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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-21954

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been introduced since 1999 to assist small businesses to upgrade their skills base.

Since 1999, we have collectivelydeveloped and implemented a number of measures designed to enable businesses inScotland to build and upgrade their skills base. Scottish Enterprise, Highlands andIslands Enterprise and learndirect scotland provide advice andguidance to businesses seeking to develop the skills of their staff. Servicesinclude learndirect scotland for business (providing access to experttraining advisers who assist businesses in assessing skills needs andidentifying training solutions), Scottish Enterprise’s “Business Gateway”service (providing information, guidance and learning opportunities support)and Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s “Learning Works” (providing informationon skills development and local learning opportunities).

Scotland’s colleges are committed to working closely withsmall businesses in their local area. There has been record investment in thesector, rising to almost £620 million by 2007-08 (an increase in cash terms ofalmost £200 million since 2003-04).

Throughthe Skillseekers programme, employers benefit from skills acquired byparticipants, and from the financial support provided for their training anddevelopment.

The Business LearningAccounts pilot is now complete and is currently being evaluated. It wasdeveloped as a means of testing approaches to encourage small businesses totrain and develop their staff, in an effort to promote business growth.

Question reference: S2W-22174

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to each NHS board in each of the last three years and how much funding has been allocated for each of the next three years, expressed also on a per capita basis.

Details are as follows:

NHS Board	2002-03 Total Allocation (£ million)	2002-03 Per Capita (£)	2003-04 Total Allocation (£ million)	2003-04 Per Capita (£)	2004-05 Total Allocation (£ million)	2004-05 Per Capita (£)
Argyll and Clyde	476.764	1,139	509.567	1,222	571.174	1,374
Ayrshire and Arran	412.956	1,125	446.036	1,215	508.342	1,383
Borders	117.690	1,096	127.071	1,174	145.324	1,330
Dumfries and Galloway	173.251	1,176	185.178	1,258	209.764	1,418
Fife	358.873	1,009	382.916	1,088	435.686	1,229
Forth Valley	294.722	1,055	312.759	1,118	348.077	1,235
Grampian	539.080	1,030	576.841	1,102	626.984	1,196
Greater Glasgow	1,118.237	1,291	1,176.202	1,358	1,307.122	1,509
Highland	246.927	1,186	266.721	1,276	307.357	1,454
Lanarkshire	574.003	1,038	624.011	1,128	696.493	1,252
Lothian	775.075	995	886.270	1,136	943.836	1,199
Orkney	25.696	1,338	27.033	1,400	30.796	1,579
Shetland	30.974	1,412	33.308	1,523	35.736	1,629
Tayside	473.887	1,223	496.043	1,283	551.146	1,421
Western Isles	46.515	1,775	50.265	1,926	54.528	2,076

NHS Board	2005-06 Total Allocation (£ million)	2005-06 Per Capita (£)
Argyll and Clyde	610.630	1,469
Ayrshire and Arran	540.772	1,471
Borders	155.803	1,426
Dumfries and Galloway	225.833	1,527
Fife	469.016	1,323
Forth Valley	373.948	1,327
Grampian	663.707	1,267
Greater Glasgow	1,382.724	1,595
Highland	330.381	1,563
Lanarkshire	746.439	1,342
Lothian	998.246	1,268
Orkney	32.072	1,645
Shetland	37.106	1,691
Tayside	583.870	1,505
Western Isles	57.707	2,198

Firm allocations for 2006-07and 2007-08 have still to be finalised.

Question reference: S2W-22164

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 19 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many licences to sell alcohol have been withdrawn as a result of a breach of the licence in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

The Scottish Executive does not collect these statistics centrally. The Criminal Justice Statistics Unit within the Scottish Executive does, however, maintain and publish an annual series of Statistical Bulletins on Liquor Licences in Scotland. In 2003, statistics on the total number of licences that were suspended were collected for the first time.

The figures for 2003 and 2004 are broken down into local authority areas as follows:

Local Authority	Number
Local Authority	2003	2004
Aberdeen City	2	-
Aberdeenshire	2	2
Angus	1	1
Clackmannanshire	-	2
Dundee City	4	-
East Ayrshire	-	2
East Renfrewshire	1	-
Edinburgh, City of	3	4
Falkirk	-	2
Fife	-	1
Glasgow City	-	1
Highland	-	1
North Ayrshire	2	-
North Lanarkshire	2	1
Orkney Islands	-	-
Perth and Kinross	-	1
Scottish Borders	1	-
South Lanarkshire	1	2
West Dunbartonshire	-	1
Scotland	19	21

Question reference: S2W-22107

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East 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 convictions have been made for drug driving in each of the last five years, including 2006, and how many of these convictions resulted in a (a) custodial sentence and (b) fine and/or loss of licence, broken down by police force area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Figures for convictions involving drugs alone are not available. However, the total number of drink or drug driving offences resulting in a charge proved in the years 1999 to 2003, the latest five-year period for which information is currently available, is given in the following table. Figures for 2004-05 are currently planned for publication in April 2006.

Drink or Drug Driving Offences¹ with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts, by Police Force Area, 1999-2003.

Police Force Area and Sentence	Number					Percentage Change On Previous Year
Police Force Area and Sentence	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Central	101	136	122	213	199	22	35	-10	75	-7
Imprisonment	2	1	5	5	3	-67	-50	400	0	-40
Fine	61	79	65	94	99	49	30	-18	45	5
Other	38	56	52	114	97	6	47	-7	119	-15
Dumfries and Galloway	62	67	45	92	63	-5	8	-33	104	-32
Imprisonment	1	5	1	-	1	-50	400	-80	-100	na
Fine	42	42	34	51	41	-2	0	-19	50	-20
Other	19	20	10	41	21	-5	5	-50	310	-49
Fife	119	151	139	220	200	0	27	-8	58	-9
Imprisonment	13	5	4	15	6	44	-62	-20	275	-60
Fine	52	69	47	78	76	-12	33	-32	66	-3
Other	54	77	88	127	118	6	43	14	44	-7
Grampian	232	207	239	237	277	10	-11	15	-1	17
Imprisonment	7	2	7	4	7	-50	-71	250	-43	75
Fine	100	99	108	116	122	-5	-1	9	7	5
Other	125	106	124	117	148	37	-15	17	-6	26
Lothian and Borders	331	349	301	451	418	-4	5	-14	50	-7
Imprisonment	33	16	23	21	16	83	-52	44	-9	-24
Fine	169	183	166	183	211	-12	8	-9	10	15
Other	129	150	112	247	191	-4	16	-25	121	-23
Northern	129	133	151	197	208	10	3	14	30	6
Imprisonment	7	14	8	9	10	250	100	-43	13	11
Fine	71	72	89	86	100	13	1	24	-3	16
Other	51	47	54	102	98	-2	-8	15	89	-4
Strathclyde	1,105	1,165	1,233	1,230	1,193	-2	5	6	0	-3
Imprisonment	72	70	84	62	61	20	-3	20	-26	-2
Fine	496	575	596	608	539	-14	16	4	2	-11
Other	537	520	553	560	593	8	-3	6	1	6
Tayside	161	215	242	286	242	-21	34	13	18	-15
Imprisonment	6	13	14	22	14	-63	117	8	57	-36
Fine	81	112	108	118	98	-19	38	-4	9	-17
Other	74	90	120	146	130	-16	22	33	22	-11
Scotland	2,240	2,423	2,472	2,926	2,800	-2	8	2	18	-4

Drink or Drug Driving Offences¹ with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts Resulting in a Driving Disqualification, by Police Force Area, 1999-2003

Police Force Area and Sentence	Number					Percentage Change on Previous Year
Police Force Area and Sentence	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Central	61	73	76	110	103	36	20	4	45	-6
Dumfries and Galloway	33	39	29	48	34	-13	18	-26	66	-29
Fife	63	79	68	94	101	-14	25	-14	38	7
Grampian	106	100	113	113	115	6	-6	13	0	2
Lothian and Borders	178	193	183	209	212	-7	8	-5	14	1
Northern	71	88	88	96	106	11	24	0	9	10
Strathclyde	611	674	681	712	640	3	10	1	5	-10
Tayside	84	119	123	141	104	-21	42	3	15	-26
Scotland	1,207	1,365	1,361	1,523	1,415	0	13	0	12	-7

Notes:

1. Offence categories includedare:

Driving a motor vehicle whileunfit through drink or drugs.

In charge of a motor vehiclewhile unfit through drink or drugs.

Failure to co-operate with apreliminary test.

Failure to provide a specimenat a police station.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-22179

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of beef imports from (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries to Scotland in each of the last five years, showing year-on-year percentage changes, and what comparative information it has on such imports to the United Kingdom.

Question reference: S2W-22173

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any local authorities have not developed a fuel poverty strategy.

Question reference: S2W-22105

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East 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 how many people have been arrested for drug-driving offences in each of the last five years, including 2006, broken down by police force area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.

The following tables give the number of drunk or drug-driving offences (including those involving the refusal to provide a test or sample) recorded by each police force over the last five financial years. The available data does not allow those offences where the individual concerned was under the influence of drugs to be separated from those where he or she was under the influence of alcohol. Also, the number of offences recorded by the police has been given, as information on arrests made by the police is not collected centrally.

Number of Relevant Driving Offences¹ Recorded by the Police, Broken Down by Police Force Area, 2000-01 to 2004-05

Police Force	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Central	165	199	189	156	146
Dumfries and Galloway	83	58	78	55	84
Fife	174	189	214	234	166
Grampian	246	275	316	293	354
Lothian and Borders	420	426	441	398	329
Northern	188	230	227	217	222
Strathclyde	1,692	1,617	1,700	1,614	1,484
Tayside	280	311	293	260	263
All Scotland	3,248	3,305	3,458	3,227	3,048

Year-on-Year Percentage Changes in the Number of Relevant Driving Offences¹ Recorded by the Police, Broken Down by Police Force Area, 2000-01 to 2004-05

Police Force	2000-01 to 2001-02	2001-02 to 2002-03	2002-03 to 2003-04	2003-04 to 2004-05
Central	20.6	-5.0	-17.5	-6.4
Dumfries and Galloway	-30.1	34.5	-29.5	52.7
Fife	8.6	13.2	9.3	-29.1
Grampian	11.8	14.9	-7.3	20.8
Lothian and Borders	1.4	3.5	-9.8	-17.3
Northern	22.3	-1.3	-4.4	2.3
Strathclyde	-4.4	5.1	-5.1	-8.1
Tayside	11.1	-5.8	-11.3	1.2
All Scotland	1.8	4.6	-6.7	-5.5

Note: Offences included are:

Driving a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.

In charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.

Failure to co-operate with a preliminary test.

Failure to provide a specimen at a police station.

Question reference: S2W-21477

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning was informed of the UK Government's decision to announce a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers; how he responded, and whether he has issued any direct response to the UK Government since the announcement.

Question reference: S2W-21476

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning was consulted by the UK Government prior to the announcement of a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers and, if so, whether it will provide details of his response.

Question reference: S2W-21479

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister was consulted by the UK Government prior to the announcement of a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers and, if so, whether it will provide details of his response.