Chamber and committees

I refer to the ministerial statement I gave to the Parliament on 17 April 2008.

A thorough value for money assessment was undertaken including extensive modelling. The principles of awarding an extension were carefully examined. The supporting evidence and information is commercially confidential therefore restricting its publication.

I met the Venezuelan Ambassador on 21 February to discuss links between Scotland and Venezuela. The Scottish Government has no current plans to establish further links with Venezuela.

The gender equalityduty, which came into force in April 2007, requires the Scottish Government to demonstratehow it is promoting equality of opportunity and eliminating unlawful discriminationand harassment. As part of a suite of measures to implement this duty (i.e. to promoteequality of opportunity between women and men), our approach to extreme pornographywas set out as part of the Scottish Government’s Gender Equality Scheme which containsan action on extreme pornography, it states:

“There is significant public disapproval of extreme pornographicimages and mixed evidence about links between viewing images and subsequent criminalaction. There are also concerns about harm to those involved in the making of pornography(predominantly women) and impacts of pornography on attitudes to women. This isan area that we believe merits further exploration. We have consulted on new lawto prohibit extreme pornographic images, and will now work to implement the outcomeof the consultation”

The publication, saleor distribution of obscene material in Scotland is an offence under section 51 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. The Scottish Government is currently consideringproposals to create a Scottish offence of possession of extreme pornographic materialin the light of the joint consultation undertaken with the Home Office in 2005.

We have no plans at present to reconstitute the Expert Group on Prostitution. However, I have suggested that the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament might wish to consider a number of wider prostitution issues, such as indoor prostitution, which were highlighted during the passage of the Prostitution  (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007.

We are currently working with the police, local authorities, non-governmental organisations and the UK Government to implement the joint UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking, developed following public consultation. We are also working to ensure that Scotland becomes fully compliant with the terms of the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

We understandthat all Scottish airports are meeting the requirements set out by theDepartment for Transport (Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate –TRANSEC), which is the security regulator in the UK.

We understand thatBAA Glasgow is meeting the requirements set out by theDepartment for Transport (Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate – TRANSEC)which is the security regulator in the UK.

We understand thatBAA Glasgow is meeting the requirements set out by theDepartment for Transport (Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate – TRANSEC)which is the security regulator in the UK.

NHS Lanarkshire arecurrently looking at their original plans to produce revised proposals to enableaccident and emergency services to continue at all three sites in Lanarkshire. Irecently announced the full membership of the Independent Scrutiny Panel under theChairmanship of Dr Andrew Walker and the panel has commenced work to scrutiniseand evaluate the board’s proposals. I have agreed with the board that the revisedproposals should be with me for a final decision by the turn of the year. Therefore,it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time on what the board’s proposalsmight be.

The Scottish government’sPublic Health and Wellbeing Directorate, togetherwith  the Chief Medical Officer Directorate and the Food Standards Agency Scotland, are currently considering the detailedconclusions of the position statement, Update on Vitamin D, published inMay 2007 by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) whichincludes a suggestion that a public health strategy and guidance on vitamin Dsupplementation is necessary.

There is currently a rangeof public health information available on the importance of vitamin D. Themajority of this is aimed at women during pregnancy, and at supporting women,babies, young children and families. For example Ready, Steady Baby, Fun FirstFoods and Ready, Steady Toddler all highlight the importance of vitamin D. Inaddition information is also targeted at older people in respect of  bonehealth and vitamin D.

Pregnant women and childrenunder four in families receiving certain benefits can receive free vitamins(either drops or tablets both of which include vitamin D3) as part of HealthyStart.

All of this will be takeninto account when considering a future public health strategy and guidance forhealth professionals on the importance of vitamin D supplementation.

There have been no Scottish surveysof vitamin D status of the whole Scottish population.

There are Scottish participantsin the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) and also the recently completedUK Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey (LIDNS). However, the low sample size precludesdetailed analyses of individual population sub-groups, such as all-Scotland or specificvulnerable groups across the UK.

I have also been advised by theFood Standards Agency Scotland that they are aware of a number of ad-hoc surveysconducted in Scotland which include the measurement of vitamin D intake and/orstatus in vulnerable groups; these include elderly people and pregnant women.

The Food Standards Agency Scotlandhave recommended the inclusion of a measure of vitamin D status in the next ScottishHealth Survey and are currently in discussion with the Public Health and WellbeingDirectorate and the analytical services division of the Health Finance Directorate.