Chamber and committees

Following the RailwaysAct 2005, Scottish ministers are responsible for fares regulation in Scotland. The current structure of fares in Scotland is a mix of regulated and unregulated fares. Scottishministers can restrict the permitted increase on regulated fares while unregulatedfares are set by the operator. Responsibility for setting regulated fares on cross-borderservices rests with the Secretary of State for Transport.

The numbers of railpassenger journeys originating in Scotland in each year from 1960 (calendar year)to 2004-05 (financial year) were published by the Scottish Executive in December2006 in Table H1 of Scottish Transport Statistics number 25, 2006 edition,a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre  (Bib.number 41474). The corresponding figure for the 2005-06 financial year is 78.1 million.Figures for years prior to 1960 are not available.

Irefer the member to the answer to question S3W-3483 on 4 September 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.Dataon cancer incidence in Scotland are available by age group and year (1980 to 2004) on the InformationServices Division website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/cancer_all_types_inc.xls.

(a)Comparative data on cancer incidence in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland (2002-04) are available onthe website of the Office of National Statistics at:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/UK_inc_mort_charts_tables2002_04.xls,

TheCancer Atlas of the United Kingdom and Ireland 1991-2000 at:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=14059.

(b)Comparative data on cancer incidence in Scotland and each EU member state are held inthe Scotland and European Health for All(HfA) Database, which can be accessed from the website of the Scottish Public HealthObservatory at:

http://www.scotpho.org.uk/web/site/home/Comparativehealth/InternationalComparisons/Scotland_and_European_HfA.asp(see indicators Morbidity, disability and hospital discharges).

(c)Data on cancer incidence worldwide are held by CANCERMondial in two databases:GLOBOCAN 2002 and CI5 I-VIII. GLOBOCAN2002 contains estimates of cancer incidencefor all the countries of the world, although data for the four constituent countriesof the UK are not included separately.The database CI5 I-VIII contains cancer incidence data collected by cancer registriesworldwide, including Scotland, although not aggregated to country level.

Bothof these databases can be accessed from the website of CANCERMondial at http://www-dep.iarc.fr/.

The Scottish Governmentrecognises that people with dyslexia can be covered by the definition of disabilityin the Disability Discrimination Act. While we have no plans at present for anyspecific initiatives to ensure wider understanding in society of dyslexia, our workon disability equality is inclusive of all forms of disability.

In addition, the ScottishGovernment, through Learning Connections, has provided funding to Dyslexia Scotland to organise the first Scottish adult dyslexia conferencedue to take place in Stirling on 27 October 2007. This conference is intended for tutors and trainers(particularly from literacy work and the STUC) and for adults with dyslexia. Thiswill help to increase understanding of dyslexia within adult literacy and numeracy.

Whilst all councilsoperate some formal scheme of delegation in their decision‑making processes,there is no single model and councils are able to adopt a process which is best-suitedto their individual circumstances. Councils may also make standing orders whichdeal with proceedings of their committees and sub-committees. No central guidancehas been issued in respect of the establishment of local area committees.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3479on 4 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Trends in cancer mortalityover time are best interpreted using European Age Standardised Rates (EASR). EASRensure that differences observed do not simply reflect variations in the age structureof the populations being compared. This is important when considering rates of cancer,because cancer is a disease that predominantly affects the elderly.

EASR for cancer arepublished by the Information Services Division (ISD) at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1508.html.

(See Annual Mortalityat the bottom of the page.)

The published tableincludes data for 1980-2005. These tables will be updated with 2006 data in September2007.

This information isnot held centrally.

We keep the rail networkunder review and we are aware of a number of aspirations for reopening parts of the network, but have no plans beyond those schemes already being pursued.

The information isnot collected centrally in the form requested. However, with the development of the Scottish Workforce Information Statistical System (SWISS) this kind of informationwill be available in the future.

The information isnot collected centrally in the form requested. However, with the development of the Scottish Workforce Information Statistical System (SWISS) this kind of informationwill be available in the future.