Chamber and committees

The new General Medical Services (GMS) contract came into force on 1 April 2004 and is one strand of the pay modernisation agenda which also covers the consultant contract and agenda for change. We have allocated £3.5 million to NHS boards in Scotland for the period 2003-05 to support the establishment ofpay modernisation teams in each local NHS system which will oversee the introduction and on-going implementation of the three strands of pay modernisation. Allocations by NHS board are shown in the following table.

The precise cost to boards of implementing the new contract will not be known until later in the year once final details of out-of-hours re-provision and practices achievement levels under the terms of the new quality and outcomes framework are known. Such costs will, however, be covered by the record uplift in allocations to health boards from the Scottish Executive of £370 million (7.8%) in 2003-04 and £365 million (7.25%) in 2004-05. Details of the specific 2004-05 allocations to health boards for the new GMS contract element of pay modernisation are also shown in the following table.

These record uplifts in allocation have been supplemented by further allocations to NHSScotland of £30 million in 2003-04 and £70 million in 2004-05 as a contribution to the costs of pay and service modernisation.

NHS Board	Pay Modernisation Allocations 2003-05 £000s	Indicative Allocation For new GMS contract 2004-05 £000s
Argyll and Clyde	300	43,938
Ayrshire and Arran	200	36,700
Borders	100	11,382
Dumfries and Galloway	100	16,312
Fife	200	33,153
Forth Valley	200	27,619
Grampian	300	54,346
Greater Glasgow	500	92,720
Highland	200	32,132
Lanarkshire	300	50,818
Lothian	400	78,646
Orkney	Included in Grampian allocation	3,694
Shetland	Included in Grampian allocation	2,995
Tayside	300	44,761
Western Isles	Included in Argyll and Clyde allocation	5,224
Special Health Boards
Common Services Agency	250
Scottish Ambulance Service	150
Totals	3,500	534,440

We are encouraging diversification in the use of forests and timber through ourwork in implementing the Scottish Forestry Strategy.

Forestry Commission Scotland manages our national forests for a wide range of public benefits and examples of recent activity include:

encouraging the Woods In and Around Towns initiative;

exploring the potential for affordable social housing in appropriate parts of the national forest estate;

the provision of world class mountain bike trails in Lochaber and the Borders;

promoting the use of woodfuel, and

helping to develop new designs, products, and support systems to assist industry in maximising the use of Scottish timber and engineered wood products.

FC Scotland also works closely with local communities and it provides support for the private sector through partnership working and through the Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme.

We are presently in discussionswith the Department for Transport regarding the timetable for this research, andwould like to see it completed as soon as possible.

The Executive is making specific funding of £3 million in 2004-05 and £5 million in 2005-06 available through NHS boards to support the implementation of local alcohol action plans.

The board by board allocation is as follows:

Area	Funding (£000s)
	2004-05	2005-06
Argyll and Clyde	277	462
Ayrshire and Arran	213	355
Borders	85	141
Dumfries and Galloway	108	180
Fife	199	332
Forth Valley	148	247
Grampian	212	354
Greater Glasgow	667	1,111
Highland	140	234
Lanarkshire	246	409
Lothian	336	560
Orkney	67	111
Tayside	168	280
Shetland	67	111
Western Isles	67	111
Total	3 million	5 million

 

This specific allocation is in addition to the existing resources to tackle alcohol problems currently provided in NHS board and local authority general allocations. Funding for 2006-07 will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.

£2,648 million is also being made available through central budgets in 2004-05 to support local and national action to tackle alcohol problems. This includes funding for a national communications campaign and national information resource, support for local Alcohol Action Teams and core grant for Alcohol Focus Scotland.

We are unable to say whetherall categories of dementia sufferers will or will not be included in the Blue BadgeScheme until after the research by the Department for Transport is completed. Theresearch will look at the mobility needs for these groups and will be carried outon a UK-wide basis.

The table below shows average attrition rates for 1992-93 to 1999-2000 for the three-year course (diploma), the degree course and the shortened course for graduates.

Three-Year Course (Diploma)1	23.5%
Degree Course2	20.5%
Shortened Course3	15.4%

Source: NHS Education for Scotland

1. The data provided for diploma courses comprises general, children, mental health, learning disability and midwifery courses.

2. Data provided for degree courses comprises general, mental health and learning disability courses.

3. Data provided for short courses comprises general, children, mental health and learning disability.

The Executive will invest £65million in affordable housing in rural areas in 2004-05 to fund 1,408 houses. Thisis the highest percentage share of the programme ever allocated to rural areas havingincreased from 20% in 1999-2000 to 26% in 2004-05. The Executive is also conductinga review of affordable housing supply which will identify ways to address imbalances betweensupply and need where these occur.

I met with Aberdeenshire Councilon 8 December 2003 where I was updated on the work of their Joint PublicServices Group. The group also raised, amongst others, concerns about the fairnessof the distribution of Revenue Support Grant. Officials are in regular contact withthe council as well.

I canconfirm that the Antisocial Behaviour Bill will contain provision to allowunder 16s, who might otherwise be in secure accommodation, to remain in the communitythrough the use of electronic tagging. In addition work is underway to increasethe secure estate from 96 to 125 places.

So far,£120 million has been awarded from the Strategic Waste Fund to 22 localauthorities for the three years to 2006. These resources are helping to fund avariety of initiatives including kerbside recycling and an increased number ofrecycling points in both rural and urban areas.