Chamber and committees

The Nursing and MidwiferyStudent Bursary scheme in Scotland now includes an arrangement which allows bursarypayments to be continued where nursing and midwifery students have to withdrawfrom their course due to circumstances such as caring duties, ill health orillness or other issues arising from pregnancy. The amount of support that astudent receives depends on the individual’s circumstances and the length oftime they are absent from the course. For example, a student who is absent fora period of six months would receive around £3,000. In addition, the ScottishExecutive meets the annual teaching costs of nursing and midwifery studentsenrolled on pre-registration programmes, currently averaging £5,600 perstudent.

Under the arrangements availableto nursing and midwifery students in England, students can receive up to 45 weeks additional supportwhen they withdraw from their course because of pregnancy and childbirth. At currentrates, if a similar allowance were to be introduced in Scotland, students under26 might receive up to £5,000 and students over 26 £5,700 during the period theywere absent from their course. In addition, the Scottish Executive meets the annualteaching costs of nursing and midwifery students enrolled on pre-registration programmes,currently averaging £5,600 per student.

I have discussed this matterwith the Secretary of State for Scotland. We are working with Council partners to appeal HMRevenue and Customs position and Scottish Executive officials are in contactwith officials from HM Revenue and Customs.

The Joseph Rowntree FoundationReport on Drug Consumption Rooms, published on 23 May, recommended that pilotdrug consumption rooms should be set up in the UK.

We have no plans to introducedrug consumption rooms in Scotland. However, we will continue to monitor evidence aboutthe impact of these facilities elsewhere.

The provision of free tap wateris a mandatory condition of the new premises licence introduced by the Licensing(Scotland) Act 2005. Its implementation is therefore tied to the implementation of the new licence and we have no plans to bring that date forward. I understand anumber of licence holders already offer free tap water and would encourage all premisesto adopt such a policy in an effort to encourage sensible drinking.

The definition in relationto the enhanced allowances for NHS committed practices states that the practicemust treat all categories of patients and have on average a minimum of 500registered NHS patients per dentist, of whom at least 100 must be fee-payingadults. Each dentist in the practice must have on average a minimum of £50,000gross NHS earnings. Part-time dentists may fall into this earning bracket via adeclaration process that deems them to be committed. Otherwise, general dentalpractitioners who are part of a practice that does not meet the NHS commitmentcriteria will not receive enhanced allowances.

The Crown Office and ProcuratorFiscal Service’s Case Management Database recordsdetails of the charges against each accused in terms of the specific common lawor statutory offence that is alleged to have been committed.

The following table shows thetotal number of charges for contraventions of Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act1988 (which relates to driving a motor vehicle whilst using a hand held mobile phone)where the charge was reported to the Procurator Fiscal between December 2003 andApril 2006 and led to a prosecution in either the sheriff court or the districtcourt.

Prosecutions: Driving a MotorVehicle Whilst Using a Hand Held Mobile Phone

Police Force Area	Procurator Fiscal Office	Prosecuted in Sheriff Court	Prosecuted in District Court
Central	Alloa	7	25
	Falkirk	5	106
	Stirling	5	50
Central Total		17	181
Dumfries and Galloway	Dumfries	9	18
	Kirkcudbright	4	9
	Stranraer	6	16
Dumfries and Galloway Total		19	43
Fife	Cupar	1	1
	Dunfermline	2	35
	Kirkcaldy	0	13
Fife Total		3	49
Grampian	Aberdeen	16	82
	Banff	1	2
	Elgin	2	10
	Peterhead	0	17
	Stonehaven	2	5
Grampian Total		21	116
Lothian and Borders	Duns	0	3
	Edinburgh	29	159
	Haddington	2	10
	Jedburgh	1	1
	Linlithgow	6	43
	Peebles	1	7
	Selkirk	3	9
Lothian and Borders Total		42	232
Northern	Dingwall	0	3
	Dornoch	1	0
	Fort William	2	6
	Inverness	1	32
	Kirkwall	0	0
	Lerwick	1	0
	Stornoway	0	2
	Tain	1	4
	Wick	2	1
Northern Total		8	48
Strathclyde	Airdrie	6	36
	Ayr	5	65
	Campbeltown	0	2
	Dumbarton	7	74
	Dunoon	1	5
	Glasgow	23	336
	Greenock	4	40
	Hamilton	31	166
	Kilmarnock	12	68
	Lanark	2	14
	Oban	0	6
	Paisley	18	93
Strathclyde Total		109	905
Tayside	Arbroath	0	19
	Dundee	14	114
	Forfar	2	10
	Perth	5	166
Tayside Total		21	309
Grand Total		239	1,883

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from theCrown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s Case Management Database. The databaseis a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submittedto procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies.

2. The figures for prosecutionsin the district court include prosecutions in the Stipendiary Magistrates Courtin Glasgow.

The following allowances are included in the calculations of grossincome in respect of extra commitment payments for dentists:

Seniority Payment;

Vocational Trainer Grant;

Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment Allowance;

Remote Area Allowance;

Recruitment and RetentionAllowance;

Clinical Audit Allowance;

Maternity Payment;

Paternity Payment;

Adoptive Leave Payment;

Fees for UndertakingPractice Inspections;

Dental Practice AdviserAllowance;

NHS Board Lead GeneralDental Practitioner Allowance;

NHS Education for ScotlandAdviser Remuneration;

CPD Tutor or DirectorRemuneration, and

Regional Dental OfficerRemuneration.

Source: Practitioner Services Division, NHS National ServicesScotland.

Population is taken intoaccount in the new police formula. The fire formula is still under review anduntil new arrangements are agreed funding will continue to be allocated on thebasis of establishments. Establishments were based on population, however thesewere last set in 2005 prior to abolition and therefore do not take account ofpopulation changes in the interim.

Yes. However, alarms are suppliedfollowing an assessment based on the circumstances of the recipient (including thedegree of hearing impairment) and battery-powered alarms with their limited functionalityare not suitable in all cases.