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The median waiting times for cataract removal, by NHS board of residence, for the year ended 30 September 2001, are given in the following table:NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times¹ for Cataract Removal², by NHS Board of Residence. Year Ended 30 September 2001^P.

NHS Board	Median Wait (days)
Argyll and Clyde	124
Ayrshire and Arran	183
Borders	64
Dumfries and Galloway	114
Fife	120
Forth Valley	110
Grampian	158
Greater Glasgow	99
Highland	73
Lanarkshire	218
Lothian	83
Orkney	175
Shetland	85
Tayside	83
Western Isles	153
Scotland	106

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.^P Provisional.Notes:1. Patients admitted from the in-patient/day case waiting list. Excludes transfers.2. Patients are defined using operation codes taken from the Office of Population and Censuses and Surveys Classification of Surgical Operations and Procedures 4th Revision (OPCS4). Cataract removal has been defined using principal procedure code C71-C75 and a diagnosis of H25, H26, H28.0, H28.1 or H28.2 from the International Classification Of Diseases 10th Revision.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-3569 on 21 January 2000, which stated that 67 people died while on the waiting list for cardiac surgery in the year ending 31 March 1999. The information for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 is being collected, and I will write to the member as soon as it is available, and place a copy in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

These are matters for local health care systems in the first instance, guided by advice from relevant professional bodies. Decisions on these issues will to some extent also depend on the work currently in progress on configuration of neurosurgical services across Scotland.

The information requested is given in table 5 of the Accounts Commission report, Performance Indicators 2000/2001: Benefits, Finance and Corporate Issues, a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18782).

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues. The UK Ministerial Sub-Committee on Older People has replaced the Inter Ministerial Group on Older People and the Minister of State at the Scotland Office is a member of the committee.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with UK Government ministers and departments on a wide range of issues, including housing benefit. It is for the Department for Work and Pensions to assess the impact of any possible changes to the housing benefit taper.

The information requested is given in the document PQ S1W-24395: Lottery Funds to Scottish Parliamentary Constituencies for Years - 1999/2000, 2000/2001, 2001/2002, a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20579).

COSLA represents Scottish interests on the group.

The Scottish Executive took the first steps in 1999 to prepare its departments for the possibility of the UK adopting the euro. Finance staff visited key contacts within the Scottish Executive, in the NHS in Scotland, and in a selection of non-deparmental public bodies (NDPBs), to raise awareness of the consequences of any decision to switch from sterling to the euro. This exercise was updated in late 2001. One conclusion was that consistent with the Prime Minister's statement to the House of Commons when launching the first Outline National Changeover Plan in 1999, where computer systems are being upgraded, all Scottish Executive departments will build in euro compatibility where that represents value for money. The Scottish Executive has already taken action in this regard, in the recent exercise to replace the core finance system which now has dual currency functionality. This feature would help to ensure that any changeover to the euro was smooth and cost-effective.Further information on the Scottish Executive's preparations for the possibility of the UK joining Economic and Monetary Union can be found in the detailed response made by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning to the Convener of the Scottish Parliament European Committee on 11 January 2002. That response has been placed with the Parliament's Reference Centre and on the Scottish Executive website. Paragraph 21 of the reply refers to the Scottish Executive's own systems.

The amount of capital receipts from the disposal of housing assets set aside by local authorities to repay debt in the years 1997-98 to 2001-02 are set out, in both actual and real terms, in the following tables. Amounts received as result of housing capital set aside rules £ million (Actual)

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
Aberdeen City	10.50	10.52	10.57	9.10	7.79
Aberdeenshire	6.73	4.26	5.25	6.58	5.113
Angus	3.79	2.59	2.84	3.25	2.316
Argyll and Bute	2.08	1.80	1.91	1.66	1.88
Clackmannanshire	1.53	1.48	1.47	1.39	1.957
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0.43	0.54	0.35	0.40	0.34
Dumfries and Galloway	5.09	3.28	4.14	4.23	4.25
Dundee City	3.48	3.21	2.62	2.86	2.45
East Ayrshire	4.92	4.15	5.12	5.28	4.75
E. Dunbartonshire	1.85	2.46	2.64	2.33	2.28
East Lothian	3.78	2.17	3.57	5.65	4.87
East Renfrewshire	1.23	1.12	1.18	1.54	1.59
City of Edinburgh	8.71	8.46	7.97	8.48	8.43
Falkirk	6.50	5.13	5.08	6.44	6.78
Fife	10.02	8.59	10.10	8.87	10.42
Glasgow City	18.85	15.91	18.15	19.51	19.42
Highland	8.68	7.41	9.05	8.17	8.22
Inverclyde	4.50	3.19	3.38	3.56	2.30
Midlothian	2.89	2.45	3.19	3.08	3.45
Moray	2.82	1.88	2.44	1.89	2.02
North Ayrshire	3.93	3.33	4.67	4.20	4.48
North Lanarkshire	15.26	14.22	15.56	16.73	14.45
Orkney Islands	0.57	0.55	0.83	0.34	0.30
Perth and Kinross	3.38	2.53	3.26	2.37	2.84
Renfrewshire	5.63	5.24	4.81	5.13	6.73
Scottish Borders	3.85	2.97	2.55	3.58	2.64
Shetland	1.08	0.74	1.67	1.35	1.20
South Ayrshire	3.84	3.44	3.32	2.47	2.98
South Lanarkshire	13.57	14.09	13.39	12.14	10.20
Stirling	2.89	2.61	2.84	3.03	3.47
W. Dunbartonshire	2.53	2.75	1.07	2.10	2.10
West Lothian	7.05	5.32	6.05	5.02	6.81
Total	171.95	148.38	161.02	162.73	158.8

Source: For financial years 1996-97 to 2000-01: as reported by authorities on the Housing Revenue Account Certificate of Capital Payments and Receipts. Note:Figures for 2001-02 are estimates taken from quarterly Housing Capital Monitoring form.Amounts received as result of housing capital set aside rules £ million (Real Terms)

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
Aberdeen City	11.53	11.24	11.02	9.33	7.79
Aberdeenshire	7.39	4.55	5.48	6.74	5.113
Angus	4.16	2.76	2.96	3.33	2.316
Argyll and Bute	2.28	1.92	1.99	1.70	1.88
Clackmannanshire	1.68	1.58	1.53	1.42	1.957
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0.47	0.58	0.37	0.41	0.34
Dumfries and Galloway	5.59	3.51	4.32	4.34	4.25
Dundee City	3.82	3.43	2.73	2.93	2.45
East Ayrshire	5.41	4.43	5.34	5.41	4.75
E. Dunbartonshire	2.03	2.62	2.75	2.39	2.28
East Lothian	4.15	2.32	3.72	5.79	4.87
East Renfrewshire	1.35	1.19	1.23	1.58	1.59
City of Edinburgh	9.57	9.04	8.31	8.69	8.43
Falkirk	7.14	5.48	5.30	6.61	6.78
Fife	11.00	9.18	10.54	9.10	10.42
Glasgow City	20.70	17.00	18.93	19.99	19.42
Highland	9.53	7.91	9.43	8.38	8.22
Inverclyde	4.94	3.41	3.52	3.65	2.30
Midlothian	3.18	2.61	3.33	3.16	3.45
Moray	3.09	2.01	2.54	1.94	2.02
North Ayrshire	4.31	3.56	4.87	4.30	4.48
North Lanarkshire	16.75	15.18	16.22	17.15	14.45
Orkney Islands	0.62	0.59	0.87	0.35	0.30
Perth and Kinross	3.71	2.70	3.40	2.42	2.84
Renfrewshire	6.18	5.60	5.02	5.26	6.73
Scottish Borders	4.23	3.17	2.65	3.67	2.64
Shetland	1.19	0.78	1.74	1.39	1.20
South Ayrshire	4.22	3.68	3.46	2.54	2.98
South Lanarkshire	14.90	15.05	13.96	12.45	10.20
Stirling	3.17	2.79	2.96	3.10	3.47
W. Dunbartonshire	2.78	2.94	1.11	2.15	2.10
West Lothian	7.74	5.68	6.31	5.15	6.81
Total	188.80	158.47	167.94	166.80	158.8

Source: For financial years 1996-97 to 2000-01 as reported by authorities on the Housing Revenue Account Certificate of Capital Payments and Receipts. Notes:Figures for 2001-02 are estimates taken from quarterly Housing Capital Monitoring form.Real terms calculated using HM Treasury GDP Deflators with 2001-02 as base year.