Chamber and committees

The available information on the number of driving offences for which persons were disqualified from driving is given in table 25 of the Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts 2007-08 statistical bulletin, table 6 of the motor vehicle offences 2008-09 additional datasets and table 5 of the motor vehicle offences 2009-10 additional datasets. These are available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/04/27103325/0;

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/MV0809, and

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/MV0910.

 

The Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee members are; Ian Livingstone CBE (Convener), Marlene Anderson, Dan Brown, Declan Hall, Mark Irvine and Jack Wilson.

Arts and Business Scotland received public funding, from the Scottish Government and other national organisations, of:

(a) £462,000 in 2008-09 plus lottery funding of £32,650.

(b) £484,400 in 2009-10 plus lottery funding of £21,930.

(c) £485,000 has been allocated for 2010-11.

A wide range of studies on neonicotinoids are submitted as part of the pesticide approval process. Additional research has been carried out by government and other organisations.

There are currently three Defra-funded research and development projects on the use of neonicotinoids. These are (a) potential impacts of synergism between systemic seed treatments and sprayed fungicides in crops, (b) assessing the impact of guttation on non-target arthropods, design of extended laboratory and field studies, and (c) assessing the impact of pesticides on honeybee brood evaluation of effects using the OECD Guidance document 75.

No specific guidance on the use of neonicotinoid insecticides has been issued to Scottish Natural Heritage or the Scottish Agricultural College.

However, there is extensive guidance on the appropriate use of pesticides in the Pesticides Code of Practice for using plant protection products in Scotland. This is a practical guide for pesticide users and also refers to the various pieces of legislation covering the use of plant protection products. The code is aimed at pesticide users within agriculture, horticulture, forestry and the amenity sectors.

Scottish Government officials remain in close contact with all NHS boards and ministers have been fully briefed on the issue of community radiology services in Lanarkshire. Due to its age, the equipment in Cumbernauld and in Kilsyth can no longer be covered by maintenance contracts. The safety of patients is absolutely paramount, and it would be in breach of national standards if any board was to continue to use equipment in those circumstances. As a result, patients from Cumbernauld and Kilsyth are being referred to the radiology department at Monklands Hospital. That will continue until a full review of radiology services has been completed by the NHS board.

No final decisions on the overall review have yet been taken but, as always, I expect the NHS board to progress any proposal for permanent change with the full involvement of patients, the public and other stakeholders. If such a proposal was deemed to constitute major service change, formal public consultation and, ultimately, ministerial approval would be required.

The information requested is not held centrally. ScotRail is not contractually required to produce performance information in this format.

We have not discussed care home provision specifically with North Lanarkshire Council.

Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to assess the needs of, and provide appropriate services - including care home provision - to people who are assessed as needing them. According to latest statistics, care home provision in North Lanarkshire is about average with 44 registered places per 1,000 population aged over 65.

Latest information on NHS Lanarkshire delayed discharge patients awaiting placement in a care home as recorded at the October 2010 Delayed Discharges census is shown in the following table.

Table 1. Number of patients outwith the six week planning period, total, median, and mean delay durations for NHS Lanarkshire delayed discharges awaiting placement in a care home at the October 2010 census:

NHS Health Board of Treatment	Number of patients outwith the six week planning period1	Total (patients)2	Total Delay (days)3	Median duration (days)4	Mean duration (days)5
Lanarkshire	-	5	153	32.0	30.6

Source: ISD Scotland, Delayed Discharges Census, Ref: IR2010-03129.

Notes:

1. Number of Delayed Discharges with a duration of over six weeks (43 days or more), i.e. the common period for discharge planning agreement timescales across Scotland

2. Total number of Delayed Discharges, for all patients awaiting placement in a care home (reasons: Awaiting place availability in Local Authority Residential Home, Awaiting place availability in Independent Residential Home, Awaiting place availability in Nursing Home (not NHS funded), Non-availability of local authority funding to purchase Care Home Place, Awaiting place availability in care home (EMI/Dementia bed required), Patient exercising statutory right of choice), reported as at October 2010 census.

3. Duration calculated from Ready for Discharge Date to October 2010 census date.

4. The middle value of the set of duration values when arranged in numerical order.

5. Calculated by summing all duration values and dividing by the number of delays.

Information on waiting times for admission to care homes is not available centrally.