Chamber and committees

No directions have been given to BEAR Scotland Ltd to appraise the upgrading of the A90 from Aberdeen to Peterhead to dual carriageway standard.

However, the Scottish Executive has commissioned consultants to undertake a Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) multi-modal assessment of the Balmeddie –to Tipperty section of the A90. The results of the study were recently presented to the North East Scotland Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) and they are currently considering its contents.

I refer the member to question S2W–14839 answered on 8 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

In April 2003 the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) recommended restricted use of zometa for patients with breast cancer and multiple myeloma, but not for patients with prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumours. SMC concluded that the quality of the economic evidence provided was insufficient to demonstrate that the use of zometa for these indications is cost effective.

The manufacturer then requested an independent review in relation to skeletal related events (SRE) in prostate cancer. The SMC made a decision in December 2003 following independent review not to recommend this treatment for SRE in prostate cancer. It concluded that although zometa led to a reduction in SREs compared with placebo in these patients, the absolute reduction was small and there was not sufficient evidence to introduce zometa into standard practice for the treatment of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. An economic case was submitted by the manufacturer but its quality was not judged to be sufficientto support a recommendation that the drug is cost-effective relative to standardpractice in Scotland for this particular indication.

The Scottish Executive does not intend to give further guidance on this issue.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14609 on 8 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

For the year 1989-1999 statistics were gathered combining all forms of physical violence. From 1999 to 2003 the statistics provided separate information on incidents involving physical violence and incidents in which there was verbal abuse and physical violence.

The requested information for 2001-02 and 2002-03 was made available in the Excel spreadsheet published at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00318-00.asp, The relevant page of the spreadsheet is that titled “Additional”. There was no national collection of data in 2003-04.

Reported Incidents of Violence and Anti-social Behaviour against Local Authority School Staff

	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Aberdeen City	139	143	170
Aberdeenshire	42	3	65
Angus	20	9	24
Argyll and Bute	11	22	16
Clackmannanshire	7	8	11
Dumfries and Galloway	13	2	13
Dundee City	128	148	231
East Ayrshire	26	7	10
East Dunbartonshire	24	42	34
East Lothian	6	26	19
East Renfrewshire	13	23	14
Edinburgh, City of	120	80	146
Eilean Siar	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	5	94
Fife	31	218	201
Glasgow City	108	90	178
Highland	11	17	125
Inverclyde	8	17	36
Midlothian	54	51	38
Moray	27	7	18
North Ayrshire	8	14	41
North Lanarkshire	70	22	22
Orkney Islands	1	2	2
Perth and Kinross	35	56	112
Renfrewshire	23	25	54
Scottish Borders	2	2	13
Shetland Islands	1	2	12
South Ayrshire	24	50	17
South Lanarkshire	33	35	40
Stirling	2	21	11
West Dunbartonshire	48	27	60
West Lothian	38	48	75

Incidents Categorised as "Both Verbal Abuse and Physical Violence"

	1999-2000	2000-01
Aberdeen City	125	143
Aberdeenshire	2	29
Angus	12	15
Argyll and Bute	7	7
Clackmannanshire	7	7
Dumfries and Galloway	24	8
Dundee City	0	93
East Ayrshire	9	7
East Dunbartonshire	3	12
East Lothian	3	9
East Renfrewshire	0	0
Edinburgh, City of	109	142
Eilean Siar	0	8
Falkirk	10	18
Fife	14	67
Glasgow City	27	43
Highland	5	27
Inverclyde	12	8
Midlothian	10	28
Moray	19	10
North Ayrshire	21	40
North Lanarkshire	72	72
Orkney Islands	2	1
Perth and Kinross	25	124
Renfrewshire	9	4
Scottish Borders	2	6
Shetland Islands	1	8
South Ayrshire	33	33
South Lanarkshire	27	62
Stirling	13	7
West Dunbartonshire	38	20
West Lothian	0	23

Demographic change, such as increasing longevity, has lead to a substantial increase in the cost of providing pensions in the public services. In order to combat the increasing costs, and in line with the UK Government policy on public service pensions, the NHS pension scheme is currently under review. The review is being carried out on the basis that the normal pension age for the scheme will increase to 65.

The main aim of the review is to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the scheme, while ensuring that it continues to provide security and value for money for both NHS employees and employers and meets the needs of a modern and diverse workforce in NHS Scotland.

New pension arrangements, including the increase in normal pension age, will apply to all new staff joining the NHS from 2006. Existing staff will not be affected till at least 2013, with all benefits earned to that date fully protected.

Responsibility for the review lies with the Scottish NHS HR Forum (HRF), which is a partnership between NHS employers and trade unions in Scotland and the Scottish Executive.

A full public consultation on the options for the future of the NHS scheme was launched on 24 January 2005, and will run till 25 April 2005. The consultation documents can be accessed at www.sppa.gov.uk. Copies have been placed inthe Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35022).

Decisions about the future of the NHS pension scheme in Scotland will be made following the conclusion of the consultation process.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14609 on 8 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-14609, answered on 8 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-14609, answered on 8 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

To date, the Scottish Executive has provided £12.8 million to 162 transport projects through its Rural Community Transport Initiative, Urban Community Transport Initiative and Rural Demand Responsive Transport Scheme to help support transport services for people who do not have access to regular public transport. Types of services supported include community minibuses, voluntary car schemes and dial-a-ride which provide door-to-door transport. These services are of particular benefit to elderly and disabled people, enabling them to be included in rural and urban community life and reducing their isolation.

Local authorities are able to include community transport services in their concessionary fares schemes. They can also run taxicard schemes to help people who cannot use conventional public transport.

Finally, the Scottish Executive is currently carrying out research to look at the transport needs of disabled people, collate information on their travel patterns, identify travel priorities, investigate barriers to using public transport and assess the impact of concessionary fares.