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Information on alcohol related hospital discharges is available from the Information Systems Division (ISD) alcohol website at:

http://www.alcoholinformation.isdscotland.org/alcohol_misuse/files/Alcohol_hospital_statistics_2007.pdf.

Table 2 has data for acute hospitals up to 2006-07 and table 7 for psychiatric hospitals up to 2005-06. Information is collected from discharge records and not admissions.

I have no plans to change the application processes at this stage, other than those proposals set out in Revitalising Justice “ Proposals to Modernise and Improve the Criminal Justice System which to be contained in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill. However, I am happy to consider any representations about how the application forms and processes might be improved following completion of the transition period. Any changes to forms after transition will need to maintain the balance between being relatively simple to complete and providing the licensing board with enough information to allow them to take a decision.

We are in regular touch with licensing boards as they work through the transition period to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 coming fully into force on 1 September 2009. As set out in the act, consideration of applications and the issuing of licences is a matter for each licensing board.

Eligibility for the central heating programme inherited from the previous administration is laid down in the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme Regulations (HEES). The HEES regulations specify that it is pensioners who are eligible for the programme rather than people receiving disability-related benefits. From April 2009, the programme will be replaced with the Energy Assistance Package: a one-stop shop providing a holistic approach to tackling fuel poverty through benefits checks, energy tariff advice and physical energy efficiency measures. For the first time, low income families with a disabled child under 16 may be able to receive help beyond basic insulation measures. To implement this change, new regulations are being prepared which will be laid before Parliament in January.

Details are as follows:

Ward	Number of Contracted GPs
Milngavie	12
Bearsden North	4
Bearsden South	15
Campsie and Kirkintilloch North	28
Bishopbriggs North and Torrance	1
Bishopbriggs South	18
Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South	9
Kirkintilloch East and Twechar	02
East Dunbartonshire total	87

Source: GP Contractor Database, ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. The table shows the number of GPs working in East Dunbartonshire practices, by electoral ward, as at 30 September 2007. The allocation of GPs to wards is based on the postcode of the main general practice address and does not take account of instances where practices run branch surgeries in other locations. It should also be noted that people resident in one ward area can often be registered with a general practice in another ward area, subject to them living within the relevant practice boundary. The figures do not include out-of-hours services and GPs doing only locum work.

2. One practice in Campsie and Kirkintilloch North ward runs a branch surgery at Twechar.

3. GP numbers for 2008 will be published at local authority level on 27 January 2009 at:

www.isdscotland.org/GPpracs&pops.

The information is given in the following table.

Recorded Crimes and Offences involving air weapons, Scotland, 2003-04 to 2007-08

Local Authority	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeen City	6	6	5	20	7
Aberdeenshire	6	5	7	13	2
Angus	14	8	10	7	4
Argyll and Bute	4	2	3	7	12
Clackmannanshire	3	6	4	5	1
Dumfries and Galloway	14	21	10	22	17
Dundee City	28	18	13	10	17
East Ayrshire	3	0	12	26	30
East Dunbartonshire	4	0	3	18	10
East Lothian	11	24	20	18	24
East Renfrewshire	0	0	11	7	14
Edinburgh City	151	147	132	98	67
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	3
Falkirk	6	17	9	6	5
Fife	12	6	6	35	23
Glasgow City	19	29	113	108	99
Highland	0	0	0	6	20
Inverclyde	0	8	6	11	6
Midlothian	21	43	24	20	13
Moray	0	1	2	11	3
North Ayrshire	2	18	20	25	27
North Lanarkshire	6	7	28	68	39
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	2
Perth and Kinross	12	11	13	6	3
Renfrewshire	14	3	29	13	29
Scottish Borders	34	20	20	9	4
Shetland Islands	0	0	1	1	2
South Ayrshire	5	0	10	15	11
South Lanarkshire	10	7	33	43	22
Stirling	4	3	1	3	2
West Dunbartonshire	3	2	25	22	23
West Lothian	45	74	48	31	26
Total	437	486	618	684	567

 

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

Australia is one of the four largest diaspora markets and is a key Homecoming audience. Activity taken to promote HS09 in Australia includes:

Hosted TV crews from Australia''s Great Outdoors are covering Homecoming themes;

Highland Games in Australia are being used to promote Homecoming;

Whisky Live! Is a global programme and Homecoming, and

Distribution of Homecoming promotional material at selected Whisky Live! event in Sydney (Whisky Live! is a global programme).

A major Homecoming multi-media campaign is to be launched in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The campaign will run across National Geographic''s many assets alongside an online campaign with VisitScotland''s best responding media such as New York Times, Toronto Star and Melbourne Age.

13% of ancestral tourists to Scotland come from Australia. Homecoming presents an enormous opportunity to tap into the market of people worldwide with Scots ancestry. A robust programme of marketing activity continues to promote www.ancestralscotland.com as the main signpost for users to find out all they need to know about starting their ancestral journey to Scotland. The website www.ancestralscotland.com is one of VisitScotland''s busiest websites.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009 (HS09). VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

The US is a key market for Homecoming and activity to promote Homecoming has included:

VisitScotland''s US database “ now comprising some 200,000 tourism prospects “ receiving monthly alerts on Homecoming;

Homecoming was the central theme for Scotland Week this year;

VisitScotland''s Scots Masters (US travel agents who sell Scotland) will represent Homecoming at around 15 of North America''s largest Highland Games, with a combined audience of over 1 million. Some of the individual games have an audience in excess of 250,000 Scottish and Highland Games enthusiasts;

Ryder Cup activity in Louisville included announcements on Homecoming, and

Whisky Press trip from US took place in September 2008.

A major Homecoming multi-media campaign is to be launched in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The campaign will run across National Geographic''s many assets alongside an online campaign with VisitScotland''s best responding media such as the New York Times, Toronto Star and Melbourne Age.

19% of ancestral tourists to Scotland come from the USA. Homecoming presents an enormous opportunity to tap into the market of people worldwide with Scots ancestry. A robust programme of marketing activity continues to promote www.ancestralscotland.com as the main signpost for users to find out all they need to know about starting their ancestral journey to Scotland. The website www.ancestralscotland.com is one of VisitScotland''s busiest websites.

Changes to the US census rules now allows people to identify themselves as Scots (previously the category was Scots-Irish). In September VisitScotland used this information and launched its biggest ever US direct mail initiative. Almost 140,000 specific household addresses, profiled by Scots ethnicity and income, will received a Homecoming mailshot. VisitScotland''s partners in the direct mail initiative are the airlines Continental, US Airways and Globespan, and travel operators CIE, Trafalgar, Great Canadian Travel Company and Royal Scottish Tours.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

Although the key audiences being targeted for Homecoming are North America, Australasia, Europe, Scotland and the rest of the UK, Homecoming is being promoted within Asia and particularly China, a key emerging market.

VisitScotland is focusing attention on the education and golf pillars of Homecoming to target the Chinese market. Homecoming branding and messaging features in all VisitScotland''s activity in the Chinese market, including through newsletters and through the Scots Agents programme (Scots Agents are specially trained travel agents who undergo a Scotland-specific training programme). All VisitScotland''s key tour operators are branding their brochures with Homecoming messages. VisitScotland are also working with the education sector and have provided copies of the Homecoming Events Guide to universities across Scotland to send to potential students with their offer letters.

Homecoming was also a strong feature of the promotion of Scotland during the recent week-long familiarisation tour of the Travel Agent Association of India.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

The promotion of Homecoming in Scotland has included:

the publication of a wide variety of articles in newspapers and magazines on Homecoming and Homecoming messages, including a full page article in The Sunday Times Ecosse section;

Homecoming branding at key events;

Homecoming presentations at key trade events and shows;

the launch of a dedicated Homecoming website on 20 August 2008, including events and programme details;

the inclusion of information about Homecoming and Homecoming events in direct marketing;

press trips to Burns country, with Homecoming a key theme;

the development of a Homecoming toolkit and information pack for travel trade and media to raise aware and convey key Homecoming messages, which went live on 22 September 2008 and new content is uploaded daily;

providing Homecoming updates to the tourism businesses in the industry for better industry promotion of Homecoming, and

the naming of the Scottish Cup as the Homecoming Scottish Cup for the 2008-09 season.