9
Kirkwall	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Lanark	-	1	1	1	3	5	1	10	10
Lerwick	-	1	1	-	6	6	1	6	6
Linlithgow	5	8	8	7	16	16	13	35	36
Lochmaddy	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Oban	-	3	4	2	15	17	1	1	1
Paisley	7	15	20	6	21	25	11	53	58
Peebles	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	4	5
Perth	3	20	26	5	29	31	9	44	52
Peterhead	3	9	9	1	2	2	2	9	10
Selkirk	2	9	12	1	3	3	9	14	14
Stirling	6	20	22	3	35	37	4	37	43
Stonehaven	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stornoway	-	1	2	1	1	1	-	2	2
Stranraer	1	10	13	1	16	21	-	14	16
Tain	-	4	4	2	11	11	1	2	4
Wick	-	2	5	1	5	5	-	1	1
Scotland	190	965	1,077	157	1,018	1,141	198	1,069	1,220

Note: 1. “No more than onemonth” has been defined as 30 days or less, and “No more than six months” hasbeen defined as 183 days or less.

Question reference: S2W-27482

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental practices have (a) opened and (b) closed in each NHS board area since 1997.

The number of dentalpractices that began providing NHS general dental services and the number that ceasedproviding NHS general dental services are shown in the following tables. Noinformation is held on private practices.

The number of dentalpractices that began providing NHS general dental services^{1, 2}; yearending March

NHS Board Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Ayrshire and Arran	-	4	2	4	-	1	1	-	2	4
Borders	1	1	-	1	-	2	1	1	1	2
Argyll and Clyde	1	1	-	2	1	-	2	8	2	6
Fife	-	2	1	-	-	-	3	-	1	4
Greater Glasgow	4	5	5	2	2	3	3	4	5	7
Highland	1	7	2	2	3	3	3	6	2	6
Lanarkshire	1	-	-	1	2	1	4	-	1	4
Grampian	2	1	-	1	-	2	-	3	2	2
Orkney	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	2
Lothian	3	2	3	1	4	1	3	4	1	2
Tayside	-	-	3	2	1	2	5	3	2	1
Forth Valley	2	-	1	1	1	2	-	-	2	3
Western Isles	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Dumfries and Galloway	-	1	-	4	2	-	-	-	-	1
Shetland	-	1	-	1	1	2	2	1	-	-
Scotland	15	26	17	23	17	19	27	31	21	45

The Numberof Dental Practices That Ceased Providing NHS General Dental Services^1,2;Year Ending March

NHS Board Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Ayrshire and Arran	2	1	1	2	4	4	-	-	4	2
Borders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Argyll and Clyde	-	-	5	-	-	2	-	1	2	3
Fife	-	1	-	-	-	2	1	1	2	2
Greater Glasgow	4	6	2	2	3	4	5	2	4	4
Highland	1	1	2	3	3	1	3	-	2	1
Lanarkshire	-	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	2	2
Grampian	1	1	4	-	-	2	1	4	3	1
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-
Lothian	1	5	4	2	3	2	3	6	9	5
Tayside	-	-	-	2	2	1	3	6	4	2
Forth Valley	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	1	2
Western Isles	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	1	1	-	3	-	-	-	1	2
Shetland	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	-	1
Scotland	9	16	19	14	20	20	21	21	35	27

Source: MIDAS (Management Information andDental Accounting System).

Notes:

1. Some dental practices may cease providing NHS generaldental services permanently, while some may do so only temporarily. Somepractices may close and reopen in another location.

2.Includesall salaried and non-salaried locations in each NHS board area in which NHSgeneral dental services are provided.

Question reference: S2W-27470

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 14 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it maintains a list of buildings such as Duff House in Banff which are available to it at no charge and what use has been made of such buildings in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Executive doesnot maintain a central list of buildings which are available to it at nocharge, other than for consumed resources, directly attributable to such use,for conferences and functions.

DuffHouse is available for use by Scottish Ministers for up to eight functions peryear on the basis that the room hire is free but Ministers would have toreimburse all the other costs incurred. Scottish Ministers can only availthemselves of this facility when the accommodation is not in use for any otherpurposes, eg temporary exhibitions, and use would not cause disruption to otherpre-planned events. Use of this facility has to be planned well in advance.

Ourgeneral policy is that, where business meetings, conferences or officialfunctions are hosted by Scottish Executive, the facilities within one of theCore Estate buildings, including Bute House, are used where appropriate. Onlywhere these facilities are either unsuitable or unavailable are “off estate”options considered. Scottish Executive hires such accommodation on the basis ofsuitability for the success of the individual event subject to its normalprocurement procedures and guidelines. Factors such as; convenient location fortravelling attendees, ability to accommodate the planned number of attendeesand the nature of the facilities on offer, are important considerations inselecting a suitable venue for a successful event along with cost.

Noncore buildings available at no charge other than for consumed resources areused where appropriate. The only buildings which are regularly used by ScottishMinisters for the hosting of official Ministerial functions on this basis arethe Royal Apartments at Edinburgh Castle and the Great Hall and Royal Chapel at Stirling Castle. Overthe last five years the use of these buildings for the hosting of official Ministerialfunctions is as follows:

Year	Edinburgh Castle Royal Apartments – Great Hall, Laich Hall and Queen Mary Room	Stirling Castle Great Hall and Chapel Royal
2001	31	3
2002	24	1
2003	25	0
2004	18	0
2005	38	2
2006	10 to date	2 to date

Question reference: S2W-27480

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on obesity levels of children (a) watching television and (b) using computers and other game consoles.

The Scottish Health Surveyin 2003 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251found that the time children spend sitting at a screen (other than at school)is a significant factor in not achieving the recommended levels of physicalactivity (at least 60 minutes per day on most days of the week). Other studieshave suggested that lower physical activity levels are strongly associated withlevels of obesity amongst children.

Question reference: S2W-27476

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Robert Brown on 14 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for the provision of literature and equipment for partially sighted and blind students in (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) further and (d) higher education in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority area.

Informationon the funding for provision of literature and equipment for partially sightedand blind students in primary and secondary schools is not held centrally. Itis for local authorities, taking account of their own individual circumstances,to decide how to allocate support for learning resources in order to providefor children and young people with additional support needs in schools.

Informationrelating to funding for the provision of literature and equipment for partiallysighted or blind students in further education, by local authority area, is notheld centrally. Further education colleges are provided with inclusivenessfunding to enable them to build inclusiveness practices into their mainstreamactivities. However, this funding is not targeted specifically at partiallysighted and blind students and it is for colleges to decide how the fundingshould be allocated.

In higher education, disabled students are supported through theDisabled Students Allowance (DSA). The following table sets out the amount paidby the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) from 1997 to 2005-2006 to blind andpartially sighted students. Information on what the funding provided is notheld centrally.

Table1: Blind/Partially Sighted HE Students Receiving DSA and Total Amount Paid,1997-98 to 2005-06

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Total Funding Provided (£)	£ 138,018	£ 212,655	£ 357,799	£ 358,836	£ 353,939	£ 401,201	£ 423,055	£ 341,065	£ 366,365
Students supported each year	49	55	75	81	75	87	86	66	84
Aberdeen City	£ 9,900	£ -	£ -	£ 7,917	£ 11,045	£ 24,592	£ 23,752	£ 25,622	£ 2,640
Aberdeenshire	£ 120	£ -	£ 5,405	£ -	£ -	£ 9,883	£ -	£ 13,320	£ 10,637
Angus	£ 3,420	£ -	£ 5,405	£ -	£ 10,074	£ 5,068	£ 14,787	£ -	£ 5,540
Argyll and Bute	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ 4,489	£ 21,929	£ -	£ -
Clackmannanshire	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ 5,761	£ -	£ 8,708	£ -	£ -	£ 400
Dumfries and Galloway	£ 3,546	£ -	£ 15,204	£ 4,733	£ 8,660	£ 8,696	£ 6,290	£ 2,249	£ 10,195
Dundee City	£ 2,086	£ 3,870	£ 7,609	£ 3,848	£ 13,506	£ 8,924	£ 7,378	£ -	£ 11,448
East Ayrshire	£ 45	£ 11,280	£ 22,303	£ 21,242	£ 21,109	£ 16,974	£ 27,284	£ 22,842	£ 22,304
East Dunbartonshire	£ 5,668	£ 3,586	£ 3,905	£ 763	£ 6,493	£ 3,472	£ 19,022	£ 15,658	£ 2,152
East Lothian	£ -	£ -	£ 21,502	£ 9,971	£ 663	£ -	£ 20,390	£ 12,609	£ 21,434
East Renfrewshire	£ -	£ 5,904	£ -	£ 6,178	£ -	£ -	£ 2,094	£ 3,102	£ 9,773
City of Edinburgh	£ 734	£ 23,527	£ 16,896	£ 26,820	£ 47,440	£ 41,609	£ 25,494	£ 32,574	£ 29,927
Eilean Siar	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -
Falkirk	£ -	£ 4,714	£ 21,790	£ 18,404	£ 8,195	£ 11,786	£ 9,721	£ 14,466	£ 15,517
Fife	£ 18,675	£ 7,682	£ 6,125	£ 28,092	£ 19,552	£ 19,942	£ 10,755	£ 1,930	£ 42,290
Glasgow City	£ 27,145	£ 45,921	£ 53,702	£ 66,431	£ 21,443	£ 48,289	£ 36,306	£ 32,916	£ 14,349
Highland	£ 4,286	£ -	£ -	£ 20,036	£ 12,067	£ 19,038	£ 17,717	£ 30,497	£ 5,052
Inverclyde	£ 606	£ 8,114	£ 756	£ 7,213	£ 1,228	£ -	£ 7,251	£ 3,421	£ 21,332
Midlothian	£ -	£ 5,165	£ 1,464	£ 719	£ 50	£ 12,907	£ 4,865	£ -	£ 4,262
Moray	£ 124	£ 1,752	£ -	£ -	£ 1,938	£ -	£ 7,166	£ -	£ -
North Ayrshire	£ 61	£ 12,103	£ 7,894	£ 17,127	£ 17,089	£ 594	£ 13,161	£ 16,617	£ 9,705
North Lanarkshire	£ 30,263	£ 27,277	£ 34,322	£ 38,197	£ 61,773	£ 68,172	£ 79,333	£ 75,639	£ 50,103
Orkney Islands	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ 1,456	£ -	£ -	£ 15,517
Perth & Kinross	£ -	£ 55	£ 29,743	£ 8,062	£ 2,600	£ 9,187	£ -	£ -	£ -
Renfrewshire	£ 3,157	£ 10,726	£ 4,074	£ 3,068	£ 8,249	£ 12,792	£ 4,705	£ 4,572	£ 4,239
Scottish Borders	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ 4,120	£ 13,473	£ 9,195	£ -	£ 3,378	£ 3,887
Shetland Islands	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ -	£ 559	£ 10,311
South Ayrshire	£ 6,082	£ -	£ 10,962	£ 3,017	£ 11,339	£ 8,946	£ 21,852	£ -	£ -
South Lanarkshire	£ 7,423	£ 35,586	£ 36,179	£ 38,972	£ 27,899	£ 17,079	£ 26,426	£ 16,881	£ 19,648
Stirling	£ -	£ 1,306	£ 1,327	£ 10,806	£ 12,101	£ 6,741	£ 4,329	£ 150	£ 1,678
West Dunbartonshire	£ -	£ -	£ 28,777	£ 178	£ 14,825	£ 15,329	£ 6,891	£ 8,016	£ 18,519
West Lothian	£ 14,677	£ 4,086	£ 22,457	£ 7,162	£ 1,126	£ 7,335	£ 4,158	£ 4,049	£ 3,507

Question reference: S2W-27478

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 14 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many carbon emissions permits have been allocated to hospitals and what the levels of emissions were for each NHS hospital included in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in its first year of operation.

The 19 NHS hospitals in Scotlandcurrently holding greenhouse gas emissions permits, and associated installationID, are listed in the following table. For future reference, this informationis available through a link on the EU Emissions Trading pages of theExecutive’s climate change website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/climatechange.

Information on the carbonallowances allocated to each hospital, and their verified emissions for thefirst year of operation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, is available in theCommunity transaction log, operated by the European Commission and available athttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/ets/welcome.do.The transaction log can be searched using the relevant installation ID. Theallocation to the Golden Jubilee National Hospital is not included in theCommunity transaction log as this installation applied to enter the schemelate. However, the allocation to this installation in 2005 was 4354 tonnes ofcarbon. It is planned to publish shortly allocations to installations enteringthe scheme late.

Installation Name	Installation ID
St John's Hospital	605
Ninewells Hospital	610
Western General Hospital	611
Stirling Royal Infirmary	612
Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary	613
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh	617
Woodend Hospital	623
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	624
Raigmore Hospital	638
Western Infirmary	651
Gartnaval General Hospital	652
Stobhill General Hospital	653
Glasgow Royal Infirmary	654
Crosshouse Hospital	664
Yorkhill Hospital	666
Monklands Hospital	668
Hairmyres Hospital	669
Wishaw General Hospital	671
Golden Jubilee National Hospital	762

Question reference: S2W-27477

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of skin cancer there have been in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) gender.

Question reference: S2W-27479

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the year-end financial position was for each NHS (a) hospital and (b) board in each of the last five financial years.

The year-end financialposition for each NHS board in each of the last five financial years was asfollows:

Under/(Over)spend Against Revenue Resource Limit	2001-02 £000	2002-03 £000	2003-04 £000	2004-05 £000	2005-06 £000
Argyll & Clyde	-3,538	582	-35,370	-59,492	569
Ayrshire & Arran	806	5,636	13,549	22,901	17,405
Borders	-96	326	299	3,380	3,314
Dumfries & Galloway	60	2,311	5,491	9,455	14,223
Fife	17	2,978	2,366	5,400	4,582
Forth Valley	-88	1	392	410	407
Grampian	-2,006	370	-4,804	-10,774	456
Greater Glasgow	503	12,135	5,010	12,103	12,284
Highland	546	442	2,522	1,838	1,369
Lanarkshire	-4,890	-7,342	-21,208	-20,042	-8,393
Lothian	-10,033	8,384	13,207	19,566	179
Orkney	-227	-	34	60	50
Shetland	-425	274	339	24	341
Tayside	-4,510	4,330	4,298	4,460	1,141
Western Isles	-565	201	-271	-738	-2,484
Common Services Agency	2,442	1,350	4,410	3,871	5,077
National Waiting Times Centre		40	1,985	1,601	3,991
Health Scotland	-19	35	35	447	127
Mental Welfare Commission	42	46	-2	1,263	60
NHS Education	194	-948	2,585	7,732	10,960
NHS 24	8	-956	1,183	4,988	809
Quality Improvement Scotland	-156	522	567	513	268
Scottish Ambulance Service	851	5	22	50	1
State Hospital	-	131	1,948	1,994	2,860

It is not possible tocalculate the financial position of each hospital because the allocation andmanagement of funds to hospitals is managed at a board level.

The National Waiting TimesCentre was created in 2002-03. Health Scotland was formed from Health Education Board in 2002-03. NHSEducation was formed from Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and DentalEducation (SCPMDE) and National Board for Nursing and Midwivery. Only theresults for SCPMDE are shown in 2001-02. Quality Improvement Scotland wasformed form Health Technology Board and Clinical Standards Board in 2002-03, theircombined results are shown for 2001-02.

Question reference: S2W-27399

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of women on discharge from prison have had intervention while in prison to address (a) misuse of alcohol, (b) misuse of drugs, (c) mental ill-health and (d) any one of these in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

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

The information requested isnot available but all female prisoners at HMP & YOI Cornton Vale areoffered, on admission, a range of interventions that support a) misuse ofalcohol, b) misuse of drugs and c) mental ill-health. The Scottish PrisonService publications ‘Positive Mental Health’ and ‘Addiction Policy’ givedetails of the diverse delivery of the interventions designed to promote healthand reduce personal and environmental harm which we provide.

Chamber and committees