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Records of Needs

Dr. Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the target period for completion of an appeal to the Secretary of State on a record of needs; how many appeals on records of needs he has received in each of the

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last three financial years; and what was the average time taken in each of the last three financial years to finalise Secretary of State appeals on record of needs. [38979]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The number of appeals to the Secretary of State under section 64 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in each of the last three financial years was seven in 1993-94, nine in 1994-95 and 14 in 1995-96. There is no target period set for completion of an appeal to the Secretary of State. Appeals determined in each of the last three financial years took on average 54 weeks in 1993-94, 93 weeks in 1994-95 and 85 weeks in 1995-96.

Departmental Vehicles (Traffic Violations)

Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of traffic violations involving Departmental vehicles, the nature of the violations, and the total amount of fines arising from those violations, in each year since 1986. [39302]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information is not held centrally; traffic violations are dealt with between the individual concerned and the police.

Private Hospital Beds

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many private beds there were in (a) NHS hospitals and (b) private hospitals in 1989 and 1995. [39316]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: There were 113 private beds available in NHS hospitals in 1989. Data on private beds in the NHS are no longer collected. Information on private hospitals is not held centrally.

Elective Surgery

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of elective surgery operations carried out (a) under the NHS and (b) privately in (i) 1989 and (ii) 1995. [39318]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what account measures to reduce hospital waiting lists take of medical priority; and if he will make a statement. [39283]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Health boards and NHS trusts must always give priority to medical considerations when undertaking measures to reduce the time patients wait for treatment.

Private Medical Insurance

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people were covered by private medical insurance in 1989 and 1995. [39317]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

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Health Service Waiting Lists

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has to reduce waiting lists in the NHS; and what estimate he has made of the costs of these plans. [39282]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The national health service in Scotland has successfully reduced the time patients wait for treatment. The Government expect health boards to increase and improve the guarantees on waiting times that they give to their resident population, and provide appropriate funding through the revenue allocation formula.

MEP for Strathclyde, West

Mr. Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received in the last year from the Member of the European Parliament for Strathclyde, West concerning constituents of the hon. Member for Eastwood; and if he will send copies of these representations to the hon. Member for Eastwood. [39646]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The Member of the European Parliament for Strathclyde, West wrote to my right hon. Friend on 13 June making representations about press reports on the alleged distribution of material relating to Reid Kerr college by a political party. I replied on 8 July indicating that the matter was being investigated. These inquiries are continuing.

Reid Kerr College, Paisley

Mr. Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the members of staff of Reid Kerr college, Paisley, who are elected representatives of the Labour party. [39658]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: This information is not held centrally.

Mr. Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will examine all contracts for roofing and re-roofing allocated by Reid Kerr college, Paisley, since it came under Scottish Office control, with special reference to ensuring these contracts conformed to the Government's announced policy on competitive tendering. [39645]

Mr. Robertson: As the House is rising today for the summer recess, I shall make the necessary inquiries and write to my hon. Friend when these are complete.

Crofting Land (Allocation)

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria he uses for the allocation of crofting land to new tenants; and if he will make a statement. [39576]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: My noble Friend the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

Clyde Port Authority

Mr. Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the years in which the Clyde port authority has failed to make annual reports to his Department; and if he will make a statement. [39563]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

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Residential Care Home Registration (Report)

Mr. Bill Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to receive the report from the working group on residential care home registration procedures; and if he will make a statement. [39973]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The working group recently submitted its report to my right hon. Friend and copies will be placed in the Library of the House and distributed widely among interested bodies. The report makes a large number of recommendations for change under three main groups: guidance and administrative action, subordinate legislation and primary legislation. The Government have a duty to ensure that people in residential care are properly looked after and that high standards of care prevail and we therefore propose that work be put in hand now to take forward a substantial number of these recommendations straight away.

We accept and have already begun work on the guidance recommendations. These cover closer working arrangements between local authorities and health boards, particularly the development of joint inspection units, training, pre-registration activity and registration criteria including those for supported housing and, subject to further consideration, cancellation procedures and the removal of residents from homes. In addition, we propose to take forward the recommendations for setting up a national consultative group to devise and promote nationally recommended guidelines and quality of care standards and for a national list of persons whose registration has been refused or cancelled. The recommendations requiring subordinate legislation will also be taken forward, notably reviewing the prescribed form of application for registration, Scottish Criminal Record Office checks, notification of change of key personnel and maintenance of residents' records. These changes, taken together, will help clarify local authority procedures and promote good practice.

The usual consultations with the appropriate bodies will be undertaken on all of these matters. We will also consider very carefully those recommendations which are dependent on primary legislation. Some are quite far-reaching such as the recommendation that the manager of a care home should not also be a resident's GP or professional adviser. Others are designed to simplify and streamline existing procedures. We intend to consult fully on these proposals before reaching a firm view.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the commitment of the members of the working group and the helpful and co-operative way which they went about their task.

Fishing Vessels (Transfers)

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will instigate a joint policy with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to implement the option available under article 8 of Council regulation EC No. 3699/93 of allowing vessels to be permanently transferred to a third country and permanently re-assigned for uses other than fishing in Community waters; and if he will make a statement. [40099]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

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Scottish Water Authorities

Mr. Bill Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what reduction has been made to the external financing limits of the Scottish water authorities consequent upon the commutation of debt announced on 8 February 1996. [39972]

Mr. Kynoch: Local authority debt of £0.7 billion was commuted before being transferred to the new water authorities on 1 April this year.

As a consequence, a reduction has been made in the authorities' external financing limits to reflect the reduced debt servicing charges. The table shows the external financing limits for 1996-97, pre- and post-commutation, of the three authorities:

£ million

	Pre-commutation	Post-commutation
North of Scotland Water Authority	82	65.9
East of Scotland Water Authority	87	70
West of Scotland Water Authority	105.3	83.9
Total	274.3	219.8

These reductions ensure that there is no increase or decrease in public expenditure provision for the water authorities as a result of the debt commutation.

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