5 February 2007

Waste Management

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated to (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire councils from the Strategic Waste Fund in each year since 2003.

Ross Finnie: The following table details the amounts allocated to Angus and Aberdeenshire Councils from the Strategic Waste Fund since 2003.

Breastfeeding

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of mothers were recorded at their six to eight week review as breastfeeding in NHS Tayside and NHS Grampian in each year since 2000.

Lewis Macdonald: Centrally held information on pre-school child health surveillance reviews are derived from the Child Health Systems Project–Pre-School system (CHSP-PS). NHS Grampian do not participate in this system and therefore the requested information for NHS Grampian is not centrally available. Information for NHS Tayside is shown in the following table.

NHS Tayside – Breastfeeding at the Six to Eight Week Review by Year of Birth

Source: ISD Scotland, CHSP-PS November 2006. Ref: IR2007-00255.

Notes:

1. Excludes reviews where breastfeeding information is not valid.

2. Exclusively breast-fed or fed mixed breast and bottle.

Minimum Wage

To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest annual estimate is of the number of people earning the national minimum wage or below in the (a) Angus, (b) Gordon, (c) West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and (d) Banff and Buchan parliamentary constituencies.

Nicol Stephen : The preferred source for earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

Table 1 shows the estimated number of employees earning the national minimum wage or below in Angus, Gordon, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Banff and Buchan parliamentary constituencies in 2006 (latest data).

The estimates in the table are based on a sample survey, and as such, are subject to sampling error.

Table 1 Number of People Earning the Minimum Wage or Below in Selected Parliamentary Constituencies, 2006

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. The estimates are based on the hourly pay excluding overtime and shift premium payments.

2. The estimates are based on a sample survey, and as such, are subject to sampling error.

3. The estimates are based on place of residence.

4. Parliamentary constituencies based on 2005 revision.

Council Tax

To ask the Scottish Executive how many recipients of council tax benefit aged 60 or over there were in (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire local authority areas in each of the last three years for which the information is available, also showing what percentage of the over-60 age group they represented.

Tom McCabe: The data relating to recipients of council tax benefit are presented in terms of benefit units, which are based on households in receipt of council tax benefit and as a result may contain two or more persons (possibly one of whom may also be aged under 60). These data are reported in the following table.

Number of Benefit Units Containing One or More Persons Aged Over 60 Receiving Council Tax Benefit**

Note: **The data have been provided by the Department of Work and Pensions and relate to benefit units, not counts of persons. Figures include benefit units where there is a single person aged over 60, and benefit units containing two or more persons where at least one is aged over 60. Council tax benefit figures exclude any second adult rebate cases. The source is the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System quarterly caseload.

It is not appropriate to divide council tax benefit units by population figures for the over-60 age group, as these are on a different basis.

Student Finance

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from low-income backgrounds in the (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire local authority areas have had their university fees paid in each year since 2002-03.

Nicol Stephen : The following table highlights the number of fees paid by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) to students at higher education institutions from low-income backgrounds who were domiciled in the (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire local authority areas in each year since 2002-03:

Students from Low-Income Backgrounds who have had their University Fees Paid, by Local Authority Area

For the purposes of this answer students are defined as being from "low-income" backgrounds if they have declared parental/spousal income details of not more than £17,500, which was the SAAS means-tested threshold in 2005-06 for receipt of full financial support through the Young Students Bursary (YSB). For comparable results over the period in question this threshold has been kept constant, even although the full YSB threshold has changed in this period.

Students who have not declared parental/spousal income details and those that are classed as exempt from parental contribution have not been included in the above table.

Employment

To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduates from (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire have returned to work in their local authority area in each of the last three years for which the information is available.

Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the number of graduates at post graduate, first degree or sub-degree level that were domiciled in (a) Angus, (b) Aberdeenshire before they started their course. To determine how many of them left their local authority area to study and then returned to work in their local authority area requires information on commuting which is not available centrally.

Number of Graduates from HEIs from Angus and Aberdeenshire

Note: The table includes students graduating from a postgraduate or undergraduate course at a UK HEI (excluding the Open University). All numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.

Drug and Alcohol Misuse

To ask the Scottish Executive how much specific funding has been allocated for drug and alcohol treatment services in (a) Angus and (b) Aberdeenshire in each year since 2003-04.

Cathy Jamieson: Funding is allocated to health boards for drug treatment and care services and to tackle alcohol problems. Angus falls within the boundaries of Tayside Health Board and Aberdeenshire falls within the boundaries of Grampian Health Board.

The following table sets out the funding that has been made available to Tayside and Grampian Health Boards for drug treatment and care services since 2003-04.

Angus Council received £146,000 per annum over the period 2003-04 to 2004-05 to tackle drug misuse. Aberdeenshire Council received £302,000 per annum over the same period to tackle drug misuse.

The following table sets out the funding that has been made available to Tayside and Grampian Health Boards to tackle alcohol problems since 2004-05.

Further and Higher Education

To ask the Scottish Executive what capital and revenue allocation has been made available to Angus College in each year since 2003-04.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Funding Council, and its predecessor the Scottish Further Education Funding Council, has been responsible for allocating funds to further education colleges during the period in question. The information requested for Angus College is as follows:

Note: *Includes recurrent grant-in-aid and non-project specific capital funding.

1 February 2005

Central Heating Programme

To ask the Scottish Executive how many council-owned houses in Angus are now centrally heated as a result of the Executive’s central heating programme.

Des McNulty: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

In the public sector Angus Council installed 261 central heating systems through the programme.

Scottish Executive Funding

To ask the Scottish Executive what dedicated funding has been made available to Angus and Aberdeenshire councils to tackle antisocial behaviour in each year since 2004-05.

Johann Lamont : The information requested is provided in the following table:

Further and Higher Education

National Health Service

To ask the Scottish Executive how many inpatient and outpatient appointments and procedures there were in NHS Grampian in each year since 2000.

Andy Kerr: In terms of context, it should be remembered that the successful implementation of Delivering for Health (launched in October 2005) is already bringing about a fundamental shift in the balance of care. This, quite appropriately, places a greater emphasis on anticipatory care so that those at risk of ill health receive the services they need. In effect, the NHS in Scotland is no longer waiting for people to become ill, then sending them to hospital for urgent treatment. Instead, the Executive and NHS is doing more than ever before to encourage people to lead healthy lives, and spotting and dealing with poor health before it can develop into something more serious. When people do need treatment, the Executive and NHS are committed to delivering more of it closer to home in local communities.

The information requested on the number of inpatient and day case episodes, and new and return outpatient attendances is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number of In-patient and Day Case Episodes, and New and Return Out-patient Attendances in NHS Grampian Board of Treatment for Years Ending 31 March 2000 to 2006

Source: ISD(S)1.

In addition, hospital activity is undertaken at nurse-led clinics. ISD Scotland have been working with NHS Boards to capture this information. Initial findings are published as part of ISD Scotland’s "data development" web pages at:

Procedures are carried out within NHSScotland in a wide range of settings dependent on a number of factors including the complexity of the operation and the clinical and personal needs of the patient. Table 2 shows the number of procedures carried out on patients admitted as in-patients or day cases.

Procedures can also be performed in an outpatient setting. From April 2003, the national reporting of surgical activity in outpatients has been required and ISD has been working with NHS boards to develop full compliance nationally. At this stage only a proportion of boards have achieved extensive coverage and further work will be necessary before a complete account of all outpatient surgical activity can be made. The number of outpatient procedures recorded in NHS Grampian in the year ended 31 March 2006 was 28,567.

Table 2: Number of Procedures Performed in Acute Specialties in NHS Grampian Board of Treatment for Years Ending 31 March 2000 to 2006

Source: SMR01.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many inpatient and outpatient appointments and procedures there were in NHS Tayside in each year since 2000.

Andy Kerr : In terms of context, it should be remembered that the successful implementation of Delivering for Health (launched in October 2005) is already bringing about a fundamental shift in the balance of care. This, quite appropriately, places a greater emphasis on anticipatory care so that those at risk of ill health receive the services they need. In effect, the NHS in Scotland is no longer waiting for people to become ill, then sending them to hospital for urgent treatment. Instead, the Executive and NHS is doing more than ever before to encourage people to lead healthy lives, and spotting and dealing with poor health before it can develop into something more serious. When people do need treatment, the Executive and NHS are committed to delivering more of it closer to home in local communities.

The information requested on the number of inpatient and day case episodes, and new and return outpatient attendances is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number of In-patient and Day Case Episodes, and New and Return Out-patient Attendances in NHS Tayside Board of Treatment for Years Ending 31 March 2000 to 2006

Source: ISD(S)1.

Procedures are carried out within NHSScotland in a wide range of settings dependent on a number of factors including the complexity of the operation and the clinical and personal needs of the patient. Table 2 shows the number of procedures carried out on patients admitted as inpatients or day cases.

Procedures can also be performed in an outpatient setting. From April 2003, the national reporting of surgical activity in outpatients has been required and ISD has been working with NHS boards to develop full compliance nationally. At this stage only a proportion of boards have achieved extensive coverage and further work will be necessary before a complete account of all outpatient surgical activity can be made. The number of outpatient procedures recorded in NHS Tayside in the year ended 31 March 2006 was 7,083.

Table 2: Number of Procedures Performed in Acute Specialties in NHS Tayside Board of Treatment for Years Ending 31 March 2000 to 2006

Source: SMR01.

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attendances there were at each accident and emergency centre in NHS Grampian in each year since 2000.

Andy Kerr : Information on the number of attendances at each accident and emergency centre in NHS Grampian is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Accident and Emergency Attendances in NHS Grampian by Hospital; Years Ended 31 March 2000 to 2006

The apparent decrease in the number of accident and emergency attendances in the most recent years is largely due to activity for emergency nurse practitioners being recorded as nurse-led activity in NHS Grampian. The nurse led activity return is part of ISD’s data development initiative. Preliminary data and further information on this return is available on the ISD Scotland website at:

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attendances there were at each accident and emergency centre in NHS Tayside in each year since 2000.

Andy Kerr : Information on the number of attendances at each accident and emergency centre in NHS Tayside is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Accident and Emergency Attendances in NHS Tayside by hospital; Years Ended 31 March 2000 to 2006

Note:

Source: SMR01.

Source: SMR01.

Source: SMR01.

Note: *Figures for 2006-07 are budget figures.

Early Years

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire councils received under the Sure Start Scotland programme in the last year for which the information is available.

Hugh Henry : Sure Start Scotland funding for the three local authority areas in the financial year 2006-07, was as follows:

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): I express the hope that if today's meeting at NCR is followed by an announcement of job losses, the First Minister will do everything in his power to ensure that the workforce has a smooth transition into alternative employment.

Given that some members of the workforce have been employed by NCR for decades, I ask that special consideration be given to Dundee.

The First Minister: We should reserve our position on special consideration for Dundee until we see details on the scale of any announcement. It is clear that if a significant impact on jobs is announced, we would want to make special arrangements to help the city of Dundee.

However, it is important that we do not lose sight of our overall strategy for Dundee and for Scotland.

The manufacturing export results that were announced yesterday show that year-on-year improvements have been made in manufacturing exports, following all the problems that we had in electronic engineering just six or seven years ago.

It is important that we continue with our strategy of supporting and commercialising research and development.

As well as attracting companies into Scotland, we must build up Scottish companies that can employ Scottish workers

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the total gap has been between public expenditure in Scotland and revenues raised since 1999.

The Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform (Mr Tom McCabe): According to the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" analysis, the cumulative gap between public expenditure in Scotland and public revenues raised in Scotland since 1999 is a massive £49.7 billion.

Marlyn Glen: Does the minister agree that the massive deficit to which he refers and of which he has given details would prohibit the writing off of student debt, make impossible a council tax freeze—even if that were legal—and make a nonsense of any promise that workers in a separate Scotland would pay no extra taxes?

Budgeting may seem difficult, but it is obvious that we cannot spend what we do not have.

Will the minister assure us that Executive policies are designed to protect hard-working families through service provision, as well as being fair to, for example, small businesses in Scotland?

Mr McCabe: I assure the member that the United Kingdom serves Scotland well, as is self-evident from the figures that I reiterated a moment ago.

I concur that the report highlights the fact that affection for nationalism would die instantly if we ever found ourselves in an independent Scotland.

The figures make it clear in a very serious way that the progress that this country has made would not only come to a crashing halt but would be thrown into reverse gear.

Generations would be denied the opportunity to maximise their potential and this country would be an economic basket case, simply because one political party had decided to put an ideology before the best interests of its citizens.

I am confident that if we continue to discuss those figures and the potential impact of that ideology, people in Scotland will again reject it, allow progress to continue and allow Scotland to flourish as it should.

15 December 2006

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug users have entered treatment in Tayside in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson : The information requested is available online at:

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of employed adults in Aberdeenshire worked from home in each of the last three years.

Nicol Stephen: Table 1 shows the percentage of adults in employment who work from home in their main job in Aberdeenshire for the last three years for which data are available.

Table 1 Percentage of People Working from Home in Aberdeenshire, 2003-05

Source:

2004 and 2005 Data from Annual Population Survey.

2003 Data from Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of employed adults in Angus worked from home in each of the last three years.

Nicol Stephen : Table 1 shows the percentage of employed adults people who work from home in their main job in Angus for the last three years for which data are available.

Table 1 Percentage of People Working from Home in Angus, 2003-05

Source:

2004 and 2005 Data from Annual Population Survey.

2003 Data from Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of employed adults in Dundee worked from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Nicol Stephen (15 December 2006): Table 1 shows the percentage of employed adults people who work from home in their main job in Dundee for the last three years for which data are available.

Table 1 Percentage of people working from home in Dundee, 2003-05

Source:

2004 and 2005 Data from Annual Population Survey

2003 Data from Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time university students in the (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire local authority area have been in receipt of bursaries in each of the last three years.

Nicol Stephen : The following table highlights the number of bursaries awarded by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland to full-time university students who were domiciled in the (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire local authority areas in each of the last three academic years:

Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).

Note: All student numbers in this table are rounded up or down to the nearest five.

Students can receive a number of different financial awards/bursaries, including travel expenses, Young Students Bursary, Lone Parents Grant, Standard Maintenance Allowance, Disabled Students Allowance, Lone Parents Childcare Grant, Young Students Outside Scotland Bursary and Dependants Grant. Students receiving any of these bursaries or allowances are included in the table.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) : To ask the Scottish Executive what the claimant count number and claimant count unemployment rate have been in each ward of Angus Council in the most recent month for which figures are available.

Nicol Stephen: The Claimant Count gives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is produced by the Office of National Statistics.

Table 1 shows the claimant count number and the claimant count rate for each ward in Angus month of October 2006.

Please note that the rates are calculated using the resident working age population.

Table 1 Claimant Count Unemployment for Wards in Angus, October 2006

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. Data are numbers of people claiming unemployment related benefits.

2. Proportions for wards are calculated using the mid-2001 resident working age population.

12 December 2006

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much expenditure has been allocated to the (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire council to develop and promote the planning system through online access.

Des McNulty : The E-Planning Efficient Government Programme is a key component of planning reform. The programme involves 40 partners. Work is on-going on estimating the cost of the proposed e-planning systems for each partner, but based on work to date the estimates are:

1. Dundee City Council – £41,000
2. Angus Council – £78,000
3. Aberdeenshire Council – £119,000.

The aim of the programme is to bring all partners up to the same level of e-planning service, so allocations vary based on how advanced the e-planning systems of the partners are and their overall level of involvement in the programme.

7 December 2006

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many stroke-related deaths there were in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus in each of the last 10 years, expressed also as a standardised rate for those under 75 per 100,000 population.

George Lyon : The information requested is given in the following table.

Deaths from Cerebrovascular Diseases (Stroke) ¹, Selected Council Areas, 1996-2005

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) knee-joint replacement and (b) cataract operations have been carried out in NHS Tayside in each year since 2000.

Andy Kerr : The number of operations and procedures undertaken as in-patients or day cases is published on the ISD Scotland website at:

Knee replacement and cataract operations in Tayside since 2000 can be selected by using the "procedure" and "NHS Board of Treatment" menus within the file.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the First Minister what guarantees can be given that public safety will not be compromised by the proposed home leave for inmates of open prisons at Christmas.

The First Minister (Mr Jack McConnell): All prisoners in open prisons must have been assessed as presenting a low risk to the public before being transferred there.

Almost all will have some entitlement to home leave throughout the year as part of their rehabilitation programme.

However, no one will be allowed home leave without a rigorous safety assessment.

Marlyn Glen: I thank the First Minister for his reassurance.

Does he agree that all political parties should be consistent in supporting that policy, instead of having a knee-jerk reaction to misleading press reports?

The First Minister: I agree absolutely.

There are members who claim to support systems for rehabilitation but who are quick to criticise them as soon as there is an opportunity to get themselves in the headlines.

I would hope that all members would desist from such practices.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): I am sure that the First Minister agrees that one of the most important elements of rehabilitation that the prison service can deliver relates to drug abuse, which takes the majority of prisoners into prison.

The Presiding Officer: Is this a question about home leave, Mr Stevenson?

Stewart Stevenson: In that context, in relation to open prisons, does the First Minister support my view that prisoners who are being released for home leave should be tested for drug abuse before they leave and after they return, to ensure continuity of rehabilitation from drug abuse?

The First Minister: If we were to implement the Scottish National Party's policy on prisons, that would be difficult to achieve.

The SNP published its policy proposals, entitled "Our policies for a safer Scotland", in which it says clearly that it would introduce new sentencing options, including weekend prisons.

For Mr MacAskill, who is Mr Stevenson's boss, to say last week that society has deemed that those people should be punished but that they are not being punished over the festive period because a limited number of prisoners are being allowed home, when, in fact, the SNP wants many more prisoners to be allowed home every single week of the year, is sheer hypocrisy.

The Scottish National Party's policies would have more credibility if it was consistent and did not jump from having one policy statement in its policy document to grabbing headlines on another occasion.

Gender Proofing

26 October 2006

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab):To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to improve the gender proofing of policies across departmental portfolios.

The Deputy Minister for Communities (Johann Lamont): The duty to promote equality of opportunity between women and men, as introduced by the Equality Act 2006, is expected to come into force in Scotland in April 2007.

As a public authority, the Executive, along with its agencies, is subject to that duty.

Key parts of the new duty are ensuring that all new key policies and activities are assessed for their impact on gender equality and making arrangements to review key existing policies.

We believe that effective equality impact assessment is key to equality mainstreaming and to the delivery of the gender duty and the other public sector equality duties.

The Executive has been developing an equality impact assessment tool and guidance, which will be made available to all Executive officials to enable them to assess the impact of their policies across a number of equality strands, including gender.

Marlyn Glen: I acknowledge the progress that is being made, even though the duty has not yet come in.

Will the minister outline how departments are to be further encouraged to take a more uniform approach to equalities reporting, because at the moment different approaches are still being adopted?

Johann Lamont: It is key that we ensure that there is discussion throughout the Executive rather than just within departments.

I know that members of the Equal Opportunities Committee will challenge the Minister for Communities, Malcolm Chisholm, when he discusses the budget with them in due course and talks about the practicalities of how that can be delivered.

Underlying our desire to get the budgets right is our desire to get the policy right.

Today we mark the second anniversary of the establishment of the domestic abuse court and the assist service, which has liberated people to use their talents to support women who are dealing with domestic abuse through the justice system, so that they get justice and are not victimised further.

We should recognise the need to put in place the budgets to match our policy commitment.

We will talk about assessment tools and all the rest of it and will ensure that Executive officials talk to each other, but our commitment and energy to deliver equality for women will drive the budget—it will not be the other way round.

Economy

6 October 2006

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the local economic output of Dundee has been in each of the last three years for which figures are available and what the percentage annual changes have been.

Nicol Stephen: Gross Value Added (GVA) is the preferred measure of economic activity within an area. GVA data for local areas are published by the Office for National Statistics, however, figures for the City of Dundee and Angus are not available separately.

Gross Value Added (GVA) at Current Basic Prices (£ Millions), 2001-03

Source: Office for National Statistics.

It is important to note that the annual percentage changes presented above should not be taken as an indicator of economic growth in the area as they have not been adjusted for inflation.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many VAT registered businesses there have been in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by sector.

Nicol Stephen: Data on the number of VAT registered enterprises are released annually by the Small Business Service, an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry. A breakdown by sector is only available at a UK-level.

Start of Year Stock of VAT Registered Enterprises, 2003-05

Source: Small Business Service, DTI.

Please note that these figures do not account for all business activity as only companies with a turnover above the VAT threshold are required to register. The VAT threshold is increased each year. It was £48,000 in 1997 increasing to £58,000 in 2004.

6 October 2006

Marlyn Glen : To ask the what the average gross (a) hourly and (b) weekly pay has been of full-time employees in Dundee in each of the last three years, broken down by gender.

The preferred source for earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

The following table shows the median gross pay for full-time employees in Dundee by gender in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The median is the recommended measure of average for earnings as opposed to the mean.

Table 1 – Median gross hourly and weekly pay for full-time employees in Dundee by gender (£).

Source: Annual Survey for Hours and Earnings

Notes:

1. The estimates are based on the pay excluding overtime for employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.

2. The estimates are based on a sample survey, and as such, are subject to sampling error.

3. To improve coverage and hence make the survey more representative, supplementary information was collected from the 2004 ASHE survey onwards. The 2004 and 2005 ASHE results are therefore discontinuous with the results for 2003 and previous years, for which no supplementary information was collected.

4. Weekly rates of pay have been rounded to the nearest 10 pence.

5. Rates are based on residence based earnings.

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/globatmos/

(http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/household-estimates-projections/household-projections-for-scotland-2004-based/index.html, Tables 11-16).

(http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/household-estimates-projections/household-projections-for-scotland-2004-based/index.html, Tables 17).