Chamber and committees

It is for the football authorities to ensure that professional football in Scotland has a sustainable future. The Enterprise and Culture Committee has commissioned one of its members to carry out an investigation into the finances of Scottish football and related matters and we look forward to considering the report when it is available.

It is for football to consider the implications of the decision of the Pools Promoters Association. I recognise the potential impact the decision may have on clubs, particularly those in the Scottish Football League, and their communities. However, I hope that negotiations will continue and that a resolution can be achieved which is acceptable to both sides.

This information is provided in the following tables:

Table 1: Number of Ambulances and Ambulance Staff in Angus - Accident and Emergency

Station	2000-01		2001-02		2002-03		2003-04
	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Staff	Vehicles
Arbroath	2	14.0	2	14.0	2	16.0	14.0	2
Brechin	2	8.0	3	12.0	3	13.0	12.0	3
Forfar	2	8.0	2	10.0	1	10.0	10.0	1
Monifieth	1	9.0	1	9.0	1	9.0	9.0	1
Montrose	2	8.0	2	8.0	1	9.0	8.0	1
Angus	9	47.0	10	53.0	8	57.0	53.0	8

Note for Table 1: the numbers of staff is the staff establishment on front line vehicles (whole-time equivalents in each station).

Table 2: Number of Ambulances and Ambulance Staff in Angus – Non-Emergency Service

	2000-01		2001-02		2002-03		2003-04
Station	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff
Arbroath	2	3	2	3	2	4	2	4
Brechin	3	2.9	3	2.9	4	6	4	6.5
Forfar	2	2	3	2	2	3	2	3
Monifieth	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2.8
Montrose	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
Angus	9	10.9	10	10.9	9	15	9	16.3

Note for Table 2: the numbers of staff is the staff establishment on patient transport vehicles (whole-time equivalents in each station). This table does not include information on the voluntary car service that is used by the ambulance service).

Table 3: Number of Ambulances and Ambulance Staff by Health Board – Accident and Emergency

Health Board	2000-01		2001-02		2002-03		2003-04
	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff
Argyll and Clyde	52	156	54	156	55	156	56	171
Ayrshire and Arran	33	143	35	142	35	137	36	152
Borders	18	87.5	18	87.5	18	87.5	17	86
Dumfries and Galloway	25	100	24	100	24	100	23	111
Fife	24	110	24	110	24	110	25	122
Forth Valley	15	64.5	15	64.5	14	64.5	13	77.7
Grampian	41	168	40	169	40	169	39	200.3
Greater Glasgow	59	240	60	264	60	262	61	281
Highland	49	176.7	49	179.1	49	179.1	49	190.9
Lanarkshire	30	144.5	30	144.5	30	144.5	32	183
Lothian	43	197	45	201	46	201	48	224
Orkney	5	9	5	8.5	5	8.5	5	8.5
Shetland	8	7	8	7.5	8	7.5	8	7.5
Tayside	31	137	30	147	28	147	27	149
Western Isles	11	26.7	11	26.7	11	26.7	11	26.9
Scotland	444	1,766.90	448	1,807.30	447	1,800.30	450	1,990.80

Note for Table 3: the numbers of vehicles is the vehicle establishment available for use in each health board area. The numbers of staff is the staff establishment on front line vehicles (whole-time equivalents in each health board area).

Table 4: Number of Ambulances and Ambulance Staff by Health Board – Non-Emergency Service

	2000-01		2001-02		2002-03		2003-04
Health Board	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff	Vehicles	Staff
Argyll and Clyde	52	63.8	54	64.3	55	64.3	56	73.8
Ayrshire and Arran	41	57.8	41	58.8	41	58.8	41	58.8
Borders	16	22.8	17	25.5	17	25.5	19	25.3
Dumfries and Galloway	20	33.6	20	34.9	21	34.9	23	35.9
Fife	38	52.8	39	58.1	39	58.1	41	61.1
Forth Valley	24	36.8	24	40.8	24	40.8	26	40.8
Grampian	48	56.5	51	56.5	51	56.5	53	67.5
Greater Glasgow	66	119.4	69	134.4	71	134.4	74	137.9
Highland	17	28	19	29	21	29	23	30
Lanarkshire	37	63.8	45	71	45	71	45	72
Lothian	59	75	62	80.8	65	78.8	68	96.1
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	1	1.3	1	1.3	1	1.3	1	1.3
Tayside	45	63.8	45	69.6	46	69.6	48	68.9
Western Isles	1	2	1	2	2	2	2	2
Scotland	465	677.4	488	727	499	725	520	771.4

Note for Table 4: The numbers of vehicles is the vehicle establishment available for use in each health board. The numbers of staff is the staff establishment on patient transport vehicles (whole-time equivalents in each health board area). This table does not include information on the voluntary car service that is used by the ambulance service.

The priority based dispatch system began in Tayside in September 2002 and there is therefore only one full year of data available – for 2003-04. The Scottish Ambulance Service is working towards a target of responding to 75% of all category A (life-threatening) calls within eight minutes by 2008. The target for category B calls (serious but not life-threatening) is to respond to 95% of calls within 14, 19 or 21 minutes, with the timings depending on the population density of the area. There is no single performance standard for category C calls as each case will be different. Some category C calls will require the call handler to provide advice to the caller, some are referred to NHS24 and some are given a “cold” response, where an ambulance attends the scene at a time agreed with the caller, but without the use of blue lights or sirens. The response times for category A and B calls in Angus and Tayside in 2003-04 are detailed in the table below:

	Percentage of Category A (life-threatening) Calls Responded to Within 8 Minutes	Percentage of Category B (Serious but Not Life-Threatening) Calls Responded to Within 14/19/21 minutes
Angus	57.6%	95.8%
Tayside	61.7%	96.2%

 

The Tayside Domestic Abuse Initiative is one of 56 projects awarded funding by the Scottish Executive under the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund. That fund, and the Violence Against Women Service Development Fund, runs to March 2006. We are currently considering funding arrangements for this area of work post-2006.

The position remains that the Executive’s priority for concessionary travel for older and disabled people is the introduction of a national free bus scheme.

I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11266 on 3 November 2004. 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/webapp/wa.search.

There is no statutory national curriculum in Scotland. We are actively encouraging schools to adopt flexible and innovative approaches to curriculum design and delivery which will meet the needs and wishes of all pupils. It is up to education authorities to decide what to teach within the parameters of national guidelines.

On 1 November, I announced a programme of work which aims to create a single, coherent, Scottish curriculum three to 18. The intention is to ensure that, through subject teaching and more cross-subject activity, the broad outcomes we look for from school education are achieved.

Current guidance to education authorities and schools advises that over the years P1 to P7 and again during S1 to S2 pupils should experience a broad range of historical studies. From S3 to S6 pupils can make negotiated choices within the curricular framework. History offers a range of certificated courses within that framework.

The following table shows the number of teacher training graduates from higher education institutions in Scotland, whose main subject was history, between 1998-99 and 2002-03.

Secondary Teacher Graduates from Scotland where Main Subject Recorded as History¹

1998-99	57
1999-2000	75
2000-01	70
2001-02	48
2002-03	55

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

Note: 1 The data are for the qualification by dominant subject group. A graduate may be trained to teach in more than one subject.