§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of emergency and urgent patients in the Largs area have been required to travel in single-manned ambulances in each of the past three years; and if he has any proposals to reduce this figure.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythFigures have not been collected routinely by the Scottish ambulance service on the number of emergency and urgent journeys undertaken by single-manned ambulances. However, the practice of single-manning is undesirable and over the years I have increased the resources for the Scottish ambulance service. For the coming year I have given an additional £2 million to be specifically targeted at a reduction in the number of single-manned ambulances.