Chamber and committees

Information on the number of nurse training places funded by the Scottish Executive in each of the last three years and for 2002-03 is set out in the following table.

Institution	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Bell College	777	867	944	949
Dundee	1,180	1,235	1,268	1,326
Glasgow Caledonian	970	1,044	1,081	1,146
Napier	1,413	1,509	1,535	1,492
Paisley	1,094	1,119	1,136	1,145
Robert Gordon	980	1,018	1,027	1,111
Stirling	879	938	947	985
Total				8,154

The information shows funded places based on the recommendation of the Student Nurse Intake Planning (SNIP) Group through which the Scottish Executive assesses the supply and demand for qualified nurses and midwives each year. The information on funded places for 2002-03 is provisional until courses commence in late September/October. Information for 2003-04 and beyond is not yet known but will be based on SNIP's recommendations.

The number of qualified nurses and midwives recruited in each of the last three years by NHS board is shown in the following table.I am awaiting information about number of recruitments planned and will reply to the member in writing and will also place a copy in the Parliament's Reference Centre.Qualified Nurses and Midwives Recruited to NHSScotland: Headcount of Staff in Post as at 30 September

	1999	2000	2001
Scotland	3,196	2,906	3,493
Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board	157	174	204
Borders NHS Board	66	54	62
Argyll and Clyde NHS Board	224	247	256
Fife NHS Board	188	135	168
Greater Glasgow NHS Board	529	501	629
Highland NHS Board	131	158	163
Lanarkshire NHS Board	193	179	209
Grampian NHS Board	496	413	450
Lothian NHS Board	612	629	790
Tayside NHS Board	317	138	243
Forth Valley NHS Board	135	110	120
Dumfries and Galloway NHS Board	95	98	105
Orkney NHS Board	4	8	10
Western Isles NHS Board	15	21	26
Shetland NHS Board	16	20	27
State Hospital	8	6	23
Common Services Agency	10	15	8

Notes:1. These data are released under National Statistics.2. The data show the number of qualified nurses and midwives recruited to each NHS board in each of the last three years.3. For the purpose of this parliamentary question, recruits are defined as those individuals who are new to NHSScotland, those who rejoined NHSScotland, and those who were previously working as bank staff but who have obtained substantive posts,4. The data are sourced from the National Manpower Statistics from Payroll as at 30 September. The individual NAMS census files are linked using National Insurance number. The linked NAMS file dates back to 1979. New joiners can be identified as those individuals who appear for the first time on the relevant census. Rejoiners can be identified as those individuals who appear on the relevant census and who appeared on at least one census previously before leaving.

Each bilateral concordat provides for dispute resolution procedures, at senior official level and ministerial level, and also refers to the process for triggering a formal intervention of the Joint Ministerial Committee, the final dispute resolution option. The Executive monitors observance with the concordats by reference to the need for recourse to the dispute resolution procedures.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the implications of UK legislation for Scotland.

The information requested is set out in the following table. Information for 2001-02 has not yet been published.

Year	Commencements	Completions
1998-99	3,220	2,235
1999-2000	3,209	2,316
2000-01	3,494	2,330

Information on the numbers who began nursing training in the last three years includes those students who transferred between courses for the different disciplines of nursing or who have taken a break and returned. The information is collected annually for the period 1 April to 31 March.

The annual guidance letter to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) in December 2001 stated that the Executive looked to the council to develop systems which will provide evidence that institutions are giving priority to and making progress in using the funding provided by the council to improve the management of human resources. SHEFC have introduced a new condition of core grants from this year and I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28544 today.

Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and decisions concerning staffing levels and human resource management are primarily a matter for them and their governing bodies.

No representations have been made to the University of Dundee by the Executive in this regard. Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and decisions concerning staffing levels and human resource management are a primarily a matter for individual institutions and their governing bodies.

SHEFC monitors the use of funds to which a specific condition has been applied to the offer of a grant in a variety of ways. The new condition of core grants introduced by SHEFC from 2002-03 includes a requirement that institutions, taking account of their own particular circumstances and context, devise and implement strategies which effectively address human resource policies and management and to demonstrate their key actions and strategies for human resources to stakeholders. Monitoring of progress will be done primarily through information provided in institutions' strategic plans which SHEFC are currently considering in respect of 2002-03.Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and the primary responsibility for ensuring that an institution's actions are consistent with its strategic plan remains with the governing body and management of each institution.

Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only accidents.The Executive's statistical database can provide figures on the number of injury accidents by police force area, by local authority area and for specified lengths of individual roads.The areas covered by Strathclyde Police Divisions N and Q correspond to North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Councils respectively. The following table gives the numbers of injury road accidents which were identified in the STATS 19 returns as occurring in North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire in the five years 1997 to 2001 inclusive.It should be noted that the statistics given are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that the local authority may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon its knowledge of the road and area concerned.

Local Authority	Year	Injury Road Accidents
North Lanarkshire	1997	964
	1998	993
	1999	922
	2000	987
	2001	944
South Lanarkshire	1997	949
	1998	979
	1999	931
	2000	900
	2001	849