Chamber and committees

During the 18-month period from April 1998 to September 1999, there were two patient referrals from a health board area in the West of Scotland to the Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital. During the same 18-month period however, there were four referrals to Yorkhill Hospital from the Lothian Health Board area.

The Climate Change Levy is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive is engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the private and public sectors and has conveyed concerns, expressed by these sectors about the levy's impact in Scotland, to HM Government.

There is no general statutory definition of the term "emergency service". However, The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 made under the Road Traffic Act 1988 specify those vehicles designated as "emergency vehicles" which are empowered to be fitted with a blue warning beacon. In this regard, in addition to fire, ambulance and police vehicles, the regulations also cover specified vehicles used by the Forestry Commission, the Ministry of Defence, HM Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Coal Authority, and the Blood Transfusion Service.

The initial proposals announced during the passage of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 envisaged that the Land Register extension programme would last nine years from the date when the Land Register became operational. The Land Register first became operational in the County of Renfrew in April 1981.

This is a reserved matter.I understand that agreement has not yet been reached between the UK Government and the European Commission on a revised Assisted Areas map.

There is no doubt that there are important lessons to be learnt from the whole range of policies and practices adopted in other countries in response to the problem of drug related crime. The Scottish Executive is exploring how we might incorporate the most effective of them into our own judicial system.

The land register is in operation in the counties shown in Table A. The operation of the land register will be extended to counties currently outwith the scope of its operations in accordance with the extension programme shown in Table B. Approximately 40% of Scottish properties are registered in the land register.

Table A	Table B
Counties where the Land Register is operational	Land Register extension programme
Renfrew Dumbarton Lanark Glasgow Clackmannan Stirling West Lothian Fife Aberdeen Kincardine Ayr Dumfries Kirkcudbright Wigtown Angus Kinross Perth Berwick East Lothian Peebles Roxburgh Selkirk Argyll Bute	Midlothian 1 April 2001 Inverness 1 April 2002 Nairn " Banff 1 April 2003 Caithness " Moray " Orkney and Shetland " Ross and Cromarty " Sutherland "

The Public Health (Notification of Infectious Diseases) (Scotland) Regulations 1988 require medical practitioners to notify the following infectious diseases:

Anthrax

Bacillary Dysentery

Chickenpox

Cholera

Diphtheria

Erysipelas

Food Poisoning

Legionellosis

Leptospirosis

Lyme Disease

Malaria

Measles

Membranous Croup

Meningococcal Infection

Mumps

Paratyphoid Fever

Plague

Poliomyelitis

Puerperal Fever

Rabies

Relapsing Fever

Rubella

Scarlet Fever

Smallpox

Tetanus

Toxoplasmosis

Tuberculosis (Respiratory and Non-Respiratory)

Typhoid Fever

Typhus Fever

Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers (including Yellow Fever)

Viral Hepatitis

Whooping Cough

The current arrangements linking water and sewerage charges to council tax bands already provide substantial assistance to many less well-off households. 27% of all households in Scotland occupy Band A properties. These households pay only one third of the charge paid by those in Band H.Nevertheless, we recognise that affordability of water charges is an issue. That is why we are looking again at current arrangements. We shall consult widely on this before implementing any changes.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) has responsibility within The Scottish Executive Health Department for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. Although CSO is not directly funding research into myalgic encephalomyelitis at present they would be pleased to receive research applications.

CSO supports research indirectly through its allocation of some £30 million annually to the NHS in Scotland.

We are aware of eight research projects on myalgic encephalomyelitis which are either taking place or have recently been completed in Scotland. Details of these are available on the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).