Each NHS board receives ageneral allocation of funds. It is for Boards to decide how best to utilisethese funds to meet the health care needs of their resident population,including mental health services, taking account of national and localpriorities.

The expenditure on mentalhealth services, prescription drugs and anti-depressants as defined above as a% of total NHS budgets, over the previous five years is shown in the following table.

Financial Year	Expenditure on Mental Health Services as a % of Total NHS Budget1	Expenditure on Prescription Drugs as a % of Total NHS Budget1,2	Expenditure on Anti-Depressants as a % of Total NHS Budget1,2
2004-05	9.4%	13.0%	1.4%
2003-04	10.0%	16.6%	1.6%
2002-03	10.6%	14.9%	1.6%
2001-02	10.5%	14.2%	1.5%
2000-01	9.4%	12.9%	1.2%

Notes:

1. The total NHS budget istaken as the unified revenue allocation for regional health boards and does notinclude special health boards or central expenditure by the health departmentexcept for the State Hospital board, which shows expenditure on mental healthservices and has been included within the mental health expenditure above.

2. The board’s expenditureon prescription drugs and anti-depressants is taken to mean only thoseprescribed by GPs and dispensed by contracted pharmacies or dispensing doctorsand does not include the expenditure on drugs dispensed within hospitals. Theinformation for anti-depressants is provided by the Information ServicesDivision of NHS National Services Scotland.

This is a matter for NHSScotlandBodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

The funding of recyclinginitiatives is a matter of local NHS board policy and no central monitoring isundertaken on the way in which funds are allocated.

In recognition of the needto ensure NHSScotland Bodies comply with the ScottishExecutive’s principles and policies on sustainable development, the ScottishExecutive Health Department’s recently revised Environmental ManagementPolicy for NHSScotlandNHSHDL(2006)21requires NHSScotland Bodies to set year-on-year targets for increasing theamounts of waste designated for re-use, recycling or recovery. These targetsare required to be set by individual boards, in accordance with EU, UK andScottish Executive legislation, to contribute to the Executive’s National WastePlan which aims to achieve a national target of 25% recycling and composting ofmunicipal waste by 2006 and 55% by 2020.

Operational guidance on themanagement and disposal of clinical and domestic waste is provided to NHSScotlandby Health Facilities Scotland.

NHSScotland has long beenrecognised as a leader in the field on environmental management which has beenwidely recognised elsewhere in the UK and more recently by the European Health PropertyNetwork.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25864 on 19 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25864 on 19 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-25864 answered on 19 May 2006. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, thesearch facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25865 on 19 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The British MedicalAssociation (BMA), NHS boards and NHS Education for Scotland are members of theModernising Medical Careers (MMC) Scottish Delivery Group and are thereforefully involved in overseeing MMC implementation.  There is also regular contactwith the General Medical Council (GMC) which, in collaboration with thePostgraduate Medical and Training Board (PMETB), recently undertook aninspection of a pilot programme of Quality Assurance of MMC Foundation Trainingin the North of Scotland.

Modernising Medical Careers willbe phased in as specialty training programmes are introduced from August 2007. Thelength of the period of phased introduction will be determined by implementationthat does not compromise patient safety and trainee careers.