(a) Nursing agency costs from 2000-01 to 2004-05 (earlier years are not available) broken down by NHS boards, as detailed in the national workforce unit’s report E13 were:Table 1 NHS Board 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Argyll and Clyde 1,173,177 2,564,538 3,002,461 2,837,989 2,399,820 Ayrshire and Arran 388,119 385,617 1,083,256 827,622 568,646 Borders 96,918 178,974 407,798 516,707 674,993 Dumfries and Galloway 127 371 0 19,252 85,784 Fife 1,389,352 1,638,892 1,635,976 1,631,124 2,144,417 Forth Valley 573,082 876,023 758,223 729,551 1,524,579 Grampian 1,040,165 1,359,696 2,054,664 1,711,241 1,017,355 Greater Glasgow 2,629,883 6,603,105 7,346,835 7,934,076 6,170,176 Highland 301,181 238,634 372,519 302,722 335,262 Lanark shire 317,737 1,607,144 1,159,332 1,331,123 227,000 Lothian 6,089,772 5,102,943 8,597,611 10,982,965 10,204,173 Orkney 0 0 0 0 0 Shetland 8,927 36,159 2,214 0 29,277 Tayside 23,880 2,401,805 1,350,881 677,353 762,909 Western Isles 0 0 0 0 105,965 Total 14,032,320 22,993,901 27,771,770 29,501,725 26,250,355 (b) Costs for nursing bank staff from 1999-2000 to 2004-05 (earlier years are not available) as detailed in the national workforce unit’s report E16 were:Table 2 NHS Board 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Argyll and Clyde 1,673,279 1,506,181 2,533,539 2,666,609 3,033,636 3,845,105 Ayrshire and Arran 1,439,347 1,812,331 1,819,576 2,096,593 2,699,052 4,041,457 Borders 792,884 795,801 1,018,589 1,115,655 1,170,090 1,163,274 Dumfries and Galloway 31,415 52,375 147,115 115,311 1,139,767 1,237,463 Fife 1,388,807 1,595,587 1,617,970 2,100,480 2,966,666 3,439,099 Forth Valley 476,492 662,148 886,365 2,434,083 3,192,378 3,792,328 Grampian 2,794,692 3,497,168 3,698,407 3,957,524 5,553,741 6,288,550 Greater Glasgow 4,030,295 5,124,811 6,514,898 8,731,890 10,408,370 13,545,197 Highland 1,072,801 1,312,767 1,616,360 1,841,334 2,328,607 2,781,153 Lanark shire 922,466 1,514,963 1,553,540 2,388,251 3,073,513 4,785,499 Lothian 5,234,604 5,086,944 7,625,672 9,008,573 10,832,710 13,063,214 Orkney 97,334 118,837 215,985 239,090 228,388 206,850 Shetland 128,867 141,128 153,639 206,355 260,667 249,150 Tayside 1,048,854 1,377,304 1,603,695 1,650,132 2,153,683 2,462,995 Western Isles 162,503 276,883 245,671 363,315 475,096 545,877 Total 21,294,641 24,875,227 31,251,021 38,915,194 49,516,363 61,447,213 One of the Partnership Agreement Commitments is to implement Nationally Co-Ordinated Nurse Bank Arrangements to assist nurse placement across Scotland, to improve patient services and cut costs of agency nursing.The increase in the number of bank staff used is in line with recommendations made within the report and Action Plan of the Nationally Co-Ordinated Nurse Bank Arrangements project and reflects our policy on reducing the reliance on agency nurses in NHSScotland.Effectively managed Nurse Banks allow NHS employers to deploy resources effectively and safely in light of service demands, while affording individual staff members improved flexibility in their employment that better meet...