Chamber and committees

We will be implementing the CAP subsidy rules as flexibly as possible where producers have been unable to comply with these due to the foot and mouth disease restrictions. We will also be making balance and other payments under the schemes as early as possible to address cash flow problems.We will issue a letter shortly to all livestock producers in Scotland providing more detail on the scheme rule flexibilities and the future schedule of payments. A copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

People are treated in a variety of settings by the NHS, for example as inpatients to hospital, through outpatient clinics (consultant and nurse led), by their GP and by community health visitor or other community health teams contacts. Although information on some of these forms of treatment is gathered centrally, a number of contacts with the NHS are not recorded centrally, for example visits to nurse-led clinics.Centrally-collected information about contacts with the NHS (for example number of inpatient and day case discharges) is available on the ISD Online website at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd.

The Executive is indeed aware of the Detox-5 treatment for heroin addiction which, I understand, is being used by drug problem services in Lothian and Grampian. It is open to health boards to commission local NHS services to meet a particular purpose, if such a service is cost-effective. Guidance, intended primarily for doctors but disseminated widely, was given in the 1999 publication Drug Misuse and Dependence - Guidelines on Clinical Management, to which the then Scottish Office Department of Health contributed. The guidelines recognised the use of Naltrexone, on which Detox-5 is based, but concluded that the effectiveness and safety of rapid detoxification treatment methods had not yet been established.We will learn more about the longer-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different treatments from the five-year outcomes research study commissioned by the Robertson Trust from the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research at Glasgow University. The Scottish Executive has appointed an advisory group drawn from clinicians, social work, community care and drug action teams to support this study. The Executive has also set up the new Effective Interventions Unit to examine and promote best practice in the management of the treatment of drug misusers.

I am pleased to announce that the latest progress report of action to implement our wide-ranging Land Reform Action Plan is published today. All MSPs are receiving copies, and the report is also available on the Scottish Executive website and in the Parliament's Reference Centre.Members should note that, since the last progress report: - legislation to reform leasehold casualties received Stage 1 approval on 10 January 2001 and Stage 2 was passed on 14 February 2001; - the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and the draft Scottish Outdoor Access Code were issued for consultation on 22 February 2001; - the Scottish Land Fund was launched on 26 February 2001.

Zanamivir (Relenza) is available on the NHS to treat at-risk adults. The use of this medicine depends on the clinical judgement of the medical practitioner concerned, informed by evidence and advice about its use including guidance issued by the Scottish Executive Health Department on 8 December 2000.

Following consideration of applications from some authorities, I am able to announce the following allocations which will enable the authorities to take forward work on feasibility studies into possible further school Public private partnership projects:

Aberdeenshire Council	£242,000
Angus Council	£136,000
Argyll and Bute Council	£200,000
Dumfries and Galloway Council	£466,000
Dundee City Council	£305,000
East Ayrshire Council	£320,000
East Dunbartonshire Council	£125,000
East Lothian Council	£412,000
East Renfrewshire Council	£255,000
Fife Council	£295,000
Glasgow City Council	£150,000
Highland Council	£411,000
Inverclyde Council	£150,000
Midlothian Council	£140,000
North Ayrshire Council	£ 30,000
North Lanarkshire Council	£443,000
Renfrewshire Council	£245,000
South Lanarkshire Council	£245,000
Stirling Council	£130,000
West Dunbartonshire Council	£125,000
West Lothian Council	£138,000

We have written today to all authorities informing them of the decision.

I understand that the Registrar General is today issuing a policy statement on marriages at Gretna in the light of recent concerns. His statement outlines the legal background to the solemnisation of marriages in Scotland, summarises recent marriage trends at Gretna and sets out the main considerations taken into account by the Registrar General in carrying out his responsibilities under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. The Registrar General hopes that his statement will be a useful source of guidance to religious bodies, who also have responsibilities under the Act. Copies of the statement have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Action is being taken on a number of fronts. A review of registration charges has already been conducted and the proposals subjected to public consultation. I expect to announce a new charging regime in the near future.A review of Schedule 4 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act is also being undertaken, in co-operation with the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR) and the Welsh Assembly. In addition, Executive officials are working closely with DETR to ensure that current administrative arrangements for the registration of birds are as streamlined and straightforward as possible.

The Commission has recently published a working paper on the presence of GM seeds in seeds of conventional varieties and this is being made available for consultation among interested organisations. I have arranged for copies of the Commission proposals to be available in SPICe.The draft proposals include provisions on GM threshold levels in conventional seeds, time restrictions in relation to previous crops grown on the same land, isolation distances of seed crops of conventional cross-pollinating varieties, the labelling of packages of seeds and examinations for compliance with these requirements.

I recently announced an additional £17.2 million in the current financial year to assist authorities in dealing with immediate repairs, maintenance and equipment problems in schools. In addition, by 2003-04 capital allocations for local authority investment in infrastructure will have increased by nearly 40% compared with current levels. We are also providing revenue support for school Public/Private Partnership schemes with a capital value of £530 million. I hope to be able to announce decisions on the allocation of a further £5 million to support early development of potential school PPP projects in the near future.