Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is not aware of any trials in Scotland related to the effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). However, I am aware that there have been over 90 randomised controlled trials related to various forms of NRT undertaken elsewhere. I understand that they have found that NRT is effective in aiding smoking cessation.

Guidance was issued to health boards in April 1999 on extending and developing NHS' efforts to help people stop smoking. The Scottish Executive has allocated an additional £1 million per annum over the period 1999-2000 to 2001-02 on smoking cessation services. Health boards are required to monitor and evaluate the success of their smoking cessation initiatives including the use of NRT.

When I established the committee I indicated that I would undertake consultation with relevant parties before decisions were made. No decisions on the funding of the McCrone recommendations are possible prior to the outcome of those discussions.

When I established the committee I made clear that I intended to consult widely on the committee's recommendations with the relevant parties. I outlined the detail of that process in written PQ (S1W-7089) on 24 May. The first stage of meetings and discussions has begun and will continue through the summer. In the autumn I intend to chair the Implementation Group which will have all the key parties represented. My aim remains to make progress towards an agreement for implementation from April 2001.

It has been the long-standing policy of successive Governments that only inpatients should receive medicines and appliances free of charge.

However, prescription charges are only applied to those who can afford to pay and there is an extensive exemption and reimbursement scheme to protect the most vulnerable patients. Many people qualify for total or partial exemption on low income grounds or because they are in receipt of any number of benefits. The Scottish Executive has no current plans to alter the prescription charge categories.

In my answer to Karen Whitefield on 15 June (question S1W-7983) I set out the conclusions reached by the Executive following consultation on the paper A New Single Tenancy for Scotland: Rights, Obligations and Opportunities. This confirmed that the Executive plans to legislate to introduce a common set of enhanced statutory rights for all tenants of social landlords.

Specifically in relation to the right to buy for current housing association tenants, our conclusion is that those tenants who currently have this right should continue to be able to exercise it on existing terms and conditions. Similarly the current provisions for exemption from the right to buy for housing associations with charitable status will continue and accommodation within sheltered housing and other group housing schemes for persons with particular needs will also be exempt.

We have given careful consideration to the representations made by housing associations in relation to those houses let since 1989 on assured tenancies which do not give tenants a right to buy. To ensure that the new tenancy arrangements do not create financial difficulties for housing associations, these houses will be exempt from the right to buy for a period of 10 years unless housing associations themselves decide to allow relevant tenants to have the new "modernised" right to buy (details of which were set out in my recent answer to Karen Whitefield).

We have also concluded that in some areas, to be designated by local authorities with the approval of Scottish Ministers as "pressured" because of the difficulties in meeting the demand for new socially rented houses, the right to buy could be suspended for all new and re-let housing association and council housing for a specific period.Further details of our proposals will be set out in the forthcoming Consultation Paper on the Housing Bill which I plan to issue shortly.

It is not possible to estimate the costs to the individual of nicotine replacement therapy because these will vary according to the preparation and dosage used, and the stage of treatment.

Transfers offer opportunities for new initiatives to promote owner occupation and to assist existing owners. These opportunities should be considered by those developing transfer proposals. In general, however, before buying any property, prospective purchasers would be well advised to commission a survey and take into account the costs of future repairs and maintenance.

Advice provided by the Scottish Executive gives health education, including about tobacco and smoking, a secure place within the curriculum and seeks to ensure that it is provided in all schools.

Individual Learning Accounts are designed to help people overcome the financial barriers to learning and to encourage them to undertake and invest in their own learning throughout their lifetime. They will be available to all people aged 18 and over. The incentives and discounts available under ILAs, however, will not be able to be used for such education or training where the individual is already supported by scholarships, grants or other allowances paid out of public funds. It would be inappropriate to provide the benefit of both forms of public support for the same learning.

I refer to the answer I gave to question S1W-7271.