Chamber and committees

Responsibility for Scotland’s courts is a matter for the judicially led and independent Scottish Court Service (SCS) and not the Scottish Government. Neither Selkirk or Jedburgh Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Courts formed part of the court closures recently approved by the Scottish Parliament. If SCS were to present any future plans to close courts, these would need to go through the relevant processes, including Parliament.

The Scottish Government has not met with Stakeholders about the siting of a justice centre in the Borders as part of the Making Justice Work Programme.

Responsibility for Scotland’s courts is a matter for the judicially led and independent Scottish Court Service (SCS) and not the Scottish Government. As part of their long term vision for the court estate, SCS has outlined to the Justice Committee that they intend to consider the possibility of integrated justice centres in four areas. The first of these feasibility studies is underway in the Borders and SCS and Scottish Borders Council are jointly undertaking the study, along with other justice partners.

Responsibility for Scotland’s courts is a matter for the judicially led and independent Scottish Court Service (SCS) and not the Scottish Government. Neither Selkirk or Jedburgh Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Courts formed part of the court closures recently approved by the Scottish Parliament. If SCS were to present any future plans to close courts, these would need to go through the relevant processes, including Parliament.

Further to the information provided in the answer to S4W-18385, the Scottish Government has had detailed discussions with the UK, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Estonia on minimum unit pricing of alcohol policy. Discussions with the UK, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have been ongoing over the last few years and taken place at both ministerial and official level.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing spoke about minimum unit pricing at an alcohol conference in Estonia in October this year, and had discussions with Ministers and officials. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing also spoke at an alcohol conference in Brussels in April this year which was attended by representatives of several countries within the European Economic Area.

At this conference, Professor Tim Stockwell presented his empirical findings on minimum pricing in Canada. The most recent results show a 10% increase in minimum prices significantly reduced consumption by 8.43% for all beverages combined; and a 10% increase in the average minimum price for all alcoholic beverages was associated with a 32% reduction in wholly alcohol attributable deaths.

Table 1 shows a summary of the statistically significant results that were included in the response to question S4W-18444. All of these statistical analyses were carried out in response to requests from members of the public, as part of ISD’s information request service. The information requests were send to ISD either directly by the member of the public or indirectly through their Health Board or the Scottish Government.

Table 1. Summary of statistically significant results produced by investigations into suspected cancer clusters; 2004-2013.

Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

Data Extracted: (1) November 2007; (2) June 2008; (3) May 2013; (4) June 2013.

Notes:

1. Cancer registration is a dynamic process: the data presented here may differ from other published data relating to the same time period.

2. 95% confidence intervals define a range between which there is a 95% probability that the value of the O/E ratio lies. By convention, if the range between the lower and upper 95% confidence intervals does not include the value 1.00, it is interpreted as a statistically significant difference in risk between the population being studied and the larger reference area.

Table 1 shows how the observed numbers of cancer registrations compare with the expected figures. The expected numbers of cancer registrations are calculated by applying the incidence rates for Scotland to the area in question. The observed/expected (O/E) ratio is the ratio of the actual number of cancer registrations to the number that would be expected if incidence rates were the same as in the whole of Scotland. The observed numbers of cancer registrations are subject to random variation, particularly when numbers are small. The confidence intervals around the O/E ratio give a measure of the extent of this variation.

In addition to these four analyses, an analysis was also carried out for the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) in 2012 on the area around Dalgety Bay. This was part of a much larger investigation and is not included in Table 1. The results of that investigation will be published by COMARE in 2014. All of the other results were sent to the customer and to the appropriate health board. No further investigation was carried out by ISD.

The Scottish Government does not hold the specific information sought. We recognise the contribution twitching and bird-watching can make to the Scottish economy.

As 2013, the Year of Natural Scotland, comes to an end, we welcome the fact that our rich and varied bird-life continues to be a draw for people in Scotland and our visitors alike; from the renowned Fair Isle Bird Observatory, the famous RSPB osprey reserve at Loch Garten, to the award winning Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick.

The income of individual crofters will vary widely between crofters and may derive from a number of diverse sources. The Scottish Government does not collect details of private income.

However, the Scottish Government does hold information in relation to direct payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy. The most recent analysis undertaken in 2011 indicated that 8,100 of businesses operating agricultural holdings wholly located within the crofting counties (both crofts and non-crofts) received £116 million in single farm payments during that year. This averaged around £14,450 per business operating agricultural holdings in that area.

In addition to single farm payments, figures from 2012 indicate that some £33.4 million of Scottish rural development programme support was provided within the crofting counties. Amongst other things, this was spent on agri-environment measures, forestry, and other business developments.

Labour market statistics from the Annual Population Survey provide figures on the number of people from other European countries living in Scotland and their contribution towards the economy in terms of their labour market participation. Data is not available for individual countries of origin due to the underlying sample sizes:

Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec datasets, ONS.

The deployment and use of CS spray, including the issuing of guidance, is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Officers must ensure that the use of CS spray is fair, proportionate and justifiable.

Police Scotland does not use CS Gas, they use CS Spray. The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

This information requested is not collated centrally. Teacher absences and the causes of these absences are matters for individual local authorities as employers. Each authority will have locally agreed systems in place for managing this.

The Scottish Government takes the matter of workload and stress seriously and has already taken steps to address the immediate issues surrounding implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. There are a range of support materials in place to aid teachers with the transition and Education Scotland inspectors have a clear remit to tackle any bureaucracy which detracts from pupils’ learning experience.

The recent publication of the Audit Scotland Compendium on Council Performance for the 2012-13 financial year, shows the number of days lost per employee for teachers as well as other local government employees in each Scottish Council area with a total average for Scotland.

There has been a slight increase this year in teacher absence however in the past five years teacher absence has been consistently less than that of other local government workers.