As at 31 December 2016, Police Scotland had received a total of 12,384 applications for an air weapon certificate. This is broadly consistent with the estimates for the first 5 year licensing round, set out in the Financial Memorandum which accompanied the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill when it was first introduced.

From 31 December 2016, those who already hold a firearm or shot gun certificate may, when applying to renew that licence, apply for a "co-terminous" air weapon certificate. It is expected that the majority of the 51,076 * current certificate holders will also hold air weapons.

[* Source: Police Service of Scotland Management Information published

29 November 2016 - Number of Certificates on issue at 15 November 2016]

The Scottish Government regularly assesses all waiting time performance across all Boards, including in NHS Dumfries and Galloway. In the current year we have made available an additional £565,000 to address waiting times in Dumfries and Galloway. The recent Draft Budget announced in Parliament on 15 December 2016, shows that NHS Dumfries and Galloway has an indicative allocation of £284.9 million for
2017-18, an increase of £5.5 million which includes a £4.2 million (1.5%) increase to baseline funding.

On 29 November I announced a plan to deliver a major shift in the way outpatient care is delivered, giving patients faster and more local access to care, has been published The Modern Outpatient: A Collaborative Approach 2017-2020 sets out a new strategy for responding to rising demand and aims to free up 400,000 hospital outpatient appointments by 2020. The strategy proposes that some patients, particularly those who are waiting for a routine check-up or test results, would be seen closer to home by a team of community healthcare professionals with close links to hospital departments. The NHS will also make better use of e-consultations and action will be taken to reduce the number of unnecessary referrals.

At Auchensell Pool, Scotland TranServ commenced remedial works on 28 November and these were completed on 23 December 2016, allowing the removal of the temporary traffic lights.

At Enterkinfoot, the embankment failure is much more complex. This requires more detailed ground investigation, which will then feed into the design of a preferred solution, followed by construction.

The ground investigation works at Enterkinfoot are ongoing and are scheduled to continue until March 2017. Design and construction works will follow the ground investigation and until these investigations and designs progress further, a timescale for full re-opening of the A76 cannot be provided.

The Scottish Government will consider the recommendations of the Enable Scotland Report #Included In the Main?! in conjunction with the Advisory Group for Additional Support for Learning and other key stakeholders.

The Scottish Government is in the process of developing revised guidance for education authorities and schools on the presumption of mainstream education. This guidance is being developed in partnership with key stakeholders including Enable Scotland and will be published for public consultation early in 2017.

Under the Scottish Government the number of Medical and Dental Consultants in NHS Dumfries and Galloway has increased by 18.5% from 89.0 to 105.5 WTE.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway are being supported in their efforts to market the NHS Board as an employer of choice for medical and dental staff through an active social media campaign and targeted recruitment. They are also actively encouraging any medical locums to take up substantive posts within NHS Dumfries and Galloway and this has resulted in appointments to previously hard to fill posts in Radiology and Haematology.

In order to reduce the reliance on temporary agency staff, the Scottish Government and NHS National Services Scotland have launched a nationally coordinated programme for the effective management of all temporary staffing. The team are working to establish Regional and National Staff Banks to allow boards access to a high quality, flexible, workforce of appropriately qualified, experienced and competent staff when required, who work on NHS contracts and provide better value for money than alternative methods of filling the gaps.

The Scottish Government has invested over £65 million in major trunk road improvements in Dumfries & Galloway since 2007, of which 10.6 miles are newly constructed road and 2.0 miles have been significantly improved or widened. A breakdown by year is provided in the following table.

Our Diabetes Improvement Plan (2014) through the Scottish Diabetes Foot Action Group (SDFAG) aims to improve the awareness of foot care to reduce the number of people developing avoidable ulcers and prevent the risk of limb amputation.

Our SDFAG is leading on a number of work streams to achieve the aims such as, putting greater emphasis on preventative care by campaigning to reduce the incidence of new diabetic foot ulcers developing in hospital, and education programmes for staff.

Furthermore, a new antibiotic guidance has been developed and the National Diabetic Foot Risk Stratification and Triage system updated.

Incidence of foot ulcers are included within NHS Boards quarterly reporting and recent updates to SCI-Diabetes will support improved monitoring of diabetes foot disease.

Information regarding overpayments is not available as Parliamentary constituency. The number of businesses that have been asked to repay overpayments is broken down per calendar year in the following table.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway presented a draft Financial Plan for 2017-18 at their Board meeting on 5^th December 2016. This included £19 million of efficiency savings as part of an overall plan to deliver financial balance.

These savings are not about a reduction in spending, as all savings are retained locally for reinvestment in frontline services. Following the Draft Budget announced in Parliament on 15^th December 2016, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has an indicative allocation of £284.9m for 2017-18, an increase of £5.5m which includes a £4.2m (1.5%) increase to baseline funding.

Boards are rightly required to continually assess their expenditure of public funds to ensure the delivery of best value and make the most effective use of funding for the benefit of patients. The combination of increases in funding and retention of savings will ensure that priorities are safeguarded.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S5W-00209 on 7 June 2016 and S5W-02818 on 22 September 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The forthcoming review of the Strategic Transport Projects Review will assess recommendations for strategic transport infrastructure priorities in Dumfries and Galloway and the rest of Scotland. Within the review options for the A75 corridor between Gretna and Stranraer will be considered.