Chamber and committees

Through the Partnership Agreement the Scottish Executive is delivering a Scotland where people and families will want to stay – an open, welcoming and inclusive Scotland where opportunity exists for all; a Scotland where last month’s spending review provided record investment in health, education and child care, and a Scotland with a strong economy supporting businesses, jobs and our public services.

The new guidance was published on 30 September 2004, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34126). Electronic copies are available on the Scottish Executive’s School Estate and Parentzone websites at www.scotland.gov.uk/schoolestate and:

www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk respectively.

School census data for 2004-05 have not yet been collected. An estimate, based on numbers of pupils in S3 in 2002-03, suggests that approximately 1,200 school pupils are likely to fall into this group across Scotland. We estimate that the cost of extending Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) eligibility to this group would be approximately £1.8 million in the current financial year with full year costs of approximately £2.6 million in the financial year to March 2006. It is not possible accurately to break down this estimated figure by local authority.

We have received a number of representations on extending eligibility for Education Maintenance Allowance payments to S5 pupils who were born before 1 March 1988 and who are still attending school. I understand the circumstances which have given rise to these representations, and therefore we have looked again at the eligibility criteria. After careful consideration we have decided that to do so, while it would address this anomaly, would introduce other anomalies and inequities which would be difficult to justify. It would also risk undermining the policy rationale on which EMAs are based: to encourage pupils from low income families to choose to stay on at school or college beyond the point where they reach their official school leaving date.

Were we to extend eligibility to all 16-year-olds who entered S5 in August this year we would highlight the ineligibility of 16-year-olds who were in S5 year last year and, in particular, those whose birthdays fall between 1 October and the last day of February. The parents of these pupils might argue that their 16-year-old children should be eligible regardless of their year of study in the same way that the parents of pupils born before 1 March 1988 argue that their children in S5 should be eligible regardless of age. The only way to satisfy both positions would be to extend eligibility to all pupils regardless of age or year of study, which would mean rolling out the EMA programme to all pupils in the current academic year. This would have considerable financial implications.

A distinctive feature of the EMA programme in Scotland is that it reflects thefact that we have two school leaving dates: at Christmas and at the end of the academic year. Pupils whose 16th birthday falls between 1 October and the last day of February are eligible to leave school at Christmas and will, therefore, be eligible to apply for EMA support from January rather than waiting until the start of the next academic year. Those students whose 16th birthday fell before 1 March 2004 were eligible to leave school at Christmas 2003 and, therefore, have already taken the decision to remain in post-compulsory education without the incentive of an EMA. Whilst their decision to remain in post-compulsory education is to be commended, the fact that the students had already made that decision without the incentive of an EMA suggests that we would not be justified in using public funds to extend EMA eligibility to this group.

We have deliberately avoided linking EMA eligibility to year of study. The purpose of the scheme is to provide an incentive to pupils when they reach their official school leaving date and have to make the decision whether or not to stay on at school. The current eligibility criteria support that policy intention and funding is being provided on that basis. We do not, therefore, think that there is sufficient reason to change the eligibility criteria.

It is inevitable when any new scheme is rolled out, that some will fall on the wrong side of the qualifying date. Whilst recognising their disappointment, I considered it fairer to adhere to a date for which there is a rational basis in terms of the policy objective of this scheme.

The aim of the EMA programme is to increase participation and improve retention rates among young people from low income households. Evidence from the first Scottish EMA pilot, and from evaluation of the pilots in England, indicates that the programme is having just such an effect. For example, in East Ayrshire participation has been raised by nearly seven percentage points, the number of pupils leaving school at the Christmas leaving date has reduced and the number progressing to and completing S6 has increased.

The information requested is set out in the following table.

	GAE Allocation 2003-04 (£000)	Provisional Outturn 2003-04 (£000)	Difference 2003-04 (£000)
Aberdeen, City	3,830	4,160	330
Dundee	3,045	3,153	108
East Ayrshire	2,385	2,651	266
East Dunbartonshire	2,125	2,338	213
East Renfrewshire	1,675	1,870	195
Edinburgh, City	8,076	8,794	718
Falkirk	2,720	2,963	243
Glasgow	10,557	12,838	2,281
Inverclyde	1,637	1,905	268
North Ayrshire	2,700	3,122	422
North Lanarkshire	5,708	6,333	625
Renfrewshire	3,265	3,625	360
South Ayrshire	2,530	2,804	274
South Lanarkshire	5,496	6,070	574
West Dunbartonshire	1,713	1,910	197
West Lothian	2,293	2,331	38
Scotland	59,755	66,867	7,112

The main source of funding for the current concessionary travel schemes is the formula-based grant aided expenditure allocation made to local authorities which are not hypothecated. However, where authorities can demonstrate that there is a shortfall in funding, the Scottish Executive can provide a specific grant to local authorities under section 70 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001.

The information requested is set out in the following table.

	GAE Allocation 2003-04 (£000)	Provisional Outturn 2003-04 (£000)	Difference 2003-04 (£000)
Aberdeenshire	3,916	2,394	-1,522
Angus	2,259	1,190	-1,069
Argyll and Bute	2,025	2,012	-13
Clackmannanshire	893	587	-306
Dumfries and Galloway	3,406	1,198	-2,208
East Lothian	1,821	1,248	-573
Eilean Siar	625	438	-187
Fife	6,789	6,461	-328
Highland	4,202	1,905	-2,297
Midlothian	1,453	1,359	-94
Moray	1,689	933	-756
Orkney	406	125	-281
Perth and Kinross	2,970	1,997	-973
Scottish Borders	2,439	1,115	-1,324
Shetland	370	-89	-459
Stirling	1,611	1,091	-520
Scotland	36,874	23,964	-12,910

We are currently considering the way forward in implementing the Partnership Agreement commitment for a national free off-peak bus scheme for older people and people with disabilities. The next steps will be announced shortly. 

Because of the small numbersinvolved, and on grounds of patient confidentiality, it is not possible to providethe information in the form requested specifically for patients in Scotland.

The 1 year transplant survivalestimates following heart‑lung transplants in the UK between1999 and 2002 is set out in the following table:

Transplant Type	Number in Analysis	% Survival
Heart/lungs	128	68.7%
Heart	737	82.1%
Lung(s)	394	79.9%

Source: UK Transplant

The information published in SKIPPER was split into 11 broad groups each of which contained a variety of analyses as listed in the table below.  The tables below show the definition of each category of analysis, whether it is currently available from another source and relevant comments.  The final release of SKIPPER includes details of alternative sources of information available on the ISD website.

ISD continually work with all stakeholders across NHSScotland to ensure theinformation published is relevant and accurate, undertaking reviews as necessary.

The only areas where ISD has made a decision not to provide the information on the website are where the SKIPPER presentation no longer reflected theorganisational structure of NHSScotland, or where improved information isalready available on the web site.

Detailed tables, by topic, are shown on the following pages.

Activity

Category of Analysis	Currently Available	Comments
NHS BOARDS
Deprivation Category -Inpatients, Outpatients Treated	No	There is deprivation information available on specific topic areas on the web site, for example, http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/publications/isd/deprivation_and_health/
Discharge Rates by Principal Diagnosis	No	Discharge Information is available on specific topic areas.
Discharge Rates by Principal Operation Procedure	Yes	Only numbers (not rates) on web. Breakdown by board not available.
Inpatient, Day Case Episodes - SMR01	Yes	Less detail available. Figures on web not shown at specialty level.
Specialty: NHS Board Residents by Trust of Treatment	No	Acute activity information on the web is currently under review.
Specialty: Discharge Rates & New OP Appointment Rates	Yes	Only numbers (not rates) on web. Less detail available. Figures on web not shown at specialty level.
Hospital Activity - ISD(S)1	No	Scottish figures on acute activity website for beds and quarterly inpatients & day cases & outpatients by NHS Board. Information on web under review – plans to increase information available on web.
Day Patient Activity: HB Comparison	No	Scottish figures on mental health area. Information on web under review – plans to increase information available on web.
Professions Allied to Medicine (PAMs) (now known as Allied Health Professionals) : HB Comparison	No	Community PAMs (now known as Allied Health Professionals) on data development area. Information on web under review – plans to increase information available on web.

 

NHS TRUSTS <>Trust level data for the following categories were produced on SKIPPER but, as Trusts no longer exist, data are no longer produced at this level. Some of the categories are produced at Health Board level.
Average Length of Stay Distribution
Case Mix Adjusted - Average Length of Stay
Case Mix Adjusted - Day Case Rate
Day Case Procedures	Presented at NHS Board level not Trust on the web.
Deprivation Category -Inpatients, Outpatients Treated
Geriatric Long Stay - Hospital Admissions
Hospital Activity - ISD(S)1	See notes for ISD(S) 1 under NHS Board. (previous section)
Inpatient, Day Case Episodes - SMR01	Less detailed organisation breakdown available on the web.
Non Attendance Rates - New Outpatient Appointments	Less detail available on the web.  At Scotland and specialty level only.
Non Attendance Rates - Specialty Mix Adjusted
Obstetric Episodes - SMR02

 

 

Cancer

 

Breast Screening Uptake	Yes	Although not exactly the same – only percentages are provided.
Cervical Screening	Yes	Only for target age group – no age breakdown supplied.
Standardised Incidence Ratios	Yes	General incidence & mortality information available.  Level may vary.
Standardised Mortality Rate	Yes	General incidence & mortality information available.  Level may vary.
Survival Rates	Yes	General survival information available.  Level may vary.

 

Child Health

 

Accidents to Children - Emergency Admissions to Hospital	Yes	Level of information presented will vary
Breast Fed Babies	Yes	Information might vary slightly
Children Free from Dental Caries	No	Current data are held by DHSRU.  There is a link to their website from the ISD website.
Childhood Mortality	Yes	No board breakdown on the web but probably available from GROS
Immunisations	Yes
Infant Mortality Rate	Yes	Information presented may vary slightly but in general information is available on the web.
Teenage Pregnancy	Yes

 

 

Clinical Outcomes - this information is available on the clinical governance website:

ClinicalOutcomes Indicators December 2000 report

 

Standardised % First Births by Caesarean Section	Yes	Tables were not updated every year in SKIPPER.
First Delivery by Caesarean Section Second Delivery Vaginal	Yes	Tables were not updated every year in SKIPPER.
Live Births Admitted to Neonatal Unit	Yes	Tables were not updated every year in SKIPPER.
Termination of Pregnancy at <=9 weeks="" by="" medical="">	Yes	Tables were not updated every year in SKIPPER.

 

 

Finance

 

NHS Board
NHS Board Management Costs per Head of Population	No	Data no longer available due to a change in Board annual accounts.
Expenditure by Head of Population	Yes
Trust – Provision of Healthcare Expenditure
Total Expenditure – All Services	Yes
Acute Services	Yes
Maternity Services Geriatric Assessment Services	Yes
General Psychiatry Services	Yes
Learning Disabilities Services	Yes
Geriatric Continuing Care Services	Yes
Younger Physically Disabled Services	Yes
Other Community Services	Yes
Family Health Services	Yes
Hospital
Hospital Running Costs	Yes

 

Heart Disease

 

Directly Standardised Mortality Rate - HB Comparison	Yes	Will be available on updated CHD website release on 29th October 2004
Discharge Rates by Principal Diagnosis	Yes	Will be available on updated CHD website release on 29th October 2004
Operation Procedures - HB Comparison	Yes	Will be available on updated CHD website release on 29th October 2004
Procedures Within 2 Years of Emergency Admission	No	May be added to future updates of the Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) website

 

 

Mental Health

 

Admissions by Diagnosis	Yes	Some information available but for discharges rather than admissions and not at the same level of detail (only broad diagnostic groups – hidden in the age/sex breakdown category!).  The most recent year for which we have complete data on psychiatric admissions and discharges for all health boards is 2001 This is because of data extraction problems due to the introduction of new computer systems.
Admissions - Learning Disabilities	No
Admissions by NHS Board of Residence by Trust of Treatment	Yes	Some information available but not at the same level of detail.(available for NHS board of residence but not trust of treatment)
Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR) - GP Consultation Rates	Yes	GP consultation, incidence and prevalence rates for depression and anxiety for 2003, available at: www.isdscotland.org/isd/general_practice_info
Discharges from Hospital	Yes	Some information available but not at the same level of detail (destination on discharge; discharges by NHS board/local authority of residence; by diagnosis group)
Standardised Admission Rates by NHS Board	No
Suicides - Years of Life Lost by Age Group	No

 

 

Primary Care Services

 

Dental
Number of  General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) per 1000 population	Yes	Is currently available on web (as number of GDPs per 100,000 population, at 31/3/2004), but is not likely to be updated more than once per year.
Patients Registered with a GDP by Age Group	Yes	Is currently available on web (at 31 December 2002 and 31 March 2003), but is not likely to be updated more than once per year.

 

Medical
Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR) - GP Consultation Rates (annual)	Yes	GP consultation rates by age and sex for 2000 - 2003, available at: www.isdscotland.org/isd/general_practice_info
GPs per 1000 Practice Population	No	Will probably be added to the web – after accessing stakeholder demand for information.
GP Practice Average List Size (Trust / Local Health Care Cooperative (LHCC)	Yes	Level of information presented may vary on the web.
GP Practice Populations  (Trust / LHCC)	Yes	Information presented at NHS Board level on the web.
Prescribing
Expenditure(£) – Trust / LHCC Comparison	No	Monthly reports are sent to interested parties (HBs and GPs).
Prescriptions & Ingredient Cost – Trust Comparison	Yes	Scotland level only, but a greater level of information available on the web.

 

 

Public Health

 

Births
Births by Maternal Age	Yes
Live Births by Gestation & Weight Group	Yes
Communicable Diseases
Notifiable Disease Rates	Yes
Genito Urinary Medicine - New Patients Seen by Age Group	Yes
Mortality Rates
Mortality Targets - Year 2010	Yes	Information on performance against targets is available on the Performance Assessment Framework (PAF) PAF link
Directly Standardised Rates NHS Board Comparison	No	Standardised mortality Information is available on specific topic areas.
Years of Life Lost NHS Board Comparison	No	Information is available on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy on the GROS and ISD web sites.
Populations
Estimates - NHS Board Annual Trend	Yes	On GROS website
Projection - NHS Board Annual Trend	Yes	On GROS website
Deprivation Categories - HB Comparison	Yes	There is deprivation information available on specific topic areas on the web site, for example, http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/publications/isd/deprivation_and_health/

 

Waiting Times

 

NHS Board
Inpatients, Day Cases on Waiting List	Yes	Level of presentation different
Inpatients, Day Cases Treated - Time Waited	Yes	Level of presentation different
Deferred Inpatient Day Case Waiting List	No	The deferred waiting list was abolished on 1st April 2003 it is therefore not possible to update this information any more.  See more detailed note below table.
Outpatients by Time Waited	Yes	Level of presentation different
Trust
Inpatients, Day Cases on Waiting List	Yes	Level of presentation different
Inpatients, Day Cases Treated Time Waited	Yes	Level of presentation different
Deferred Inpatient Day Case Waiting List	No	The deferred waiting list was abolished on 1st April 2003 it is therefore not possible to update this information any more.  See more detailed note below table.
Outpatients by Time Waited	Yes	Level of presentation different
Accident & Emergency
Accident & Emergency Waiting Times	Yes	Distribution of times may vary

 

Changes arising from the abolition of the Deferred Waiting List (DWL)

 

The Scottish Executive advised NHSScotland that the DWL would be abolished on 1 April 2003. In order to meet this commitment NHS Trusts have been required to carry out a review of patients on the deferred waiting list in the period up to that date.

 

Following review, these patients will either be:

· added to the true waiting list and assigned an appropriate Availability Status Code (ASC). In such cases the patients will be included in the headline true waiting list number but will be excluded from those figures measuring progress towards the national waiting time standards, or 

· added to the true waiting list without an ASC. In this case the patients will be included in the figures measuring progress towards the waiting time standards, or 

· removed from the waiting list because, for example, they no longer require treatment

 

Workforce

 

Staff  Summary
Staff in post – all staff groups	Yes
Staff Turnover - all staff groups	No	Considering adding this information to future website releases.  Will assess demand.
Medical and Dental
Staff in post	Yes
Vacancy survey	Yes
Junior doctors and dentists hours	Yes
Nursing and Midwifery
Staff in post	Yes
Vacancy survey	Yes
Agency usage	Yes
Bank  usage	Yes
Agency v. Bank nurse usage	Yes
Professions Allied to Medicine (PAMs) (now known as Allied Health Professionals)
Staff in post	Yes
Vacancy survey	Yes

 

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

A decision to recommend the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy to grant a free pardon is limited to cases where no court based remedy is available, or where new evidence, not previously heard by the courts, has arisen which demonstrates beyond any doubt that no offence was committed, or that the person concerned did not commit the crime.  The effect of a free pardon is that the conviction is disregarded to the extent that, as far as possible, the person is relieved of all penalties and other consequences of the conviction.  Only the courts have the power to quash a conviction, and the criteria adopted in considering whether to make a recommendation to Her Majesty to grant a free pardon have proper regard to the constitutional position that the courts decide whether a person is guilty of an offence, and not the Government.

The First Minister has asked for consideration to be given to an appropriate way of recognising the contribution made by the Women’s Suffrage movement to the development of democracy as we know it today. Options are currently being considered by Ministers.