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SCOTLAND

Funicular Railway, Cairn Gorm

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he will take to ensure that a section 50 agreement between Scottish National Heritage and the developers of the proposed funicular railway on Cairn Gorm conforms to the requirements of the EU birds and habitats directives (79/409 and 92/43). [7097]

6 Dec 1996 : Column: 795

Mr. Kynoch: I understand that the Highland council has indicated that planning permission for the development of a funicular railway on Cairn Gorm will be conditional on completion of an agreement under section 50 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 and section 49A of the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967, designed primarily to ensure that there is no breach of the birds and habitats directives, and the withdrawal of the objection lodged by Scottish Natural Heritage. Scottish Natural Heritage, which has a statutory duty to exercise its nature conservation functions to secure compliance with the habitats directive, will withdraw its objection only if it is satisfied that the section 50 agreement will ensure that the operation of the funicular railway would not result in a breach of the requirements of the directives.

Deaths

Mrs. Wise: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths were registered in Scotland between (a) 1 April and 30 September 1994, (b) 1 October 1994 and 31 March 1995, (c) 1 April 1995 and 30 September 1995 and (d) 1 October 1995 and 31 March 1996 for people aged (i) 60 to 69, (ii) 70 to 79, (iii) over 80 years of age and (iv) in total. [7421]

6 Dec 1996 : Column: 796

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The figures requested are given in the table.

Deaths by age and specific dates, April 1994 to March 1996(1)

	60-69	70-79	80+	All ages
1 April 1994 to 30 September 1994	5,160	8,234	10,718	28,271
1 October 1994 to 31 March 1995	5,383	9,144	12,315	31,074
1 April 1995 to 30 September 1995	5,025	8,131	11,049	28,243
1 October 1995 to 31 March 1996	5,313	9,280	13,085	31,987

(1) 1996 figures are provisional.

Food Poisoning

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of food poisoning have been diagnosed in each of the last 10 years in each health board area in Scotland; and how many people were resident in each health board area during this period. [7431]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information is set out in the tables. The information in the first table relates to notifications of cases of food poisoning to the Common Services Agency for the Scottish health service.

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Table 1: Notifications of food poisoning by health board area: 1986-1995

	Argyll and Clyde	Ayrshire and Arran	Borders	Dumfries and Galloway	Fife	Forth Valley	Grampian	Greater Glasgow
1986	438	166	68	293	267	205	670	586
1987	317	255	71	311	280	267	790	554
1988	396	120	132	257	569	320	905	669
1989	455	182	142	291	524	299	1,080	632
1990	384	281	186	249	550	335	1,323	745
1991	213	228	228	188	587	364	1,187	771
1992	167	348	204	234	527	482	1,621	999
1993	326	411	175	315	549	365	1,150	732
1994	568	386	236	338	560	491	1,103	1,164
1995	634	446	238	343	634	411	1,771	1,293

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	Highland	Lanark- shire	Lothian	Orkney	Shetland	Tayside	Western Isles
1986	163	284	1,202	--	15	285	21
1987	190	390	1,246	1	24	344	9
1988	205	490	1,242	--	27	391	11
1989	342	523	1,184	2	27	446	27
1990	366	567	1,183	1	20	513	54
1991	282	556	1,208	--	18	466	22
1992	338	788	1,549	18	38	536	28
1993	342	742	1,394	29	46	570	26
1994	329	862	1,531	8	45	627	36
1995	328	952	1,630	15	25	548	29

1. Excludes campylobacters for 1986-1989.

2. Includes campylobacters from 1990.

3. Figures relate to the health board of notification--this may not always be the health board of residence.

6 Dec 1996 : Column: 795

Table 2: Estimated population resident in health board areas in Scotland: 1986-95 (as at 30 June)

	Argyll and Clyde	Ayrshire and Arran	Borders	Dumfries and Galloway	Fife	Forth Valley	Grampian	Greater Glasgow
1986	445,300	376,200	101,700	145,400	346,500	272,500	504,500	960,500
1987	442,700	376,400	102,000	145,500	346,700	272,800	504,600	952,200
1988	441,300	376,000	102,300	145,700	346,600	272,200	503,500	940,400
1989	440,000	376,400	102,800	147,100	347,600	272,100	507,600	932,700
1990	439,500	376,700	103,600	147,600	348,800	273,100	510,200	924,500
1991	437,400	376,900	104,100	147,700	349,400	272,900	515,600	922,600
1992	434,300	376,600	104,800	147,900	349,900	272,700	522,400	918,200
1993	432,900	376,800	105,300	147,900	351,200	272,900	522,100	915,700
1994	433,000	377,000	105,700	147,800	352,100	273,400	532,500	916,600
1995	432,800	377,200	106,200	147,900	351,600	273,900	532,800	912,500

6 Dec 1996 : Column: 797

	Lanarkshire	Lothian	Orkney	Shetland	Tayside	Western Isles
1986	565,300	743,100	19,100	22,400	390,500	31,000
1987	564,200	744,600	19,100	22,400	390,200	30,500
1988	561,900	742,900	19,200	22,300	389,300	30,300
1989	562,200	747,100	19,300	22,200	388,900	30,000
1990	562,700	750,300	19,400	22,400	391,100	29,800
1991	561,300	751,000	19,560	22,540	392,500	29,400
1992	561,600	750,600	19,710	22,640	394,600	29,350
1993	561,400	753,900	19,760	22,830	395,200	29,410
1994	561,200	758,600	19,810	22,880	395,000	29,310
1995	561,200	764,600	19,870	23,090	395,600	29,040

6 Dec 1996 : Column: 797

Public Defender Service

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his proposals for a public defender service. [7515]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Clause 45 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Bill seeks to empower the Scottish Legal Aid Board to employ solicitors to provide criminal legal assistance, the aim being to set up pilot studies to assess the realistic cost of criminal legal assistance and to compare the costs and benefits of in-house and external provision. In Committee, I undertook to clarify this power by providing for the number of solicitors to be employed by the board to be restricted to six, for the Secretary of State to be required to report to Parliament within three years of the provisions coming into force and for the provisions to lapse five years after coming into force, subject to any transitional arrangements. I shall bring forward amendments to this effect on Report.

Overseas Travel (Diseases)

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much it has cost the national health service in Scotland to administer immunisations against rare or tropical diseases to people travelling abroad from the United Kingdom; [7530]

(2) how much the national health service spent in the last financial year treating rare or tropical diseases contracted by visitors to foreign countries. [7529]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested is not collected.

Christmas Expenditure

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much his Department plans to spend on celebrating Christmas and the new year. [7580]

6 Dec 1996 : Column: 798

(2) how much his Department will spend on Christmas trees and decorations this year; how many Christmas trees will be bought for his Department's headquarters; and what are the type and country of origin of the trees.[7558]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Christmas cards will be sent to some organisations and individuals who have worked closely with the Department and its agencies during the past year. The precise numbers and total costs are not yet available. Four fir trees grown in Scotland have been purchased for buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow at a cost, including containers, of £115 each. Decorations purchased in previous years will be reused. The total labour costs of delivering, installing, decorating, lighting, dismantling, removing and recycling the trees are estimated to be £550.

Roads Programme

Mr. Norman Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact of the Budget statement on the Scotland roads programme; and if he will make a statement. [7831]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend will make a statement on these matters in the near future.

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