Chamber and committees

Speed monitoring is carried out on an on-going basis by the SPECS system and other permanent recording equipment on the road. Personal injury crash and casualty records are also maintained on an on-going basis. All these statistics will be used over time to establish the effect of the system.

The Speed Enforcement Camera System (SPECS) detects all classes of vehicles with front-facing number plates. It does not detect motorcycles. Speeding motorcycles and other vehicles will be detected by normal road policing patrols in marked and unmarked vehicles along the route.

We are currently not aware of any plans by safety camera partnerships to introduce the Speed Enforcement Camera System (SPECS) to more roads in Scotland. SPECS has been introduced on the A77 from Bogend to Ardwell as a trial and as part of an integrated road safety strategy for the A77 that includes £20 million investment in road engineering improvement, increased road policing activity and an education programme. The first review of the effects of the system will be at the end of twelve months and will inform future decisions on the inclusion of this type of equipment in the Scottish Safety Camera Programme.

NHS board chairs have assured me at the recent annual review meetings that they will deliver the six months waiting times commitment for in-patient and day case treatment by December 2005.

NHSScotland has made excellent progress in reducing waiting times for orthopaedic surgery. The latest figures show than on 30 June 2005, only 670 patients with a guarantee had waited more than six months for in-patient or day case orthopaedic treatment. This is a 64% reduction on the position on 30 June 2004. These figures clearly show that our policies of increasing NHS capacity and using the independent health care sector are working and providing significant benefits for patients.

NHS Scotland employed 146.6WTE (whole-time equivalent) Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery Consultants at September 2004. This represents an increase of 10.6WTE consultants since September 1999. The vacancy rate for vacancies over six months has remained stable over 2003 and 2004 and is at 4.3% of the establishment.

Information on orthopaedic consultant staff in post and vacancies in NHS Scotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Section B gives details of all medical and dental staff employed in NHS Scotland. In particular, tables B11 and B12 show the WTE and headcount number of trauma and orthopaedic consultant staff in post and vacancies broken down by NHS board area. Latest available figures are at 30 September 2004.

The Speed Enforcement Camera System (SPECS) does not affect road policing patrols on the road. The system is operated by Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership under the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. At the discretion of the Chief Constable, local police forces can undertake speed enforcement out with the Scottish Safety Camera Programme.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has a statutory responsibility to keep under review and to develop its qualifications portfolio. SQA has developed a set of criteria for reviewing “low uptake” subjects – this policy has been endorsed by the National Qualifications Steering Group which is made up of representatives from across the educational sector. A summary of this policy is available to download from SQA’s website (www.sqa.org.uk) – this outlines the criteria and sets out the position on retaining courses which have particular cultural, economic, social or political value.

The SQA has not yet made any announcement concerning the withdrawal of specific National Courses. However, it is anticipated that SQA will shortly be communicating with all centres which deliver courses to provide an update on the development of the catalogue of national courses. This letter will explain how SQA intends to develop a dynamic portfolio of qualifications which meet the needs of Scottish learners.

The current system of National Qualifications was introduced by the Higher Still Development Programme in 1999, and involved extensive consultation with stakeholders from across the educational spectrum. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has not yet made any announcement concerning the withdrawal of specific National Courses. However, it is anticipated that the SQA will shortly be communicating with all centres to provide an update on the development of the catalogue of National Courses. This letter will explain how SQA intends to develop a dynamic portfolio of qualifications which meet the needs of Scottish learners.

The Scottish Public Finance Manual sets out details of project management responsibilities for major investment projects. The precise management of capital projects post procurement will vary depending upon the nature of the individual project. For example, each IT capital project will have a project manager responsible for post procurement management whereas trunk road contracts are managed by a hierarchy of professional supervision provided by the contractor and an engineer appointed by the client, all under a quality assurance scheme. Professional engineers within the department provide the highest level of supervision to ensure adherence to contracted price, quality and delivery time.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority’s (SQA) low uptake policy has been agreed by key strategic groups (such as the National Qualifications Steering Group, the SQA Qualifications Committee and the SQA Advisory Council) which include representatives from industry and the further education sector. The SQA has not yet made any announcement concerning the withdrawal of specific National Courses. However, it is anticipated that the SQA will shortly be communicating with all centres to provide an update on the development of the catalogue of National Courses. This letter will explain how the SQA intends to develop a dynamic portfolio of qualifications which meet the needs of Scottish learners.