Chamber and committees

The number of admissions to hospital for children under 15 as a result of an unintentional injury that took place neither in the home nor on the road, is shown in the following tables by the cause of injury and by place of occurrence.

Table 1. Number of Hospital Admissions, Resulting from Unintentional Injury Incurred Neither in the Home nor on the Road, for Children Aged 0-14, by Cause of Injury, for Year of Discharge Year Ending 31 March 2006 to 2008.

Cause of Injury	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Transport Accidents	536	528	522
Falls	3,466	3,387	3,242
Exposure to inanimate mechanical forces	919	821	803
Exposure to animate mechanical forces	321	309	304
Accidental drowning and submersion	3	6	4
Other accidental threats to breathing	13	8	10
Exposure to smoke, fire and flames	24	19	12
Contact with heat and hot substances	21	22	27
Contact with venomous animals and plants	8	14	9
Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances	117	126	110
Overexertion, travel and privation	31	14	23
Accidental exposure to other and unspecified factors	270	280	403
Assault	169	164	134
Other/unknown	47	42	36
Total	5,945	5,740	5,639

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Notes:

These statistics are based on data collected on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (Scottish Morbidity Record 01, SMR01). Patient injury categories that do not occur in the home or on the road are identified in SMR01 by selecting admission codes 34 and 35. Categories of cause of injury are based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), codes V01-X59, X85-Y09. Other/unknown category includes cases where there was no recorded external cause code, or the external cause code did not fall into one of the main categories.

Table 2. Numbers of Hospital Admissions as a Result of Unintentional Injuries That Occurred Neither in the Home nor on the Road, for Children Aged 0-14 by Place of Occurrence, for Year of Discharge Year Ending 31 March 2006 to 2008.

Place of Occurrence	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Home	49	51	57
Residential institution	24	12	16
School, other institution and public administrative area	621	571	508
Sports and athletics area	476	438	411
Street and highway	210	205	156
Trade and service area	68	85	68
Industrial and construction area	4	6	5
Farm	18	8	7
Other specified places	467	423	325
Unspecified place	3,437	3,383	3,540
Total	5,374	5,182	5,093

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Notes:

These statistics are based on data collected on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (Scottish Morbidity Record 01, SMR01). ICD-10 codes W00-X59, X85-Y09 may include a fourth digit that describes place of occurrence and therefore only these codes have been included in this analysis. Patient injury categories that are neither home injuries nor road traffic accidents are identified in SMR01 by selecting admission codes 34 and 35.

In responding to the 2009 Report Card, the Scottish Government considers development of a clear and robust evidence base on childhood injuries to be a priority. It has therefore commissioned and funded an unintentional injuries data collection pilot in order to assess the current level and quality of data collected. This pilot will help flag up perceived gaps in data collection. Further work may be necessary in collating and analysing accident data before taking targeted action in order to reduce the number of unintentional injuries in children.

We also published Good Places, Better Health: A New approach to the Environment and Health in Scotland in December 2008. This project is a collaboration led by health interests and ranging over policy interests across the Scottish Government as well as external stakeholders with an interest in unintentional injury and accident prevention, particularly among children.

The Health Directorate have lead responsibility for coordinating responses on a range of issues related to unintentional childhood injury and has established a pilot, through Information Services Division (ISD), to look at data that is collected from accident and emergency departments (A&E) in order to establish the main causes of accidents, although other parts of government have a responsibility for taking forward specific strands of work, for example in relation to road accidents.

The pilot is expected to report back later this autumn. Once this information is available the Scottish Government will consider the data available and whether further work may be necessary in collating and analysing accident data before taking targeted action in order to reduce the number of unintentional injury (if appropriate).

The Scottish Government has not carried out any research into this matter.

There are no appeal procedures in planning legislation which allow for communities to challenge decisions that have been made by planning authorities. However, objections and representations from consultees and the public are an essential part of the decision-making process on planning applications. It is for planning authorities to give due consideration to such views when reaching a decision on planning applications. Forthcoming changes to the planning system will provide the public with greater opportunities to influence proposals through pre-applications consultation and decision making through pre-determination hearings on larger scale developments. Changes will also involve more information being available on applications and on decisions and how they were reached.

Individuals can challenge planning decisions made by local authorities through the courts.

The changes to the notification procedure in no way diminish the opportunity for the public or communities to be involved in the planning process. This administrative change was therefore not subject to consultation.

Figures supplied by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency suggest burning one tonne of coal would produce a range of between 2.5 to 2.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Coal used in power stations in Scotland comes from various geographical locations. Due to the differing composition and moisture content of coal types, it is not possible to provide a more precise figure.

Carbon Capture and Storage Technology (CCS) has the potential to reduce emissions from power stations by up to 90 per cent. The Scottish Government supports CCS as a critical new technology that would make a significant contribution towards carbon emission reductions.

The British Geological Survey collect this data. The information is published at www.bgs.ac.uk/MineralsUK/minequar/coal/occ/home.html. Information for 2008 will be published shortly.

In the first instance it is for the local authority to decide if it has a financial interest in an opencast coal application and whether an application requires to be notified under Circular 3/2009.

Planning applications are required by law to be decided in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Should issues related to climate change be raised in relation to a planning application, these will need to be taken in to account by the decision maker.