Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is determined to face the challenges posed by cancer. We have pledged to tackle the root causes of ill health and work over the next 10 years to promote healthier living and reduce mortality from cancer by 20%.Specific initiatives designed to address these pledges and the Scottish Executive's approach to public health generally are set out in the White Paper, Towards a Healthier Scotland, a copy of which has been placed in SPICe.This is a challenging and wide ranging programme including:

• additional investment of £1 million to aid smoking cessation programmes;
• promoting healthier lifestyles and diet including the appointment of a Scottish Diet Co-ordinator;
• establishment of Healthy Living Centres via the New Opportunities Funding initiative (£34.5 million);
• The Cancer Challenge
- a pilot programme to test the feasibility of a national screening programme for earlier detection of colorectal cancer;
• a formalised cancer genetics programme for breast, colorectal and ovarian cancer to provide advice and counselling for individuals who may be at increased risk based on their family history.

The substantial additional investment in public health and health promotion, announced in the Scottish Parliament on 22 March, will further strengthen our efforts to help reduce the incidence of cancer in Scotland.

Mental illness is equated with the specialities of General Psychiatry, Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry.

The information available from health boards regarding expenditure on mental illness treatment is provided on the basis of patient category i.e. inpatient; outpatient; day-patient and community. It is therefore not possible to identify the expenditure on patients treated in psychiatric hospitals alone.

The information provided in the following table groups the expenditure for inpatients, outpatients and day-patients to provide a total hospital figure.

The health board expenditure reflects the costs of services purchased, and may not equate exactly with the cost of treatment for mental illness.

The table provides per capita expenditure, per health board, for hospital and community provision of mental illness treatment for the period 1996-97 up to and including 1998-99.

	Expenditure per capita in Hospitals			Expenditure per capita in the community
Health Board	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Argyll & Clyde	79	79	80	0	2	3
Ayrshire & Arran	59	55	68	5	5	7
Borders	75	71	72	10	12	12
Dumfries & Galloway	67	71	70	4	4	4
Fife	69	66	68	3	5	5
Forth Valley	74	72	75	3	6	6
Grampian	74	76	78	2	3	5
Greater Glasgow	68	70	67	11	11	17
Highland	64	60	59	4	5	6
Lanarkshire	49	58	59	6	5	5
Lothian	77	79	84	2	3	3
Orkney	51	45	39	5	5	5
Shetland	17	20	18	4	4	4
Tayside	93	93	95	6	8	8
Western Isles	68	73	70	4	4	4
Average	70	71	73	5	6	7

Source: Scottish Health Service Costs 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 (SFR 13.0).Note: Weighted population is used to allow health board comparisons and has been used to calculate the per capita spend. Note that an updated figure was not available for 1998-99, so the 1997-98 weighted population figures were used.

We would be very happy to consider the views of the Scottish Low Pay Unit so far as they concern matters which are within the responsibilities of the Executive.

This information is not held centrally. However, the Labour Force Survey, which includes about 6,000 households each quarter in Scotland, gives reliable estimates although not broken down by local authority area. The autumn 1999 survey estimated that in Scotland 17% of the working age population have a disability, as do 8% of the workforce.

It is for individual local authorities to determine their own employment policies within the statutory requirements and, under section 64 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to appoint such officers as they think necessary for the proper discharge of their functions. However, the Scottish Executive will be working closely with the Disability Rights Commission following its inception on 19 April 2000 including initiatives which the Commission might wish to pursue concerning employment for people with disabilities.

I refer Mr Gibson to the answer I gave to parliamentary question S1W-5761.

The table presents the number of new council houses which have been completed in each local authority area, in the years 1994 to 1998, as reported by local authorities to the Scottish Executive.

Local Authority New Dwellings Completed: 1994 to 1998
Authority	1994	1995	1996		19971	19981
Scotland	548	487	278	108		86
Aberdeen City	20	-	87	50		-
Aberdeenshire	41	63	59	-		11
Angus	-	37	-	..		..
Argyll & Bute	-	-	-	-		-
Clackmannanshire	-	-	-	-		-
Dumfries & Galloway	117	21	-	-		-
Dundee City	21	-	-	-		-
East Ayrshire	7	28	-	1		-
East Dunbartonshire	-	41	10	-		-
East Lothian	-	-	-	-		-
East Renfrewshire	18	74	-	-		-
Edinburgh, City of	-	-	-	-		-
Eilean Siar	2	2	-	-		-
Falkirk	-	-	-	-		-
Fife	-	-	27	-		-
Glasgow City	-	-	-	-		-
Highland	170	88	18	..		..
Inverclyde	-	8	-	-		19
Midlothian	26	-	22	26		36
Moray	39	15	-	-		-
North Ayrshire	-	8	15	3		-
North Lanarkshire	4	67	-	-		..
Orkney	-	-	-	-		-
Perth & Kinross	-	-	-	-		-
Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-		-
Scottish Borders, The	-	16	-	-		-
Shetland	12	-	-	-		-
South Ayrshire	20	-	20	-		-
South Lanarkshire	30	2	-	-		-
Stirling	-	4	-	-		-
West Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-		-
West Lothian	21	13	20	28		20

.. Return outstanding

- Nil return

Notes:

1. The Scotland total for these years is provisional, pending the submission of returns from some local authorities.

The Scottish Executive funds Scottish Screen to carry out a range of activities, including training in film crafts, funding for script development, producer support, and locations marketing.

The Scottish Executive wants to improve survival rates for all cancers. We have adopted the target of reducing cancer-related, premature deaths by 20% between 1995 and 2010.The biology of prostate cancer is not yet fully understood. One of the main things, however, which will improve survival rates for prostate cancer is to increase the early reporting of cancers and we encourage men to seek early help and expect GPs to ensure rapid referral for specialist treatment when symptoms appear.In order to help increase our understanding of cancers and their treatment, the Scottish Executive has supported a range of cancer-related research projects with funding from the Chief Scientist Office, totalling nearly £2.2 million. Many of the findings of these projects are relevant to prostate cancer.The Scottish Cancer Group is also following the progress of a number of studies being undertaken internationally to evaluate new forms of treatment for prostate cancer and is considering how best these might be introduced into Scotland, should the research confirm that they are effective. In addition the Chief Medical Officer's Clinical Resources and Audit Group has funded an audit of all urological cancers, which includes cancer of the prostate. The audit, starting in 2000, will provide a nationwide picture of the process and treatment of this group of tumours and leave Scotland well placed to demonstrate the effectiveness of new therapies. The possibility of a screening programme is also being kept under review by the UK National Screening Committee.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive.The prime responsibility for assessing the need for and the timetable for provision of all medical equipment falls to individual NHS Trusts. In reaching their decisions they should take account of the age and condition of the equipment.In addition £12.5 million is being made available through the Capital Modernisation Fund for the replacement of linear accelerators. This funding will be made available over three years. Proposals from the relevant NHS Trusts are currently being assessed.The Scottish Executive has asked the Scottish Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee to develop proposals for a framework for capital investment in clinical radiology equipment in the National Health Service in Scotland. This will inform the Scottish Executive Health Department's capital investment plans.

We do not propose any changes at this time to the current council tax arrangements.