Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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: S3W-35475

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 July 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been convicted of motoring offences in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriff court

The available information on persons convicted in Scottish courts is given in the following tables. Following the summary justice reforms introduced in December 2007 there has been an increase in cases involving motor vehicle offences being dealt with by district courts rather than sheriff courts.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Motoring Offences¹, 2004-05 to 2008-09

Court	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
High Court	6	9	8	14	5
Sheriff Court ²	24,793	22,132	21,965	21,136	14,278
District/JP Court ³	22,716	23,062	23,091	24,164	30,392
Scotland ⁴	47,515	45,203	45,065	45,314	44,680

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes Sheriff Solemn, Sheriff Summary and Sheriff Summary Youth Courts.

3. Includes District, Justice of the Peace and Stipendiary Magistrates.

4. A small number of court types are unknown

Persons with a Charge Proved in Sheriff Courts for Motoring Offences¹, 2004-05 to 2008-09

Sheriff Court	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Aberdeen	1,576	1,445	1,256	1,249	991
Airdrie	658	534	606	627	447
Alloa	246	225	260	200	142
Arbroath	431	375	360	275	225
Ayr	707	644	813	731	443
Banff	133	110	126	115	84
Campbeltown	85	80	70	63	36
Cupar	263	215	224	230	134
Dingwall	194	213	183	208	115
Dornoch	75	66	61	57	44
Dumbarton	654	574	569	684	463
Dumfries	1,566	1,179	1,493	1,482	686
Dundee	1,059	994	931	697	415
Dunfermline	639	629	562	555	440
Dunoon	147	129	98	130	106
Duns	121	97	107	87	62
Edinburgh	2,368	2,111	2,236	1,973	1,272
Elgin	472	418	361	405	265
Falkirk	686	571	586	704	428
Forfar	428	297	345	311	202
Fort William	191	197	162	128	93
Glasgow	972	1,005	955	1,045	630
Greenock	372	305	243	234	176
Haddington	359	303	265	311	225
Hamilton	1,534	1,500	1,318	1,294	1,070
Inverness	786	608	624	551	366
Jedburgh	155	166	141	130	86
Kilmarnock	982	968	1,002	968	696
Kirkcaldy	926	721	698	705	641
Kirkcudbright	146	138	143	170	91
Kirkwall	93	80	108	117	88
Lanark	356	284	249	270	138
Lerwick	150	134	134	128	97
Livingston/Linlithgow	781	763	764	669	418
Lochmaddy	46	29	37	25	14
Oban	136	127	118	110	85
Paisley	892	889	866	811	605
Peebles	62	81	70	66	42
Perth	1,055	763	778	680	381
Peterhead	400	343	255	278	251
Portree	46	57	50	37	47
Rothesay	26	26	39	29	24
Selkirk	197	194	172	145	73
Stirling	493	446	512	522	312
Stonehaven	291	275	270	246	177
Stornoway	88	135	98	121	95
Stranraer	442	453	408	333	224
Tain	170	129	127	141	65
Wick	137	105	112	89	68
Sheriff court unknown	1	2	0	0	0
Scotland	24,793	22,132	21,965	21,136	14,278

Persons with a Charge Proved in District/JP Courts for Motoring Offences¹, 2004-05 to 2008-09

District Court	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Aberdeen City	1,072	1,039	842	1,084	2,234
Aberdeenshire	761	830	952	1,350	1,055
Angus	821	732	832	625	627
Argyll and Bute	172	144	52	160	244
Clackmannanshire	222	217	191	225	250
Dumfries and Galloway	1,069	1,497	1,543	1,948	2,548
Dundee City	710	703	621	624	691
East Ayrshire	837	1,094	314	360	672
East Dunbartonshire	79	20	3	24	82
East Lothian	142	127	95	90	275
East Renfrewshire	81	51	95	91	183
Edinburgh, City of	1,700	1,790	2,224	2,156	2,655
Falkirk	700	912	632	761	910
Fife	1,731	1,216	874	1,205	1,584
Glasgow City	4,897	5,196	6,116	5,155	4,985
Highland	1,686	1,305	1,155	1,224	1,596
Inverclyde	173	105	53	169	323
Midlothian	145	137	81	85	1
Moray	196	164	145	112	229
North Ayrshire	147	274	242	352	578
North Lanarkshire	1,241	1,363	1,521	1,759	2,264
Perth and Kinross	852	640	1,056	1,017	1,371
Renfrewshire	315	303	342	409	629
Scottish Borders	917	1,187	1,196	1,176	936
South Ayrshire	238	376	435	265	761
South Lanarkshire	579	665	637	650	1,115
Stirling	538	407	432	530	712
West Dunbartonshire	201	80	111	126	249
West Lothian	449	458	271	416	561
Western Isles	44	25	28	13	27
District court unknown	1	5	0	3	45
Scotland	22,716	23,062	23,091	24,164	30,392

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S3W-34466

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what treatment is offered by the NHS for people diagnosed with Leber’s disease.

Diagnosis of Leber''s disease is made using the following methods: taking a history; identifying signs and symptoms; blood and urine tests; testing visual acuity and visual fields; electrophysiology studies, and fluorescein angiography. A CT or MRI scan is also undertaken to exclude other inflammatory and structural causes of acute optic neuritis, particularly if there is no family history.

No prevention or treatment is available for Leber''s disease at present. Several drugs and interventions are being tested, such as Brimonidine, near-infrared light treatment, Vitamin B12, and viral vector techniques. Gene therapy and stem cell therapy may help with management of the condition in the future.

Genetic counselling and referral to appropriate agencies for supportive advice regarding life circumstances and lifestyle may also be offered.

Question reference: S3W-34465

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with Leber’s disease in the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S3W-34467

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are receiving treatment from the NHS for Leber’s disease.

Question reference: S3W-34301

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it provides to local authorities in the West of Scotland for befriending services for (a) adults and (b) young people.

Question reference: S3W-34243

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether national targets on student retention figures are set for further education institutions and, if so, how these are measured.

Question reference: S3W-34244

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 16 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many further education institutions have had to reduce their bursary payments to students due to higher than expected retention figures.

Question reference: S3W-34302

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it offers to voluntary organisations and services in the West of Scotland to expand their remit.

We provide core funding to the new third sector interfaces and those councils of voluntary service and volunteer centres that remain. The basic functions of these bodies include support to voluntary organisations, the promotion of volunteering and social enterprise and a strong connection to the community planning partnership in their area. The total of this funding is almost £7.9 million in 2010-11. We also provide funding to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (£0.350 million) and Volunteering Development Scotland (£0.9 million) for their general support to the third sector.

While none of this funding is aimed at extending the remit of individual organisations it does support the third sector generally since we believe the sector is a major force in the creation of a strong, successful Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-33770

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance and support it provides to people who wish to work offshore.

Since its introduction, OPITO (The Oil and Gas Academy) in partnership with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board has trained over 770 modern apprentices under the Upstream Technician Training Programme for work in oil and gas. OPITO have also formed a partnership with Forth Valley College to help deliver their Transformation Training Programme. This has been funded through the PACE initiative. Through the modern apprenticeship programme we will provide over 1,500 opportunities for young people to commence a Level 3 Engineering MA this year. This figure includes opportunities for those who wish to work offshore.

Through the Oil & Gas Industry Advisory Group, we are working with the industry to address key areas of strategic priority including skills and industry promotion to enhance the industries'' competitive position and sustain oil and gas production in the future. The Forum for Renewable Energy Development for Scotland''s Offshore Wind Group is considering specific skill needs and is feeding into the Renewable Energy Skills Group with a view to skills interventions being developed. Skills Development Scotland is also supporting Energy & Utility Skills in their development of a Workforce Planning Model to cover offshore renewables.

Question reference: S3W-33771

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it provides to cultural and heritage events in the West of Scotland.

The Scottish Government provides assistance to cultural and heritage events in the West of Scotland in partnership with key agencies and organisations with responsibility for promoting Scotland internationally. Examples include:

EventScotland - has supported the Gourock Highland Games, the European Pipe Band Champions in Inverclyde and the East Renfrewshire Food Festival. Through Homecoming, events celebrating Burns were supported in North Ayrshire and St Andrew''s Day celebrations were supported in each local authority area.

The Scottish Arts Council - awarded a total of 61 awards to the West of Scotland during 2008-09 and 73 awards during 2009-10. These awards represent a range of activity, which will include performances, exhibitions, publications, as well as outreach or other activity that would meet a broad definition of a cultural event. A significant amount of those awards were made to local authorities in respect of Youth Music and capital / infrastructure awards.