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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: S2W-22093

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the order of strategic priority is of current and proposed rail developments.

Our first priority is to implement the major rail infrastructure projects, as set out in the Partnership Agreement, i.e. the rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, the upgrade at Waverley station, opening the Stirling to Alloa line, the Airdrie to Bathgate line, and the Borders rail link. In addition, we are considering what the rail strategy for the next 15 to 20 years should be. We have consulted on the strategic priorities, commissioned a Scottish Planning Assessment and Network Rail are conducting a Route Utilisation Study. These will provide the building blocks for considering what further rail developments will make the most positive impacts on the economy, society and environment of Scotland in future. We expect to produce the rail strategy in the summer and this will guide the potential investments to be considered for future funding by the Executive in the subsequent Strategic Projects Review. Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.

Question reference: S2W-22095

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the audiology waiting times are in each NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-22096

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what support, financial or otherwise, it is giving to the RNID campaign, “Breaking the Sound Barrier”, and, in particular, to the telephone hearing test.

Question reference: S2W-22097

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional audiologists it estimates will be required to meet any increasing demand following the introduction of a telephone hearing test by the RNID, which has been based on a Dutch model and as a consequence of which it is estimated that two or three out of 10 people taking the test will thereafter contact their GP with regard to their hearing.

The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) has indicated to the Executive, based on the experience in the Netherlands, that they expect one in 10 people who take the telephone hearing test may then contact their general practitioner to be referred to an audiologist. There may, therefore, be an increase in referrals across NHSScotland. NHS boards currently have the option of using a private sector national contract to meet audiology needs, and this could be used to meet any increase in demand.

Question reference: S2W-22141

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been on the sex offenders’ register in each year since 2000.

The number of sex offenders recordedby the Scottish Criminal Record Office as being registered with Scottish PoliceForces since 2000 is shown in the following table.

As at:	Number of Registrations
March 2000	1,174
March 2001	1,480
March 2002	1,724
March 2003	1,926
March 2004	2,244
March 2005	2,677
January 2006	3,044

Question reference: S2W-22139

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total revenue generated from speed cameras has been and how many deaths on roads have been caused as a direct result of speeding in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

The revenue generated from speedcameras within the Scottish Safety Camera Programme in each year since 1999 is providedin the following table.

Information on the number ofdeaths on roads caused as a direct result of speeding is not available. However,since January 2005, the Executive has been collecting additional information onroad accidents to include the factors thought to have contributed to the occurrenceof the accident, for example, driver impairment by drugs or alcohol, fatigue and/orspeed. However, it will not generally be possible from the statistical data to attributeany individual factor as being the single cause of the accident. It is expectedthat this additional information will be included in Road Accidents Scotland 2005at the end of this year.

Partnership	2000-01 (£000)	2001-02 (£000)	2002-03 (£000)	2003-04 (£000)	2004-05 (£000)	Total (£000)
Strathclyde	450	861	1,670	3,454	3,040	9,475
Fife	-	-	422	619	468*	1,508
North East	-	-	278	1,013	728*	2,019
Lothian and Borders	-	-	-	1,617	2,483	4,100
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	545	989*	1,534
Tayside	-	-	-	388	621*	1,010
Northern	-	-	-	-	203	203
Total (£000)	450	861	2,370	7,635	8,532	19,848

*Un-audited figures (Totals maynot equal the sum of their parts due to rounding).

Notes:

1. Figures given are for partnershipsfrom the date they joined the Safety Camera Programme. Central Scotland is not currently part of the programme. The partnerships in the table expandedor joined the programme as indicated below:

2. In 2001-02, Strathclyde includedonly Glasgow City Council area.

3. In 2002-03, Strathclyde expandedto cover four local authority areas; Fife joined the programme in April 2002 and the North EastPartnership joined in October 2002.

4. In 2003-04, Strathclyde expandedto 12 local authority areas; Dumfries and Galloway, Lothian and Borders and Tayside joined in July 2003.

5. In 2004-05, Lothian and Bordersexpanded to three local authority areas; Northern joined in July 2004.

Question reference: S2W-22126

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12029 by Mr Andy Kerr on 19 November 2004, whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of people waiting to see a psychologist in each NHS board area on 31 December or another fixed date in each year since 1999.

The information requested isnot available centrally. Waiting lists data is collected centrally only for firstout-patient appointments at a consultant-led out-patient clinic, following referralby a General Medical or Dental Practitioner, and for hospital in-patient and daycase treatment. Psychology services are provided by a range of health care professionals,and are carried out in a variety of settings.

Question reference: S2W-22125

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12029 by Mr Andy Kerr on 19 November 2004, how many psychologists have been employed by each NHS board in each year since 1999, broken down by category and expressed also on a per capita basis.

The following tables show thewhole-time equivalent (WTE) of NHS employed psychologists by NHS board 2001-04.WTE adjusts headcount to allow for part-time working. Information for the years1999 and 2000 is not available centrally.

Table 1: Applied PsychologistsWTE by NHS Board at 30 September 2001

	Clinical Psychologists Grade B	Clinical Psychologists Grade A	Other Applied Psychologists*	Total WTE of all Applied Psychologists	Ratio of per Capita Population to 1 WTE of all Applied Psychologists
Argyll and Clyde	10.60	9.30	3.00	22.90	18,371
Ayrshire and Arran	9.10	12.30	1.80	23.20	15,875
Borders	4.50	3.60	0.00	8.10	13,204
Dumfries and Galloway	6.90	2.20	0.00	9.10	16,240
Fife	9.90	18.30	1.00	29.20	11,976
Forth Valley	7.80	10.60	0.00	18.40	15,176
Grampian	10.30	21.20	1.50	33.00	15,935
Greater Glasgow	33.00	35.50	1.10	69.60	12,474
Highland	4.80	6.00	0.00	10.80	19,344
Lanarkshire	7.50	11.60	4.00	23.10	23,949
Lothian	20.10	26.80	1.80	48.70	15,996
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
State Hospital⁺	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	11.30	17.80	0.00	29.00	13,405
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	135.80	175.20	14.10	325.10	15,577

Source: ISD Scotland.

Table 2: Applied PsychologistsWTE by NHS Board at 30 September 2002

	Clinical Psychologists Grade B	Clinical Psychologists Grade A	Other Applied Psychologists*	Total WTE of all Applied Psychologists	Ratio of Per Capita Population to 1 WTE of all Applied Psychologists
Argyll and Clyde	11.60	7.20	3.00	21.80	19,298
Ayrshire and Arran	8.00	12.20	1.80	22.00	16,740
Borders	3.50	3.60	0.00	7.10	15,063
Dumfries and Galloway	8.60	3.20	0.00	11.80	12,524
Fife	11.40	20.10	2.00	33.50	10,439
Forth Valley	7.80	9.00	0.00	16.80	16,621
Grampian	9.30	19.40	3.50	32.20	16,331
Greater Glasgow	35.50	49.40	4.00	88.90	9,766
Highland	4.80	6.70	0.00	11.50	18,167
Lanarkshire	7.10	15.10	4.10	26.30	21,035
Lothian	22.20	34.40	2.30	58.90	13,226
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
State Hospital⁺	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	11.10	17.20	0.00	28.50	13,640
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	141.10	197.50	20.70	359.30	14,095

Source: ISDScotland.

Note:⁺Please note The State Hospital did not participate inthe data collection exercise in 2001 and 2002.

Table 3: Applied PsychologistsWTE by NHS Board at 30 September 2003

	Clinical Psychologists Grade B	Clinical Psychologists Grade A	Other Applied Psychologists*	Total WTE of all Applied Psychologists	Ratio of Per Capita Population to 1 WTE of all Applied Psychologists
Argyll and Clyde	9.70	11.80	2.50	25.00	16,919
Ayrshire and Arran	10.60	7.30	1.80	19.70	18,789
Borders	4.10	4.10	1.00	9.20	11,875
Dumfries and Galloway	7.20	3.60	1.00	11.80	12,719
Fife	16.10	18.50	4.00	38.60	9,205
Forth Valley	11.20	9.80	0.0	21.00	13,429
Grampian	8.80	21.90	4.40	35.00	15,091
Greater Glasgow	33.40	39.80	2.10	75.30	11,627
Highland	4.80	7.30	1.00	13.10	16,075
Lanarkshire	10.10	15.70	3.70	29.50	18,949
Lothian	24.40	30.20	5.20	59.90	13,145
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
State Hospital	1.20	4.00	1.00	6.20	-
Tayside	11.00	16.00	0.0	27.00	14,507
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	152.50	191.00	27.70	371.00	13,633

Source: ISD Scotland.

Table 4: Applied PsychologistsWTE by NHS Board at 30 September 2004

	Clinical Psychologists Grade B	Clinical Psychologists Grade A	Other Applied Psychologists*	Total WTE of all Applied Psychologists	Ratio of Per Capita Population to 1 WTE of all Applied Psychologists
Argyll and Clyde	10.70	12.20	2.00	24.90	16,693
Ayrshire and Arran	11.00	10.30	1.86	23.16	15,872
Borders	3.90	5.10	1.00	10.00	10,927
Dumfries and Galloway	8.20	4.65	1.00	13.85	10,681
Fife	14.00	24.10	3.00	41.10	8,626
Forth Valley	8.50	7.10	0.80	16.40	17,181
Grampian	9.85	27.30	6.01	43.16	12,141
Greater Glasgow	45.45	50.63	4.90	100.98	8,587
Highland	4.80	8.30	-	13.10	16,133
Lanarkshire	9.70	20.60	3.50	33.80	16,453
Lothian	25.04	31.46	4.40	60.90	12,931
Orkney	0	0	0	0	-
Shetland	0	0	0	0	-
State Hospital	2.70	5.45	1.00	9.15	-
Tayside	11.50	16.60	-	28.10	13,805
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	165.34	223.79	29.47	418.60	12,132

Source: ISDScotland.

Note: *OtherApplied Psychologists includes counselling psychologists, health psychologists,forensic psychologists and neuropsychologists.

Question reference: S2W-22146

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any Special Branch informants operating against democratic political parties in Scotland and, if so, which political parties and how long the Executive has been aware of such operations.??

Question reference: S2W-21758

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many surveillance operations it authorised involving electronic listening equipment other than telephone intercepts in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

The Scottish Executive does not have jurisdiction to authorise the use of electronic listening equipment.

The Chief Surveillance Commissioner publishes details in his annual report of the number of authorisations given under the Police Act 1997 for property interference, and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 for directed and intrusive surveillance.

The most recent report – (Bib. number 37809), document number SE/2005/203 – was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 3 November 2005.