Chamber and committees

The median waiting times forNHS patients admitted from the inpatient and day case waiting list for cardiac surgery,by NHS board of residence, in the year ending 30 September 2003 are providedin the table. In addition, 178 cardiac surgery patients were treated as emergencyadmissions and had no wait. These patients are excluded from the calculations toderive the median waiting times in the table.

The number of private patientstreated in NHS hospitals is very small indeed and it is therefore not possible toprovide median waiting times for them. Information is not held about the waitingtimes of private patients operated on in non-NHS hospitals.

Reducing waiting times for treatmentfor heart disease is one of the Executive’s key priorities for NHSScotland. We haveset a guarantee that no patient will wait more than 24 weeks for coronary arterybypass surgery or angioplasty and this has consistently been met across Scotland sinceDecember 2002. The guaranteed maximum wait reduces to 18 weeks from 30 June 2004.

NHSScotland: Median Waiting Timesfor NHS Patients Admitted from the In-Patient and Day Case Waiting List for CardiacSurgery¹ by NHS Board Of Residence, Year Ending 30 September 2003^p

NHS Board of Residence	Median Waiting Times (Days)P
Argyll and Clyde	34
Ayrshire and Arran	34
Borders	*
Dumfries and Galloway	67
Fife	82
Forth Valley	35
Grampian	113
Greater Glasgow	27
Highland	101
Lanarkshire	48
Lothian	95
Orkney	*
Shetland	*
Tayside	96
Western Isles	*
Scotland	66

^PProvisional

Notes:

1. Cardiac Surgery is definedin terms of the Office of Population and Censuses and Survey, Classificationof Surgical Operations and Procedures 4^th revision (OPCS4), the codesused being “K25” – “K35” or “K40” – “K46” as main operations.

^*Information not shown due to small numbers

The Births, Deaths, Marriagesand Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations (SI 1998/643) were reviewed in February2003 following discussions with the internet site’s user group, and the Births,Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2003 (SSI2003/89) extended the time available to carry out an internet search session from24 to 48 hours. There are no plans at present for any further extension. In thelonger term, a wider review of the site’s charging structure is planned, with theaim of achieving discounted and less restricted access for heavy users of the site,or to allow institutions such as libraries to give access to the site through theirfacilities to users who may not have their own internet access or credit cards.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

No discrete funding for tacklingdrug misuse was allocated to SIPS in 1999-2000. Details of the allocations for tacklingdrug misuse funding for 2000-01, broken down by Local Authority and NHS board, areshown in the table below.

Local Authority	2000-01
Aberdeen City	30,000
Argyll and Bute	30,000
Clackmannanshire	30,000
Dundee	35,000
East Ayrshire	60,000
Edinburgh	95,000
Glasgow	455,000
Inverclyde	50,000
North Lanarkshire	35,000
Renfrewshire	60,000
South Ayrshire	60,000
South Lanarkshire	50,000
West Dunbartonshire	60,000
Total	£1,050,000

 

NHS Board	2000- 01
Grampian	30,000
Argyll and Clyde	140,000
Forth Valley	30,000
Tayside	35,000
Ayrshire and Arran	120,000
Lothian	95,000
Greater Glasgow1	515,000
Lanarkshire	85,000
Total	£1,050,000

Note:

1. Includes figures for GlasgowSIPs and West Dunbartonshire SIP.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS has a comprehensive rangeof technical and procedural security measures in place designed to minimise thesupply of illegal drugs into prisons. The SPS also offers addiction services toall prisoners in its custody.

This subject, which involvesreserved matters relating to the provision of financial services, is currently underconsideration. The Cabinet Office, in consultation with other government departmentsand devolved administrations responsible for emergency services, is currently pursuingthe matter of personal insurance cover. At present they are collecting evidenceto establish if there is a problem and what the implications may be for the emergencyservices. Furthermore, discussions are also taking place with the insurance industry.

I refer the member to the answergiven to question S1W-33622 on 10 February 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Scottish Executive is incontact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including stimulatingincreased exploration and development in the oil and gas industry. Through PILOT,the government and industry taskforce for the oil and gas industry of which I amVice-Chair, we are continuing to work with the UK Government and the industry todevelop, sustain and diversify the UK oil and gas industry.

A survey of local authorities’teacher vacancies informs the Scottish Executive’s annual teacher workforce planning exercise in categorisingsecondary subjects as to the level of priority for intake to higher education institutions.This is part of advice offered to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Councilwho are responsible for setting target intakes to initial teacher education.

At September 2003 the teacher vacancies survey returned by local authorities showed:

Full-Time Equivalents Teacher Vacancies in Schools

Local Authority	Mathematics	Physics	Technological Education	Modern Languages	English
Aberdeen City	4	2.6	3.2	0.7	1.4
Aberdeenshire*
Angus	0	0	1	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	1
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	2	0	0	1	0
Dundee City	4	0	4	1	4
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	3	1	0	1	2
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	1	0
Edinburgh City	3	0.4	0.6	2	1
Eilean Siar	0.3	0.3	0	0	0.4
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	1
Fife	1	0	0	0	3
Glasgow City	3	3	1	7	8
Highland	1.21	0	2.15	1	0
Inverclyde	1	0	0	1	0
Midlothian	1	0	0	0	0
Moray	1	1	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	1	0	2
North Lanarkshire	5.5	2	1	6.5	6.5
Orkney	1	0	2	0	1
Perth and Kinross	3.4	1.4	0.5	2	1.67
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	1	2	0	1	2
Shetland*
South Ayrshire	1	1	0	0	3
South Lanarkshire	0	0	1	1.4	0.9
Stirling	1	0	0	1	2
West Dunbartonshire	1	0	0	2	0
West Lothian	2	0	0	0	2
Total	40.41	14.7	17.45	29.6	42.87

Note:

*No return.

The criteria for the allocationof funded places between institutions are a matter for the Scottish Higher EducationFunding Council (SHEFC). In allocating places, SHEFC is expected to take accountof advice from the Scottish Executive Education Department on overall expected workforcerequirements.