Seòmar agus comataidhean

The most up to date and complete data available relate to Scottish Homes' approvals for new and rehabilitated housing developments being undertaken by housing associations.These are set out in the following table. This shows that last year Scottish Homes approved the construction of 4,683 new and improved homes by housing associations, the highest total since 1995-96.

	Housing Association approvals
1993-94	6,569
1994-95	6,360
1995-96	6,725
1996-97	4,581
1997-98	3,752
1998-99	4,067
1999-2000	4,683

The Scottish Executive has recognised that manufacturing plays a vital role in the Scottish economy with the recent publication of the report Created in Scotland - The Way Forward for Scottish Manufacturing in the 21^st Century. The report describes how the Executive, in partnership with the UK Government, is committed to providing public support for Scottish companies to enhance skills and training, and to encourage the use of new technology to help manufacturers improve their competitiveness. It is also committed to improving the image of manufacturing to encourage more young people to consider a career in this sector.

Education, training and skills development represent the top priority of The Scottish Executive and considerable efforts are being made, in partnership with National Training Organisations and other employer representatives, to ensure that education and training provision is relevant to the current and projected needs of employers.

In Scotland, Modern Apprenticeships were phased in from 1996. Typically the Modern Apprenticeship takes three to four years to complete, so a young person who started training in 1996 is likely to complete in 2000. The young people who completed training in construction-related trades during the past four years include Modern Apprentices and young people undertaking an SVQ Level 3 through the wider youth training programme, Skillseekers.The following table shows the number of young people who completed Government-funded training in Glasgow in construction related trades. It does not include young people whose training is supported by levies paid by employers to National Training Organisations.

	1996-97		1997-98		1998-99		1999-2000
	Private	Public	Private	Public	Private	Public	Private	Public
Civil engineer			1		1		1
Architect			1		1		1
Joiner	8	1	10	2	35	25	55	30
Bricklayer	3		3		6	2	10	2
Glazier	2				3		2
Plasterer	1		2		1		3	2
Painter	2	1	6	1	14	3	25	3
Stonemason	3				3
Slater					5	2	8	1
Tiler					3	2
Wood machinist					8		2
Plant mechanic			1
Plumber	15	17	16	9	19	4	11	7
Heating/vent engineer			1		1		3
Refrigeration engineer							1
Electrical installation	20		21	2	34	16	31	9
Total	54	19	62	14	131	52	157	54

There are currently 985 Modern Apprenticeships in construction related trades supported by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow.

We shall continue to provide support for manufacturing industry through a wide variety of schemes and initiatives, as mentioned in the answer I gave Mr Gibson in question S1W-5420 on 30 March.

The Scottish Executive did not contest the Ayr by-election and will continue the job it has been elected to do; working together to deliver the priorities of the people of Scotland.

No specific allocation is given to individual health boards or NHS Trusts for the provision or replacement of medical equipment. Health boards and NHS Trusts must reach decisions on local priorities and then plan how to fund those priorities, including the provision of equipment. Trusts can use both capital and revenue resources to meet equipment costs.

The capital expenditure on the provision of medical equipment for 1994-95 to 1998-99 is shown in the following table calculated at constant 1998-99 prices:

Health Boards	1994-95 Expenditure £000	1995-96 Expenditure £000	1996-97 Expenditure £000	1997-98 Expenditure £000	1998-99 Expenditure £000
Argyll & Clyde	5,893	3,439	1,541	1,209	1,671
Ayr & Arran	2,204	2,432	1,244	1,623	2,433
Borders	619	928	681	166	456
Dumfries & Galloway	1,401	709	1,533	491	579
Fife	1,356	1,868	877	788	951
Forth Valley	2,043	1,018	1,284	696	555
Grampian	4,069	4,462	5,439	1,346	4,161
Greater Glasgow	13,556	11,672	8,536	3,154	3,547
Highland	2,695	1,284	2,185	749	747
Lanarkshire	6,263	4,954	3,518	1,719	3,823
Lothian	8,054	6,102	2,832	3,412	2,559
Orkney	255	232	194	167	266
Shetland	493	13	25	127	53
Tayside	5,829	4,725	4,088	2,470	3,050
Western Isles	398	614	610	944	171
Total	55,129	44,453	34,588	19,061	25,022

Expenditure on medical equipment in 1994-95 was £48.895 million. The figure of £102.201 million in the Scottish Health Statistics 1999 publication was incorrect. I have written separately to the member to inform him of this.

Capital investment in the NHS in Scotland has increased from £136 million in 1998-99 to £179 million in 2000-01, rising further to £194 million in 2001-02. These figures exclude any additional capital provision which may be allocated from the extra resources for health in Scotland following the Budget 2000 announcement.

The following table sets out the capital provision and actual expenditure from 1994-95.

Hospital and Community Health Service - Capital Expenditure (net)

	Provision £000	Capital Expenditure (Non-Equipment) £000	Capital Expenditure (Equipment) £000	Capital to Revenue Transfers* £000	Total Capital Expenditure £000
1994-95	202,000	112,297	48,895	-	161,192
1995-96	202,000	165,877	40,565	14,066	220,508
1996-97	173,000	119,198	32,580	33,530	185,308
1997-98	136,000	76,185	18,454	38,963	133,602
1998-99	136,000	53,091	25,022	37,270	115,383
1999-2000**	156,000	113,043		40,679	153,722

* Capital to revenue transfers are mainly made to meet the costs of minor projects

and non-added value elements of schemes. In 1999-2000 nearly £7 million was also transferred to provide revenue support to assist NHS Trusts to meet their financial targets. Similar amounts were transferred in 1997-98 and 1998-99. From 2000-01 onward all capital, including capital receipts, must be spent on capital items.

** The 1999-2000 expenditure figures are unaudited and therefore there is no

available split between equipment and on-equipment expenditure.

In addition, a further £41.3 million will be invested over the next three years through the Capital Modernisation Programme, including £12.5 million to purchase linear accelerators.

Capital resources are not specifically allocated to individual health boards or NHS Trusts for the provision or replacement of medical equipment.

This information is not collected centrally.

The Scottish Executive employs a wide variety of methods to spread good practice, including the development of specialty networks; support for local and national education meetings, facilitation initiatives and conferences; the publication and distribution of key reports identifying quality improvements and the development of websites and newsletters to facilitate access to information.

Examples include the Scottish Design Network, which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and information in support of changing the way services are delivered; the regular conferences, annual national symposium and new website developed by the Clinical Resource and Audit Group (CRAG) to share best practice in clinical effectiveness (www.show.scot.nhs.uk/crag) and NHS way ahead, the newsletter for the National Health Service in Scotland.