Chamber and committees

The use of anti-spill devices is a commercial matter for bus and HGV operators.

The design of vehicles is covered by European standards. EC Directive 70/221 requires that commercial vehicles have in place appropriate measures to ensure that minimum leakage occurs. The anti-diesel-spill devices are designed to reduce the overall volume of fuel used by a vehicle which will have environmental benefits. However, the use of such a device is a commercial matter for operators.

For the scheme as a whole, information is not held by local authority or parliamentary constituency area, but by main postcode.

For the period when Eaga Partnership was the managing agent i.e. before
October 2006 information on installations in the private sector is held as annual installation figures.

From the start of the programme in 2001 until the end of December 2007, the numbers of systems installed, across all sectors of the housing stock in each financial year in the AB postcode area is shown in the table:

Postcode Area	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	Total
AB	244	415	756	914	935	581	564	4,409

Notes:

1. The AB postcode area is the main postcode area that includes Aberdeen.

2. The figures include installations carried out in the AB main postcode area by local authorities and housing associations and by the managing agent for the private sector central heating programme.

3. The 2007-08 figure only includes installations up to the end of December 2007.

Quarterly figures for the AB postcode area for the period after Scottish Gas became the Managing Agent i.e. October 2006 to March 2007 and for the period April 2007 until December 2007 are available. The information is shown in the table.

Postcode Area	Oct“Dec 06	Jan-March 07	April-June 07	July“Sep 07	Oct-Dec 07	Total
AB	0	117	123	209	232	681

 

The Scottish Government is aware of the anti-diesel-spill devices being used by Lothian Buses. These devices are designed to reduce the overall volume of fuel used by a vehicle which will have environmental benefits. However, the use of such a device is a commercial matter for operators.

We believe that the current offer to GP practices, which will reward Scottish GPs for extending their opening hours, is both fair and reasonable.

When NHS Employers presented the offer to the GP Committee (GPC) of the British Medical Association, in December 2007, the GPC neither accepted not rejected the deal. Instead, the GPC opted to poll its membership on the offer. We hope that GPs in Scotland will accept the offer and look forward to receiving the results in early March.

The GP contract is a UK contract negotiated on behalf of the Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish Health Departments, by NHS Employers with the GP Committee (GPC) of the British Medical Association. In consultation with ministers, officials discuss national priorities with NHS Employers and the other three health departments and agree the approach to negotiations. Scotland remains committed to providing better access to GP services and extended opening hours.

The information requested is not routinely collected by the Scottish Government or NHS boards.

We expect the result of the GP poll early in March. Depending on the outcome of the poll we will be seeking thereafter to finalise the detailed arrangements for extended hours in Scotland with Scottish General Practitioners Committee (SGPC) in time for implementation to begin at the start of the forthcoming financial year.

The specific information requested is not centrally available. However, details of vacant consultant posts are published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics at www.isdscotland.org/workforce. The consultant vacancies table in the medical and dental section gives the number of consultant vacancies by speciality and by NHS board area and year. The table also gives the number of posts which have been vacant for six months or more. Latest available data is at 30 September 2007.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), of the Scottish Government Health Directorates, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland.

For the purposes of this reply, neuroscience is defined as the study of the nervous system including the brain, the spinal cord and networks of sensory nerve cells or neurons. It includes Alzheimer's disease, dementias, Parkinson's disease, neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. It does not include mental health or stroke management research. In each of the last five years to support neuroscience research in Scotland, the CSO has awarded directly the following funds:

2003: £557,259

2004: £1,108,322

2005: £827,287

2006: £735,285

2007: £827,830.

The CSO would welcome further research proposals in this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The main agency through which the UK Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The value of funding awards for neuroscience research in Scotland made by the MRC for each year of the last five years is not available. The MRC fund research on a UK wide basis and do not hold funding information specific to Scotland. In 2006, the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) published a health research analysis report, which can be obtained at www.ukcrc.org/publications/reports.aspx. The analysis does not give separate data for Scotland but provides information of the distribution of research funding across all types of research in the UK for the first time. The data collected by UKCRC for this analysis was from the 11 largest government and charity funders of health related research for the financial year 2004-05. From this data UKCRC has advised that the MRC spent £3.5 million on neuroscience research in Scotland in 2004-05.

The above mentioned funds exclude indirect research support and infrastructure costs for neuroscience research, details of which are not held centrally.