Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-38965

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, if the reported statement by a spokeswoman from Transport Scotland on 20 January 2011 that “if Parliament had thrown out the trams project, ministers would have brought forward alternative budget proposals to target early dualling of the A9” accurately reflects the Scottish Executive position on the matter, when this position was first announced to the Parliament.

In his statement to the Parliament in June 2007, Stewart Stevenson MSP, the then Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, made it clear that the Scottish Government opposed the Edinburgh Tram project which represented a significant risk to Scottish taxpayers money, and that there were other more important priorities for the use of funds on that scale. The full parliamentary statement can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/ORSearch/ReportView.aspx?r=4735&mode=html.

Question reference: S3W-38963

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the reported statement of a spokeswoman from Transport Scotland on 20 January 2011 that “if Parliament had thrown out the trams project, ministers would have brought forward alternative budget proposals to target early dualling of the A9” contradicts the reported statement by an official spokesman for the First Minister on 30 May 2007 that “The government intends all expenditure planned for these projects or any alterations will continue to be used for public transport projects that tackle congestion, connectivity and journey times in Edinburgh and across Scotland” and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S3W-38967

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on (a) image management, (b) advertising and (c) marketing for (i) it, (ii) its agencies and (iii) other public bodies in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-38969

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on (a) image management, (b) advertising and (c) marketing for (i) it, (ii) its agencies and (iii) other public bodies in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-38968

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been budgeted for (a) image management, (b) advertising and (c) marketing for (i) it, (ii) its agencies and (iii) other public bodies for the remainder of 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-38966

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been budgeted for (a) image management, (b) advertising and (c) marketing for (i) it, (ii) its agencies and (iii) other public bodies in each of the last five years.

(a) None. (b) and (c) (i) are as follows:

In 2009-10 the Scottish Government''s marketing unit allocation was £10,800,000.00 of which £8,300,000 was spent on a range of advertising activity to support key policy objectives and to help deliver the government''s National Performance Framework outcomes. A further £5,100,000 was spent on related advertising activity by individual directorates. In September 2009, at the time of the 2010-11 draft Budget, I announced that the Scottish Government''s advertising expenditure would be reduced by 50 per cent from 2010-11. My letter to Mr Welsh, Convenor of the Finance Committee, dated 5 August 2010, provided full details of these matters at the time, a copy of which was placed in Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 51458).

The Scottish Government advertising and marketing budget is allocated exclusive of VAT. For the period 2005-06 to 2009-10 the budget was capped at £10,800,000. The 2010-11 budget is £6,694,453.

The welfare of the Scottish population is a primary responsibility of the Scottish Government. Ensuring people are aware of the services available to them and any legislative changes is vital. This public information is best communicated using the marketing tools available, such as advertising. The recent risk to health from seasonal flu is an example of how marketing is used to communicate and deliver tangible results, 53.8 per cent of people under the age of 65 with a health condition have been vaccinated “ more than ever before in a flu season. The recent extreme winter weather also required the communication of safety messages to Scots across all communities and adverts on local and community radio stations were integral to this.

The Scottish Government advertising and marketing spend for 2010-11 will be reconciled and published following the end of the financial year.

The Scottish Government''s advertising gross expenditure for the period 2005-06 to 2009-10 is published on the government website, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Directorates/Services-Groups/17963/advertising-marketing/spend.

During the period in question there have been three VAT changes (1 December 2008 VAT decreased from 17.5% to 15%, 1 January 2010 VAT increased from 15% to 17.5% and on 4 January 2011 VAT increased from 17.5% to 20%).

(c) (ii) (iii) Information on agency and other public body spend is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S3W-39024

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the investment plans for 2011 are for the Highland main line.

Question reference: S3W-38871

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to further develop Scotland’s sports-injury reporting system.

The Scottish Government is currently funding ISD to run a project which will gather relevant data on injuries presenting through accident and emergency (A&E) services in Scotland in order to develop a better evidence base on the size and nature of the problem of both intentional (assaults) and unintentional injuries. This data gathering is seen as an essential first step before considering what measures might need to be taken to address the issue of injury reduction. The 18-month project started on 1 July 2010 and is anticipated to end in December 2011.

Data will enable the breakdown of the figures by age, gender, location injury occurred and type of accident (i.e. fall, or burn etc), activity when injured and social sector (using deprivation categories). Place of injury and activity when injured will make it easier to identify sports injuries presented through A&E services in future.

Question reference: S3W-38870

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many under-18s sustained sports-related injuries in 2009-10 and how this compares with the European Union average per head of population.

Complete data on the number of people of who have sustained sports-related injuries in Scotland is not collected centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38871 on 2 February 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Question reference: S3W-38872

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the termination of statistical reporting by the UK-wide Home Accident Surveillance System and the Leisure Accident Surveillance System in 2003, for what reason Scotland has no official body that collates injury statistics, including for sporting activities.

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