Chamber and committees

I wrote to the Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry on 25 July offering all assistance in helping identify trawlermen who previously worked in Icelandic waters. I was very pleased that the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen on behalf of the Scottish Executive was able to provide the DTI with further evidence of activity by Scottish vessels in Icelandic waters between 1965 and 1979.

Cancer services in Scotland are delivered by clinicians working within managed clinical networks. The number of oncologists employed in any health board area and the ratio of these to population is therefore not an indicator of the level of patient access to these highly specialised services.The following table provides information on consultant oncologists employed within the areas covered by the three Regional Network Groups. The table should be read in conjunction with the notes.Consultant Medical and Clinical Oncologists: as at 30 September 2000^p

Headcount and Rate per 100,000 Population, by Regional Network Group

	Headcount			per 100,000 Population
	Total	Medical Oncologists	Clinical Oncologists	Medical Oncologists	Clinical Oncologists
Scotland	52	14	38	0.3	0.7
North2	14	4	10	0.3	0.8
West3	22	5	17	0.2	0.7
South East4	16	5	11	0.4	0.8

Notes:

1. Source: Staff - Medical and Dental Census from payroll, ISD Scotland; Mid-Year Population Estimates at 30 June - Registrar General for Scotland.

2. The North of Scotland Regional Network Group covers the following health board areas: Grampian, Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Tayside and Western Isles.

3. The West of Scotland Regional Network Group covers the following health board areas: Argyll & Clyde, Ayrshire & Arran, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire.

4. The South East Scotland Regional Network Group covers the following health board areas: Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Fife and Lothian.5. The staffing data shown is provisional and is the value on 30 September 2000. This may not necessarily represent average staffing levels throughout the year.

The median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a Consultant in Dermatology, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner, in the year ended 30 June 2001, by health board of residence, is provided in the table.

NHS Scotland: Median Waiting Times For A First Out-patient Appointment With A Consultant In Dermatology, Following Referral By A General Medical Practitioner, By Health Board Of Residence: Year Ended 30 June 2001.

Health Board	Median Wait (days)1
Argyll and Clyde	62
Ayrshire and Arran	91
Borders	68
Dumfries and Galloway	31
Fife	61
Forth Valley	114
Grampian	120
Greater Glasgow	56
Highland	44
Lanarkshire	60
Lothian	71
Orkney	43
Shetland	45
Tayside	29
Western Isles	35
Scotland	60

Source: ISD, Scotland.Notes:1. Provisional.

Information on waiting lists is collected centrally only for hospital in-patient/day case treatment.The number of patients on the in-patient/day case waiting list in the specialty of dermatology on 31 March 2001, by health board of residence, is given in the table.

NHS Scotland: Number Of Patients on In-patient/Day Case Waiting List in Specialty Of Dermatology On 31 March 2001, By Health Board of Residence.

Health Board Of Residence	Number Of Patients
Argyll and Clyde	88
Ayrshire and Arran	10
Borders	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0
Fife	3
Forth Valley	0
Grampian	17
Greater Glasgow	1
Highland	15
Lanarkshire	1
Lothian	9
Orkney	0
Shetland	0
Tayside	1
Western Isles	3
Scotland	148

Source: ISD, Scotland.

The information requested is shown in the following table, which should be read in conjunction with the notes below. In particular, the figures do not reflect directly the availability of dermatology services, because in many instances doctors employed in one health board area also provide service in another. It should also be noted that at March 2001 the number of posts for Specialist Registrars currently training for a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) in dermatology was increased from 14 to 17, a rise of 21% in the last year. Further information on the current Specialist Registrar establishment is contained in NHS HDL(2001) 63, which was published on 30 July 2001. A copy of this is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 15193).

Dermatology Staff Employed by NHS Scotland by Health Board Whole Time Equivalent at 30 September 2000^p

	WTE				WTE per 100 000 population
	Total	Consultants	Training Grades	Other Grades	Total	Consultants	Training Grades	Other Grades
Scotland	95.9	44.5	39.1	12.3	1.9	0.9	0.8	0.2
Argyll & Clyde	6.4	2.0	3.0	1.4	1.5	0.5	0.7	0.3
Ayrshire & Arran	4.9	3.0	1.0	0.9	1.3	0.8	0.3	0.2
Borders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries & Galloway	1.2	1.0	-	0.2	0.8	0.7	-	0.1
Fife	3.8	1.6	1.0	1.2	1.1	0.5	0.3	0.3
Forth Valley	2.5	2.0	-	0.5	0.9	0.7	-	0.2
Grampian	9.4	3.6	5.7	0.1	1.8	0.7	1.1	0.0
Greater Glasgow	26.2	11.3	13.6	1.4	2.9	1.2	1.5	0.2
Highland	2.9	2.0	-	0.9	1.4	1.0	-	0.5
Lanarkshire	10.5	4.8	3.0	2.6	1.9	0.9	0.5	0.5
Lothian	13.9	6.4	4.6	2.9	1.8	0.8	0.6	0.4
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	14.0	6.7	7.2	0.1	3.6	1.7	1.9	0.0
Western Isles	0.0	-	-	0.0	0.2	-	-	0.2

Notes:1. Source: Medical and Dental Census, ISD Scotland; Registrar General for Scotland.2. Staffing information at 30 September 2000 is provisional.3. Training grades comprise house officers, senior house officer, registrars, senior registrars and specialist registrars.4. Other grades comprise associate specialists, staff grades, hospital practitioners and para. 94 appointments.5. Rates per 100 000 population are based on 2000 population mid-year estimates as at 30 June. Population data is obtained from the Registrar General for Scotland.6. The WTE per population rate does not take into account those doctors who see patients from outwith their health board area as part of agreed service provision.7. The information shown is the value on 30 September 2000 and does not necessarily represent average staffing levels throughout the year.

There are specific grant schemes operating across Scotland to support farmers and their immediate families in developing and sustaining farm incomes. The schemes provide valuable assistance to farming families in supporting diversification opportunities, both within and outwith agriculture, broadening and sustaining farm incomes. More generally, we are working with the industry and Scottish Enterprise to ensure that farming families have access to expert advice to support and develop their business and technical skills to ensure that they find more ways of making a living within their communities.

In preparing the Scottish Rural Development Plan, we consulted widely on whether to introduce an early retirement scheme for farmers. In light of that consultation, we concluded against the introduction of a scheme and concentrated resources instead on measures which would help to sustain the industry. We continue to work closely with the industry to develop a range of measures to assist the recovery from Foot and Mouth and I will be considering all proposals which emerge during these discussions.

Information is not held centrally on all available public sources of further and higher education student support. A variety of sources of public funding are available to Scottish students, and students studying in Scotland, depending on the type, level, mode and place of study. Bodies from whom public funding is available include the Scottish Executive, Further Education Colleges, Higher Education Institutions, Local Authorities, the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils, the United Kingdom Research Councils, United Kingdom Government Departments and the European Commission. A wide range of public sector bodies also provide support to students from public funds in their capacity as employers.

The Scottish Executive has published information on the support available for students in higher education through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. Copies of the booklets have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. In addition to detailing the funding available from SAAS, these booklets also highlight the main additional sources of support. In further education, information on the discretionary support provided by each institution is published by each Further Education college.

In cases where applicants are not eligible for the support payable by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, advice is always provided about other types of support which may be available to them. These include Career Development Loans, discretionary bursaries from Local Authorities and Individual Learning Accounts.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16765. These are the only savings planned in the fisheries programmes.

Information on the number of people employed specifically to work directly with young offenders is not collected centrally.Information on the number of staff in local authority social work departments is given in the statistical bulletin Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Departments, 1999, published in January 2001 and is available on the Scottish Executive web site. The bulletin provides a local authority staff breakdown for criminal justice social work, but this does not identify the age of the clients.