- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average journey times will be between Croy and Edinburgh Waverley in the event of the Glasgow to Edinburgh main line being electrified and what the comparable average journey times are at present.
Answer
The improvementsproposed for the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line are part of a managed programme of change, providing a moreefficient and greener rail network in Central Scotland,delivering faster journey times, increased capacity and more services. It istoo early in the design of the scheme to produce a detailed timetable. However,the target for Edinburgh to Glasgow journey times is a reduction from around 50 minutes to around 35minutes.
At present theaverage journey time between Croy and Edinburgh Waverley is 38.5 minutes.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average journey times will be between Cumbernauld and Glasgow Queen Street in the event of the line to Cumbernauld being electrified and what the comparable average journey times are at present.
Answer
The improvementsproposed for the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line are part of a managed programme of change, providing a moreefficient and greener rail network in Central Scotland,delivering faster journey times, increased capacity and more services. It istoo early in the design of the scheme to produce a detailed timetable. However,the target for Edinburgh to Glasgow journey times is a reduction from around 50 minutes to around 35minutes.
The averagejourney time between Cumbernauld and Glasgow Queen Streetat present is 27 minutes.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average journey times will be between Polmont and (a) Glasgow Queen Street and (b) Edinburgh Waverley in the event of the Glasgow to Edinburgh main line being electrified and what the comparable average journey times are at present.
Answer
The improvementsproposed for the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line are part of a managed programme of change, providing a moreefficient and greener rail network in Central Scotland,delivering faster journey times, increased capacity and more services. It istoo early in the design of the scheme to produce a detailed timetable. However,the target for Edinburgh to Glasgow journey times is a reduction from around 50 minutes to around 35minutes.
The averagejourney time between Polmont and Glasgow Queen Streetat present is 28 minutes.
The averagejourney time between Polmont and Edinburgh Waverley at present is 30.5 minutes.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual passenger numbers were at (a) Croy, (b) Cumbernauld, (c) Greenfaulds, (d) Falkirk High and (e) Polmont railway stations in each of the last 25 years.
Answer
The ScottishExecutive do not hold the information requested.
ScottishMinisters became responsible for the ScotRail Franchise in November 2005. Passengercounts are carried out as part of the First ScotRail Franchise for trainplanning purposes. The passenger counts carried out in 2006 returned thefollowing figures for average usage of the stations.
| Station | Weekday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Croy | 3,585 | 3,031 | 990 |
| Cumbernauld | 873 | 797 | 135 |
| Greenfaulds | 357 | 352 | 77 |
| Polmont | 1,985 | 1,855 | 821 |
| Falkirk High | 2,728 | 3,065 | 1,394 |
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what gross domestic product was in (a) 1975, (b) 1985, (c) 1995 and (d) 2005 and what comparative information it has for each other country listed in figure B2 of The Government Economic Strategy.
Answer
Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) data for Scotland and the UK,are presented in table 1. GDP data for the other countries listed in figure B2of the Government Economic Strategy (GES) are shown in table 2.
Table 1: GDP2for Scotland and UK,£, Millions, Current Prices
| | 1975 | 1985 | 1995 | 2005 |
| Scotland | n/a | £25,223 million 1 | £55,498 million | £86,324 million |
| UK | £99,266 million | £320,463 million | £640,416 million | £1086,859 million |
Source ONS
Notes: 1. Datafor Scotland in 1985 is Total GDP at Factor cost (£million,current prices), ONS; Rest of the data is total GVA at current basic prices (£million), ONS.
2. GVA is equalto GDP at basic prices.
Table 2: GDP for SelectedCountries, US $, Constant Prices, Constant PPPs, OECD Base Year, Millions
| Country | 1975 | 1985 | 1995 | 2005 |
| Ireland | $30,847 million | $43,714 million | $69,000 million | $141,251 million |
| Iceland | $3,585 million | $5,447 million | $6,452 million | $10,079 million |
| Norway | $71,399 million | $104,969 million | $137,160 million | $183,292 million |
| Finland | $71,100 million | $94,335 million | $107,007 million | $153,110 million |
| Denmark | $84,705 million | $110,996 million | $133,654 million | $164,472 million |
Source: OECD.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in (a) Central Scotland parliamentary region, (b) each parliamentary constituency in Central Scotland parliamentary region, (c) Lanarkshire NHS board area and (d) Forth Valley NHS board area will benefit from the proposal to scrap prescription charges, as outlined in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007.
Answer
This information isnot held centrally.
The Scottish Governmentis committed to abolishing prescription charges for all in Scotland within the lifetime of this Parliament, and we are currentlyexamining in detail how best to deliver that commitment. Our proposals will benefitthe 50% of the population of Scotland who currently pay for their prescriptions,two thirds of whom are estimated to have a chronic condition.
We will make an announcementto Parliament in due course.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners served custodial sentences for non-payment of fines in each of the last 15 years, shown also as a percentage of the prison population, and what comparable information it has for (a) the rest of the United Kingdom, (b) each EU member state and (c) each OECD country.
Answer
I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
The availableinformation is provided in the following table:
Average dailypopulation in custody for fine default by country and calendar year: actualnumbers and percentages of the total prison population.
| Year | Scotland1 | England and Wales2 | Northern Ireland |
| Number | % of Total | Number | % of Total | Number | % of Total |
| 1992 | n/a | n/a | 382 | 0.8% | 34 | 1.9% |
| 1993 | n/a | n/a | 546 | 1.2% | 32 | 1.7% |
| 1994 | n/a | n/a | 537 | 1.1% | 30 | 1.6% |
| 1995 | n/a | n/a | 516 | 1.0% | 29 | 1.6% |
| 1996 | n/a | n/a | 141 | 0.3% | 24 | 1.5% |
| 1997 | 102 | 1.7% | 131 | 0.2% | 30 | 1.8% |
| 1998 | 75 | 1.2% | 110 | 0.2% | 30 | 2.0% |
| 1999 | 59 | 1.0% | 99 | 0.2% | 33 | 2.7% |
| 2000 | 61 | 1.0% | 87 | 0.1% | 22 | 2.1% |
| 2001 | 62 | 1.0% | 43 | 0.1% | 22 | 2.4% |
| 2002 | 61 | 1.0% | 34 | 0.0% | 17 | 1.7% |
| 2003 | 61 | 0.9% | 46 | 0.1% | 20 | 1.7% |
| 2004 | 63 | 0.9% | 52 | 0.1% | 24 | 1.9% |
| 2005 | 56 | 0.8% | 78 | 0.1% | 25 | 1.9% |
| 2006 | 48 | 0.7% | n/a | n/a | 29 | 2.0% |
Notes:
1. For yearsbefore 1997, figures on fine defaulters were not collected separately.
2. The figuresfor England and Wales are as at 30 June rather than an annual average.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the prison population is from each of the top 10 postcode areas where prisoners are from and what percentage of the total population is resident in each of these postcode areas.
Answer
I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
Unfortunately, wedo not currently hold information on the prison population in the form that hasbeen requested. The information that is currently available is the prisonpopulation at local authority level. The following table gives the populationof prisoners in custody on 30 June 2006 by the localauthority of their home address, for the local authorities which have the 10highest percentages of the total prison population. Also given is thepercentage of the total population of Scotland in each ofthese local authorities.
| Local Authority | Prison Population | Percentage of Prison Population | Total Population | Percentage of Total Population |
| Glasgow City | 1,569 | 21.8 | 580,690 | 11.3 |
| Edinburgh, City of | 600 | 8.3 | 463,510 | 9.1 |
| North Lanarkshire | 455 | 6.3 | 323,780 | 6.3 |
| Fife | 384 | 5.3 | 358,930 | 7.0 |
| Dundee City | 380 | 5.3 | 142,170 | 2.8 |
| South Lanarkshire | 371 | 5.1 | 307,670 | 6.0 |
| Aberdeen City | 272 | 3.8 | 206,880 | 4.0 |
| Renfrewshire | 253 | 3.5 | 169,590 | 3.3 |
| North Ayrshire | 233 | 3.2 | 135,490 | 2.6 |
| East Ayrshire | 177 | 2.5 | 119,290 | 2.3 |
| Scotland | 7,205 | | 5,116,900 | |
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average daily prison population has been in each year since 1960.
Answer
I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
The average dailyprison population for each year since 1960 is given in the following table.
| Year | Prison Population | Year | Prison Population |
| 1960 | 2,821 | 1984 | 4,753 |
| 1961 | 2,997 | 1985 | 5,273 |
| 1962 | 3,238 | 1986 | 5,587 |
| 1963 | 3,504 | 1987 | 5,446 |
| 1964 | 3,250 | 1988 | 5,229 |
| 1965 | 3,381 | 1989 | 4,986 |
| 1966 | 3,858 | 1990 | 4,724 |
| 1967 | 4,238 | 1991 | 4,839 |
| 1968 | 4,541 | 1992 | 5,257 |
| 1969 | 4,834 | 1993 | 5,637 |
| 1970 | 5,003 | 1994 | 5,585 |
| 1971 | 5,338 | 1995 | 5,626 |
| 1972 | 5,220 | 1996-97 | 5,993 |
| 1973 | 4,810 | 1997-98 | 6,059 |
| 1974 | 4,689 | 1998-99 | 6,029 |
| 1975 | 4,951 | 1999-2000 | 5,975 |
| 1976 | 4,884 | 2000-01 | 5,883 |
| 1977 | 4,871 | 2001-02 | 6,186 |
| 1978 | 5,062 | 2002-03 | 6,475 |
| 1979 | 4,585 | 2003-04 | 6,621 |
| 1980 | 4,860 | 2004-05 | 6,779 |
| 1981 | 4,518 | 2005-06 | 6,857 |
| 1982 | 4,891 | 2006-07 | 7,183 |
| 1983 | 5,052 | |
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 28 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many families will benefit from the proposed increase in nursery provision in (a) Central Scotland parliamentary region, (b) each parliamentary constituency in Central Scotland parliamentary region, (c) North Lanarkshire local authority area, (d) South Lanarkshire local authority area and (e) Falkirk local authority area, as outlined in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007.
Answer
All eligiblechildren will be entitled to 570 hours of pre-school education from
August 2010. The numbers of children attending pre-school education as ofJanuary 2007 in the areas specified are provided as follows. Information is notheld on the number of families with children in pre-school education.The figures usedare the number of three, four and five-year-old children in pre-schooleducation at January 2007 and are taken from the
Pre-school and ChildcareStatistics 2007. See:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/09/26094517/0.Number of Children Attending Pre-School Education
| Scottish Parliamentary Constituency: | |
| Coatbridge and Chryston | 1,490 |
| Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | 1,400 |
| East Kilbride | 1,660 |
| Falkirk East | 1,350 |
| Falkirk West | 1,570 |
| Airdrie and Shotts | 1,560 |
| Hamilton North and Bellshill | 1,390 |
| Hamilton South | 1,300 |
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 1,520 |
| Motherwell and Wishaw | 1,260 |
| Central Scotland Parliamentary Region | 14,510 |
| Local Authority: | |
| Falkirk | 2,920 |
| North Lanarkshire | 6,620 |
| South Lanarkshire | 5,820 |
