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Nearly £260 million of grant funding from the Affordable Housing Investment Programme has been invested in the four Local Authorities in the Highlands and Islands, namely Highland Council, Orkney Island Council, Shetland Islands Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar during the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2008. A breakdown of this investment is shown in the following table.

Year	Spend (£ million)
1999-2000	10.157
2000-01	11.037
2001-02	13.864
2002-03	15.815
2003-04	21.002
2004-05	27.388
2005-06	44.060
2006-07	58.300
2007-08	58.235
Total	259.858

 

The staffing and equipment required to run an accident and emergency unit is a matter for NHS boards and varies depending on the size of the unit and the number of attendees. A wide range of health professionals, which includes consultants, doctors, nurses and support staff are required to care for patients needing emergency care.

Planning guidance on accident and emergency departments within hospitals in Scotland is provided in the Scottish Health Planning Note (SHPN 22) available from the following link:

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A further source of information is the College of Emergency Medicine publication The Way Ahead - December 2008, which sets out the workforce, facilities and equipment needed to deliver the core service in emergency medicine. The document is available at:

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The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service launched a new, integrated marketing strategy in June 2008. This has already led to an increase of 70,000 new donors and the return of 40,000 donors. The service is working with management in the private and public sector to form partnerships and develop new blood donation opportunities within the workplace. It is also harnessing new technology, such as sending text messages, emails and use of the web and allowing text booking for donors. It is reviewing the location of donor centres to minimise queuing and improve the quality of accessibility of the experience of donors.

The Scottish Government supports the World Health Organization advice that blood donation should be based on the altruistic principle of voluntary, unpaid donation as the cornerstone of blood safety. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service works closely with employers and asks for their continued support and endorsement of blood donation. The service is currently redesigning its blood collection strategy to allow it to collect from smaller workplaces and use less space than at present.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) is working closely with rural communities to review methods of collection from remote, rural and island communities. SNBTS is fully aware of the need to continually seek innovative ways to encourage donors and values every donation.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

The following information on new council houses and New Supply Shared Equity properties built is for the five local authority areas that encompass the Highland and Islands Parliamentary constituencies. Information on the number of houses built is not held by calendar year or by Scottish parliamentary constituency.

Council Houses: There were no units completed in the Highland and Islands parliamentary constituencies in 2007-08. One unit was completed in Orkney in 2008-09 and there are no completions anticipated in 2009-10.

We anticipate that 30 units will complete in 2010-11 as a result of Orkney Council''s award from the first round of funding to kick start a new generation of local authority homes

New Supply Shared Equity: The following table shows actual completion figures for 2007-08 and 2008-09 and anticipated completions for 2009-10. Figures are not yet available for 2010-11.

New Supply Shared Equity	2007-08 Actual	2008-09 Actual	2009-10 Estimate
Highland	66	138	180
Orkney	0	0	0
Shetland	0	6	0
Western Isles	0	0	2
Argyll and Bute	39	20	40
Total	105	164	222

 

The Open Market Shared Equity pilot (OMSEP) started in The Highland Council area in 2008-09 and was introduced in Orkney, Shetland, Western Isles and Argyll and Bute in 2009-10. The Open Market Shared Equity Pilot allows eligible individuals to purchase a home from the open market and does not lead to a new property being built. The following table shows completed sales in each local authority area by financial year.

Open Market Shared Equity Pilot	Actual Sales 2008-09	Sales Target 2009-10
Highland	35	88
Orkney	0	5
Shetland	0	5
Western Isles	0	5
Argyll and Bute	0	17
Total	35	120

 

The actual sales figure in 2008-09 for Highland is an updated figure to that provided in the answer to question S3W-26078 on 17 August 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at .

The data provided in this report are based on management information. The official statistics on the Affordable Housing Investment Programme, and on other housing statistics, do not provide the specific detail requested but can be found at the housing statistics for Scotland web pages at: .

 

The following is the original answer (published on 28 September 2009); see below.

 

The following information on new council houses and New Supply Shared Equity properties built is for the five local authority areas that encompass the Highland and Islands parliamentary constituencies. Information on the number of houses built is not held by calendar year or by Scottish parliamentary constituency.

Council Houses: There were no units completed in the Highland and Islands parliamentary constituencies in 2007-08. One unit was completed in Orkney in 2008-09 and there are no completions anticipated in 2009-10.

We anticipate that 30 units will complete in 2010-11 as a result of Orkney Council''s award from the first round of funding to kick start a new generation of local authority homes

New Supply Shared Equity: The following table shows actual completion figures for 2007-08 and 2008-09 and anticipated completions for 2009-10. Figures are not yet available for 2010-11.

New Supply Shared Equity	2007-08 Actual	2008-09 Actual	2009-10 Estimate
Highland	66	138	180
Orkney	0	0	0
Shetland	0	6	0
Western Isles	0	0	2
Argyll and Bute	0	0	40
Total	66	144	222

 

The Open Market Shared Equity Pilot (OMSEP) started in The Highland Council area in 2008-09 and was introduced in Orkney, Shetland, Western Isles and Argyll and Bute in 2009-10. The Open Market Shared Equity Pilot allows eligible individuals to purchase a home from the open market and does not lead to a new property being built. The following table shows completed sales in each local authority area by financial year.

Open Market Shared Equity Pilot	Actual Sales 2008-09	Sales Target 2009-10
Highland	35	88
Orkney	0	5
Shetland	0	5
Western Isles	0	5
Argyll and Bute	0	17
Total	35	120

 

The actual sales figure in 2008-09 for Highland is an updated figure to that provided in the answer to question S3W-26078 on 17 August 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

.

The data provided in this report are based on management information. The official statistics on the Affordable Housing Investment Programme, and on other housing statistics, do not provide the specific detail requested but can be found at the housing statistics for Scotland web pages at .

The following table provides details of the Affordable Housing Investment Programme for 2009-10 for the five local authority areas that encompass the Highland and Islands parliamentary constituencies. Information is not held by calendar year or by Scottish parliamentary constituency.

	2009-10 £ Million
Highland	32.125
Orkney	7.904
Shetland	3.800
Western Isles	6.675
Argyle and Bute	24.675
Total	75.179

 

Funding for Local Authorities in 2010-11 and 2011-12 has not yet been agreed.

The Scottish Government supports first-time buyers through its Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT). This currently offers three options for first-time buyers in the Highlands and Islands:

1. New Supply Shared Equity or shared ownership. Properties are built buy a Registered Social Landlord and offered for sale to first-time buyer

2. Open Market Shared Equity. Eligible first time buyers can purchase properties being sold on the open market with a grant from Scottish Government.

3. Rural Home Ownership Grants. Eligible individuals can apply for a grant to build their own home.

No decisions have yet been taken on the availability of the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme beyond March 2010. Decisions on the scheme''s future in all areas of Scotland will be taken soon.