Chamber and committees

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to answer. His response is as follows:Historic Scotland accepts Sterling and the Euro (notes only) at the properties where it charges for admission.

There is on-going contact between Forth Valley Acute Hospitals Trust and Tayside University Hospitals Trust to ensure a safe service for patients during this time.

The information requested is set out in the table.NHS - Patients Ready for Discharge Number and Percentage of Patients with a Length of Delay over Six Weeks¹ by NHS Board Area of Treatment - as at 15 April 2002

NHS Board area of Treatment	Number outwith the six week discharge planning period1	Total2	Percentage outwith the six week discharge planning period
Argyll and Clyde	334	389	86
Ayrshire and Arran	139	235	59
Scottish Borders	36	51	71
Dumfries and Galloway	25	58	43
Fife	130	175	74
Forth Valley	114	164	70
Grampian	229	334	69
Greater Glasgow	290	431	67
Highland	69	86	80
Lanarkshire	129	186	69
Lothian	296	541	55
Orkney	8	12	67
Shetland	-	-	-
Tayside	135	259	52
Western Isles	23	30	77
Scotland	1,957	2,951	66

Notes:1. Number of patients ready for discharge with a duration of over six weeks (43 days or more), i.e. the common period for discharge planning agreement timescales across Scotland.2. Total number of patients ready for discharge in all specialties, reported as at 15 April 2002.

Details of the 10 directly appointed members of the board of the National Park Authority were announced on 4 July along with details of the 10 nominated members. Details of the composition of the full board are available on the Executive's website (www.scotland.gov.uk).

Individuals who have been assessed as being clinically ready for discharge from hospital but who thereafter experience a delay in moving into the next stage of their care are classified as "delayed discharges" from the moment their discharge is delayed. Information and Statistics Division of the NHS's Common Services Agency has used this definition in its Patients Ready for Discharge census since the first quarterly census of September 2000. This census also collects information on those who have been delayed for longer than the accepted discharge planning period of six weeks.

We have no such plans. We are looking to local authority and NHS partnerships to make specific, targeted reductions in the number of long-term delays with the additional £20 million we have provided this year. Our emphasis is on joint responsibility and partnership working between local authorities and the NHS. Where it is clear that a local partnership is not working jointly to deliver on these and other targets, we will send a specialist Support Team into the area to resolve difficulties.Also as part of our Delayed Discharge Action Plan commitment, we have appointed a secondee team to develop joint discharge protocols for national application; these protocols will include a benchmarking component and set out minimum requirements for local authorities and the NHS to meet in the discharge process.

Patient Focus and Public Involvement, which was published in December of last year, set out a framework for changing the way in which the NHS interacts with the people it serves. It also contained a commitment to revise the current guidance on closure and change of use of health service premises and in May of this year draft interim guidance was issued widely to the NHS and other interested parties. Copies of the guidance are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib Number 21063).

The full costs of producing the policy paper The Scottish Fire Service of the Future, including graphic design, print buying and web conversion, was £6,672.95 inclusive of VAT.The main distribution was carried out at the launch. In addition, however, approximately 150 further copies of the paper have been sent out to date by post, which, at a cost of 15p per copy, totals £22.50.

Details are as follows:

Health Board	2001-02Per Capita Funding(£)	2002-03Per Capita Funding(£)
Argyll and Clyde	1,079	1,124
Ayrshire and Arran	1,049	1,121
Borders	1,058	1,120
Dumfries and Galloway	1,126	1,183
Fife	960	1,014
Forth Valley	995	1,033
Grampian	975	1,026
Greater Glasgow	1,167	1,248
Highland	1,102	1,185
Lanarkshire	1,007	1,013
Lothian	1,015	1,048
Orkney	1,281	1,253
Shetland	1,393	1,367
Tayside	1,205	1,233
Western Isles	1,715	1,715

Note:The level of per capita funding for 2001-02 has been calculated using the mid-year estimate of population at 30 June 2000, final cash limited/unified budget, capital allocations, including, where appropriate, any non-recurring allocations, and indicative allocations for demand-led Family Health Services.The level of per capita funding for 2002-03 has been calculated using the mid-year estimate of population at 30 June 2000, unified budget and capital allocations to date, including, where appropriate, any non-recurring allocations and the indicative allocations for demand-led Family Health Services. Further allocations will be made throughout the year. The figures are therefore not directly comparable.All capital funding has been allocated to NHS Boards in 2002-03 whereas in previous years the majority was allocated to the NHS Trusts through their External Financing Limits.

Advertisements inviting applications for direct appointment to the Board of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority appeared in The Scotsman, The Herald and The Press and Journal on 9 November 2001. Advertising costs amounted to some £13,500 with a further cost of £1,740 in consultancy fees incurred in respect of the involvement of a member of the Independent Assessors' Panel. Internal staff costs have not been separately identified.