Chamber and committees

The main links between Clydebank and the motorway network are local roads and therefore the responsibility of Glasgow City and West Dunbartonshire Councils. On the strategic road network, the Executive plans to undertake major strengthening work to the deck of the Erskine Bridge to meet current loading requirements and to upgrade access to the main deck and towers for maintenance purposes. This scheme, which is expected to cost some £2.25 million plus VAT, will be undertaken in phases, beginning in summer 2002.

The following table updates the information which was supplied in answer to question S1W-7259 on 22 June 2000. Information for Clydebank and Milngavie is not separately identified in the annual accounts but may be available from Greater Glasgow Health Board or the local NHS trusts.Greater Glasgow Health Board has maintained a steady rise in total and per capita revenue expenditure over the last six years.

Greater Glasgow Health Board	Audit Figure		Original
	2000-2001	1999-2000	1999-2000	1998-99	1997-98	1996-97	1995-96
			000's	000's	000's	000's	000's
Base Population	904.4	902.3	902.3	902.3	902.4	907.0	896.3
Revenue Expenditure	£985,332	£916,173	£920,978	£875,474	£849,122	£823,760	£802,648
Revenue Per Capita Expenditure	£1,090	£1,015	£1,021	£970	£941	£908	£896

The original figures for 1999-2000 were provided by Greater Glasgow Health Board and were unaudited figures. The audited figures have also now been included.

I understand that East Dunbartonshire Council, as planning authority, is presently giving consideration to a planning application and environmental statement submitted by the West of Scotland Water Authority for the Katrine Water Project. As a statutory consultee, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has been given the opportunity to comment on the environmental statement.

The Scottish Executive is already fully engaged with the UK Government in the development of the UK position in the debate on the future of European Structural Funds. We participated in significant events last year such as the Cohesion Forum in Brussels in May, the Namur Informal Council in July and meetings with the Commissioner for Regional Policy and Scottish MEPs in September. We are working with the breadth of Scottish interests to produce a robust presentation of the key areas for structural funds in the future and to ensure that Scottish priorities are adequately reflected in the final UK position. We expect to attend the commission's seminars on the 10 priorities highlighted in the Second Cohesion Report in May. Subject to clarification on the format of these seminars it is hoped a broad Scottish delegation will accompany us.

The Scottish Executive is supporting improved public transport links between Glasgow and Dunbartonshire through the Baillieston-Faifley Quality Bus Corridor, working towards doubling the frequency of rail services between Milngavie and Glasgow as part of the Larkhall-Milngavie rail project, and most recently by supporting West Dunbartonshire Council's Public Transport Fund bid for enhancements to the public transport infrastructure in and around Dumbarton town centre.

The numbers of projects approved in 1999, 2000 and 2001 are shown in the following tables. There were no project application rounds for objective 2 in 2000 (the gap between the old and new programmes), and there is yet to be a round of decisions issued for either objective for 2002.Objective 2 (ERDF & ESF)Number of projects:

	1999	20001	2001	20022
West Dunbartonshire	12	0	4
East Dunbartonshire	2	0	0
Dunbartonshire wide	4	0	3

Notes:1. There were no project applications for 2000 as this was the gap between the old and new programme.2. We have yet to have a round of decisions issued in 2002.Objective 3 (ESF)Number of projects:

	1999	2000	2001	20021
West Dunbartonshire	1	5	4
East Dunbartonshire	8	4	1

Note:1. We have yet to have a round of decisions issued in 2002.

This is a matter for West of Scotland Water, and I have asked the Chief Executive to respond. His response is as follows:Different criteria than those used to select the scheme design options were used to identify the Potential Development Areas (PDA's). This is because each PDA is the subject of more than one scheme option.At the first Value Management workshop the performance of scheme options based on PDA 13 were poorer than those short-listed for PDA's 12, 8 & 3. In addition, for the same generic conjunctive-use option, it is some £9.5 million more expensive than the chosen scheme. There were two main drawbacks to PDA 13P:in order to gain access to the site for construction traffic, many narrow lanes would need to be upgraded. This would clearly have had an impact on the rural nature of the surrounding area, andconsiderable lengths of additional pipes would be required to be laid to enable the transfer of raw water to, and treated water from, the site.PDA 15 lies adjacent to Balmore Water Treatment Works. The generic option for this area assumed that all available development potential within the Balmore works itself would be utilised with the remaining treatment capacity being constructed on PDA 15. Capital costs for this option were at least £10 million more expensive than for the other PDAs. Further drawbacks of this option include:additional costs associated with considerable interruption to the existing plant at Balmore;the low elevations of Balmore and PDA 15 would have mean significantly more pumping than short-listed options with consequentially higher CO₂ emissions and OPEX/whole life costs, andconsiderable extra lengths of multiple pipelines.The final scheme option, which uses parts of PDA's 3 & 8, has not been directly compared with PDA's 13 & 15, as the final option had not been developed at the time of the initial Value Management workshop. However, the final option performed better in relation to all the criteria than those options based solely at either PDA 3 or PDA 8.A full explanation of the Scheme Selection Process may be found in Annex D of the Environmental Statement which is part of the Planning Application for the Katrine Water Project.

As at 20 December 2001 there were in the region of 450 asbestos related cases on-going in the Court of Session. During January 2002, Lord Mackay has conducted procedural hearings in a selection of cases, with a view to identifying any issues that might have a bearing on the future progress of these and future cases. Cases will continue to be called before him for the purposes set out in the notice in the Rolls of the Court of Session dated 20 December 2001, but it remains open to parties to the actions to make application to the court in accordance with the normal rules. The nomination of Lord Mackay of Drumadoon does not supersede normal procedure.It is expected that the additional judicial input into these cases through Lord Mackay will expedite progress focusing parties attention on issues that are barring or delaying settlement or other progress. Appropriate priority will continue to be given to those few cases that proceed to proof.

This is a matter for West of Scotland Water and I have asked the Chief Executive respond. His reply is as follows:This issue is addressed in pages 2-20 to 2-21 of the Environmental Statement included in the authority's planning application.During the construction of the new works the Katrine Water Project will develop and implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) which will be integrated with the construction quality and health and safety management systems. Amongst other issues, it will address the procedures to be adopted to minimise environmental risks from noise and vibration. The EMS will also include procedures for appropriate noise monitoring. The EMS will be developed in detail once all planning conditions have been agreed. Environmental monitoring information will be made available to the local community through the recently established Community Forum.

The number of junior doctors, defined as doctors in training, required in the short, medium and long term is affected by a variety of major factors, making for a very complex situation.In the short term, in response to the requirements of the European Working Time Directive and of the new contract arrangements for junior doctors, action is being taken to reduce working hours and achieve compliance with those requirements, and we have committed central funding for 375 more junior doctors to support that effort. The bulk of that funding comes on stream in the next two financial years.In the medium to long term, the numbers of junior doctors required are affected by changes in the demands of service provision, the way in which service delivery is organised, patterns of work for senior doctors, patterns of training for junior doctors and the composition and outlook of the workforce.The current fundamental review of medical workforce planning by Professor John Temple which Susan Deacon announced on 20 June 2001 is gathering and examining evidence on these short, medium and long term issues and will be reporting to ministers shortly.