Chamber and committees

The total of agricultural subsidypayments in each year since 2003 are as follows:

Year	Amount
2003	£18,508,862.06
2004	£18,739,581.03
2005	£16,799,013.66
2006	£25,965,016.56

 

The fluctuation in payments between2005 and 2006 arises for two reasons. Firstly, payments under the Single Farm PaymentScheme, which replaced the previous eight subsidy schemes, commenced on 1 December2005 and a significant proportion of expenditure fell into 2006. Secondly, the SingleFarm Payment Scheme contained provisions to increase payments in comparison to amountspaid under the previous regime.

The information requested isgiven in the following table. Index numbers (1990 = 100) have been included to aidthe consideration of year-on-year improvements.

Selected Mortality Rates,per 100,000 Population, 1990-2005

	(a) Coronary Heart Disease1		(b) Cancer2		(c) Stroke3
	Rate4	Index5	Rate4	Index5	Rate4	Index5
(i) Forth Valley NHS Board area
1990	259	100	227	100	125	100
1991	257	99	233	103	108	86
1992	266	103	219	97	118	94
1993	247	96	235	104	123	98
1994	226	87	234	103	122	97
1995	213	82	211	93	104	83
1996	203	78	231	102	103	82
1997	180	70	208	92	93	74
1998	166	64	211	93	94	75
1999	179	69	222	98	94	75
2000	157	61	218	96	95	76
2001	151	58	214	94	98	78
2002	161	62	219	97	83	66
2003	147	57	228	100	88	70
2004	137	53	213	94	74	59
2005	145	56	201	89	77	61
(ii) Scotland
1990	257	100	239	100	113	100
1991	253	98	237	104	111	88
1992	245	95	238	105	107	86
1993	249	96	242	107	114	91
1994	222	86	237	104	104	83
1995	216	83	235	104	103	82
1996	209	81	233	103	93	74
1997	198	77	226	100	91	72
1998	188	73	222	98	89	71
1999	185	71	221	97	86	69
2000	170	66	219	97	85	68
2001	159	62	221	98	82	65
2002	155	60	217	96	82	65
2003	150	58	215	95	79	63
2004	139	54	211	93	74	59
2005	132	51	210	93	68	54

Notes:

1. Ischaemic heart disease: 1990-1999ICD9 codes 410-414, 2000-2005 ICD10 codes I20-I25.

2. Malignant neoplasms:1990-1999 ICD9 codes 140-208, 2000-2005 ICD10 codes C00-C97.

3. Cerebrovascular disease: 1990-1999ICD9 codes 430-438, 2000-2005 ICD10 codes I60-I69.

4. Standardised mortality rates,all ages, per 100,000 population.

5. Index: 1990 = 100.

The Loch Lomond and TheTrossachs National Park was designated in 2002. To date there has not been an assessmentof the economic, social and environmental benefits arising from thedesignation; while many of the benefits which the National Park designationsought to achieve will only be fully realised over a longer period of time, theNational Park Authority, like other public bodies, will be subject to reviewafter its first five years of operation and I envisage that that would providea first opportunity for an assessment of the benefits which the designation hassecured.

In the meantime, the annual reportsof the National Park Authority (copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib. numbers 31754,36160, 39201 and 41312) provide adetailed account of the work which it has undertaken. For example, the NationalPark Authority was able to report in its 2005-06 annual Report and Accounts theachievement of launching a solar powered boat on Loch Lomond, the first of itskind in Scotland, capable of carrying wheelchairs and passengers.

Data on use of the measures inthe Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 are collected on a six-monthly basis and thelatest figures held centrally cover the period from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2006. Figuresfor dispersal, closure and vehicle seizure are broken down by police force area,whereas noise nuisance warnings and fixed penalty notices are broken down by localauthority area.

Therefore, the figures requestedare provided for Central Scotland Police Force area and for Stirling Council area– as appropriate – in the following table.

Measure	Number of Times used in Central Scotland Police Force Area/Stirling Council Area
Dispersal Notices	1
Closure Orders	0
Seizure of Vehicles – warning notices issued	60
Seizure of vehicles – vehicles seized	3
Noise Nuisance – warning notices issued	0
Noise Nuisance – Fixed penalty Notices issued	0

 

The Healthy Living campaignsare on-going and address the Scottish Executive’s priority health improvement topics.These are:

Food and Diet;

Physical Activity;

Tobacco;

Drugs;

Alcohol;

Sexual Health, and

Mental Health.

The campaigns are continuallymonitored and redeveloped to ensure Scotland’s people receive appropriate health improvement advice.

The healthy living campaign wasevaluated as part of NHS Health Scotland’s 2004-2005 Communication Tracking Survey. The survey can be found at:http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/2646-RE045Final%202005.pdf.

Since January 2003 the healthylivingwebsite has received 988,434 visits. Since January 2004 a total of 47,243 requestsfor information, through the website and helpline, have been fulfilled. These containone or more of three packs of information covering healthy eating, physical activityand weight management, plus a range of additional inserts appropriate to the individualrequest.

The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to introduce any newinitiatives to enhance capacity building, self-sufficiency and social inclusionin Stirling. We already have in place a range of nationalprogrammes to tackle such issues, such as the Community Voices Programme, the NationalStandards for Community Engagement and the Community Regeneration Fund, which Stirlingis already benefiting from. These are in addition to any local initiatives beingundertaken by local agencies, which will be best placed to respond to local needs.In addition, Raploch Urban Regeneration Companyis already delivering a comprehensive programme of community support and engagementto secure employment and training opportunities for local people as part of theregeneration of the area.

This information is not heldcentrally.

NHS Forth Valley is part of the West of Scotland Cancer Network. Thisnetwork brings together all of the professions and disciplines involved in thecare of patients with particular cancer types, including breast cancer, to helpensure that the best possible quality of care is provided equitably across theregion.

Breast cancer services in Forth Valley areprovided from a dedicated oncology unit specifically designed to provide combinedoutpatient assessment, chemotherapy and follow-up services locally. This is consideredto be a significant improvement from the previous two site arrangements interms of quality of patient care received. It provides a centralised focus forspecialist care ensuring adequate volume and critical mass of patients whilstenhancing the skills of practitioners and maximising resources.

The oncology unit will belocated at the new hospital site in Larbert from 2009.