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Private Finance Initiative
13. Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which hospital projects he has approved for financing under the private finance initiative. [8144]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Ferryfield elderly care facility in Edinburgh, information systems at Law and Yorkhill hospitals and several contracts for care beds, medical analysis equipment and clinical waste disposal have been approved for financing under the private finance initiative by my right hon Friend or have been
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taken forward by health service bodies under delegated authority. A further 15 projects with a capital value of £588 million are at an advanced stage.
Mr. Foulkes: You will have noticed, Madam Speaker, that the Minister did not mention the East Ayrshire community hospital. In view of all the written questions that I have tabled and in view of the fact that the project was delayed for at least two years by the Minister's predecessor as a result of spurious consultation about alternative sites and has now been delayed for another six months because of the PFI proposal, when there is money in the Scottish Office budget to fund that hospital by traditional means, why does the Minister not give it the go-ahead, instead of putting political dogma above my constituents' interests?
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: First, the project has not been delayed as the hon. Gentleman says. Ayrshire and Arran Community Healthcare NHS trust won the competition with other trusts on the basis of providing a new hospital. We are determined to make progress on a PFI proposal so that that important facility can be secured. Ayrshire and Arran Community Healthcare NHS trust must fully explore whether it can provide a hospital under the PFI. The trust is confident that it can do so by further negotiation. Revised proposals from the bidder arrived as recently as mid-November. Those reduced the costs, but further negotiations are required. Negotiations should proceed as quickly as possible.
Full-time Students
15. Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for expanding the number of full-time students in further education taking higher level courses with particular reference to expanding the availability of bursaries. [8146]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Except in those colleges involved in the university of the highlands and islands project, we have no further plans to expand the number of full-time students in further education taking higher education courses. Future arrangements for bursaries are currently under review.
Mr. Worthington: I thank the Minister for responding to the request by my hon. Friend the Member for Dumbarton (Mr. McFall) and myself to provide bursary money to enable students at Clydebank to continue their courses, which they had been prevented from doing as a result of underfunding.
Does the Minister realise that about half the colleges in Scotland which are in financial trouble will be unable to expand to attract more students next year because there will not be the bursary money to support those students in their courses?
Mr. Robertson:
I thank the hon. Gentlemen for coming in. We had a useful meeting, which helped to address some of the problems at that college. Regarding the situation on bursaries, I hope that the hon. Gentleman is aware that we are reviewing all this and we have asked for comments from the entire sector with a view to seeing whether any changes need to be made. We have an open mind on that. Last Friday, I had a useful meeting in
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Mr. Maclennan:
Will the Minister carefully examine the plans that are being made, and carried out experimentally in England, to provide proper bursaries for dance and drama students, which are not being mirrored in Scotland? It remains an anomaly that discretionary spending is excluding Scottish would-be dancers and dramatic performers from proper further education opportunities.
Mr. Robertson:
Yes, indeed: I am happy to give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that I shall look carefully at that; and at any information that he wants to give me beforehand. [Interruption.] My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is shouting from behind me, "What about the Spice Girls?".
16. Mr. Bill Walker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about care in the community in Angus and Perth and Kinross; and if he will make a statement. [8147]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
We have received representations from service users, independent sector providers and my hon. Friend, which led to an inspection of community care services in Angus and Perth and Kinross. The report was published on 14 November.
Mr. Walker:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Will he confirm that the report showed clearly that the quality of service in the private sector and the local government sector was exactly the same, but that the private sector was £200 per head per week cheaper? Consequently, if the private sector had been used, many more places would have been available, bed blocking in the health service would have been greatly reduced, and the whole service would have operated much more effectively--not just in Perth and Kinross and Angus, but throughout Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
My hon. Friend makes a valid point. The main finding was that those authorities could achieve long-term savings totalling between £3 million and £6 million by making more use of the independent care sector. We are to introduce directions on information which will require authorities to make public the costs of care in different sectors. I can also confirm that the Secretary of State recently announced an additional £15 million for health boards to reduce pressures that are likely to arise over the winter.
17. Mr. Brazier:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received on the effectiveness of electronic tagging for convicted offenders. [8148]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Representations on this matter were made by 18 of those who responded to
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Mr. Brazier:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Does he agree that any assessment of the usefulness of tagging in all parts of the United Kingdom must be based not on considerations of the civil liberties of the convicted offenders but on its effectiveness in preventing future crime and hence its impact on the community and especially on the victims of the crimes?
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
I certainly agree with my hon. Friend. Punishment and deterrence are importance. This is a useful disposal. Under the English pilot schemes, curfew orders have been made--most often for burglary, theft, driving while disqualified, possession of drugs and some violent offences. The initial findings are that the pilot schemes have been successful. We believe that this will be a useful disposal for the courts--to ensure, for instance, that football hooligans are restricted to certain areas.
18. Mr. Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the latest estimate of employment and unemployment in the Eastwood constituency. [8149]
Mr. Kynoch:
The figures announced today show that 10.1 per cent. of the work force in the Eastwood constituency were registered unemployed and claiming benefit in November. This shows a fall of 9.7 per cent. since November 1995 and confirms the extent to which Eastwood, like the rest of the country, is benefiting from the Government's very successful economic policies.
Mr. Stewart:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving the House and my constituents those extremely encouraging figures. Does he agree that they show the sustained improvement in employment trends throughout my constituency, in large measure due to the expanding small firms and self-employed sector? Does he further agree that that expansion would be wholly undermined by the increases in business rates threatened by the Labour party?
Mr. Kynoch:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right on that. The policies of the Opposition parties would be
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Mr. Home Robertson:
Given that a number of people from Eastwood work at Scottish Power's headquarters in Cathcart, just as a number of my constituents work at Scottish Power's Cockenzie power station, will the Minister acknowledge that it is vital for the people of Eastwood and of East Lothian that the interconnector between Scotland and Northern Ireland should be constructed, in the interests of both Northern Ireland and Scotland? Will the Secretary of State therefore withdraw the ridiculous, unwarranted and unprecedented conditions that he has attached to the route across south Ayrshire so that this vital project can go ahead in the interests of people on both sides of the Irish sea?
Mr. Foulkes
indicated dissent.
Mr. Kynoch:
The hon. Gentleman should look to his left at the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes), who was shaking his head throughout the hon. Gentleman's comments. That is yet another split between Opposition Members which I hope the whole House has recognised.
Mr. Beggs:
Despite the reply that the Minister has given, does he accept that there are economic benefits for constituents in Eastwood and elsewhere in Scotland if interconnection happens: that jobs will be secured in Scotland, that new jobs will be created, and that we in Northern Ireland will have security of supply and real competition to bring down electricity prices to domestic and industrial consumers, thereby benefiting both Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Mr. Kynoch:
Of course I recognise what the hon. Gentleman says, and he will be aware that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has stated that he is minded to accept the interconnector, with the condition that four sections should be undergrounded. My right hon. Friend has put that proposal out to swift consultation with interested parties, and responses have to be in by 20 December. Once the responses have been received, my right hon. Friend will reconsider the issue. I am sure that he has heard what the hon. Gentleman has said.
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