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: S4O-00962

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase economic activity in Perth.

Question reference: S4O-00900

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to fund road safety improvements on the A85.

Question reference: S4W-06197

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of the number of schoolchildren to school nurses, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S4W-06194

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 28 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has been spent on consultancy services in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-06196

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses there have been in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Information on the number of School Nurses there have been in each year since 2007 at local authority level is not held centrally.

School Nurses form part of the Public Health Nurse (PHN) team which comprises School Nurses, Health Visitors and those who carry out a dual role.

Table 1 presents information by NHS board of staff working within the PHN Team for years 2007-11. Table 2 presents information by NHS board of School Nurses for years 2007-11.

Table 1 Qualified ¹ Public Health Nurses ² by NHS Board (WTE), 2007-11

Annual³ September

Quarterly

2007

2008

2009

2010

Mar-11

Jun-11

Sep-11

Dec-11

Scotland	1,546.0	1,624.9	1,607.2	1,704.3	1,724.0	1,691.8	1,736.8	1,710.9
Borders	36.2	36.4	33.3	33.3	34.5	33.0	32.4	32.2
Fife	125.9	119.3	117.3	119.4	143.7	142.9	142.0	138.8
Lothian	238.5	242.0	244.6	244.5	240.0	235.5	231.4	227.2
Highland	89.8	101.4	102.7	93.3	91.6	86.1	83.6	87.6
Grampian	162.7	183.4	187.6	177.7	175.2	174.2	174.8	173.6
Orkney	8.2	6.6	7.2	6.6	5.0	6.0	6.0	6.6
Tayside	109.9	110.7	96.0	103.2	107.1	96.7	160.5	152.8
Western Isles	9.0	10.0	11.0	11.0	12.0	12.0	12.0	11.8
Shetland	7.2	10.0	8.2	8.6	8.9	8.9	7.3	6.3
Ayrshire and Arran	104.8	112.6	112.5	134.4	136.8	135.0	135.4	134.4
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	281.7	346.9	308.7	397.3	394.3	389.7	382.2	379.9
Lanarkshire	239.4	211.8	231.2	229.5	229.3	228.7	228.1	218.4
Forth Valley	71.6	76.3	80.5	81.8	79.3	76.7	76.3	75.8
Dumfries and Galloway	58.2	54.8	55.9	62.0	64.7	64.7	62.9	63.6
State Hospital	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
National Waiting Times Centre	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scottish Ambulance Service	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS 24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS National Services Scotland	2.8	2.8	10.7	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8
NHS Education for Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Health Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. AfC bands 5 to 9.

2. Public Health Nurses include Health, Visitors, School Nurses and those who have a dual role.

3. As at 30 September.

4. The following symbol has been used: - nil.

Table 2 Qualified ¹ School Nurses by NHS board (WTE), 2007-11

Annual² September

Quarterly

	2007	2008	2009	2010	Mar-11	Jun-11	Sep-11	Dec-11
Scotland	261.2	271.9	275.1	271.7	271.7	261.6	263.7	246.2
Borders	4.8	6.6	5.1	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.2
Fife	27.5	24.2	21.6	21.5	28.3	29.1	28.7	26.7
Lothian	33.0	31.4	38.3	38.2	35.8	35.0	37.0	35.2
Highland	19.9	21.2	22.1	20.5	20.0	18.8	18.3	18.3
Grampian	27.9	33.5	36.4	34.8	33.1	33.4	34.3	34.3
Orkney	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6
Tayside	20.1	19.0	17.7	20.1	20.0	17.8	21.2	7.8
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7
Ayrshire and Arran	27.8	29.7	31.1	29.3	28.2	23.9	23.2	23.2
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	47.5	54.6	51.4	49.5	51.0	49.6	49.1	48.7
Lanarkshire	32.5	28.4	28.4	26.9	25.1	25.0	24.2	24.2
Forth Valley	10.7	13.8	13.6	14.0	13.2	12.0	12.6	12.6
Dumfries and Galloway	7.3	7.4	7.3	9.7	9.7	9.7	7.9	8.9
State Hospital	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
National Waiting Times Centre	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scottish Ambulance Service	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS 24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS National Services Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Education for Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Health Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. AfC bands 5 to 9.

2. As at 30 September.

3. The following symbol has been used: - nil.

Question reference: S4W-06192

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with the business sector since 2007 on how regulations are applied.

The Scottish Government has and continues to work closely with the independent Regulatory Review Group (RRG) whose members include the main business organisations in Scotland. This provides an effective mechanism for identifying and considering regulatory issues. The Scottish Government meets with the RRG monthly and there is also regular dialogue at a ministerial level.

Regulators also have in place various mechanisms for engaging with business. For example, the Accountant in Bankruptcy engages with the Debate and Insolvency Services stakeholders forum which includes representatives of the money advice sector, Insolvency bodies and also creditor groups. Food Standards Agency hold forums to inform stakeholders of new regulations and policies and seek views from them. SNH engages with representative bodies, business, and developers through regular meetings, conferences and events, and training.

Question reference: S4W-06193

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many community organisations have won bids for public sector contracts in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-06195

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been treated for alcohol addiction in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S4W-06198

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many (a) grocers, (b) butchers, (c) bakers, (d) fishmongers, (e) newsagents, (f) confectioners, (g) tobacco retail outlets and (h) wholesalers there have been in each year since 2007.

Data on business sites by industrial sector are available from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR, maintained by the Office for National Statistics, is a database of all enterprises registered for VAT and/or PAYE in the UK. Those excluded are small businesses with no employees and an annual turnover below the VAT threshold (£70,000 at March 2011).

Business sites are categorised on the IDBR according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). It is not possible to obtain figures for the exact categories requested due to the SIC structure. The data in the following tables are the closest SIC equivalents. Note that the SIC 2003 codes have now been replaced by new SIC 2007 codes. Data for 2008-11 are provided on a SIC2007 basis (Table 1), whereas data for 2007 are provided on a SIC2003 basis (Table 2). Therefore the data for 2007 are not directly comparable with that for 2008-11. Note also that it is not possible to identify newsagent retail outlets specifically for the year 2007 using the SIC2003 codes.

Table 1: Business Sites in Selected Codes (SIC2007), Scotland, March Each Year

SIC 2007	Description	2008	2009	2010	2011
46310	Wholesale of fruit and vegetables	210	210	190	180
46320	Wholesale of meat and meat products	175	170	155	150
46350	Wholesale of tobacco products	10	10	5	5
46360	Wholesale of sugar and chocolate and sugar confectionary	35	45	45	45
46380	Wholesale of other food, including fish, crustaceans and molluscs	280	265	265	270
47210	Retail sale of fruit & vegetables in specialised stores	400	355	365	360
47220	Retail sale of meat and meat products, in specialised stores	755	730	725	700
47230	Retail sale of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, in specialised stores	275	260	245	250
47240	Retail sale of bread, cakes, flour confectionary and sugar confectionary in specialised stores	815	810	820	835
47260	Retail sale of tobacco products in specialised stores	280	240	220	215
47620	Retail sale of newspapers and stationery in specialised stores	580	595	640	635

Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

Business site counts are rounded to the nearest five.

Business sites are the individual sites within an enterprise i.e. every store, branch, office.

Table 2: Business Sites in Selected Codes (SIC2003), Scotland, March 2007

SIC 2003	Description	2007
51310	Wholesale of fruit and vegetables	190
51320	Wholesale of meat and meat products	200
51350	Wholesale of tobacco products	10
51360	Wholesale of sugar and chocolate and sugar confectionary	30
51380	Wholesale of other food, including fish, crustaceans and molluscs	300
52210	Retail sale of fruit and vegetables	480
52220	Retail sale of meat and meat products in specialised stores	770
52230	Retail sale of fish, crustaceans and molluscs in specialised stores	280
52240	Retail sale of bread, cakes, flour confectionary and sugar confectionary in specialised stores	845
52260	Retail sale of tobacco products in specialised stores	350

Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

Business site counts are rounded to the nearest five.

Business sites are the individual sites within an enterprise i.e. every store, branch, office.

Question reference: S4O-00840

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with police forces regarding the development and upgrade of emergency service communication equipment.