- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were charged with (a) fraud or (b) identity theft in each of the last five years.
Answer
The number of people charged with fraud in each of the last five years is given in the following table:
Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Fraud1, 2002-03 to 2006-07
| Proceeded Against | Charge Proved |
2002-03 | 1,604 | 1,459 |
2003-04 | 1,589 | 1,444 |
2004-05 | 1,516 | 1,355 |
2005-06 | 1,376 | 1,245 |
2006-07 | 1,379 | 1,178 |
Note: 1. Where fraud is the main offence.
It should be noted that identity theft offences are included within fraud offences and are not recorded separately.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 24 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses whether sports clubs provide equal opportunities for men’s and women’s participation.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring equal opportunities in sport for all. Support for sports clubs is primarily through the relevant governing body with whom sportscotland works closely to ensure that equitable procedures are in place through the adoption of an equity policy and support through the Equity Standard. Investment to governing bodies of sport is linked to the successful progression through the Equity Standard.
Where facility investment in concerned, sportscotland promotes an Open to All clause in an applicants constitution.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to review the law relating to protection of an individual’s identity.
Answer
A report on serious fraud was published on 13 May 2008 by Her Majesty''s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICS). The report made a number of recommendations aimed at improving how the police work with their partners to tackle serious fraud, which can include cases of identity theft.
One of the report''s recommendations was that the Scottish Government consult with stakeholders, including the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), to make certain that legislation, process and interventions relating to fraud in Scotland are no less comprehensive or robust than they are elsewhere in the UK.
An ACPOS-led Working Group, which will include representatives of the Scottish Government, is being established to take forward all of the report''s recommendations.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 24 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether discussions have been held with the football governing bodies about the declining numbers attending football matches, particularly away matches.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not formally discussed the issue of attendance at football matches with any of the football authorities.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what priority the police and prosecuting authorities give to tackling (a) fraud and (b) identity theft.
Answer
It is an operational matter for the police and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to determine the priority they attach to investigating and prosecuting fraud, which includes identity theft.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been employed in the software industry in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
Information on the number of employee jobs by industry is collected each year from the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), which is the official source of employee jobs data. Table 1 shows the number of employee jobs in the software industry. The most recent year for which data is available is 2006. The ABI does not include self-employed jobs.
This data is based on employee jobs rather than the number of people in employment (as one person may have more than one job). It does not include self-employed jobs.
Table 1: Employee Jobs in the Software Industry in Scotland, 1997 to 2006
Year | Number |
1997 | 8,900 |
1998 | 10,100 |
1999 | 10,800 |
2000 | 16,700 |
2001 | 17,500 |
2002 | 16,700 |
2003 | 16,100 |
2004 | 19,600 |
2005 | 17,900 |
2006 | 16,300 |
Source: Annual Business Inquiry 1998 to 2006, Annual Employment Survey 1997.
Notes:
1. Data for 1997 and 2006 are not consistent with other years. The data for 1997 was sourced from an earlier survey than the ABI and the reference date for the ABI was changed in 2006.
2. Data are rounded to the nearest hundred.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors changes in the skills needed to support economic development (a) nationally and (b) in local areas.
Answer
Futureskills Scotland undertakes a biennial large scale survey of the skills needs of Scottish employers which supports the detailed sectoral labour market information and intelligence carried out by the Sector Skills Councils.
Scotland''s Further and Higher Education institutions also engage with employers on curriculum design, work placements and quality enhancement and are working to further ensure that employers are able to recruit graduates with a key base of work related core skills.
In addition, the national economic development agencies, Skills Development Scotland and the Business Gateway service work closely with employers to understand their needs.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 17 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the impact of Part 2 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 and what plans it has to review operation of the legislation.
Answer
Registers of Scotland maintain a public register where details of registrations, under the provisions of Part 2 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003, can be checked online at
http://rcil.ros.gov.uk. As at 30 October 2008, there are 975 valid registrations of tenant''s interests in acquiring land from their landlord.
As the key body in Scotland representing all sides of the agricultural tenanted sector, the Tenant Farming Forum is debating how the current agricultural tenancy legislation is operating with a view to offering advice to the Scottish ministers.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 13 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is responding to the points raised at the town hall meeting on flood management in Newmilns on 18 April 2008.
Answer
The Scottish Government has fully considered all of the points raised at each of the town hall meetings this year, such as the need to consider flooding from sewerage systems, as well as from rivers and flooding, and also the need for better communication and cooperation between all parties involved in flood risk management. This has helped us to shape the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill that is currently passing through the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 October 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of depression among older people.
Answer
We are working with GPs so that new patients with depression receive a formal assessment using a standardised tool and matched therapy appropriate to the level of need.
The GP contract provides additional resources to practices to make objective assessments to assess the severity of depression and provide appropriate information on interventions including self help, life style advice and other evidence based interventions such as exercise. The pharmacy contract also enables some pharmacists to advise on mental health and wellbeing issues.
Our published standards for Integrated approaches to the treatment of depression will also inform all practitioners on expectations. We have also published a short summary sheet on the overall attention underway and planned on raising awareness and responding better on depression, including £3 million investment in new innovative approaches for service users.