Chamber and committees

An estimated 5,300 older people were admitted to long term residential care during the year to 31 March 1999. Of these 1,200 (22%) received contributions towards the cost of their care only from DSS (pensions and residential allowance). These 1,200 older people are estimated to have contributed around £140 on average per week towards the costs of their care.An estimated 10,000 older people were admitted to long term nursing home care during the year to 31 March 1999. Of these 2,500 (25%) received contributions towards the costs of their care only from DSS. These 2,500 older people are estimated to have contributed around £200 on average per week towards the costs of their care.

It is for the Health Boards and Local Authorities in North East Scotland to decide on the provision of a detox and rehabilitation centre in light of their own spending priorities according to local needs and in line with local Drug Action Team strategies and the national drug strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership.

Data on injury road accidents are recorded by the police on statistical returns to the Scottish Executive which provide details of the circumstances of an accident, together with information about each vehicle involved and each person injured in the accident. The results of these returns are published annually in Road Accidents Scotland, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Information about contamination of the road surface by oil or diesel was added to the accident report form this year, and so is not shown in the current edition of Road Accidents Scotland.

The returns received for the first nine months of 1999 show that there were three injury accidents, one of which was fatal, in the Grampian Police area in which oil or diesel was reported as being present on the road. This represents 0.4% of injury accidents in the area over the same period; and the data do not indicate whether the fuel spills caused the accidents.In the absence of data linking diesel and oil spills to road accidents, and given the low incidence of accidents at which oil or diesel are reported as being present on the road, the Scottish Executive has no plans to change the present targets of its road safety campaign. This concentrates on drink driving and speeding, known major causes of fatalities and serious injuries.

The Scottish Executive is in regular touch with the UK Government over a range of matters. We support arrangements for National Air Traffic services which secure the development of the New Scottish Centre at Prestwick and which place safety at the top of the agenda.

Public sector pensions are a reserved matter and policy responsibility for police pensions lies with the Home Office. Consultation documents setting out options for changes in the police (and fire service) pension schemes including changes in contribution rates and funding were published by the Home Office in March 1998. The responses to the consultation are still under consideration. Any changes to the regulations covering the police service pension scheme would be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

Research into renewable energy in the UK is a reserved matter, and is funded by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Research into waste recycling is one of a number of topics funded by the Scottish Executive's environment research programme. This programme has an annual budget of some £400,000 and is used to inform and develop policy on environmental issues. Recycling and waste research projects which have been supported in recent years include the composting of green waste; waste reduction, re-use and recycling in the Scottish Islands; and an assessment of priority materials to be addressed in the recycled market development programme (REMADE). The Scottish Executive will also contribute £50,000 each year for three years beginning in 1999-2000 to the REMADE project to develop potential markets for recycled materials. Future research will support the development and implementation of Scotland's National Waste Strategy. Information on the general public's use of recycling facilities is also being collected by the Scottish Household Survey, a major new continuous survey, commissioned by the Scottish Executive to provide information on a range of policy topics.Several other sources of funds are also available for waste recycling research. These include the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research and the landfill tax credit scheme.

Information on waste management facilities such as landfill sites licensed to operate in Scotland is held on public registers by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Information on the remaining life span of landfill sites would have to be obtained from operators of the sites.

The Reference Laboratories Working Group gave an undertaking at its meeting on 1 November with the Director of the Aberdeen Reference Laboratories and the Chief Executive of Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust that it would provide information on its reasons for not choosing a particular laboratory to provide the E.coli O157 reference service from 1 April 2000.

The meeting on 1 November between the Reference Laboratory Working Group and the Director of the Aberdeen Reference Laboratories and the Chief Executive of Grampian University Hospitals Acute NHS Trust allowed a detailed discussion to take place on the reasons which had led the Working Group to recommend non-renewal of the agreements with the Aberdeen laboratories for the E.coli O157 and campylobacter services.The Scottish Executive Health Department is writing to the Director and Chief Executive about the management of these services between now and the end of March 2000. They will also be given the opportunity of commenting on the note of the meeting.