Chamber and committees

It is open to someone who ownsa property in common with another person to raise an action for division, or anaction for division and sale. This would mean that the court orders either the divisionof the property, or its sale and the division of the proceeds. The Matrimonial Homes(Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 gives the court the power to regulate occupancyof a family home. Section 19 of the 1981 act gives the court power torefuse to grant or to postpone the granting of decree where the property in questionis a matrimonial home.

The Family Law (Scotland) Act1985 regulates the division of matrimonial property on divorce. In addition, theFamily Law (Scotland) Act 2006 amended the 1981 act in several places. Section5 introduced a two year time bar to the right of certain spouses to occupy a matrimonialhome. This means that such a spouse will cease to have the right to occupy thematrimonial home following two years of non-cohabitation during which the spousehas not occupied the home.

Section 8 provides that wherecertain applications under the 1981 act are made to the court within the two yearperiod, the “clock stops” once the court action is raised, and starts again oncethe action is determined.

Anyone affected by this issueshould seek legal advice.

Nursing care payments are providedto self-funders in care homes. Local authorities carry out an assessment of theperson’s needs in relation to activities of daily living, difficult behaviours andcomplex clinical need. There must be appropriateregistered nurse input, for example in the assessment process and supervision of the care prescribed. Local authorities havediscretion to make nursing care payments, based on the assessments carried out.

Section 9 of the Further andHigher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 sets out how ministers can make grants to theFunding Council. Section 9 (11) precludes ministers from setting terms and conditionsrelating to the funding of particular institutions.

The proportion of the total populationof each local authority area that started a higher education course in (a) 2003-04and (b) 2004-05 is shown in the following tables. The data for 2005-06 are not yetavailable.

Entrants to Higher Education2003-04 as a Percentage of Resident Population

2003-04	Total	Postgraduate	First Degree	Other Undergraduate
Aberdeen, City of	3.1%	0.5%	0.9%	1.6%
Aberdeenshire	2.7%	0.4%	0.9%	1.4%
Angus	2.6%	0.3%	0.9%	1.4%
Argyll and Bute	2.1%	0.3%	0.8%	1.1%
Clackmannanshire	2.2%	0.3%	0.7%	1.2%
Dumfries and Galloway	1.8%	0.3%	0.7%	0.9%
Dundee, City of	2.7%	0.3%	1.0%	1.4%
East Ayrshire	2.2%	0.2%	0.6%	1.4%
East Dunbartonshire	3.4%	0.6%	1.1%	1.7%
East Lothian	1.8%	0.2%	0.7%	0.9%
East Renfrewshire	3.1%	0.6%	1.1%	1.4%
Edinburgh, City of	2.5%	0.5%	0.9%	1.1%
Falkirk	1.9%	0.2%	0.6%	1.1%
Fife	2.5%	0.3%	0.7%	1.5%
Glasgow, City of	2.8%	0.4%	0.6%	1.7%
Highland	2.3%	0.3%	0.7%	1.3%
Inverclyde	2.6%	0.3%	0.7%	1.7%
Midlothian	1.8%	0.2%	0.6%	1.0%
Moray	2.2%	0.2%	0.7%	1.3%
North Ayrshire	2.7%	0.3%	0.7%	1.8%
North Lanarkshire	2.2%	0.3%	0.7%	1.3%
Orkney	2.7%	0.4%	0.9%	1.4%
Perth and Kinross	2.3%	0.3%	0.9%	1.1%
Renfrewshire	2.6%	0.3%	0.7%	1.5%
Scottish Borders	1.7%	0.3%	0.7%	0.7%
Shetland	2.8%	0.4%	0.8%	1.6%
South Ayrshire	2.5%	0.3%	0.8%	1.4%
South Lanarkshire	2.3%	0.3%	0.8%	1.2%
Stirling	2.4%	0.5%	0.8%	1.2%
West Dunbartonshire	2.4%	0.3%	0.7%	1.4%
West Lothian	2.2%	0.2%	0.6%	1.3%
Eilean Siar	2.9%	0.3%	0.9%	1.6%
All Scottish Domiciles	2.5%	0.4%	0.8%	1.4%

Note: Percentages have been roundedto one decimal place.

 

Entrants to Higher Education2004-05 as a Percentage of Resident Population

2004-05	Total	Postgraduate	First Degree	Other Undergraduate
Aberdeen, City of	2.8%	0.5%	0.8%	1.5%
Aberdeenshire	2.5%	0.3%	0.8%	1.4%
Angus	2.4%	0.2%	0.8%	1.4%
Argyll and Bute	1.9%	0.3%	0.6%	1.1%
Clackmannanshire	2.0%	0.3%	0.6%	1.1%
Dumfries and Galloway	1.8%	0.2%	0.6%	1.0%
Dundee, City of	2.8%	0.3%	1.0%	1.5%
East Ayrshire	2.4%	0.2%	0.6%	1.6%
East Dunbartonshire	3.3%	0.5%	1.1%	1.8%
East Lothian	1.7%	0.2%	0.6%	0.9%
East Renfrewshire	3.2%	0.5%	1.1%	1.6%
Edinburgh, City of	2.4%	0.5%	0.8%	1.1%
Falkirk	1.7%	0.2%	0.5%	1.0%
Fife	2.4%	0.2%	0.7%	1.5%
Glasgow, City of	2.8%	0.4%	0.6%	1.8%
Highland	2.1%	0.2%	0.6%	1.2%
Inverclyde	2.6%	0.2%	0.7%	1.7%
Midlothian	1.8%	0.2%	0.5%	1.1%
Moray	2.5%	0.2%	0.6%	1.6%
North Ayrshire	2.6%	0.2%	0.6%	1.8%
North Lanarkshire	2.2%	0.2%	0.6%	1.3%
Orkney	2.7%	0.4%	0.6%	1.7%
Perth and Kinross	2.1%	0.3%	0.8%	1.1%
Renfrewshire	2.9%	0.3%	0.7%	1.9%
Scottish Borders	1.7%	0.3%	0.6%	0.8%
Shetland	2.6%	0.3%	0.9%	1.5%
South Ayrshire	2.8%	0.3%	0.7%	1.8%
South Lanarkshire	2.2%	0.3%	0.7%	1.2%
Stirling	2.3%	0.5%	0.7%	1.1%
West Dunbartonshire	2.3%	0.3%	0.6%	1.5%
West Lothian	2.1%	0.2%	0.6%	1.3%
Eilean Siar	2.5%	0.2%	0.8%	1.5%
All Scottish Domiciles	2.4%	0.3%	0.7%	1.4%

Note: Percentages have been roundedto one decimal place.

The six-month pilot targets theGrampian Police area where there have been a particularly high and worrying levelof fatal accidents involving young drivers. The scheme will be monitored to evaluateits success in increasing the uptake of Pass Plus, compared with the current level.The Executive will then consider the roll out of the scheme across Scotland.

The Deputy Minister, officialsand I have discussed the matter with representatives of the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Funding Council on a number of occasions. Only last week,the Deputy Minister had a discussion with the Chair of the Scottish Funding Counciland a meeting with the Principal of the University of Glasgow on 23 February 2007.

If an individual considers thatthe evidence provided by a person in an affidavit is false then they should bringthis to the attention of the court dealing with the proceedings in which the affidavithas been lodged. The court will then decide what course of action should be taken.

If an individual believes thata criminal offence has been committed they may also report the matter directly tothe police for investigation.

Licensing of medicines is reservedand is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The agency has advised that Coproxamolis being phased out of the market gradually to give patients time to discuss theirtreatment with their doctor and change to a suitable alternative. Continued provision of Coproxamol through normal prescribingmay continue until the cancellation of the licences at the end of 2007. Followingcancellation of the licences there will be scope for the prescription of unlicensedco-proxamol. There is clear provision in legislation which gives the right to theprescriber to prescribe off-label or unlicensed medicines when this is judged tobe in the best interests of the patient.

So where there is a clear clinicalneed, it will still be possible to prescribe Coproxamol but in a way that is moretargeted, with a stronger focus on the risk:benefit judgment for the particularpatient, and involvement of the patient in the decision.

I am pleased to announce thelaunch today of Building our Legacy, our new statement on architecture policy. Thestatement sets out what we believe is an ambitious agenda, responding to emergingchallenges and building further upon theaims of Scotland’s policy on architecture, published in 2001. The documentis available online at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications.

The statement will be launchedtoday to an invited audience of stakeholders during my visit to The Lighthouse,Scotland’s Centre for Architecture, Design and the City.

The Scottish Medicines Consortiumnoted this month that Sutent ® (sunitinib) is not recommended for use within NHSScotland for the treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma afterfailure of interferon-alpha or interleukin-2 therapy.