Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive believes that people requiring care should be looked after in the setting most appropriate to their needs. It is important that, where patients remain in NHS hospital beds after clinical decisions have been reached that they are ready for discharge, NHS Boards and Trusts and their local authority planning partners work together to ensure that they move as soon as possible to a more appropriate setting. NHS Boards and local authorities have been provided with substantial additional resources in 2000-01 and in 2001-02 to help reduce the number of people experiencing delayed discharge. It is for these organisations to work together to achieve this objective. This applies in Argyll and Clyde NHS Board area as elsewhere.

Funding to local authorities for emergency planning is provided annually through the Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) process.

All 32 local authorities have emergency planning officers. Meetings with military liaison officers take place under the auspices of the eight strategic regional emergency planning groups. These groups have been meeting to review local emergency planning arrangements since the events of 11 September.

I understand that Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) have been working closely with the bus industry and the Traffic Commissioner to ensure that bus services affected when DART Buses went out of business are replaced, either on a commercial basis or with the provision of subsidy. I understand that the vast majority of affected services were replaced at short notice, and with relatively little inconvenience to the public.

NHSScotland, along with its planning partners in the local authority and voluntary sectors, have prepared robust plans to deal with the increase in hospital and other health care-related activity typically associated with winter. These plans include provision for additional hospital beds and for extra community places where demand justifies this.In making these plans, the NHS and its partners have been able to draw on previous experience in managing the effect of winter. They also have available to them substantial additional resources, including a further £11 million specifically for winter announced in mid-September.

This remains to be determined by the company. I understand that the transfer of the Nimrod programme may not have any net impact on jobs in Ayrshire since it will allow Prestwick to concentrate on increased work for Airbus and Boeing.

Civil Defence Grant to Scottish local authorities which was provided direct from the Executive under the appropriate Scottish Regulations ceased with the signing of the Civil Defence (Grant) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 in March this year. Financial support for local authorities for the emergency planning work which they carry out continues to be provided but is paid, more appropriately (and as requested by the local authorities) through normal GAE mechanisms.

Aggregate Tax will be paid as appropriate at the time of the construction of the road. We would expect the contractor responsible for constructing the M74 Northern Extension to design and construct it in a way that minimises the amount of Aggregate Tax due through the optimum use of recyclable materials. Any cost for the Aggregate Tax would be included in the tender price and would be shared between the Scottish Executive, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Councils in accordance with the agreed funding arrangements.

Provisional figures for the year ending 30 June 2001 show that the median waiting times for tonsillectomies at Vale of Leven Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital were 162 days and 59 days respectively.Waiting times for routine tonsillectomy operations have increased in recent months due to the need for these procedures to be undertaken with single-use, disposable instruments.

The information requested is not held centrally.