Chamber and committees

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.

This information is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19012 on 8 November 2001.

Local public transport authorities are required to secure the provision of public passenger transport services which are not provided on a commercial basis. Where a bus operator goes out of business at short notice local public transport authorities will endeavour to ensure that alternative services are provided, either commercially or by way of subsidy. In such circumstances the authority will work closely with the Traffic Commissioner who has the power to waive standard registration notice periods where that would be in the public interest.

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.

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.

The information requested is not held centrally.

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.