Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive will continue to press the European Commission to allow further simplification of the subsidy schemes on such things as form filling, proportionality of penalties, inspection procedures and detailed scheme rules.

The following table provides details of the cost of medical negligence claims over the last 10 years.

Financial Year	Total Award	Total Expenses	Total Cost
1992-93	£1,794,429	£277,558	£2,071,987
1993-94	£1,892,312	£252,290	£2,144,602
1994-95	£3,051,962	£342,016	£3,393,978
1995-96	£3,554,930	£569,043	£4,123,973
1996-97	£4,059,883	£535,621	£4,595,504
1997-98	£3,521,199	£623,936	£4,145,135
1998-99	£3,303,709	£653,383	£3,957,092
1999-2000	£2,955,357	£555,778	£3,511,135
2000-01	£3,925,462	£890,870	£4,816,332
2001-02	£6,462,315	£815,534	£7,277,849

There has been no comparison undertaken between compensation paid in these cases and what the levels of compensation may have been paid under a "no fault" health insurance scheme.There are currently no plans to alter the way in which compensation is claimed and settled for acts of possible clinical negligence. However, you will be aware that in response to the reports published earlier in the year, by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Executive established an expert group to look at current compensation arrangements for patients injured by the NHSScotland. This group is due to report by the end of 2002.

Highland Council's free personal and nursing care total allocation in 2002-03 was £4.106 million. Of this, £2.092 million was based on the most recent information available on the number of residents funding their own care in residential and nursing homes in that area. In addition, the council received £2.014 million which was distributed pro rata through the Grant Aided Expenditure formula for social work services for home-based older people. The Spending Review 2002 settlement reflects the Care Development Group's (CDG) costing assumptions for free personal care. The group took into account, as key influences, demography along with other relevant health and social factors, change in the unit costs of care, supply of informal care and possible shifts in care provision. Their assumptions estimated an increase in demand from unmet need and a shift from informal to formal care of approximately 12% building up over the first two years of the policy to 2004-05. The Executive provided resources in excess of those identified by the CDG.The Executive will be collecting data from local authorities on the uptake of free personal and nursing care on a quarterly basis. This will inform whether any adjustment of allocation is necessary.

The Scottish Executive's participation in the EU policy-making process is subject to the Concordat on the co-ordination of EU policy issues, which includes explicit provisions on the confidentiality of discussions.

The Scottish Executive does acknowledge the importance of milk as part of a balanced diet. An adequate calcium intake is essential for the formation of healthy bones, particularly in childhood, and dairy products, including milk, are a good source of calcium for children. Recognising the important part that milk can play, £380,000 a year is provided through the Health Improvement Fund as a top-up to the EC School Milk Subsidy Scheme to support the provision of milk in primary schools.In their interim report, the Expert Panel on School Meals devised Nutrient Standards for school lunches based on five food groups. They advised that school lunches should have at least one portion of food from the milk and dairy products group (which includes milk, cheese, yoghurt and milk-based deserts) and that milk as a drink should be available as an option at lunch time each day.There are also strong links between osteoporosis and physical activity and these have been considered as part of the work of the Physical Activity Task Force. The task force's draft report contains activity targets for children that are designed to promote good health.While many authorities provide free milk to some or all pupils, the decision on whether to do so is a matter for individual authorities. No data on an individual authority's policy is available centrally.

The title reflects the consensus which emerged from those who responded on this matter to the Scottish Natural Heritage consultation. That consensus favoured the use of "Cairngorms" in the title of the National Park, to differentiate between the single peak and the mountain range. The issue of the title of the park was not one highlighted by the Rural Development Committee in its letter to me of 14 October conveying the views of the committee following its evidence-taking sessions.

The Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme (SFGS) represents a major change from the current Woodland Grant Scheme and Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (both of which operate across Great Britain). Development of information systems to support SFGS is a significant task and, to ensure that the systems are properly developed and tested, the Forestry Commission has recently announced that applications for SFGS will not be accepted until June 2003, after which the scheme should be fully operational. This represents a two-month delay to the original target date of April 2003, but the existing grant schemes are being kept open for an additional two months to minimise any inconvenience to the industry. The necessary changes to the Scottish Rural Development Plan have been approved by the EU STAR (Agricultural Structures and Rural Development Committee), as announced on 19 November.

My answer to question S1W-26364 on 13 June 2002 provided details of a meeting on 4 September 2001, which was attended by representatives of Flour City International Inc, Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd, Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Ltd and the Holyrood Project Team. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that this was the only such meeting held and that issues concerning the MSP Building Cladding Package were discussed. He has also informed me that he is not aware of any meeting between Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Ltd and the representatives of Flour City International Inc or Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd, who attended the meeting on 4 September 2001, in connection with the new Scottish Parliament building project, prior to January 2001.

Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd submitted unsuccessful tender bids for four packages, other than their successful bid for the MSP Building Cladding package. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that identities of unsuccessful tender bidders would normally be classed as commercially confidential, we do not see any problem in providing this information in respect of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd, who are in receivership, but in this instance has provided the following information on the unsuccessful bids.

Trade Package	Date Tender Received
1. Assembly Building Specialist Glazing	04 May 2001
2. Assembly Building Windows	01 June 2001
3. Assembly Building Stone Cladding	12 June 2001
4. MSP Building Roofing	15 August 2001

Improvement works, such as the provision of footpaths, are identified and carried out on a needs basis taking into account safety and operational issues and setting these within the budgetary restraints and competing priorities across the entire trunk road network. A feasibility study into the provision of a footpath between South Laggan and the Well of the Seven Heads store is currently being undertaken by BEAR Scotland Ltd. In parallel, liaison with relevant agencies will also take place and the possibility of alternative funding arrangements will also be considered.