Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-14165 on 20 June 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

All householders who were eligible for the Central Heating Programme before my announcement of 22 May 2008 remain eligible. Amongst new applicants received after 22 May 2008, priority will be given to those most likely to be fuel poor. For this year, priority is being given to those without a central heating system, along with those who either receive the guarantee element of pension credit or are aged over 80 and have a central heating system that has broken down. Within these priority groups, the position on prioritising applicants on health or social grounds has not changed. Those applicants who do not fall into one of these priority groups can reapply next financial year, when the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum has reached its conclusions and the future shape of the programme is clear.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-14165 on 20 June 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-14165 on 20 June 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

The number of deaths and the death rates per 100,000, both crude and age-sex standardised, from coronary heart disease for NHS Highland in people aged under 75 during the years 2000-06 are set out in the following table:

Year	Number of Deaths	Crude	Standardised	Crude as % 2000 Rate	Standardised as % 2000 Rate
2000	339	122.1	96.5	100.0	100.0
2001	289	104.3	81.2	85.4	84.1
2002	276	100.1	76.3	81.9	79.0
2003	253	91.5	67.4	74.9	69.8
2004	246	88.4	65.5	72.4	67.9
2005	207	74.0	53.4	60.6	55.3
2006	205	72.9	52.1	59.7	53.9

Source: GRO Scotland Death Registrations and Populations.

The official source of statistics on smoking prevalence amongst adults is the Scottish Household Survey. This survey is not designed to be representative at NHS board level, so smoking prevalence figures at this level of geography should be interpreted with caution. Based on the most recent two years of results available from this survey, adult smoking prevalence in the NHS Highland area was 21% in 2007 and 25% in 2006.

Estimates of smoking prevalence in the Community Health Partnership areas within NHS Highland are only available for the two year sample 2003-04. These figures, and other supporting information, are published in An Atlas of Tobacco Smoking in Scotland at:

http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Publications/scotphoreports/pub_tobaccoatlas.asp.

One of the first actions outlined in the Refreshed Strategy for Volunteering issued recently to the NHS in Scotland was to review the payment of out of pocket expenses for volunteers. This review is currently in hand and further guidance will be issued on this in due course to ensure a consistent approach across the NHS in Scotland. We are concerned about the impact of rising fuel costs on volunteer drivers, and plan to hold discussions with HM Revenue and Customs on the current tax-free rate, which is a reserved matter.

The Refreshed Strategy for Volunteering in the NHS in Scotland is available at:

http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2008_10.pdf.

While the actions outlined by the Cabinet Secretary on 4 June do not include examination of the recruitment and retention of volunteer car drivers, the Scottish Ambulance Service will be reviewing their Patient Transport Strategy over the coming months and this will include the Volunteer Car Service.

The development of the action plan to eliminate the rostered single manning of traditional double crewed accident and emergency ambulances will include consideration of shift patterns and on-call periods.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10474 on 10 March 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.