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Coronary Heart Disease

27. Mr. Simon Coombs: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made in reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease in Scotland in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [12909]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information is not available in the form requested. The number of deaths from the disease has decreased from 18,483 in 1981 to 14,874 in 1995. If present trends continue, Scotland is likely to meet its target of a 40 per cent. reduction between 1986 and the year 2000 in the number of deaths from coronary heart disease in those under 65.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 625

Health Service Funding

28. Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next expects to meet the chairmen of the health boards to discuss the financing of health services. [12910]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend and I meet chairmen of health boards regularly to discuss matters of current interest, including finance issues.

Glasgow (Economy)

29. Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effect of the 1997-98 budget allocations to publicly funded bodies on the economy of the city of Glasgow. [12911]

Mr. Kynoch: The performance of the local economy within the city of Glasgow is related to the performance of the Scottish and United Kingdom economies. The policy of restraint in public expenditure pursued by the Government and its success in combating inflation has delivered the strongest recovery since 1992 of any major European economy. The budget allocations to publicly funded bodies for 1997-98 will reflect that successful policy.

Fishing Industry

31. Mr. Macdonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the prospects for the fishing industry in Scotland. [12913]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The Government are committed to safeguarding the interests of the Scottish fishing industry. That is why we continue to press for a solution to the problem of "quota hopping" at the intergovernmental conference and that is why we argued successfully for more realistic quotas at the December Fisheries Council. The industry's own confidence is evident from the fact that more than 20 new boats, worth some £100 million, are currently on order from Scottish fishermen, with many of the orders placed in Scottish shipyards.

Local Government Finance

32. Sir David Steel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact on local government services of next year's financial settlement to local authorities. [12914]

Mr. Kynoch: Provided councils maximise the benefits from reorganisation and efficiency savings, and budget in line with the priorities my right hon. Friend set in determining it, the settlement should lead to a continued improvement in front-line services.

Mr. McMaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next plans to meet the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to discuss local authority finances. [12882]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: I met the convention on 17 January and I look forward to meeting it on 4 July.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 626

Food Poisoning (Report)

33. Dr. Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent representations he has received from health boards in Scotland regarding the Pennington report; and if he will make a statement. [12915]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I have received no representations from health boards specifically in response to publication of the interim report of Professor Pennington's group. Health boards' views will be taken into account in taking forward both the interim recommendations and any further recommendations which are made in the final report.

Export Prospects

34. Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met Scottish Enterprise to discuss export prospects. [12916]

Mr. Kynoch: I last met the Scottish Enterprise Board on 15 November 1996, when a range of issues were discussed.

Activity Centres (Safety)

35. Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the progress being made in implementing the Activity Centres (Young Persons' Safety) Act 1995 in Scotland. [12917]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: During the transitional period for inspecting and licensing existing providers, 106 Scottish operators have registered with Tourism Quality Services, the licensing authority. Tourism Quality Services has inspected 13 centres and the first licences will be issued during February. Tourism Quality Services is on course to complete its inspections and to grant or refuse licences by 1 October 1997, the date defined in the regulations by which registered operators must be licensed.

Health Service Finance

36. Mr. Ernie Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairmen of health boards to discuss finance in the national health service. [12918]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend and I meet chairmen of health boards regularly to discuss matters of current interest including finance.

Electricity Privatisation

37. Mr. Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what analysis he has carried out of the effects on the Scottish economy of the privatisation of the Scottish electricity companies; and if he will make a statement. [12919]

Mr. Kynoch: My right hon. Friend is confident that the increased competition in the electricity market resulting from the privatisation of ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro-Electric, and the freedom of these companies from state interference, has been beneficial to Scotland.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 627

Operation Cancellations

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library figures (a) by district health board and (b) in total for the number of operations cancelled on the day of, or the day after, admission to hospital and the number of those patients not readmitted within a month for the third quarter of 1996-97. [13859]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 23 January 1997, Official Report, columns 749-50. Figures for cancellations of planned admissions for in-patient and day case treatment for the third quarter of 1996-97 are not yet available.

Peregrine Falcons

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has had from pigeon fanciers requesting a cull of peregrine hawks; and if he will make a statement. [14030]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The Government have received a number of calls from pigeon fanciers over the last two years for the licensed control of birds of prey.

A raptor forum and working group was established in 1995, under the joint chairmanship of the Department of the Environment and the Joint Nature Conversation Committee. The group is currently assessing the interaction between racing pigeons, raptors and game birds and will provide advice to Government on this complex issue as it becomes available.

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the population of peregrine hawks in Scotland in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [14031]

Mr. Robertson: The numbers of peregrine falcons breeding in Scotland are not monitored annually on a countrywide basis. The last full survey, in 1991, recorded 625 pairs in Scotland. Local surveys of regularly occupied sites indicate expanding populations in some areas, balanced by some decline in other areas.

Cold Weather Protection

Mr. Canavan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to provide protection for people, with particular reference to senior citizens, from the effects of cold weather. [12896]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: A generous package of measures are in place to assist vulnerable people particularly older people to cope with the effects of cold weather. These include cold weather payments giving extra help towards additional heating costs; the home energy efficiency scheme providing loft insulation, draughtproofing and energy advice; and the "keep warm this winter" campaign providing a free telephone helpline.

General Practitioner Fundholders

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his policy in respect of fundholder status for general practitioners. [12897]

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 628

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: We continue to support GPs who chose to use fundholding to improve services for patients and we expect that around half the population will be covered by GP fundholders in the course of this year.

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