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SCOTLAND

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a breakdown by project of PFI schemes for which his Department is responsible as identified in table 5.5 of the Red Book. [18934]

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 6 March 1997]: Table 1 gives a breakdown of the forecasts for Scotland in table 5.5 of the Red Book. It is possible to give a

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meaningfull breakdown of the forecasts by project only for the Scottish Office's own projects and those of its agencies and nationalised industries. Forecasts for other sectors are based on information supplied by the public bodies concerned and the views of the Scottish Office and the Forestry Commission of the likely progress of the PFI in these sectors.

Table 2 lists the latest forecasts on the same basis.

Table 1: Red Book forecasts

	Estimated capital investment (£ million)
	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	Total
Scottish Office, Agencies and nationalised industries:
M6 completion	22	70	30	122
M8 completion	25	50	40	115
M80 completion	--	--	25	25
Bowhouse prison	40	40	--	80
Inverness Airport terminal (Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd.)	1	2	1	4
Water and sewerage	60	230	307	597
Further and higher education	5	3	3	11
Health	100	150	270	520
Forestry Commission: timber harvesting	10	11	14	35
"Scotland" total in Red Book	263	556	690	1,509
Scottish local authority projects	22	104	105	231

Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.

Table 2: Latest estimates

	Estimated capital investment (£ million)
	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	Total
Scottish Office, Agencies and nationalised industries:
M6 completion	37	59	33	130
M8 completion	25	50	40	115
M80 completion	--	--	15	15
Bowhouse prison	20	60	--	80
Inverness Airport terminal (Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd.)	9	--	--	9
Water and sewerage	60	230	307	597
Further and higher education	10	8	3	21
Health	100	150	270	520
Forestry Commission: timber harvesting	10	11	14	35
"Scotland" total in Red Book format	270	568	682	1,520
Scottish local authority projects	22	103	100	225

Note:

Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.

Mr. Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide figures for his Department's PFI projects in the same form as used by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, in his answer to the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) of 6 March, Official Report, columns 692-93; and if he will list his latest estimates of annual totals for PFI projects, on the same basis as those given in Table 5.5 of the Red Book. [20395]

Mr. Forsyth: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) today.

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NHS Staff

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (i) by health board and (ii) overall the number of (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) midwives, (d) health visitors, (e) administration and clerical staff and (f) managers in the NHS in Scotland in each year from 1990 to 1996. [18894]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 10 March 1997]: As the information requested is lengthy, I have arranged for copies to be placed in the House Library.

Market Testing Unit (Costs)

Mr. Norman Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the costs of his Department's market testing unit in each year since 1992, indicating for each year the (a) staff costs, (b) running costs and (c) costs of work commissioned by the unit. [19155]

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 10 March 1997]: The information available on the costs of market testing is given in the table. This shows staff costs for the period up to June 1994 and the full costs to date of consultancy support. Information on staff costs since June 1994 and non-staff running costs is not available centrally and could be gathered only at a disproportionate cost.

	£ million
Year	Staff costs	Consultancy costs
1992-93	0.965	0.917
1993-94	1.239	0.469
1994-95	0.095	0.064
1995-96	Not separately identified	Nil
1996-97	Not separately identified	Nil

Nursery Vouchers

Mr. Norman Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what have been in each year the (a) consultancy, (b) advertising and (c) other fees associated with the establishment of nursery vouchers in Scotland. [19157]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson [holding answer 10 March 1997]: The information as at 4 March 1997, excluding VAT, is as follows:

	1995-96	1996-97
	£	£
Consultancy fees	0	4,188
Advertising fees	520	113,400
Other fees	9,350	203,518

"Other fees" include translation and production fees subcontracted by advertising agents, and fees to Capita Managed Services for the issue and redemption of vouchers, helpline staffing and associated services. Charges made by local authorities and others for the secondment of staff as development officers and for work on the curriculum framework, by Stirling university for research on the pilot schemes, and by press and television firms for the carriage of advertising (these latter amounting to nil in 1995-96, £212,901 in 1996-97), have been excluded.

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Scallop Conservation

Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to implement the results of the consultation on scallop conservation measures in Argyll and Bute; and if he will make a statement. [19493]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The results of the 1996 UK consultation exercise on scallop conservation were largely inconclusive. No specific measures are proposed for Argyll and Bute. Discussions are continuing in the context of the European Commission's proposed revision of the technical conservation regulation.

Food Poisoning

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of food poisoning in Scotland were notified to his Department in (a) 1996 and (b) each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement. [20193]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information is set out in the table. Notifications of cases of food poisoning are made to the Common Services Agency for the Scottish health service. Notifications of food poisoning cases are made by doctors but, since February 1995, cases ascertained by laboratories and environmental health officers have also been included in the totals.

Notifications of Food Poisoning(31)(32) in Scotland, year ending 31 December 1979-1996

Year	Total
1979	2,657
1980	2,689
1981	4,379
1982	4,525
1983	4,265
1984	4,301
1985	4,230
1986	4,662
1987	5,050
1988	5,734
1989	6,156
1990	6,757
1991	6,318
1992	7,877
1993	7,170
1994	8,291
1995	9,297
1996	10,126

(31) For 1979-1995 notifications are confirmed cases, adjusted where a revised diagnosis is subsequently received. For 1996 notifications are provisional and subject to amendment where a revised diagnosis is subsequently received.

(32) Includes campylobacters from 1980. Excludes campylobacters in Ayrshire and Arran Health Board area from 1979-1986.

Source:

Common Services Agency.

Mr. W. J. Duff

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions, and from what date, the Common Services Agency dental practice division undertook ad hoc checks on dental payment claim forms submitted by Mr. W. J. Duff; what were the conclusions; and what action was taken following each occasion. [19264]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 12 March 1997]: The Common Services Agency's dental practice division undertakes ad hoc checks where dental payment claim forms are rejected during processing for any reason such as when there is incomplete information

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on the form. In such cases, payments are not made and the forms are returned to the dentist for correct completion. Because these checks are ad hoc, no records are kept.

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