Prescription data collected centrally do not relate to the number of patients receiving treatment but to the numbers and cost of prescribed items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors.

These data cannot be used as a proxy for the number of patients receiving treatment with any particular drug.

On drug addiction, the Scottish Drug Misuse Database records information on people as they come into contact with drug treatment services (Tables 1 and 2). Year-on-year variation in service provision may affect the availability of services within NHS board areas and trends should be interpreted with caution. The NHS hospital in-patient data that is shown in Table 3 relates to people discharged from acute general hospitals with a diagnosis of drug dependency.

Information on the number of people aged under 18, discharged with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence from acute general hospitals, is shown in Table 4. Because of the relatively low number of episodes a breakdown by NHS board area is not provided.

Over the five years, in total there were nine people aged under 16 discharged with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence from acute general hospitals.

Figures for percentage of the population within age groups have not been included due to the relatively small number of episodes for both alcohol and drugs.

Table 1

New Individual Patients/Clients Under 16 Years Old Reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database¹ Years Ending 31 March

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	156	175	234	244	384
Argyll and Clyde	21	30	38	16	26
Ayrshire and Arran	41	19	32	20	9
Borders	0	0	0	1	18
Dumfries and Galloway	1	1	1	13	8
Fife	20	26	51	40	70
Forth Valley	4	3	16	22	40
Grampian	10	10	6	25	25
Greater Glasgow	31	55	13	11	52
Highland	0	0	0	5	15
Lanarkshire	2	6	7	13	36
Lothian	24	15	42	62	72
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
Tayside	2	11	28	16	13
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: 1. All figures in this table exclude penal establishment inmatesand returns from needle exchanges

Table 2

New Individual Patients/Clients Under 18 Years Old Reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database¹ Years Ending 31 March

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	525	483	563	510	638
Argyll and Clyde	94	78	72	46	48
Ayrshire and Arran	106	68	104	69	34
Borders	5	4	8	5	24
Dumfries and Galloway	11	3	5	17	27
Fife	37	57	81	60	95
Forth Valley	16	10	27	31	55
Grampian	49	36	29	61	51
Greater Glasgow	87	108	47	35	83
Highland	2	2	5	8	28
Lanarkshire	24	23	31	26	53
Lothian	82	66	97	114	132
Orkney	0	0	0	0	1
Shetland	0	0	0	1	0
Tayside	13	29	60	37	28
Western Isles	1	1	0	0	0

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: 1. All figures in this table exclude penal establishment inmates and returns from needle exchanges

Table 3

Discharges from Acute General Hospitals ^1,2 for Drug Dependence 1999-2000 to 2003-04^P (NB Episodes Not Patients)

	Age on Admission	Year of Discharge
1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Argyll and Clyde	Under 16 years	6	10	9	3	3
Under 18 years	22	33	18	16	9
Ayrshire and Arran	Under 16 years	10	8	21	8	8
Under 18 years	36	45	49	30	19
Borders	Under 16 years	4	0	2	2	4
Under 18 years	5	0	7	8	8
Dumfries and Galloway	Under 16 years	1	2	0	1	0
Under 18 years	5	6	9	7	4
Fife	Under 16 years	0	3	5	3	8
Under 18 years	11	12	9	12	17
Forth Valley	Under 16 years	0	1	2	2	1
Under 18 years	0	4	5	3	4
Grampian	Under 16 years	7	3	4	7	3
Under 18 years	23	12	18	20	9
Greater Glasgow	Under 16 years	6	7	18	14	5
Under 18 years	30	26	42	32	23
Highland	Under 16 years	2	2	1	0	1
Under 18 years	6	2	3	2	6
Lanarkshire	Under 16 years	4	8	2	2	6
Under 18 years	12	13	10	9	13
Lothian	Under 16 years	4	3	10	8	4
Under 18 years	20	14	28	26	23
Orkney	Under 16 years	0	0	0	0	0
Under 18 years	1	0	0	1	0
Shetland	Under 16 years	0	0	0	1	0
Under 18 years	0	0	0	3	2
Tayside	Under 16 years	2	3	3	3	3
Under 18 years	6	5	7	9	6
Western Isles	Under 16 years	0	0	0	2	1
Under 18 years	1	2	0	4	1
Scotland	Under 16 years	46	50	77	56	47
Under 18 years	178	174	205	182	144

Source: ISD Scotland.

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Includes acute hospitals (excludes mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units and maternity hospitals).

2. Information on hospital discharges relates to episodes of in-patient or day case care rather than individual patients. Transfer cases have been included. The same patient may account for several hospital admissions during the course of a year (or across years) and will be counted each time in the attached table.

Table 4

Number of Discharges from Acute General Hospitals^1,2 Across Scotland for alcohol Dependence, Aged Under 18 Years, 1999-2000 to 2003-4^P

Diagnosis Discharge Period³

1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04 P
3	13	10	4	6

Source: ISD Scotland.

^PProvisional.

1. Includes acute hospitals (excludes mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units and maternity hospitals).

2. Information on hospital discharges relates to episodes of in-patient or day case care rather than individual patients. Transfer cases have been included. The same patient may account for several hospital admissions during the course of a year (or across years) and will be counted each time in the attached table.

3. Diagnostic information is defined by using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10). Alcohol dependence: F10.2.

The provision of library services is a matter for local authorities. However, the Scottish Executive encourages local authorities to make appropriate arrangements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Local Government Act 2003. In addition, the COSLA Public Library Standards, which have been in place since 1995, include recommendations on provision for the needs of disabled users.

The numbers of new applications on waiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for 2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland.

This data collection began in 2001 and data are not centrally available prior to that date. The numbers reported to the Scottish Executive are for applicant households and do not specify the number of people within each household.

The following tables show new applications to the housing register from 2000-01 to 2003-04 and the percentage year on year change for each local authority.

Table 1: New applicants to housing register: 2000-01 to 2003-04

	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	93,828	104,972	100,123	96,369
Aberdeen City	8,244	..	7,372	9,010
Aberdeenshire	3,435	3,315	3,992	4,014
Angus	2,974	3,270	2,903	2,975
Argyll and Bute	2,417	2,318	2,585	2,709
Clackmannanshire	589	1,099	1,290	1,345
Dumfries and Galloway1	2,334	2,915	3,434	n/a
Dundee City	6,019	6,505	6,685	6,784
East Ayrshire	864	3,933	4,011	4,151
East Dunbartonshire	665	1,232	1,187	1,185
East Lothian	1,153	957	1,202	1,277
East Renfrewshire	512	583	779	999
City of Edinburgh2	5,093	5,254	5,254	5,254
Eilean Siar	360	445	495	615
Falkirk	3,626	3,906	3,677	3,817
Fife	7,399	8,719	10,340	3,314
Glasgow City1	10,066	12,629	n/a	n/a
Highland	5,277	5,045	4,835	5,554
Inverclyde	2,735	2,628	..	..
Midlothian	875	686	1,104	963
Moray	1,067	1,168	1,246	2,163
North Ayrshire	..	3,128	2,888	4,107
North Lanarkshire	5,585	10,614	10,996	10,733
Orkney	233	302	246	386
Perth and Kinross	..	2,358	2,526	2,572
Renfrewshire	4,039	4,148	3,782	4,639
Scottish Borders1	2,174	2,292	n/a	n/a
Shetland	631	538	614	500
South Ayrshire	2,105	2,709	2,504	2,397
South Lanarkshire	4,921	6,355	7,554	7,230
Stirling	784	663	1,710	1,800
West Dunbartonshire	3,264	1,201	452	883
West Lothian	4,388	4,057	4,460	4,993

Notes:

.. Data not availablel.

1. Due to housing stock transfer, figures from Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Scottish Borders are not included.

2. No data available due to outstanding returns. Estimates have been made using 2001-02 data.

Table 2: New Applicants to Housing Register: 2000-01 to 2003-04, Percentage Change

Local Authority	2000-01 to 2001-02	2001-02 to 2002-03	2002-03 to 2003-04
Scotland	12	-5	-4
Aberdeen City	n/a	n/a	22
Aberdeenshire	-3	20	1
Angus	10	-11	2
Argyll and Bute	-4	12	5
Clackmannanshire	87	17	4
Dumfries and Galloway	25	18	n/a
Dundee City	8	3	1
East Ayrshire	355	2	3
East Dunbartonshire	85	-4	0
East Lothian	-17	26	6
East Renfrewshire	14	34	28
City of Edinburgh	3	n/a	n/a
Eilean Siar	24	11	24
Falkirk	8	-6	4
Fife	18	19	-68
Glasgow City	25	n/a	n/a
Highland	-4	-4	15
Inverclyde	-4	n/a	n/a
Midlothian	-22	61	-13
Moray	9	7	74
North Ayrshire	n/a	-8	42
North Lanarkshire	90	4	-2
Orkney	30	-19	57
Perth and Kinross	n/a	7	2
Renfrewshire	3	-9	23
Scottish Borders	5	n/a	n/a
Shetland	-15	14	-19
South Ayrshire	29	-8	-4
South Lanarkshire	29	19	-4
Stirling	-15	158	5
West Dunbartonshire	-63	-62	95
West Lothian	-8	10	12

 

This information is not held by the Scottish Executive. It is for individual local authorities to maintain records of compensation claims made against them.

The following tables show the number of local authority dwellings completed each financial year, broken down by local authority area and the percentage year-on-year change for each local authority. Year-on year changes should be treated with caution due to the small numbers of new build local authority dwellings.

Currently, almost all new building of social housing is by housing associations rather than local authorities. Over the next three years (2005-8) the Executive is committed to funding the provision of 21,500 affordable homes.

Table 1: Local Authorities where New Dwellings Completed: 1999-2000 to 2003-04

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	69	112	65	94	0
Aberdeen City	0	5	18	75	0
Aberdeenshire	46	0	0	0	0
Fife	1	2	0	0	0
Glasgow City	5	89	0	18	0
Highland	0	0	0	1	0
Midlothian	17	16	12	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	5	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	30	0	0

Note: Table does not include local authorities where no new dwellings were completed in the period

Table 2: New Local Authority Dwellings Completed 1999-00 to 2003-04, Percentage Change

	1999-2000 to 2000-01	2000-01 to 2001-02	2001-02 to 2002-03	2002-03 to 2003-04
Scotland	62	-42	45	n/a
Aberdeen City	n/a	260	317	n/a
Aberdeenshire	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Fife	100	n/a	n/a	n/a
Glasgow City	1,680	n/a	n/a	n/a
Highland	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Midlothian	-6	-25	n/a	n/a
North Ayrshire	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
North Lanarkshire	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

 

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advice on cod notes that there are uncertainties in its estimate of total cod catch (and therefore implied cod mortality) in 2003. The ICES advice has been examined by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF). It has concluded that while the methodology applied by ICES is sound, the nature of that methodology means that the estimate of fishing mortality for the most recent year in the time series (2003) is the least certain and likely to be an overestimate compared to the values estimated for earlier years.

The Scottish Executive supports the STECF interpretation and, in addition, has provided ICES with evidence that our effort reduction on cod has been much closer to achieving our 65% target reduction in fishing mortality than may be implied by the ICES advice.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) published its response on the SPS website on 18 November 2004.

Lay justices dealt with over 37,000 cases in 2002. This is a significant contribution to our criminal justice system. We are currently considering the responses to the consultation on the future of Summary Justice. Appropriate community involvement will be a key consideration as we develop plans for the future.

There are no  “delays” in responding. The report makes wide ranging and radical recommendations. A significant number of responses to the consultation were received and it is important to consider carefully before we arrive at any conclusions.