- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 23 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is being made available to the crews of fishing vessels who lose their livelihoods due to the fishing vessel decommissioning scheme and what preparations are being made to ensure that such assistance is in place when necessary.
Answer
It remains to be seen what the effects of decommissioning will be on individual fishermen and their employment status. If assistance is required, then the local enterprise companies and their employment partners have mechanisms in place to provide training and re-employment support.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants there are in (a) restorative dentistry, (b) oral and maxillofacial surgery and (c) orthodontics in each health board area in the current financial year, and were in each of the last three years, expressed in (i) numerical terms and (ii) as a ratio of consultants to head of population in the health board area.
Answer
Provisional Information on staff numbers at 30 September 2001 is not yet available. The information requested for the years 1998 to 2000, apart from maxillofacial surgeons who are not separately identified, is shown in Tables 1 and 2. Maxillofacial surgeons will be identified separately in data collected from September 2001 onwards. The tables should be read in conjunction with the following notes.Consultants in these dental specialties can and do offer services to patients from health board areas other than the one at which they are based. It should therefore be noted that the ratio of consultants to head of population does not necessarily reflect the level of consultant service available in any area. Treatments provided by consultants in a particular board may be provided by other grades of staff in other boards, which further distorts comparisons between boards based on these statistics.
Table 1 - Consultants in Selected Dental Specialties by Health BoardHeadcount at 30 September | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| Restorative Dentistry | Oral Surgery | Orthodontics | Restorative Dentistry | Oral Surgery | Orthodontics | Restorative Dentistry | Oral Surgery | Orthodontics |
Scotland | 21 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 27 | 27 | 21 | 25 | 26 |
Argyll & Clyde | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 |
Ayrshire & Arran | - | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | 2 |
Borders | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Dumfries & Galloway | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Fife | - | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 1 |
Forth Valley | - | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 3 |
Grampian | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Greater Glasgow | 12 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 5 |
Highland | - | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 2 |
Lanarkshire | - | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 3 | - | 2 | 3 |
Lothian | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
Orkney | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Shetland | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Tayside | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Western Isles | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Table 2 - Consultants in Selected Dental SpecialtiesHeadcount per 1 000 000 population by Health Board | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| Restorative Dentistry | Oral Surgery | Orthodontics | Restorative Dentistry | Oral Surgery | Orthodontics | Restorative Dentistry | Oral Surgery | Orthodontics |
Scotland | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
Argyll & Clyde | - | - | 5 | - | - | 5 | - | - | 5 |
Ayrshire & Arran | - | 5 | 5 | - | 5 | 5 | - | 5 | 5 |
Borders | - | - | 9 | - | - | 9 | - | - | 9 |
Dumfries & Galloway | - | 7 | 7 | - | 7 | 7 | - | - | 7 |
Fife | - | 6 | 3 | - | 6 | 3 | - | 6 | 3 |
Forth Valley | - | 4 | 7 | - | 4 | 11 | - | 4 | 11 |
Grampian | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Greater Glasgow | 13 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
Highland | - | 5 | 10 | - | 5 | 10 | - | 5 | 10 |
Lanarkshire | - | 2 | 5 | - | 2 | 5 | - | 4 | 5 |
Lothian | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
Orkney | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Shetland | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Tayside | 15 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
Western Isles | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Note for Tables 1 and 2:
- Data for 30 September 2000 are provisional.
- Figures include honorary appointments.
- Rates per head of population are based on population estimates as at mid-June.
- Consultants in these specialties can and do offer services to patients in health board areas other than that in which they are based.
Maxillofacial surgery is not separately classified in central data up to 2000. These surgeons will be classified either as oral surgeons or plastic surgeons.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made, and to whom, on the number of Health and Safety Executive inspectors employed in Scotland.
Answer
Occupational health and safety is a reserved issue. The Scottish Executive liaises with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a range of matters affecting devolved issues, such as public health, but has no remit in relation to HSE's operational decisions. The Scottish Executive is also in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including occupational health and safety.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of teachers are employed on a temporary contract basis, broken down by teacher category and local authority area.
Answer
The information is not held in the format requested. However, a survey commissioned by COSLA shows the number of teachers on temporary contracts by category as at November 2000.Number of teaching staff employed by authority
Category | Teachers on temporary contracts | Total number of teachers | Percentage |
Nursery teachers | 137 | 1,320 | 10.4% |
Primary teachers | 3,269 | 26,459 | 12.3% |
Secondary teachers | 4,314 | 29,015 | 14.9% |
Special schools teachers | 375 | 3,240 | 11.6% |
Combined schools teachers | 41 | 368 | 11.1% |
| Total | 8,136 | 60,402 | 13.5% |
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 21 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive why the NHS inspectors employed by the Health & Safety Executive are being transferred from Aberdeen and whether it was consulted on this matter.
Answer
Occupational health and safety is a reserved issue. The Scottish Executive liaises with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a range of matters affecting devolved issues, such as public health, but has no remit in relation to HSE's operational decisions.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of the recent meeting of the EU Fisheries Council.
Answer
We achieved a very good outcome for Scotland from the recent EU Fisheries Council. Faced with an initial proposal which was far from favourable to Scottish and UK interests, the UK delegation took a robust approach to ensure the best possible available deal for our fishermen. This agreement, which is consistent with scientific advice, includes increases in quotas of key Scottish stocks.A full table of the UK quotas for 2002 has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18398).
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to measure the performance of BEAR Scotland Ltd in response to the recent spate of winter weather.
Answer
Performance Audit Group audit and monitor the activities and performance of BEAR Scotland Ltd, and report to Scottish ministers.They have been asked to undertake a specific audit of BEAR's winter maintenance activities in the North East during the recent period of severe weather.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to change the status or role of special police constables.
Answer
There are no plans to change the status or role of special constables in Scotland.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to offer salaries or other new payments to special police constables.
Answer
There are no proposals to offer salaries to special constables, but the case for paying an allowance to recognise levels of commitment is being explored.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of police officers to special police constables was in each quarter since 1 April 1997, both nationally and broken down by police force area.
Answer
Decisions on the numbers of police officers and special constables in each force are an operational matter for chief constables.Since September 1999 the numbers of special constables in each force have been collected each quarter. Prior to that, numbers were collected on an annual basis at 31 March. The information available is shown in the following tables.Ratio of Police Officers to Special Constables
Force | 31/3/97 | 31/3/98 | 31/3/99 | 30/9/99 | 31/12/99 |
Central | 9:1 | 10:1 | 12:1 | 12:1 | 12:1 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 2:1 | 2:1 | 2:1 | 3:1 | 3:1 |
Fife | 6:1 | 7:1 | 8:1 | 9:1 | 9:1 |
Grampian | 8:1 | 9:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
Lothian & Borders | 14:1 | 14:1 | 13:1 | 16:1 | 19:1 |
Northern | 3:1* | 3:1* | 3:1* | 3:1 | 3:1 |
Strathclyde | 23:1 | 23:1 | 23:1 | 21:1 | 21:1 |
Tayside | 5:1 | 6:1 | 6:1 | 7:1 | 7:1 |
Total | 10:1* | 10:1* | 11:1* | 11:1 | 11:1 |
Note:* Figures for Northern in these years are estimates.Ratio of Police Officers to Special Constables
Force | 31/3/00 | 30/6/00 | 30/9/00 | 31/12/00 | 31/3/01 |
Central | 12:1 | 12:1 | 14:1 | 14:1 | 14:1 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 3:1 | 3:1 | 3:1 | 4:1 | 4:1 |
Fife | 9:1 | 8:1 | 8:1 | 8:1 | 8:1 |
Grampian | 10:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 | 11:1 |
Lothian & Borders | 15:1 | 15:1 | 17:1 | 18:1 | 18:1 |
Northern | 3:1 | 3:1 | 3:1 | 3:1 | 3:1 |
Strathclyde | 21:1 | 21:1 | 21:1 | 21:1 | 22:1 |
Tayside | 7:1 | 7:1 | 8:1 | 8:1 | 9:1 |
Total | 11:1 | 11:1 | 12:1 | 12:1 | 12:1 |
| | 31/6/01 | 30/9/01 |
Central | 12:1 | 12:1 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 3:1 | 3:1 |
Fife | 9:1 | 8:1 |
Grampian | 10:1 | 10:1 |
Lothian & Borders | 15:1 | 15:1 |
Northern | 3:1 | 3:1 |
Strathclyde | 21:1 | 21:1 |
Tayside | 7:1 | 7:1 |
Total | 11:1 | 11:1 |
