Chamber and committees

The Millan Committee, in its report New Directions, which was published on 25 January, recommends the introduction of a community order, where a patient meets the criteria for compulsory measures. The Executive is considering the report and proposes to publish a policy statement in the summer, setting out, as promised in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, proposals for a modern legislative framework to meet the needs of people with a mental illness who require care and support, both in hospital and the community.

Over the period 2001-03, up to £4,000,000 will be made available through sportscotland and about £1,000,000 will be made available from Reduction in Pools Betting Duty monies.

The settlement provides local authorities with an additional £1.2 billion in Scottish Executive support over the next three years and with the stability of firm three-year grant figures. This should enable them to improve the range and quality of local services, including sport and cultural facilities, although it is for each authority to determine its service priorities.

The core telecommunications networks in Scotland provided by operators such as BT, Thus and Energis, all are engineered as Integrated Digital Networks. The fibre backbone extends from Wick in the Highlands, through central Scotland and into Galashiels in the South of Scotland. The principle challenge is to ensure that advanced digital services are extended out to individual customers - the so-called "last mile" problem. The Scottish Executive is working to promote conditions for the most rapid and comprehensive provision of such services.

The position in Scotland regarding retention of organs following post-mortem examination is set out in detail in the Report of the independent Review Group on the Retention of Organs at Post-Mortem published on 6 February 2001.The Executive is seeking urgent changes to the law to make it clear that parents' consent must be sought to the retention of children's organs at post-mortem, and to make it an offence to retain organs without such consent.

The sum of Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limits and Non-Domestic Rate Income, as a proportion of UK GDP, is set out in the table. Over the period, DEL + NDRI has grown by 15.5% in real terms.

	Scottish DEL + NDRI as a proportion of UK GDP %	UK GDP at market prices £ million	Scottish DEL + NDRI at market prices £ million
1994-95	2.03	677,594	13,730
1995-96	1.95	713,980	13,920
1996-97	1.87	756,058	14,168
1997-98	1.76	805,402	14,157
1998-99	1.73	851,654	14,704
1999-2000	1.74	891,583	15,510
2000-01	1.76	936,697	16,514
2001-02	1.81	984,117	17,797
2002-03	1.83	1,033,941	18,941
2003-04	1.84	1,086,283	20,023

* Figures for 2000-01 to 2003-04 are based on projections.Due to the conversion to resource accounting, the sum of DEL (Departmental Expenditure Limits) and NDRI (Non-Domestic Rate Income) is the most robust basis on which to make this comparison.

I understand that South Lanarkshire Council have lodged an appeal in relation to this decision. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment in the meantime.

Preventing and controlling hospital-acquired infection (HAI), including infections attributable to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is a key priority for the NHS in Scotland. The Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: a plan for action, a plan for change, published on 14 December, makes clear that every local healthcare system will be expected to combat HAI by achieving service standards to be established by the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland on infection control, cleanliness, and other matters. To assist this process, the Advisory Group on Infection is developing, in consultation with the NHS in Scotland, recommendations for a system of surveillance of HAI. This will collect data to allow trends to be monitored and remedial action to be targeted effectively.As part of the drive to combat antimicrobial resistance, the Executive launched a national public education campaign in December 1999, which aimed to increase public awareness of the problem and to help health professionals reduce the prescribing of antibiotics where other approaches were available. The Executive also issued for consultation last August a three-year action plan for Scotland, which was linked to the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and set out a framework for minimising the development of antimicrobial resistance, including MRSA, and maintaining the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents in the treatment and prevention of microbial infections in humans and animals. Consultees included health boards and NHS Trusts. The implementation of the strategy and the action plan for Scotland is being overseen and reviewed by the Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy Steering Group, a multi-disciplinary group, which brings together experts from the fields of animal and human health as well as from the Executive. In line with commitments to keep the action plan under review, the plan is currently being updated and modified to take account of the results of the consultation and other developments.

A sub-group of the Health Department's Advisory Group on Infection is currently working up proposals for a national surveillance system for hospital-acquired infection, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The group is considering what standard criteria and definitions should be used by laboratories in Scotland, so that consistent and meaningful data are collected in the most effective way.

The provision of business space within the city of Glasgow is one of the key priorities of the City Council, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG) and the Glasgow Alliance, and a great deal of activity is being undertaken in this field.Current developments include:Proposals for developers to construct two advance factory units, one of 2,787 square metres and one of 4,645 square metres at Robroyston Business Park, to the north of the city. Proposals by developers for two speculative business units at Cardonald Park, one of 2,414 square metres the other of around 3,251 square metres.Discussions regarding the construction of a speculative unit extending to 929 square metres at the West of Scotland Science Park.The need to enhance the physical business infrastructure of the city has also been recognised by the Scottish Executive, which has recently allocated an additional £2 million to SEG specifically to support Glasgow's Strategic Business and Industrial Sites Programme.