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The number of births per whole time equivalent NHS midwife by NHS Board in each year since 1999 are shown in the following table.

All births¹ per whole time equivalent NHS midwife by NHS board of treatment

Sources: SMR02, SWISS, ISDScotland

Notes:

1. All live and still births.

2. Includes cases where NHS Board of treatment was not recorded.

3. The dissolution of NHS Argyll and Clyde took effect from 1 April 2006. From 2006, staff from NHS Argyll and Clyde transferred to NHS Highland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

4. All births data is based on financial year to 31 March. Midwifery staff in post data is as at 30 September within the relevant financial year, for example all births data for the year to 31 March 1999 is divided by midwifery staff in post as at 30 September 1998.

5. 2006 midwifery data is not available due to assimilation to Agenda for Change.

Table 1 details how much has been spent on the NHS in Scotland, broken down by each NHS board area and special health boards:

Table 1: Total NHS Spend Since 1999-2000, Broken Down by NHS Board

Table 1 (continued)

Due to baseline adjustments and technical accounting changes, expenditure figures are not directly comparable with previous years.

Table 2 contains details of the spend on NHS maternity services in each board area in each year since 1999-2000:

Table 2: Total NHS Maternity Spend, Broken Down by NHS Board

Table 2 (continued)

NHS Argyll and Clyde was dissolved at the end of 2005-06 and responsibilities were transferred to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (previously NHS Greater Glasgow) and NHS Highland. This means that pre 2005-06 figures are not directly comparable with post 2005-06 for these two boards.

The total number of pre-registration midwifery students receiving bursaries, (including allowances and placement expenses), the average bursary and the total cost of bursaries from 1999-2000 to 2009-10 in the following table:

This data has been supplied by the Students Awards Agency for Scotland and is the most up to date available.

The Scottish Government is aware of the briefing sheets produced by the Scottish Assembly for Tackling Poverty 2011 and we note the points raised within them.

In 2009, 770,000 households (33%) were estimated to be in fuel poverty.

The Scottish Government remains committed to eradicating fuel poverty in Scotland by 2016 as far as practicably possible. The number of people in fuel poverty at any given time is determined by income levels, energy prices and the energy efficiency of their homes. We have seen fuel price rises recently by Scottish Power that have clearly impacted on the number of people affected by fuel poverty.

Energy prices are dictated by markets and regulation of the energy companies is reserved to Westminster. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth has written to OfGEM seeking discussions with them and urging that they build on their Retail Market Review to deliver a radical simplification of tariff structures including considering possible compulsory tariffs for the fuel poor. OfGEM subsequently announced, on 22 June 2011, that it would press ahead with a radical overhaul of the retail energy market, including looking at sweeping away complex tariffs.

No.

If the price increases announced by Scottish Power were replicated by the other suppliers, up to 169,000 more households would be placed into fuel poverty.

It is an employer’s responsibility to train staff. Employers must ensure that all those working in their services have the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out their role.

The National Care Standards clearly state that services must have policies and procedures in place which cover all legal requirements, including staffing and training. This includes having a staff development strategy and effective training plans in place for all staff.

Employers are responsible for the training and continuous learning of their employees.

Bodies such as Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for the social services sector, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority amongst others, support employers in training their workforce.

There is guidance and tools available to all employers in the social services sector which supports the identification, level and quality of training required for their employees. This includes the SSSC Code of Practice, National Occupational Standards, Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework and the Continuous Learning Framework.