Chamber and committees

Details of the support available to Scottish students who accept places at English Universities are available from the Student Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) website: www.saas.gov.uk.

Scottish domiciled students undertaking a full-time degree course in nursing, midwifery or one of the Allied Health Professions at a University in Wales or Northern Ireland can apply to the relevant funding body in those countriesfor support with tuition fee and living costs through the Department of Health Bursary Scheme. Welsh or Northern Irish students undertaking such courses in Scotland apply through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland.

Students from any of the UK home nations are eligible to apply for assistance from the discretionary funds administered by universities in each country (Access to Learning Funds in England and Wales, Support Funds in Northern Ireland and Hardship Funds in Scotland).

The Executive is currently considering the detailed design for a proposed new grade separated interchange at Schoolhill, Portlethen as part of a major residential development. The construction of the junction will be at the developer’s expense.

The Executive is also carrying out a comprehensive study into the safety of at grade junctions on dual carriageways. Laurencekirk will be specifically considered within this study.

Under the Scotland Act it is the Scottish Executive’s duty to comply with EU obligations and be in conformity with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Executive is, therefore, required to ensure that EU students receive the same treatment as home students in relation to their tuition costs at Scottish universities. It should be noted that this requirement only applies to nation states of the EU, not the home countries of the UK nation state.

Students who are EU nationals and meet the residence criteria are therefore eligible for the same fee support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) as students who are ordinarily resident in Scotland.

Students who have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three year period immediately preceding the start of the course, and are ordinarily resident in Scotland on that day, are also eligible for student support from SAAS. The purpose of these criteria is to ensure that eligibility for support is determined by residence rather than nationality.

European Court of Justice case law indicates that EU obligations do not currently extend to student support. EU nationals who are in Scotland wholly or mainly for the purposes of education therefore are not considered eligible for student support.

However, students may qualify for the same student support as Scottish domiciled students if they, their partner or parents are classed as European Economic Area (EEA) migrant workers, and they meet the residence criteria. This fulfils an obligation under an EEC Council Regulation on freedom of movement for workers within the Community.

This information is not held centrally.

There has been no national rate set for salaries of GPs to provide out-of-hours services. This is a matter between NHS boards and individual salaried GPs, but levels will vary depending on the duties involved, the time commitment and local market forces.

UK-wide negotiations over the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract began during 2001-02. A framework document was produced in April 2002 which contained an early indication of the proposed new out-of-hours arrangements. Further information was contained in the contract document itself, published in February 2003 and accepted in a GP ballot in June 2003. The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, which came into force at 1 April 2004, set out in detail the terms to be included in contracts.

NHS boards have been aware from these documents of the need to plan for the re-provision of out-of-hours care and have until 31 December 2004 to do so.

NHS boards are currently developing their plans for out-of-hours service re-provision and most are not yet in a position to provide final figures. However, this is a key priority for NHS systems and any potential additional financial pressure should be placed within the context of a record uplift in general allocations to boards across Scotland of £370 million in 2004-05. In addition, the introduction of the new General Medical Services contract is supported by 33% increased investment in primary care over its first three years.

NHS Borders does not have a dedicated specialist palliative care unit. Inpatient specialist palliative care is provided at Borders General Hospital.

To date, three NHS board areas have established their new out-of-hours arrangements as part of the implementation of the new General Medical Services contract. One NHS board area has signalled there will be no change to the previous arrangements and the remainder have developed detailed plans with a view to introducing new arrangements by the deadline of 31 December 2004.

BEAR Scotland Ltd has been commissioned to investigate and report on what additional road safety measures would be appropriate following the recent fatal accident. All appropriate recommendations will be acted on as quickly as possible.