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NHS Ayrshire and Arran has made significant progress in delivering improved patient care in the last year, in line with national policies, guidelines and frameworks; as evidenced at the NHS board''s annual review held in Irvine in September 2010.

On 9 February 2011 I will be launching a discussion paper on regeneration: Building a Sustainable Future. This discussion paper will provide an opportunity for regeneration practitioners and other stakeholders from national and local government, the wider public, private and third sectors, and communities themselves to come together to discuss and debate the key challenges and opportunities for regeneration in the future.

A copy of the regeneration paper is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52405).

There are no plans to review the Education Maintenance Allowance Scheme. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth announced in the draft budget statement on 17 November 2010 plans to continue the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme, consistent with the government''s commitment to support the least well off students in Scotland and open up opportunities for poorer families.

I informed elected members of the progress made so far, and outlined proposed next steps, at a briefing session which I held in Parliament on 16 September 2010.

A minute of the briefing will be made available shortly, once it has been finalised.

By 1 September 2010, 13 expressions of support had been received alongside approximately 15,500 objections to the Hunterston proposal.

The Justice Directorate has a sponsorship role for the Court of the Lord Lyon, however the court exercises its judicial functions independently and some aspects of the work are reserved as it is part of the Royal household.

This year a budget of £106,000 was allocated to the Court of the Lord Lyon. The accountable officer is Stella Manzie, Director General of Justice and Communities within the Scottish Government.

The table below sets out the budget allocation and the outturn figure for the Court of the Lord Lyon since 2005, which is the earliest year for which records are held internally within the Scottish Government. An outturn figure is not yet available for the current financial year. In addition to funding from Scottish Government the Court receives income from court fees, also shown in the table below. This is offset against their budget with the Scottish Government ultimately funding only the difference between their income and expenditure.

F/Y YEAR Budget Income Outturn £ £ 2005-06 103,000 68,850 90,700 2006-07 100,000 69,850 103,000 2007-08 99,000 58,000 102,500 2008-09 99,106 58,900 98,500 2009-10 101,238 82,864 109,000 2010-11 106,000     Total 608,344 338,464 503,700

 

Our national drug strategy, The Road to Recovery, published in  May 2008, is focused on recovery and the needs of the individual. NHS Ayrshire and Arran has received an extra 28% drug treatment funding since 2006-07.

Officials are working closely with NHS Ayrshire and Arran to help them meet the treatment waiting times target, that by March 2013, 90% of people who need help with their drug problem will wait no longer than three weeks for treatment. National Support Coordinators are working with the Alcohol and Drug Partnership in North Ayrshire, to support their efforts to tackle drug misuse.

The following table shows the Unitary Charge payments made by North Ayrshire in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the estimated Unitary Charge payments in each year onwards until the end of the contract. North Ayrshire Council were offered revenue support of £5.72 million per annum for 30 years, equivalent to an overall capped amount of £171.6 million, for their PFI school building project. The actual amount of Scottish Government support in each of the 30 years, adjusted to reflect the phased delivery of the project, is also shown in the table below.

Year	Unitary Charge (£ million)	Scottish Government Support (£ million)
2006-07	0.00	0.00
2007-08	3.82	2.25
2008-09	9.79	5.55
2009-10	9.96	5.66
2010-11	10.17	5.86
2011-12	10.34	5.86
2012-13	10.51	5.86
2013-14	10.69	5.86
2014-15	10.87	5.86
2015-16	11.05	5.86
2016-17	11.24	5.86
2017-18	11.43	5.86
2018-19	11.62	5.86
2019-20	11.81	5.86
2020-21	12.01	5.86
2021-22	12.21	5.86
2022-23	12.41	5.86
2023-24	12.62	5.86
2024-25	12.83	5.86
2025-26	13.04	5.86
2026-27	13.26	5.86
2027-28	13.48	5.86
2028-29	13.71	5.86
2029-30	13.94	5.86
2030-31	14.17	5.86
2031-32	14.41	5.86
2032-33	14.65	5.86
2033-34	14.90	5.86
2034-35	15.15	5.86
2035-36	15.40	5.86
2036-37	15.66	5.86
2037-38	9.29	0.00