George Lyon: Although benefits is a reserved matter, I understand that a local authority is not permitted to deduct community charge arrears from housing benefit payments. The only debts that can be recovered from on-going payments of housing benefit are housing benefit overpayments.
George Lyon: The information requested is not held centrally.
George Lyon: The figures were compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) from death registrations and associated returns from procurators fiscal and forensic pathologists. Further information is given in the annual GROS paper on drug-related deaths. The most recent paper may be found at: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/drug-relat...
George Lyon: Seventy-one were recorded as accidental poisoning and a further 113 were recorded as poisoning of undetermined intent because it was not possible to determine whether or not the poisoning was accidental.
George Lyon: The information requested is presented in the following table. Alcohol-Related Deaths1 in Hospitals, Scotland, 1996-2005 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 562 618 641 705 794 833 864 942 834 871 Source: 1. 1996-99: ICD9 codes: 291, 303, 305.0, 425.5, 571.0-571.5, 571.8-571.9, E860. 2000-05: ICD10 codes: F10, G31.2, G62.1, I42.6, K29.2, K70, K73, K74 (excludingK74.3-K74.5),...
George Lyon: I am pleased to inform the Parliament that legislation before the Parliament will ensure residents in receipt of a housing support service living in certain defined accommodation will be exempt from local taxation altogether. This will include water and sewerage charges. The legislation containing the full definition was laid in Parliament on 13 March 2007 and is planned to come into force on...
George Lyon: Life expectancy is not calculated for parliamentary constituencies. Life expectancy at birth for council and NHS board areas and, from 2003-05, for certain other areas is available from the General Register Office for Scotland website through the following link: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/life-expec tancy/index.html .
George Lyon: In presenting statistics on suicides it is conventional to combine deaths classified as intentional self-harm (suicides) with those classified as events of undetermined intent. This is because the majority of the latter are likely to have been suicides. However, this assumption is known to be less valid for children, particularly those aged under 10. For this reason the following table shows...
George Lyon: The analysis of the responses to the Scottish Executive discussion paper What can we do to help Community Councils fulfil their role? was published in December 2006 on the Scottish Executive website along with the recommendations resulting from the review.
George Lyon: It is intended that the working group will exist for one year commencing in April 2007. The working group will consist of six local authority representatives, six community council representatives, the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC), the Society of Local Authority Lawyers (SOLAR) and COSLA. The final working group membership will be published on the Scottish Executive...
George Lyon: One of the tasks to be undertaken by the working group will be to develop a code of conduct for community councillors. The working group is expected to conclude its work by spring 2008.
George Lyon: The procedures for community council elections were addressed in the recommendations made to ministers as a result of the review and it is expected that this will be considered by the Working Group in the context of Model Community Council Schemes and Good Practice Guidance.
George Lyon: Life expectancy figures are normally calculated for a three year period to provide large enough numbers to ensure accuracy. The latest figures for Stirling Council area, which relate to the period 2003-05 are available at: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/life-expec tancy/le2003-05/list-of-ables.html.
George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table. Deaths from Strokes (Cerebrovascular Disease)1, Stirling Council Area, 1996-2005 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 All ages - number 142 130 109 131 113 146 120 113 105 106 Aged under 75 - number 29 22 24 23 22 33 29 20 14 19 - age-standardised death rate per 100,000...
George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table. Average Age of Mothers, All Live Births, Stirling Council Area 1985 1995 2005 26.9 29.0 30.8
George Lyon: The latest information, based on the 2005 mid-year population estimate for Stirling Council area, shows the average age of (a) the population to be 39.4 years and (b) those who have migrated there to be 27.6 years.
George Lyon: The latest statistics are shown as follows: Age of Head of Household, 2006 Local Authority 16-29 30-44 45-59 60-74 75-84 85+ Total Stirling 11% 27% 28% 22% 9% 3% 100% Source: GROS household projections: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/household- estimates-projections/household-projections-for-scotland-200 4-based/index.html.