Chamber and committees

I refer you to the audit of written parliamentary questions lodged in SPICe in response to question S1W-3227.

The Deputy Ministers for Communities and Community Care regularly meet with organisations representing older people to discuss issues of concern. To date council tax has not been raised as an issue.

Greater Glasgow Health Board already receives £8.503 million each year specifically to reduce waiting lists. A further £11.179 million was recently allocated to the health board as its share of the additional £60 million allocated to the NHS in Scotland to tackle waiting times, prepare for winter and reduce the problem of delayed discharge.

On 8 August I announced the allocation of £11 million for cancer imaging equipment: Glasgow's share is £2.573 million. I also announced £5 million for the provision of dedicated MRI scanners at each of Scotland's five specialist cancer centres, including the Beatson Oncology Centre attached to the Western Infirmary, Glasgow. In addition, on 29 August I announced the allocation of a further £7 million for the redesign of services. Each NHS Trust in Scotland will receive £225,000 to reduce waiting, bureaucracy and provide a better, more responsive service for patients.

Sustained improvement can only be achieved by investment underpinned by strategic planning and changes to working practices and service design. I have made it clear to health board and NHS Trust senior management that I expect them to develop strategies to ensure that waiting lists and waiting times are driven down at an early date, and that downward pressure is sustained for the benefit of patients throughout Scotland.

The average cost of a court hearing to deal with non-payment of a fine in the sheriff court was £35 in 1998-99. Similar information is not readily available in respect of non-payment cases dealt with in the district court. The average fine imposed in Scottish courts was £176 in 1998, the latest year for which data are available. We have commissioned research on implications for the criminal justice system, and hope that the results of this research will be available in the early part of next year.

A Scottish Executive co-funded GB survey into mental health of children and adolescents showed approximately 10% with a mental disorder. No significant geographic differences were shown.

The results of the survey are being used to inform future planning of services and areas of research that could further assist in the best organisation of child and adolescent services, screening and support. The Scottish Executive is funding three separate studies into mental health problems amongst school-age children. £225,000 has been awarded for research into adolescent psychiatry outpatient services, adolescent depression in schools and adolescent psychosis. A further 18 projects are under way in NHS Trusts in Scotland on child and adolescent mental health problems.

The published Framework for Mental Heath Services in Scotland underlines, for the care agencies, the importance of early screening and timely interventions in mental health, particularly for children and adolescents.

It is for the health and social care agencies to work with others to provide the services and circumstances for early detection and appropriate care responses that match individual assessed needs.

I have replied today.

Information is not held centrally on greenfield land. The table below gives the amount of local authority owned vacant and derelict land in each local authority area. Information is not yet available for 1999.Local Authority Owned Vacant and Derelict Land^1,2,3 by Local Authority Area (in hectares), 1996, 1997 and 1998

	1996	1997	1998
Aberdeen City	28	25	254
Aberdeenshire	21	21	14
Angus	34	32	31
Argyll & Bute	9	8	8
Clackmannanshire	6	6	7
Dumfries and Galloway	185	20	19
Dundee City	147	1476	151
East Ayrshire	325	325	29
East Dunbartonshire	23	23	22
East Lothian	37	32	30
East Renfrewshire	11	12	12
Edinburgh, City of	42	45	46
Eilean Siar	5	1	1
Falkirk	124	115	84
Fife	100	98	91
Glasgow City	714	731	711
Highland	1567	1567	1567
Inverclyde	21	17	21
Midlothian	958	64	60
Moray	18	186	186
North Ayrshire	29	41	38
North Lanarkshire	249	215	171
Orkney Islands	8	5	6
Perth and Kinross	3	3	15
Renfrewshire	32	28	32
Scottish Borders	13	18	18
Shetland	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	29	32	33
South Lanarkshire	151	140	139
Stirling	105	1056	101
West Dunbartonshire	48	54	50
West Lothian	1195	1195	1195
Scotland	2,427	2,364	2,260

Notes:

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding errors.

2. Sites covering less than 0.1 ha are excluded.

3. The Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey includes only that vacant land which is either located within an urban settlement (with a population of 2,000 or more) or which is located within 1km of such settlements, which would commonly be considered as having the characteristics of urban vacant land.

4. Data are for 1997.

5. Data are for 1995.

6. Data are for 1996.

7. Data are for 1993.

8. Data are for 1994.

The Scottish Executive encourages the National Museums and Galleries to ensure increased public access by including the provision of additional grants specific for that purpose. The National Cultural Strategy shows a key aim to increase public access and states no intention to change statutory free admission to local authority museums and galleries. In addition, the National Cultural Strategy confirmed the Executive's intention to provide the sum of £2 million a year to enable the National Museum of Scotland to abolish charges at the Royal Museum and the Museum of Scotland from 1 April 2001. In relation to the non-national museums and galleries, the Scottish Museums Council, funded by the Scottish Executive, is developing a social inclusion strategy which will assist museums to consider ways to increase visits by socially excluded people.

I would refer you to the joint CoSLA/Scottish Executive Report It Pays to Pay and to my answer to question S1W-4296 to Des McNulty of 23 February.