§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the expenditure on the Scottish ambulance service for each of the past five years; what is the budget for the current year and for the next financial year; what representations have been made to him by the ambulance service about the adequacy or otherwise of such expenditure; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 14 March 1994]: The information on expenditure and budgets is as follows:
Year £1 1988–89 37,195,685 1989–90 41,227,960 1990–91 47,665,465 1991–92 57,294,250 1992–93 66,042,161 1993–94 67,008,000 1994–95 70,141,000 1 The figures include capital. Like other public services, funding for the Common Services Agency, of which the Scottish ambulance service is a division, is considered as part of the public expenditure survey programme.
Funding for the Scottish ambulance service has been increased from £12,865,100 in 1979 to £70,141,000 in 1994—an increase of 82.75 per cent. in real terms.
§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the position of the Scottish ambulance service in relation to the citizens charter; what is the response time expected for an emergency call; and what arrangements are made for the monitoring of the speed of response to emergency calls.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 14 March 1994]: The position of the Scottish ambulance service under the 665W citizens charter is set out in its charter standard statement. The target response times given for an ambulance to respond to an emergency call vary according to population density and are:
95 per cent, of calls within minutes Dense population (more than 3 people per acre) 14 Medium population (between 0.5 and 3 people per acre) 18 Sparse population (less than 0.5 people per acre) 21 The time taken for each response is recorded and analysed by the Scottish ambulance service. This information is made available on a regular basis to the board of the Common Services Agency of which the Scottish ambulance service is a division.