Seòmar agus comataidhean

To date, extra-parliamentary representations regarding progress on a Vulnerable Adults Bill have been received from a range of organisations and individuals, and as a result of the Help the Aged’s New Years Resolution campaign.

We will take all such representations into account as we develop our legislative proposals.

There is no precise legal definition in Scots law on what constitutes elder abuse, nor is there a statutory or operational requirement for the Executive to collect such information.

In developing our proposals for additional protections for vulnerable adults, however, we will continue to work with a broad range of stakeholders like Age Concern Scotland and Help the Aged to ensure these measures are as comprehensive and inclusive as possible.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-14476 on 15 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Scottish Executive does not hold the information for agencies or other public bodies. A proportionof Scottish Executive staff time is spent in administering visits by membersof the Royal Family but we cannot provide yearly breakdowns as records of this typeare not held. We estimate that, for 2004, the cost of staff time was approximately£2000 to £2500.

The Executive also runs and paysfor a small number of events most years where members of the Royal Family are inattendance. The information we hold on cost and location is set out below.

Year	Cost £000	Location
1999	2	Stirling
2000	1	Edinburgh
2002	0
2003	33	Edinburgh
2004	1	Edinburgh

 

The 2003 figure of £33,000 relatesto the Union of the Crowns Dinner, attended by The Queen, the Dukeof Edinburgh and the Duke of York and hosted by the First Minister.

To disclose the additional costs of a police operation would divulge the extent of that operation and enable those, who might wish at a future date tointimidate or cause harm to members of the Royal Family, to work out the degreeof security and protection provided.

To the extent that police officers from a local force were on duty during an event attended by the Royal Family as part of their normal duties, there will be no additional cost incurred by the local force. Otherwise, as I indicated in my earlier answer to question S2W-14474 on 1 March 2005, it is not the policy of the Scottish Executive to comment on, or otherwise disclose details of, the cost of policing events attended by members of the royal family as to do so could compromise their security and play into the hands of those who might wish to intimidate them or cause them harm.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

The number of patients in Scotland with obesity and those specifically with morbid obesity who have had surgery to aid weight reduction is presented in the table.

Number of Patients¹ Diagnosed in Scotland with Obesity and Morbid Obesity who Have Had Surgery to Aid Weight Reduction

Year ending 31-Mar	Number of Patients with Obesity	Number of Patients with Morbid Obesity
All Years	208	112
2002	52	16
2003	46	20
2004	69	49
2005p	41	27

^PProvisional.

Note:

1. These statistics are derived from data collected on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Other Health Related Problems, tenth revision (ICD10) code E66 has been used to identify Obesity and E66.8 has been used to identify Morbid Obesity. The Office of Populations Censuses and surveys Version 4 (OPCS4) code G30 has been used to identify Plastic Operations on the Stomach.

The Estimated Number Patients Seen in general practices in Scotland Newly Diagnosed with “Obesity” or as Being “Overweight” is shown in the following table.

	Overweight
Year	Obesity	Including Oobesity
2002 (consultations with GP only)	8,900	11,500
2003 (consultations with GP only)	8,600	11,400
2003-04 (consultations with GP, practice or district nurse or health visitor)	11,100	16,700

The Estimated Number of Patients Seen for Obesity

Year	Number of Patients Seen
2002 (consultations with GP only)	38,100
2003 (consultations with GP only)	35,600
2003-04 (consultations with GP, practice or district nurse or health visitor)	48,400

Source: Practice Team Information from Information Services NHS National Services Scotland.

The tables show the number of newly diagnosed patients and the overall number of patients seen for obesity.

These figures considerably underestimate the true number of obese people in Scotland. Many people with obesity do not consult their GP. In addition these figures exclude people with obesity who did not consult their GP during the year of the analysis. Also patients may visit the general practice for a condition related to their obesity without obesity itself being recorded.

This information is not held centrally.

The payment of benefits, including those made for funeral expenses, is a reserved matter, on which the Executive has made no representations to the UK Government.

Information specific to Scotland is not held centrally.