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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-26979

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 3 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the fairness of the recent price increase on rail tickets across Scotland.

The rail companies must set faresat levels that balance affordability, investment and the need to encourage moretravellers to choose the improved train services that we are providing.

Safeguards are in place to ensurethat regulated commuter fares do not go up by more than RPI+1 overall. Some non-commuterfare levels are regulated individually at RPI+1, while unregulated fares are a matterfor First ScotRail.

There were some significant increaseson unregulated fares which we are assured by First ScotRail are aimed at effectivedemand management on the busier routes. There were also a number of ticket pricereductions, season ticket prices remained static and the addition of a new advancepurchase product.

Question reference: S2W-26983

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the resources which it provides to First ScotRail are used to fund.

Scottish Ministers willspend approximately £1.9 billion in subsidy payments to First ScotRail over theseven year life of the franchise. The level of subsidy is based on theoperating costs incurred by First ScotRail in delivering the contracted levelof service as well as an agreed level of profit.

The subsidy paid to FirstScotRail represents payment of these costs net of the revenue generated fromticket sales. The Executive has driven, through the franchise agreement andtheir funds, greatly improved levels of service, punctuality and quality aswell as implementing the various performance regimes contained in the franchiseagreement. Where performance targets fail to be met, the franchisee facessubstantial financial penalties.

Question reference: S2W-26982

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipated that its increased funding to First ScotRail would result in a decrease in the rail ticket costs.

The terms of the franchiseagreement set out what First ScotRail will deliver for the subsidy received.Overall, the financial model underpinning the contract did not anticipate adecrease in rail ticket prices.

The franchise agreementcontains conditions restricting the amount by which regulated fares canincrease. Transport Scotland officials scrutinise changes in regulated fareslevels to ensure that First ScotRail operates within the terms of the franchise.Changes in unregulated fares are a commercial matter for First ScotRail.

Question reference: S2W-26980

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact it considers the increased cost of rail travel will have on passenger volumes.

We have received assurancesfrom First ScotRail that the re-structuring of a small number of unregulatedfares aims overall to encourage further off peak travel and reduce overcrowdingon peak trains. On that basis we would not anticipate any significant impact onpassenger numbers.

In the last several years wehave seen increases of circa 10% year on year in the number of people choosingto travel by train. We are committed to work to continue that trend, focussingin particular on improving punctuality and service quality.

Question reference: S2W-26984

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to monitor improvements to train services provided by First ScotRail.

Transport Scotlandofficials meet with First ScotRail at least weekly across a range of topics toensure that all contracted commitments to improvement are delivered and todiscuss improvements to existing services and the introduction of new services.

The franchise agreement requiresFirst ScotRail to produce a number of specific reports on performance. Thesereports are closely scrutinised by Transport Scotland officials who look toFirst ScotRail to deliver the best performance for the public subsidy. There arerobust performance regimes contained within the franchise agreement to ensurethat the standard of rail services provided by the franchisee continuallyimproves over the life of the franchise. The franchisee faces significantfinancial penalties where performance targets are not met.

Question reference: S2W-25998

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 27 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of economic inactivity was in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Dundee in each of the last five years.

Estimates of economic inactivityare taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Table 1 provides estimates of workingage economic inactivity for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee Local Authority areasfor 2000-04.

The estimates are based on asample survey, and as such, are subject to some sampling error. Taking this samplingerror into account, the changes in the estimates over time are not statisticallysignificant.

Table 1 Working-Age¹Economic Inactivity by Selected Local Authority Area, 2000-04²

	Dundee City	City of Edinburgh	Glasgow City
2000	21,000	54,000	108,000
2001	20,000	54,000	121,000
2002	22,000	58,000	113,000
2003	20,000	61,000	110,000
2004	20,000	60,000	105,000

Source: LabourForce Survey, Annual Data.

Notes:

1. Working ageis defined as 16 to 64 for men and 16 to 59 for women.

2. Data basedon seasonal years (March to February).

3. Data arerounded to the nearest thousand.

Question reference: S2W-26910

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25545 by Mr Andy Kerr on 17 May 2006, whether it will provide information about the number and rate of infants born with congenital heart anomalies in each year for which figures are available.

The information prior to 1995is contained in the following table. Information for 2004 is due to be publishedin autumn 2006 on the Scottish Health Statistics website as part of the annualScottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report.

SingletonsBorn in Scotland and Detected¹ with Anomalies of the Heart and CirculatorySystem at Birth or During Infancy²; Numbers and Rates Per 1,000 Birthsby Year of birth: 1987-94

		1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Heart and Circulatory System ^3,
	Number	432	412	450	462	484	524	549	490
	Rate	6.74	6.38	7.24	7.26	7.43	8.28	8.91	8.20
Heart
	Number	236	238	262	251	287	312	312	289
	Rate	3.68	3.69	4.21	3.94	4.41	4.93	5.07	4.83
Circulatory System
	Number	250	226	237	242	270	288	310	274
	Rate	3.90	3.50	3.81	3.80	4.15	4.55	5.03	4.58

Notes:

1.Anomalies have been located from the diagnostic summaries contained within the linkedsource data comprising profiles of neonatal and in-patient hospital discharge records,stillbirth notifications and death registrations.

2.All Infants followed up from birth for period of one year to allow detection ofanomalies from hospital in-patient records or General Register Office death registrations.

3. Singletons with more thanone congenital anomaly are only counted once in a category total. For example ifan infant was born with anomalies of both the heart and circulatory system, theanomalies would be recorded separately in each category, but only once in the totalfigure for Anomalies of the Heart and Circulatory System.

Question reference: S2W-26853

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with HIV/AIDS there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) NHS board area.

The following information isavailable:

Number of HIV+ve Individualsby Allocated Health Board* and Year of Report to HPS 2001-05, source HIV/AIDS toDecember 2005

Allocated Health Board*	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	Total
Argyll and Clyde	5	11	8	10	16	50
Ayrshire and Arran	5	8	3	7	5	28
Borders	1	4	8	2	3	18
Dumfries and Galloway	4	1	4	9	10	28
Fife	5	14	7	18	12	56
Forth valley	6	4	4	6	14	34
Grampian	20	14	28	21	34	117
Greater Glasgow	40	80	93	121	110	444
Highland	3	6	5	5	7	26
Lanarkshire	8	11	11	22	21	73
Lothian	57	73	83	110	128	451
Tayside	20	12	18	23	19	92
Total	174	238	272	354	379	1,417

Note: *Health Board of Residenceor, if unavailable health board of where specimen or HIV testing was taken.

Number of HIV+ve Individualsin Scotland known to be in Clinical Care 2001-05

Allocated Health Board*	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Argyll and Clyde (GG)	35	41	46	53	60
Argyll and Clyde (Highland)	11	12	13	14	15
Ayrshire and Arran	36	40	39	46	48
Borders	13	12	20	23	25
Dumfries and Galloway	16	15	17	26	37
Fife	64	71	78	90	98
Forth Valley	26	29	30	35	48
Grampian	88	96	108	123	148
Greater Glasgow	280	330	402	495	567
Highland	12	5	4	3	6
Lanarkshire	52	61	66	80	95
Lothian	605	658	686	755	842
Shetland	4	2	4	5	4
Tayside	150	156	161	165	183
Western Isles	1	1	1	1	1
(blank)	1	1	1	1	0
All Scotland	1,394	1,530	1,676	1,915	2,177

Note: *Health board of residenceor, if unavailable health board of where specimen or HIV testing was taken.

Question reference: S2W-26855

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to educate people who do not have HIV/AIDS about the illness.

The National Sexual Health StrategyRespect and Responsibility, published in January 2005, includes a number of recommendationson the importance of educating the general public on prevention of sexually transmitteddiseases such as HIV/AIDS.

NHS boards are delivering educationthrough their locally appointed Health Promotion Managers and Drug Action Teams.In addition, NHS Health Scotland is working with key stakeholders to support positiveSexual Health in the workplace in relation to HIV status.

NHS Health Scotland are alsoworking closely with the Executive on two programmes, “Healthy Respect” and “Respectand Responsibility” where HIV/AIDS is seen as being an important element in workaround promoting protection against all STIs, reducing stigma and discriminationand improving access to services for those people who are living with HIV/AIDS.

Question reference: S2W-26856

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on measures to educate people who do not have HIV/AIDS about the illness in each of the last five years.