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Mr. Stewart : This information is not available. However, research studies conducted elsewhere in the United Kingdom suggest that up to 10 per cent. of children suffer from a significant degree of emotional or behavioural disturbance during their childhood.
Children
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of children in Scotland who go hungry every day.
Mr. Stewart : Such information about children in families is not available centrally. However, it is Government policy to target income support and other DSS benefits at those who are most in need, including low income families.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the percentage of children in Scotland who are overweight.
Mr. Stewart : This information is not available.
Speech and Language Therapists
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many vacancies currently exist for speech and language therapists in the national health service in Scotland ; what was the average length of time taken, over the past 12 months, to fill vacancies ; and what assessment he has made of whether these vacancies are the result of a shortfall of appropriately qualified personnel.
Mr. Stewart : The information requested is not available from records held centrally.
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what has been the annual turnover rate for (a) male and (b) female speech and language therapists in each health board in each year since 1980 ;
(2) how many (a) male and (b) female speech and language therapists have been appointed by each health board for each year since 1980.
Mr. Stewart : The information requested could be made available only at disproportionate cost. Figures relating to males plus females for some of the years sought are published in "Health Briefing No. 92/01/spth", a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.
Hoax Calls
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prosecutions resulted from hoax calls to the fire services in Scotland for each of the past five years : and what percentage they constituted of the total number of call outs.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Relevant information for the four years 1989 to 1992 is as follows :
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s
|1989 |1990 |1991 |1992
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Persons proceeded against under section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947. |58 |49 |70 |61
Persons with charge proved under section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947. |55 |41 |64 |57
Malicious false alarms attended by fire brigades. |13,795 |15,241 |18,481 |22,485
Total incidents attended by fire brigades. |96,124 |98,763 |112,196|113,102
Malicious false alarms as a percentage of total incidents. |14.35 |15.43 |16.47 |19.88
Notes:
1. Information for 1993 is not yet available.
2. Information on prosecutions for 1988 is not available on the same basis.
Drug Offences
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of 14 to 17-year-olds cautioned, fined, or given custodial sentences for drug offences in each year since 1987.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Cautioning offenders is not a disposal which is available to the police in Scotland.
The available information is given in the table.
Number of persons aged 14 to 17 years old with a charge proved for drug offences in Scottish courts by type of disposal Year |Custody|Fined |Other |Total ------------------------------------------------ 1987 |12 |90 |20 |122 1988 |11 |74 |32 |177 1989 |6 |81 |28 |115 1990 |10 |130 |65 |205 1991 |14 |194 |81 |289 1992 |18 |212 |88 |318 Source: Home Office.
Asthma
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the number and percentage of children in Scotland with asthma.
Mr. Stewart : Asthma can best be defined as a disease caused by variable narrowing of the bronchial airways as a result of inflammation. The condition covers a wide spectrum of severity, however, from a single wheeze to a life-threatening attack. Measure of prevalence is therefore difficult, as the precise definition used is of critical importance. The evidence from a number of recent United Kingdom epidemiological surveys suggests, however, that between 10 and 15 per cent. of children suffer from asthma at some point during their childhood.
Neither the surveys nor routine statistics provide a sufficient basis for an estimate to be made of the number of children suffering from asthma at any given time. However, in Scotland in 1992--the latest year for which the information is available--the number of children aged under 16 with a principal diagnosis of asthma severe enough for them to be admitted to hospital was 3,548.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many working days were lost in Scotland because of asthma in the latest 12 months for which information is available.
Mr. Stewart : This information is not available.
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Crime Statistics
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of crimes in a year not reported to the police.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The best estimate we have is from the Scottish crime survey. The first results of the 1993 survey, which were published on 22 April, suggest that the proportion of incidents reported to the police in 1992 for those crimes covered by the survey, which comprise crimes against persons and their property, was 52 per cent. The corresponding figures for 1981 and 1987 were 38 per cent. and 44 per cent. respectively. These figures suggest that the amount of crime not reported to the police has diminished over the period covered by the surveys.
Children (Accidents)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total cost in 1992 and 1993 to the national health service and the ambulance service in Scotland caused by accidents to children.
Mr. Stewart : This information is not available.
Respite Care
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of children with severe disabilities do not receive respite care.
Mr. Stewart : The information requested is not held centrally. Our White Paper "Scotland's Children"--Cm. 2286--acknowledged the importance of well planned respite care tailored to the individual needs of children and their families. Respite care will feature in the new child care plans which local authorities will be required to prepare in collaboration with other relevant agencies, voluntary organisations and representatives of parents and carers.
Ambulance Service
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the base locations of all accident and emergency ambulances in Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway ; and which are (a) single manned or (b) double manned.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 27 April 1994] : The locations of ambulance stations are as follows :
Ambulance Stations within Strathclyde
Greenock
Rothesay
Dunoon
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TighnabruichVale of Leven
Arrochar
Helensburgh
Lochgilphead
Tarbert
Bowmore
Campbeltown
Gigha (Contractor)
Oban
Dalmally
Inverary
Mull
Colonsay (Contractor)
Tiree (Contractor)
Ayr
Dalmellington
Girvan
Kilbirnie
Largs
Millport
Lamlash
Irvine
Kilmarnock
Cumnock
Glasgow Central
Glasgow South
Glasgow East
Glasgow West
Kirkintilloch
Law
Shotts
Biggar
Douglas
Ambulance Stations within Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries
Thornhill
Kirkconnel
Annan
Langholm
Lockerbie
Moffat
Newcastleton
Stranraer
Newton Stewart
Castle Douglas
We are committed to the double-manning of accident and emergency ambulances. We have made £6 million available over the last four years towards the elimination of single-manning.
Only those stations staffed by contractors are exclusively single-manned. At other stations the number of single-manned responses will depend on the level of "on-call" single-manned rostering and the incidence of short notice sickness absence. The percentage of single-manned responses across Scotland has fallen from 8.7 per cent. in 1990-91 to 1.75 per cent. in 1993 -94. In Dumfries and Galloway during the same period there was a reduction from 28.97 per cent. to 6.14 per cent.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of accident and emergency ambulances achieved response times within the maximum in (a) Ayrshire and (b) Dumfries and Galloway in 1993 and for all available months in 1994.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 27 April 1994] : Target response times for ambulances vary according to population density. Ayrshire and Arran and Dumfries and Galloway health boards both cover areas of medium density and sparse density. The target response times which apply are :
Medium density population (0.5 3 people per acre)
95 per cent. of calls responded to in 18 minutes
Sparse density population (less than 0.5 people per
acre) 95 per cent. of calls responded to in 21 minutes.
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The information is as follows :
Performance Performance
Ayrshire and Arran Dumfries and Galloway
|Medium |Sparse |Medium |Sparse
January 1993 |91 |94 |95 |84
February 1993 |92 |94 |88 |84
March 1993 |92 |93 |89 |90
April 1993 |94 |93 |89 |81
May 1993 |93 |94 |95 |83
June 1993 |93 |94 |88 |82
July 1993 |91 |91 |86 |85
August 1993 |91 |89 |87 |83
September 1993 |91 |90 |87 |84
October 1993 |92 |92 |89 |84
November 1993 |91 |94 |92 |84
December 1993 |89 |91 |90 |94
January 1994 |90 |92 |90 |84
February 1994 |92 |93 |88 |85
March 1994 |91 |94 |92 |86
Ravenspark Hospital
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make a statement on the reasons for the Scottish Office's refusal to give its approval to a contract agreed between Ayrshire and Arran health board and the company Burley for replacement care provision arising out of the planned closure of Ravenspark hospital ;
(2) if he will make a statement indicating when Ayrshire and Arran health board now expects Ravenspark hospital to close.
Mr. Stewart : The Scottish Office has not refused to approve a contract between Ayrshire and Arran health board and Burley Health Care plc. The board has been asked to look at the future needs, size and location of services for the elderly mentally ill throughout Ayrshire, before completing a contract with Burley Health Care. Ayrshire and Arran health board has decided that Ravenspark hospital will close early in 1995 when suitable alternative care settings have been made available for the present residents. Hospital closures require public consultation and the approval of the Secretary of State.
Advertising
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 17 February, Official Report, columns 949-50, when he will place in the Library a copy of the research report on "Accessibility to the Scottish Office".
Mr. Lang : The analysis of the data based on the results of the research into the effectiveness of the advertising campaign on accessibility to the Scottish Office is not yet completed.
Hospital Staff
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hospital house officers, senior house officers, registrars and senior registrars there are in Scottish hospitals.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 28 April 1994] : The numbers of hospital doctors and dentists in whole time equivalent in each grade in post at 30 September 1993, the latest date for which information is available, are shown in the table :
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|WTE<1>
-------------------------------------
Total |3,506.9
House Officer |620.0
Senior House Officer |1,862.8
Registrar |632.7
Senior Registrar |391.4
<1> Figures are provisional.
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Racial Incidents
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of reported racial incidents for each police force area in Scotland for each year since 1988.
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