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SCOTLAND

Initial Healthcare

Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what penalties have been applied as a result of Initial Healthcare being in default in relation to staffing levels within the contract for hotel services at Hairmyers/Stonehouse trust. [25202]

18 Apr 1996 : Column: 600

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The trust has withheld appropriate sums from some of the monthly payments due to the company.

Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the standards met by Initial Healthcare in respect of domestic services at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary trust. [25242]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Deficiencies identified early in 1995 in the delivery of domestic services at the royal infirmary have been resolved to the satisfaction of the trust.

Dental Services

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (i) children, (ii) adults and (iii) people in total were registered with dentists in each health board in (a) February 1993, (b) July 1993, (c) February 1994, (d) July 1994, (e) February 1995, (f) July 1995 and (g) February 1996. [25228]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested is contained in the tables.

18 Apr 1996 : Column: 599

Total number of adults registered with dentists in each health board in Scotland

Health Board	February 1993	July 1993	February 1994	July 1994	February 1995	July 1995	February 1996
Scotland	1,959,578	1,920,151	1,914,284	1,899,482	1,902,179	1,890,451	1,947,170
Argyll and Clyde	158,982	154,135	152,956	150,710	151,381	151,791	157,097
Ayrshire and Arran	150,788	147,831	148,768	147,185	144,333	143,529	147,821
Borders	44,365	42,880	42,331	42,498	43,335	44,117	47,054
Dumfries and Galloway	54,798	50,218	49,865	48,872	47,870	47,636	49,981
Fife	129,481	127,987	127,802	128,050	131,175	131,304	133,264
Forth Valley	102,056	99,200	98,740	98,317	99,697	98,969	100,582
Grampian	200,156	199,128	199,362	198,014	197,869	195,485	199,764
Greater Glasgow	367,552	362,334	358,865	354,665	354,131	351,733	357,820
Highland	74,711	70,261	65,118	61,426	60,579	58,770	64,816
Lanarkshire	185,555	182,100	182,456	182,048	183,449	181,874	185,345
Lothian	303,730	298,315	299,862	298,672	299,002	296,797	308,842
Orkney	6,774	7,180	7,428	7,534	6,268	5,497	5,700
Shetland	5,994	6,177	6,374	6,597	6,761	6,694	7,601
Tayside	166,367	164,187	166,302	166,928	168,236	167,885	172,157
Western Isles	8,269	8,218	8,055	7,965	8,093	8,370	9,326

18 Apr 1996 : Column: 599

Total(8) number of children registered with dentists in each health board in Scotland

Health Board	February 1993	July 1993	February 1994	July 1994	February 1995	July 1995	February 1996
Scotland	596,054	682,386	610,268	685,802	600,625	676,118	619,823
Argyll and Clyde	54,089	62,436	55,617	62,658	54,297	61,296	55,488
Ayrshire and Arran	49,669	56,119	50,116	55,360	48,603	54,403	49,598
Borders	10,751	11,897	11,216	12,430	11,731	12,788	12,278
Dumfries and Galloway	18,174	20,334	18,112	20,172	18,039	20,257	18,732
Fife	42,974	48,309	43,361	48,431	42,964	48,123	44,257
Forth Valley	33,116	37,536	33,714	37,600	32,743	36,849	33,445
Grampian	61,850	69,644	83,383	70,454	63,426	70,011	64,947
Greater Glasgow	109,779	127,055	110,696	126,746	108,313	124,302	111,044
Highland	23,919	28,045	25,223	27,999	23,934	26,918	25,220
Lanarkshire	58,579	69,046	60,964	69,256	59,329	67,736	60,603
Lothian	80,671	92,312	83,309	93,962	83,469	93,757	88,879
Orkney	370	427	561	784	464	441	415
Shetland	173	199	214	273	249	273	247
Tayside	50,790	57,497	52,459	58,139	51,957	57,611	53,444
Western Isles	1,150	1,530	1,323	1,538	1,107	1,353	1,226

(8) Comparability of figures for children registered in different months within the same year is affected by registration patterns as children's registrations lapse at the end of the calendar year following the one in which they last saw a dentist.

18 Apr 1996 : Column: 599

Total number of people registered with dentists in each health board in Scotland

Health Board	February 1993	July 1993	February 1994	July 1994	February 1995	July 1995	February 1996
Scotland	2,555,632	2,602,537	2,524,552	2,585,294	2,502,804	2,566,569	2,566,993
Argyll and Clyde	213,071	216,571	208,573	213,368	205,678	213,087	212,585
Ayrshire and Arran	200,457	203,950	198,884	202,545	192,936	197,932	197,419
Borders	55,116	54,777	53,547	54,928	55,066	56,905	59,332
Dumfries and Galloway	72,972	70,552	67,977	69,044	65,909	67,893	68,713
Fife	172,455	176,296	171,163	176,481	174,139	179,427	177,521
Forth Valley	135,172	136,736	132,454	135,917	132,440	135,818	134,027
Grampian	262,006	268,772	262,745	268,468	261,295	265,496	264,711
Greater Glasgow	477,331	489,389	469,561	481,411	462,444	476,035	468,864
Highland	98,630	98,306	90,341	89,425	84,513	85,688	90,036
Lanarkshire	244,134	251,146	243,420	251,305	242,778	249,610	245,948
Lothian	384,401	390,627	383,171	392,634	382,471	390,554	397,721
Orkney	7,144	7,607	7,989	8,318	6,732	5,938	6,115
Shetland	6,167	6,376	6,588	6,870	7,010	6,967	7,848
Tayside	217,157	221,284	218,761	225,067	220,193	225,496	225,601
Western Isles	9,419	9,748	9,378	9,503	9,200	9,723	10,552

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18 Apr 1996 : Column: 601

Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date dentists were first required to register their patients; and when his Department first received information on (a) total registrations which dentists and (b) total deregistrations by dentists from each health board or equivalent body. [25227]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Dentists have been able to register patients since 1 October 1990. The Department has received information from the dental practice division on the total number of patients registered in Scotland since October 1990. Information about de-regulations has been supplied by each health board since 17 July 1992.

Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 25 March, Official Report, column 420, if the statistical basis for calculating the number of people deregistered by their dentists is the same as that applied by the Department of Health; and what changes in the method of calculation have been made in the last 18 months. [25229]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information provided by health boards is simply recorded and aggregated to produce the all-Scotland figures and cumulative totals; the procedure has not been changed.

Iron Age Site (Outer Hebrides)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what resources he is providing to Historic Scotland and the University of Edinburgh to undertake a rescue operation to prevent destruction and erosion of the iron age site on Greater Bernera in the Outer Hebrides; and if he will make a statement. [25536]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend provides resources to his executive agency, Historic Scotland, to fund its rescue archaeology programme and other activities. The sum of £1.8 million has been allocated in 1996-97 for rescue archaeology. It is for the agency to decide on relative priorities, including whether and to what extent to fund individual projects.

18 Apr 1996 : Column: 602

The agency's chief executive is writing to the hon. Member to explain Historic Scotland's involvement in the excavation at Bosta, Great Bernera.

Letter from Graeme Munro to Mr. Tam Dalyell, dated 18 April 1996:

I refer to your Parliamentary Question of 16 April to the Secretary of State for Scotland. As you will know from the reply from Lord James Douglas-Hamilton I have been asked to reply on the particular project at Bosta.
The excavation at Bosta, Great Bernera, Outer Hebrides, is a research project being undertaken by the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Field Archaeology with the assistance of a grant from Historic Scotland. Initially the University requested a grant of £23,500 which was provided. Following a site visit by one of our Ancient Monument Inspectors to the important new discoveries made in recent weeks, Historic Scotland has allocated a further £45,000 to ensure that these are properly investigated and recorded. Digging will recommence at the end of April for a four-week period, and there will probably be a third episode of excavation in September. In due course financial support will be provided for the all-important process of analysis and publication of the discoveries.
The archaeological site contains the remains of several houses of late Iron Age date. It is at threat from active marine erosion (hence the dig), but urgent investigations are being made by the Western Isles Islands Council into the feasibility of saving the site, possibly enlisting help from major private sector concerns working locally. There is keen interest in Great Bernera and beyond in attempting to preserve or reconstruct at least part of the excavated remains, preferably on-site. This will be physically difficult, but Historic Scotland will provide technical advice on this aspect. The archaeological excavation work is a necessary precursor to any such preservation effort. An on-site meeting of all concerned will take place in early May, once the next phase of excavation has begun.
Historic Scotland are well aware of the public interest in this site, and our staff are doing everything they can, but it must be borne in mind that this is but one of many dozens of archaeological sites known to be under threat from marine erosion. To put the recent discovery into context it is certainly of national interest in relation to the archaeological evidence we can hope to obtain from the excavations, but the stonework is in poor condition and would be difficult to consolidate. The site would not, on present evidence, be a contender for bringing into State care.
I hope this information is helpful.

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