Chamber and committees

The unemployment rate is one of the factors that are taken into account in calculating the Arbuthnott index, and this index is used to assess the influence of morbidity and life circumstances on the need for healthcare. It is not used in any other part of the formula and therefore unemployment rates are not double counted.

We have no plans to publish a further technical report on the Arbuthnott formula. The first report, published in 1999, was accompanied by a very detailed technical report which explained fully the sources of data, methods of analysis and results. The data sources and methods of analysis used in the further work were largely similar to those used in the first report. Any technical changes are explained in the final report which contains a number of technical appendices.

The first report considered a number of indicators of the influence of remote and rural areas on the costs of delivering healthcare. During consultation, several suggestions were made for further analysis of this issue, and the additional evidence considered by the Steering Group showed that the number of road kilometres per 1,000 population is a slightly better indicator of remoteness than the indicators that were considered in the first report. This change and the reasons for it are described in the final report.

No. Anyone cited for jury service who can show good reason may be excused by the clerk of the court. The trial judge also has a similar discretion. A sympathetic view would generally be taken, if attendance would cause genuine problems of a domestic nature.

No.

Our National Plan: a plan for action, a plan for change published on 14 December, provides a clear statement of the Executive's national priorities for health and NHS Scotland. The Scottish Executive distributes the bulk of the resources to health boards on the basis of a Scotland-wide formula which reflects the health care needs of their local population. It is for NHS bodies locally to decide how best to apply these allocations to meet national and local priorities. The total planned provision for health in 2000-01 is £5.4 billion, of which £4.5 billion has been allocated to health boards for Hospital and Community Health Services revenue purposes. Details of individual revenue allocations made to health boards in the current year are as follows:

Health Board	£ million
Argyll & Clyde	375.367
Ayrshire & Arran	321.810
Borders	93.816
Dumfries & Galloway	138.811
Fife	277.702
Forth Valley	229.916
Grampian	425.825
Greater Glasgow	858.824
Highland	183.491
Lanarkshire	453.952
Lothian	641.185
Orkney	19.318
Shetland	23.366
Tayside	375.246
Western Isles	35.941
TOTAL	4454.570

The remainder of the health budget in the current year will fund the demand led Family Health Services, health board capital expenditure, nurse education, research, the Welfare Foods Scheme and a number of other health services.

The Executive believes that identifying and tackling the causes of health inequalities is the key to improving the health of the people of Scotland and an important part of our work for social justice. The policy framework is set out in the White Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland, the first Social Justice Annual Report and Our National Health a plan for action, a plan for change. These all recognise that poverty affects life circumstances, lifestyles and experience of health and disease.

The Executive supports research on health inequalities through project grants and by providing core funding for a programme of work at the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at Glasgow University. The aims of the programme are to investigate variations in health and the determinants of health within Scotland, and to identify effective non-health sector interventions for tackling inequalities in health. The Executive has also commissioned independent evaluations of the Starting Well, Healthy Respect and Have a Heart Paisley national health demonstration projects which will help to identify their contribution to tackling inequalities in health.The recently established Public Health Institute of Scotland will provide a focus for work to develop the evidence base to support efforts to improve Scotland's health.

A total of £13.5 million, formerly paid as GP Fundholding Management Allowance was redistributed on a weighted capitation basis to support the work of LHCCs in 1999/00. These resources, uplifted for inflation, now form part of health boards' unified budgets and are not separately identified.

I understand from North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust, which has management responsibility for Glasgow Royal Infirmary, that there has been no notable increase in the number of patients from the North and North-East of Scotland attending the Infirmary's Defibrillator Clinic.

The question was answered on 8 February.