Chamber and committees

Payment arrangements are a matter between local authorities and individual suppliers. As noted in my response to question S1O-332, I spoke to Councillor Norman Murray, President of CoSLA, asking him to draw to the attention of councils the requirements of the Late Payment of Commercial Debt (Interest) Act 1998 and the importance of paying their bills on time. CoSLA wrote to all local authorities advising them of this on 1 October.The latest available information on the performance of councils in paying invoices within 30 days was published in the recent Accounts Commission pamphlet Benefits, Finance and Housing 1998-99. It reported that 19 councils had improved in terms of the percentage of invoices which they had paid on time during 1998-99, compared to the previous year.

South Glasgow University Hospitals Trust has taken steps to reduce the waiting list for ultrasound examinations. Full details are available from the Trust.The Scottish Executive is committed to improving waiting times, addressing all stages of a patient's care pathway through the Health Service. Over the coming months we will be working with the NHS across Scotland to establish national maximum waiting times to be met by March 2001 in the three national priorities of heart disease, cancer and mental illness.

Planning guidance states that a priority is placed on the re-use of vacant and derelict land as a contribution to regeneration of older urban areas and as a means of reducing demand for greenfield sites.Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise undertake a range of projects to bring derelict, neglected or unsightly land or buildings into economic use under their Environmental Renewal powers.Information from the Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey shows that the number of hectares of reclaimed land for 1996 was 688 ha, for 1997 it was 990 ha and for 1998 it was 823 ha. In 1998, local authorities recorded 12,212 hectares of vacant and derelict land in Scotland.^{1, 2}Notes:1. 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. Sites covering less than 0.1 ha are excluded.2. Figures given for reclaimed land may underestimate the total as not all local authorities completed a return.

It is a matter for Glasgow City Council to determine its own spending priorities. The Council's expenditure guideline for 2000-01 has increased by 2.8% or £28 million to £1,053 million and its Aggregate External Finance has increased by 2.9% or £23 million to £830 million.

It is a matter for Glasgow City Council to determine its own spending priorities and how it delivers its social inclusion objectives. The Council's expenditure guideline for 2000-01 has increased by 2.8% or £28 million to £1,053 million and its Aggregate External Finance has increased by 2.9% or £23 million to £830 million.

Local authorities have a duty under the Road Traffic Act 1988 to carry out a programme of measures designed to promote road safety. This includes giving practical training to road users where authorities consider this appropriate.The Scottish Executive provides funding to the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to enable it to produce and distribute to local authorities road safety education resources aimed at children of all ages. These include Smart Moves, a multimedia resource intended for children aged between 10 and 14 years old. This focuses on safer routes to school and aims to develop decision-making and risk assessment skills and a positive attitude to personal safety and responsibility.The Executive recognises the need for co-ordinated action working towards greater safety for children travelling to school. Accordingly, guidance was issued recently to local authorities and to every school in Scotland on how to run Safer Routes to School schemes. The Executive also funds the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland, which offers free road safety education to all three- and four-year-old children in Scotland.A manual, entitled Kerbcraft, was issued by the UK Government in 1997 to all Road Safety Units in the United Kingdom. The manual, which provides guidance to enable adult volunteers to train children aged five to seven years old in basic pedestrian skills, is based on the results of a successful pilot project in Glasgow. The Government is also funding a study to explore the effectiveness of computer simulation for the training of five- to ten-year-old pedestrians.

Figures are not available for import and export tonnage's by Standard Industrial Classification or by local authority area.Statistics on the value of imports and exports by industry are published for Scotland as a whole in Scottish Economic Statistics, and in a quarterly News Release. Statistics on the total tonnage's of freight carried to and from Scotland by certain modes of transport are published in Scottish Transport Statistics, in each case for groupings of the categories which are used to compile the statistics for that mode.

We are currently working with the NHS in Scotland to establish national maximum waiting times, to be delivered from March 2001, in the key clinical specialties of heart disease, cancer and mental health. In addition, the introduction of instant appointment booking systems, the establishment of additional one-stop clinics and the re-design of services to improve the patient pathway, will tackle inequity and reduce waiting times.

It is primarily a matter for health boards and their Trusts to plan and deliver services to meet the needs of their populations. The Scottish Executive has, however, been working closely with Greater Glasgow Health Board and its partner Trusts on an ambitious programme to modernise and improve acute hospital services across the city. At its board meeting on 21 March, I understand that the health board will consider a package of proposals for the future of acute services in Glasgow prior to public consultation. Any decisions will then be taken following an interactive process involving the full range of interested parties.

Rent arrears management is the responsibility of individual local authorities. Once the current study into rent arrears management being carried out by the Accounts Commission and Scottish Homes is completed, the Executive will consider whether further guidance to councils needs to be issued.