Chamber and committees

New business start-ups are measured using new business VAT/PAYE registration figures. In 2012, there were 1,285 new business start-ups in the Aberdeen City local authority area and 1,205 new business start-ups in the Aberdeenshire local authority area. Estimates of start-ups for 2013 are expected to be published by the Office for National Statistics in November 2014.

Rent Service Scotland collects market information on a representative sample of private sector rents by Broad Rental Market Areas. Information on the 30th percentile of private sector rents, by bedroom size, is published on the Scottish Government website, alongside corresponding information on Local Housing Allowance rates.

30th percentile figures, derived from 12 months of letting information up to the end of September 2013 are available for the Aberdeen and Shire Broad Rental Market Area at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privaterent/tenants/Local-Housing-Allowance/figures

30th percentile figures, derived from 12 months of letting information up to the end of September 2012 are available for the Aberdeen and Shire Broad Rental Market Area at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privaterent/tenants/money/localhousingallowance/Figures-1/2013

Local and Planning authorities are required to examine local rent levels as part of their Housing Need and Demand Assessments (HNDAs) which are then appraised by the Scottish Government. Information about the price of private rents in Aberdeen is available in the Aberdeen City and Shire HNDA (2010) and the 2011 HNDA update. Links are as follows.

2010 HNDA:

http://www.aberdeencityandshire-sdpa.gov.uk/AboutUs/HNDA.asp

2011 HNDA update:

http://www.aberdeencityandshire-sdpa.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=898&sID=38

The number of eligible people in the NHS Grampian area who have taken part in the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme in the latest three years available (up to 31 October 2012) is provided in the table. Data up to 31 October 2013 will be available when the annual bowel screening Key Performance Indicators Report is published at the end of August 2014.

The number of eligible people taking part in the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme, 2010-2012¹:

1. Only includes data up to 31 October 2012.

The following table shows the number of injury road traffic accidents in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The figures for 2013 are still being processed and those in the table are only for the period from January to September 2013. Provisional figures for the whole of 2013 will be published in Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland on 25 June 2014.

* Figures for 2013 are provisional and cover January to September

The following table shows the number of fatal and serious road traffic accidents involving heavy goods vehicles in the legacy Grampian police force area. The figures for 2013 are still being processed and those in the table are only for the period from January to September 2013. Provisional figures for the whole of 2013 will be published in Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland on 25 June 2014.

* Figures for 2013 are provisional and cover January to September

This information is publically available on the Information Services Division Scotland website in the ‘NHS Costs’ section. The most up to date figures relate to the financial period 2012-13 and are provided in the following table:

It should be noted that spend per capita does not take into account variation in relative need which is what the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee formula does. The primary reason for the difference between the per capita expenditure and the weighted per capita expenditure is relative need.

There were 2,365 average available staffed beds for all specialties in NHS Grampian in 2012-13.

The number of available staffed beds by NHS board is routinely published by Information Services Division and is available on the beds section of their website: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Beds/.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Healthcare Improvement Scotland ‘Chronic pain Services in Scotland: Where are we now?’ report as an important benchmark for the improvement of chronic pain services.

It is vital that all those seeking to improve chronic pain services have a clear picture of the nature and extent of service provision, including the waiting times experienced by patients. This helps to point to those issues which the Service Improvement Groups should direct their energies.

Our consultation report published on 28 April 2014 sets out our response to the recent consultation on the ‘Future Provision of Specialist Residential Services in Scotland’ as well as setting out our position on progressing improvements in the provision of local chronic pain services. The report is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/04/7669.

All NHS boards are committed to delivering improvements in chronic pain services. The Scottish Government has provided funding of up to £50k per year for two years to support the establishment chronic pain Service Improvement Groups / Managed Clinical Networks (SIGs/MCNs) to lead improvement work through the implementation of the Scottish Service Model for Chronic Pain.

Implementation of the model is overseen by the National Chronic Pain Steering Group which is supported by Scottish Government funding. NHS boards are required to include chronic pain service improvement in their Local Delivery Plans for 2014. The Scottish Government will monitor progress through the NHS board annual review process. Furthermore the Scottish Government has recently appointed a new National Co-ordinator and National Clinical Lead, who, working with the new National Steering Group Chair, provides advice and support to SIGs/MCNs.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20932 on 13 May 2014 which sets out the Scottish Governments support for chronic pain services. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Healthcare Improvement Scotland report, Chronic pain services in Scotland: Where are we now? noted that staffing vacancies within the chronic pain service in NHS Grampian during the period of data collection had impacted on service delivery. NHS Grampian has taken steps to address this and recruit to the vacant posts which will lead to a reduction in waiting times and improved services for patients.