Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-03472

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to reduce the suicide rate, particularly among men aged between 15 and 44.

Suicide preventionis a key aim of the Scottish Government’s action to improve mental health and wellbeing.The main delivery vehicle for this is Choose Life, the National Strategy and ActionPlan to Prevent Suicide. One of the priority groups for action is young people,especially young men. Through Choose Life there is now an identified suicide preventioncoordinator in every local authority area in Scotland, targeting suicide preventionaction in ways tailored to local needs and circumstances.

Nationally, throughChoose Life we have introduced suicide prevention training, which is being rolledout across Scotland. Over 11,500 people in community and publicservice settings have been trained in suicide intervention and risk management skillsin the last three years. We are also developing suicide prevention training andrisk assessment training for frontline staff in mental health services, in primarycare and in accident and emergency services.

On 10 September 2007 I launched Choose Life’s latest phase of campaign activity,“Talk. Listen. Save a Life.” This awareness-raising action highlights the importanceof encouraging people to be more open about their and other people’s feelings andworries.

The Breathing Spacetelephone advice line helps to underpin related action on suicide prevention. Openfrom 6pm to 2am nightly, Breathing Space provides free and confidential advice andsignposting to people experiencing low mood, depression and anxiety. It is availableto all but is particularly targeted at young men because of the increases in suicidenumbers in this group in recent decades. Breathing Space currently handles around3,000 calls per month and is currently undergoing a pilot extension of its openinghours to 6am at weekends.

Annualfluctuations occur in suicide rates. When assessing trends, three year rolling averagesare used because they smooth out some of the fluctuations. It is encouraging tonote that from 2000-02 to 2004-06 there was a downward trend of 13% for populationsuicides. Within this, there was a 14% reduction in male suicides and a 9% reductionin female suicides.

Question reference: S3W-03478

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence is of obesity, broken down by age group, and what comparative information it has for (a) the United Kingdom as a whole, (b) each EU member state and (c) each OECD nation.

(1) Scottish Statistics (including comparisonswith English data):

The most recent obesitystatistics for adults in Scotland are available from the Scottish Health Survey 2003.Comparisons with English figures are also available.

Prevalence of obesityand overweight by age and sex (adults aged 16+ years):

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50261.(See Table 5.5 on page 175.) (See Table 5.17 on page 189 for comparison of Scotland and England.).

Obesity statisticsfor children are also available from the Scottish Health Survey 2003

Prevalence of obesityand overweight by age and sex (children aged 2 to 15 years):

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50271.

(See Table 5.5 onpage 123 for Scottish figures.) (See Table 5.11 on page 127 for comparison of Scotland and England).

In addition, morerecent statistics on obesity in children are available from the Child Health Surveillance Programme.All NHS boards in Scotland are required to provide data for this programme.Data from those boards that record findings using electronic child health systemsare available at the following link.

http://www.isdscotland.org/child_obesity.

(Click on “obesitystatistics” to access a list of available tables and charts.)

(2) Internationalcomparisons:

Care should be takenin interpreting international comparisons because of differences in definitionsof obesity and in survey methodologies. Some international comparisons subsume Scottishdata as part of United Kingdom figures.

For adults, the OECDhealth data 2007, reports obesity levels for those aged 15+ years up to 2005:

http://www.oecd.org/document/16/0,3343,en_2649_37407_2085200_1_1_1_37407,00.html.

For children, theWorld Health Organization Health Behaviour of School-aged Children (2001/02), WHOHBSC, report presents obesity levels for young people aged 13 and 15 years:

http://www.euro.who.int/eprise/main/who/informationsources/publications/catalogue/20040518_1.

(See Chapter 3, Page125, Figure 3.3.).

Question reference: S3W-03477

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2007

Question reference: S3W-03454

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 16 to 19 and not in education, employment or training were (a) known and (b) estimated to have a drugs problem in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S3W-03455

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 5 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a uniform definition of dyslexia across Scotland.

There is no singleor commonly agreed definition of dyslexia across Scotland. However, the Scottish Executive is in the early stages of taking forwardwork to develop a working definition of dyslexia which can be readily understoodby parents and be of practical use to teachers in the classroom.

Whatever definitionis used, education authorities and schools should have appropriate arrangementsin place for identifying and meeting the needs of each individual pupil.

Question reference: S3W-03451

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what number and percentage of people aged 16 to 19 and not in education, employment or training had a disability in each year since 1999 .

The official sourcesfor estimates of the number of people aged 16 to 19 not in employment, educationor training are the Labour Force Survey and the Annual Population Survey. Table1 shows the estimates of the number of people aged 16 to 19 and not in employment,education or training who have a disability and the estimates of the proportionof people who are aged 16 to 19 and not in employment, education or training whoare disabled.

As these estimatesare taken from sample surveys they are subject to a degree of error.

Table 1 Number andProportion of People who are Aged 16 to 19 and Not in Employment, Education orTraining with a Disability.

	Number	Percentage
1999	8,000	20.4%
2000	6,000	15.3%
2001	6,000	14.5%
2002	**	**
2003	7,000	19.6%
2004	6,000	17.4%
2005	8,100	22.3%
2006	6,900	21.7%

Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS),Quarters combined for 1998-2002. Annual Scottish LFS (ASLFS) for 2003. Annual PopulationSurvey 2004 onwards

Notes:

1. Data for 1999-2003 are based on a seasonal year (March to February) whereasdata for 2004 onwards are based on a calendar year (January to December).

2. Disability is self determined.

** Data are unreliable.

Question reference: S3W-03453

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of people aged 16 to 19 and not in education, employment or training by (a) local authority, (b) local enterprise company and (c) postcode area in each year since 1999.

The official sourcesfor those aged 16 to 19 not in employment, education or training are the LabourForce Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS). However, in a researchreport carried out by the Training and Employment Research Unit of Glasgow Universityon behalf of the Scottish Executive it was recommended that a combination of SchoolLeavers Destinations Statistics and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefitsinformation are used to monitor the change at a local level. It is recognised thatthis measure underestimates the true number of 16 to 19-year-olds not in employment,education or training however it provides a reliable and consistent measure belowthe national level. Table 1 shows the number of 16 to 19-year-olds entering negativedestinations combined with the number of 18 to 19-year-old benefit claimants bylocal authority.

Information on schoolleavers destinations and DWP benefits are not available by Local Enterprise Company.Therefore table 2 shows the estimated number of 16 to 19-year-olds who are not inemployment, education or training by local enterprise company taken from the LFS/APS.Data from the LFS/APS are only available by local enterprise company from 2003 onwards.Please note that these estimates are subject to a degree of error.

Data on the numberof people who are aged 16 to 19 and not in employment, education or training bypostcode area are not held centrally.

Table 1. Those Enteringa Negative Destination on Leaving School or Claiming a DWP Benefit by Local Authority Area

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Aberdeen	900	920	1,020	990	1,010	990	730	720
Aberdeenshire	690	600	560	630	830	840	660	620
Angus	510	530	530	540	550	500	420	480
Argyll and Bute	400	410	360	350	360	320	310	370
Clackmannanshire	300	330	310	320	410	330	280	320
Dumfries and Galloway	770	680	670	640	640	660	670	640
Dundee	1,110	1,010	1,090	1,060	1,150	1,000	920	960
East Ayrshire	860	790	820	820	890	820	880	820
East Dunbartonshire	410	430	410	370	410	360	310	300
East Lothian	300	310	330	370	450	380	420	410
East Renfrewshire	270	230	260	260	310	390	250	250
Edinburgh	1,600	1,540	1,480	1,580	1,850	1,750	1,960	1,700
Eilean Siar	90	60	50	60	50	70	50	70
Falkirk	760	780	820	780	940	880	750	690
Fife	2,090	2,100	2,190	2,220	2,220	2,100	1,780	1,800
Glasgow	4,790	4,570	4,380	4,180	4,100	4,110	3,370	3,330
Highland	900	950	850	980	930	990	940	800
Inverclyde	630	440	610	600	660	600	460	420
Midlothian	330	320	380	390	400	350	420	430
Moray	390	340	360	290	360	400	430	410
North Ayrshire	1,030	1,010	1,020	910	940	930	830	910
North Lanarkshire	2,140	2,030	2,130	2,140	2,220	2,120	1,720	1,640
Orkney	80	70	50	60	60	60	70	60
Perth and Kinross	490	460	420	440	470	470	380	420
Renfrewshire	990	960	1,070	960	1,030	1,020	840	830
Scottish Borders	390	420	400	420	330	380	360	370
Shetland	60	70	50	60	50	80	70	60
South Ayrshire	670	620	560	610	590	670	550	550
South Lanarkshire	1,590	1,410	1,520	1,640	1,590	1,460	1,360	1,330
Stirling	420	450	380	420	440	370	400	320
West Dunbartonshire	760	590	730	660	630	670	610	630
West Lothian	870	840	800	930	950	900	960	890

Source: School LeaversDestinations Survey, Department for Work and Pensions.

Table 2. Number of16 to 19-Year-Olds Not in Employment, Education or Training by Local EnterpriseCompany

	2003	2004	2005	2006
HIE Argyll and the Islands ( HIE Earra-Ghaidheal)	**	**	**	**
HIE Caithness and Sutherland (HIE Gallaibh agus Cataibh)	**	**	**	**
HIE Inverness and East Highland (HIE Inbhir Nis agus Taobh Sear na Gaidhealtachd)	**	**	**	**
HIE Lochaber (HIE Loch Abar)	**	**	**	**
HIE Moray	**	**	**	**
HIE Orkney	**	**	**	**
HIE Shetland	**	**	**	**
HIE Skye and Wester Ross (HIE An t-Eilean Sgitheanach is Taobh Siar Rois)	**	**	**	**
HIE Western Isles	**	**	**	**
Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire	3,000	4,000	2,000	3,000
Scottish Enterprise Borders	**	**	**	**
Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway	**	**	**	**
Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire	2,000	2,000	1,000	1,000
Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian	5,000	4,000	6,000	3,000
Scottish Enterprise Fife	**	**	**	**
Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley	**	**	**	**
Scottish Enterprise Glasgow	6,000	7,000	8,000	6,000
Scottish Enterprise Grampian	**	**	**	**
Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire	7,000	4,000	5,000	4,000
Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire	2,000	2,000	**	2,000
Scottish Enterprise Tayside	**	2,000	2,000	2,000

Source: Annual Scottish LFS (ASLFS)for 2003. Annual Population Survey 2004 onwards.

Notes:

1. Data for 2003 are based on a seasonal year (March to February) whereasdata for 2004 onwards are based on a calendar year (January to December).

**Data are unreliable.

Question reference: S3W-02986

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 5 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what average rainfall has been each year since 1950.

Figures on rainfallin Scotland are published by the Met Office at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/seriesstatistics/scotrain.txt.The average annual rainfall in Scotland since 1950 has been extracted from thissource and is set out in the chart and following table:

Average Annual Rainfall (mm) 1950-2006

Year	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Average annual rainfall (mm)	1,556.9	1,450.6	1,275.7	1,340.0	1,706.1	1,131.3	1,422.6	1,456.8	1,318.3	1,315.9

Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Average annual rainfall (mm)	1,268.3	1,401.6	1,409.2	1,215.6	1,234.7	1,346.6	1,426.2	1,526.8	1,216.2	1,185.8

Year	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Average annual rainfall (mm)	1,441.3	1,161.9	1,154.0	1,245.1	1,449.3	1,217.2	1,271.3	1,385.5	1,352.0	1,472.7

Year	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Average annual rainfall (mm)	1,460.5	1,472.5	1,578.7	1,442.6	1,401.5	1,439.9	1,572.3	1,296.1	1,529.7	1,428.9

Year	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Average annual rainfall (mm)	1,819.7	1,402.1	1,663.4	1,424.6	1,551.9	1,432.7	1,226.5	1,371.0	1,676.9	1,666.3

Year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Average annual rainfall (mm)	1,625.8	1,307.7	1,618.5	1,206.5	1,685.6	1,582.2	1,646.5

Source: Met Office.

Notes:

The average annualrainfall figure includes snow that has been melted by the observer.

The average valueshave been derived from 5km grids.

Allowances have beenmade for topographic, coastal and urban effects where relationships are found toexist.

Question reference: S3W-03236

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what average number of vehicles per day used each trunk road currently operated by Transport Scotland in each year since 1980.

The measure of trafficflow on trunk roads is the annual average daily flow (AADF). Complete figures areonly available from 2000 onwards. The minimum and maximum AADF for each trunk road in Scotland between 2000 and 2006 is as follows.

	2000		2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
Route	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max
A1	5,082	42767	5234	44040	4578	47596	4775	44267	4961	52725	4372	50344	5720	53112
A7	1,874	8849	1644	9051	1803	10769	1722	9006	2020	13574	1901	13494	1537	13600
A8	16,365	69704	8005	69382	9139	72574	9175	68499	1340	36730	369	40906	435	41125
A9	1,560	27513	1609	37276	1277	31234	1308	31703	1208	33132	1678	36425	1260	34708
A68	2,808	8949	2351	15605	2418	17689	2766	16371	2501	16369	2534	16972	2462	65715
A74	1,349	1349	1359	1359	1329	1329	1297	1346	1404	1404	1456	1456	1478	1478
A75	3,792	16577	3440	15776	4226	18557	3634	19207	3333	20492	4016	21828	4027	31542
A76	2,521	19296	2329	18923	2486	20461	2708	23963	2965	26232	2800	24440	2885	22236
A77	2,895	37049	2937	37964	3029	39888	2576	41206	3017	35345	2976	34771	1101	39924
A78	6,545	29576	3674	29405	7730	29580	7137	29322	7382	30063	6088	30107	6064	28742
A80	23,288	23288	N/A	N/A	24601	60234	26186	104175	25951	69837	26229	95372	26491	74191
A82	2,141	27592	2275	26034	110	30028	2179	30635	2404	34657	2183	30000	2389	30093
A83	2,072	5251	2288	5690	2423	6368	1916	6499	2030	6621	2118	6630	2119	6222
A84	8,534	8534	3505	8525	3988	9351	2081	9441	3399	9940	3465	9886	3483	9632
A85	3,037	6618	1520	7270	1752	17181	2144	18025	1297	18899	2185	16387	2291	16209
A86	992	3051	952	952	519	3351	768	982	815	951	1066	1256	858	2923
A87	262	4146	18	4039	609	3637	1137	4851	1152	4580	1187	4976	1179	4241
A90	3,940	37157	3859	47454	3479	51222	4131	40826	4258	41338	4723	42056	3060	42349
A92	6,092	36329	341	36993	5710	39708	5415	40412	5932	40537	6208	41403	6529	42998
A95	111	4872	1752	4746	1504	5028	1447	5158	1855	5959	1494	5542	1787	5693
A96	5,954	30000	5938	30723	6271	31545	6316	39172	6617	39150	6677	39335	6571	39458
A99	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2006	2006	1921	1921	1932	1932	1942	1942	2033	2033
A701	4,175	19185	3673	18688	4407	19390	4396	20565	4676	21426	4833	50168	4634	21061
A702	4,380	8933	3954	20216	3239	20626	4525	20235	4102	20771	3802	20390	2652	20861
A720	15,763	52999	16371	55451	15728	58272	17857	58722	18007	63055	17483	62412	10291	62895
A725	24,455	45252	24605	45942	21697	48247	21011	48076	21915	47448	22846	50453	22542	52731
A726	20,496	21101	14311	21139	17884	33214	20804	28243	21293	27318	23423	23423	25438	25438
A737	9,882	54920	9722	56121	9892	57725	8995	55277	10553	60408	9265	59422	9154	59454
A738	16,099	16099	16097	16097	16567	16567	15977	15977	13925	13925	18682	18682	19163	19163
A751	1,282	1282	1297	1297	1360	1360	1388	1388	1403	1403	1443	1443	1465	1465
A828	1,306	4059	1976	1976	1699	5738	1813	4950	1815	4739	1902	4846	1922	4876
A830	809	7177	535	6663	739	7169	868	7746	978	7795	973	8165	933	8013
A835	1,331	7990	845	9063	1391	8793	1515	9010	1595	9556	1610	9612	1596	9934
	2,000		2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
Route	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max	Min	Max
A876	23,704	24,371	23,660	24,266	23,801	24,078	24,534	25,273	17,877	25,389	14,898	24,717	15,456	26,031
A887	767	767	N/A	N/A	991	991	988	988	953	953	963	963	958	958
A889	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	613	613	658	658	704	704	679	679	691	691
A898	24,415	24,415	24,916	24,916	26,286	26,286	26,510	26,510	27,646	27,646	27,040	27,040	32,481	32,481
A972	26,931	26,931	26,680	26,680	25,852	31,527	21,309	28,632	26,204	29,210	27,382	30,347	26,727	30,473
A977	14,940	14,960	15,116	15,341	8,445	14,747	13,952	14,973	14,725	15,202	14,619	15,195	15,428	15,895
A985	9,664	14,499	9,707	14,779	10,076	14,501	9,584	14,511	7,682	14,587	2,847	14,223	2,845	14520
A6091	7,154	11,348	4,824	7,427	6,741	10,991	5,763	8,333	8,519	8,519	8,429	13,347	8,883	13,226
A823M	8,133	8,133	8,295	8,295	8,484	8,484	8,706	8,706	9,073	9,073	9,236	9,236	9,497	9,497
M8	3,081	157,436	3,176	153,686	3,461	155,508	3,482	156,782	3,756	159,412	3,837	158,872	4,038	151,444
M9	10,269	48,220	7,348	50,639	10,510	50,831	11,185	52,419	11,157	51,562	11,304	53,869	11,993	54,508
M73	13,588	36,612	10,762	34,112	10,980	34,131	11,070	36,044	12,023	36,417	11,945	36,199	12,827	39,480
M74	2,651	34,756	2,694	41,000	2628	38,657	2832	40,277	3,173	40,983	3,301	41,693	3,354	43,316
M77	10,502	28,672	12,596	30,104	11,762	31,301	11,814	31,622	11,537	32,261	12,601	34,186	7,349	36,202
M80	16,220	32,085	16,701	61,069	16,102	60,452	15,656	60,078	17,983	56,144	17,970	55,986	24,677	55,864
M90	6,413	30,926	6,253	31,431	10,201	32,504	12,406	33,826	12,411	33,749	9,921	35,608	12,779	57,123
M876	9,183	30,160	13,582	31,204	15,634	31,692	16,045	33,082	16,445	32,901	15,364	31,324	15,242	33,897

Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and canbe contacted for further information if required.

Question reference: S3W-03237

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what average number of vehicles per day used the (a) Skye, (b) Erskine, (c) Tay and (d) Forth road bridges in each year since 1980.

Information on thetotal number of crossings each year, and the average number per day, is given inthe following table, in terms of thousands of vehicle crossings. More detailed figuresare available in the annual publication Scottish Transport Statistics, copiesof which may be obtained from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

	Skye Bridge		Erskine Bridge		Tay Road Bridge⁴		Forth Road Bridge⁵
	Full Year	Average Per Day	Full Year	Average Per Day	Full Year	Average Per Day	Full Year	Average Per Day
1980			4,245	12	4,947	14	10,774	29
1981			4,079	11	4,807	13	10,982	30
1982			3,756	10	4,873	13	11,444	31
1983			4,047	11	5,102	14	11,675	32
1984			4,327	12	5,211	14	12,001	33
1985			4,436	12	5,192	14	12,397	34
1986			4,802	13	5,370	15	12,236	34
1987			5,526	15	5,628	15	13,497	37
1988			5,751	16	5,933	16	14,705	40
1989			6,368	17	6,269	17	15,839	43
1990			6,748	18	6,694	18	16,585	45
1991			7,077	19	6,720	18	16,922	46
1992			6,764	18	6,946	19	17,802	49
1993			6,809	19	6,944	19	18,177	50
1994			6,865	19	7,198	20	18,994	52
1995	78	1	7,401	20	7,414	20	19,540	54
1996	612	2	6,622	18	7,534	21	20,374	56
1997	627	2	7,420	20	7,656	21	21,078	58
1998	656	2	7,966	22	7,778	21	20,782	57
1999	665	2	8,230	23	7,920	22	21,868	60
2000	675	2	8,695	24	8,074	22	22,168	61
2001	666	2	8,881	24	8,184	22	22,608	62
2002	718	2	9,480	26	8,414	23	23,374	64
2003	756	2	9,677	27	8,684	24	24,010	66
2004	769	2	10,078	28	8,929	24	23,562	64
2005	1,182	3	10,007	27	8,942	24	23,810	65
2006	1,227	3	11,438	31	8,868	24	23,682	65

Source: Figures aretaken from Scottish Transport Statistics, Numbers 11, 19 and 25 - Table 4 on TollBridges. Traffic figures are reported in thousands.

Notes:

1. The Skye Bridgeopened on 16 October 1995.

2. Tolling at theSkye Bridge ended on 21 December 2004.

3. Tolling at theErskine Bridge ended on 31 March 2006.

4. Responsibilityfor the Tay Road Bridge lies with the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board.

5. Responsibilityfor the Forth Road Bridge lies with the Forth Estuary Transport Authority.

Chamber and committees