Together with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations, we are planning to commission a review of the current disaggregated greenhouse gas inventory that will include investigating whether data can be published earlier.

As a sponsor of the Committee on Climate Change the Scottish Government will play an active role to ensure that Scottish issues are adequately considered. The UK Climate Change Bill enables the Scottish ministers to request advice in relation to Scottish emissions targets. The bill also requires the committee to take account of differences in circumstances between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland when advising on UK carbon budgets.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing carbon emissions across government. In respect of the buildings on the core estate of the Scottish Government, the information requested is provided in Scottish Government Environmental Performance Annual Report for 2006-07, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44178). The report can also be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/12/06160436/3.

In Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007, we made a commitment to develop a carbon assessment tool that can be applied across Government spending. Work on this initiative is progressing.

The percentage acute bed occupancy for hospitals in NHS Lothian is shown in the following table.

NHSScotland - Average bed occupancy¹, NHS Lothian Area Years Ending 31 March 2005-08

	2005	2006	2007	2008P
All Locations	85.3	84.4	85.0	85.8
Astley Ainslie Hospital	88.4	86.1	86.2	83.7
Belhaven Hospital	66.6	73.3	73.4	72.8
Corstorphine Hospital	92.9	83.2	88.5	83.3
Craigshill Care Home	89.7	93.4	79.9	87.3
Edenhall Hospital	78.4	77.5	76.4	82.2
Edington Cottage Hospital	78.5	67.9	73.8	86.7
Ellen''s Glen House	94.0	92.5	93.3	96.2
Ferryfield House	96.4	96.9	95.7	87.0
Findlay House	89.8	91.9	88.1	81.1
Herdmanflat Hospital	74.6	72.2	66.3	72.3
Learning Disabilities Service Healthcare Houses	91.7	98.5	95.5	96.5
Liberton Hospital	90.1	91.0	89.2	90.7
Loanhead Hospital	87.1	79.4	86.9	82.0
Murray Park Nursing Home	91.2	96.1	97.5	98.6
Princess Alexandra Eye Pavillion	35.8	36.8	33.6	33.3
Roodlands General Hospital	85.5	82.8	85.1	86.6
Rosslynlee Hospital	56.7	50.3	44.9	60.2
Royal Edinburgh Hospital	86.1	84.3	89.5	87.2
Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Edinburgh)	68.0	66.3	66.0	68.7
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France	85.3	85.7	85.7	87.1
Royal Victoria Hospital	96.0	94.2	96.0	92.7
St Columba''s Hospice	77.1	82.0	79.6	82.7
St John''s Hospital	81.2	79.7	81.3	80.9
St Michael''s Hospital	84.3	82.2	85.6	84.2
The Greenbank Centre	98.4	98.4	95.8	86.4
Tippethill Hospital	84.1	88.8	87.5	91.0
Western General Hospital	88.4	88.6	89.5	90.9
Whitburn House	89.5	88.9	87.5	71.6
William Fraser Centre	99.2	102.7	95.9	98.4

Source: ISD Scotland (ISD(S)1).

^PProvisional, some information is estimated.

Notes:

1. Percentage occupancy is the percentage of available staffed beds that were occupied by inpatients during the year It is derived as total occupied bed days/all available staffed bed days*100.

2. The figures presented in the table include beds for use by NHS patients that are located in non-NHS locations, for example joint-user and contractual hospitals.

The Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland collects data on Crohn''s disease relating to the number of people who are discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of Crohn''s disease. As these data do not include people with the condition who are being managed outwith hospital, they cannot shed light on any trends in its incidence.

ISD is developing a Long Term Conditions Information Programme which will underpin a systematic approach to the management in Scotland of conditions such as Crohn''s disease.

Crohn''s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) is currently funding three projects relating to IBD at a total cost of £492,000. The Scottish Government is not, however, currently funding research looking specifically at the incidence of Crohn''s disease.

The Register of Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, based at the Institute of Child Health within the University of Liverpool, aims is to establish incidence figures and trends for all patients under the age of 16 who are newly diagnosed with IBD from 47 selected centres in Scotland, England and Wales. One of the aims of the register is to promote research projects.

The Scottish Government encourages the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Water to work cooperatively with others involved in flood management. We intend to introduce a bill which seeks to establish a framework of duties to ensure that flood management planning is coordinated across a catchment.

We will introduce a bill to establish a framework within which local authorities can involve stakeholders, including farmers, in managing flood risk.

Under the new rural priorities element of the Scotland rural development programme it is possible for farmers and other land managers to apply for funding to carry out activities contributing to flood management. However, at the first assessment round no proposals were approved which address this specific outcome.

Under the new rural priorities element of the Scotland rural development programme it is possible for farmers and other land managers to apply for funding to carry out activities contributing to flood management. However, at the first assessment round no proposals were approved which address this specific outcome.