Chamber and committees

The Scottish Organ RetrievalTeam (SORT) continues to retrieve all organs which become available fortransplantation anywhere in Scotland.

The outcome of theevaluation of the performance of SORT during the year September 2004 to August2005, when it included consultant anaesthetist participation on a pilot basis,was very positive. The results of the evaluation are being taken into accountby the Organ Donation Task Force set up by NHS Blood and Transplant and by theBritish Transplantation Society, which is looking at recommendations for betterretrieval arrangements across the UK.

The Scottish Executiveadvertising spend on organ donation campaigns in each of the last five years isset out in the following table:

Year	Spend £
2002-03	28,355
2003-04	143,859
2004-05	121,012
2005-06	190,570
2006-07	218,850

 

It is not clear thatchanging to a system of opting out would necessarily lead to an improvement inorgan donation rates in Scotland. Such a move would need strong support from thepublic and the health professionals involved, but the extensive consultationscarried out in relation to the organ donation and transplantation provisions of the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 showed strong support for strengthening thepresent system of opting-in. That is the approach which is embodied in the Act.

We feel that there areserious risks associated with a change to a system of presumed consent, giventhat the disclosures about organ retention at post-mortem examination showedthat for many people presumed consent is regarded as denying them a proper sayin what should happen to their body after death. A time may come when it wouldbe possible to move to a system of presumed consent, but we do not believe thattime is now.

Both approaches aim toincrease the number of organs becoming available for transplantation, an aimwhich we fully support. I wish to explore with the other health departments thegains which could be achieved through changes to the present organ donation andtransplantation infrastructure.

Firearms law andair guns, including the provisions in the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, havebeen the subject of regular discussions between officials. We are keeping thematter under close review and shall be holding detailed discussions with UK ministerson this matter in due course.

The curriculum inScotland is not based on statutory prescription. Itis for schools, in the light of the curriculum framework within which they operate,to determine how best they organise the syllabus.

However, I can confirmthat there are no plans to include intelligent design as part of the Curriculumfor Excellence review. There is no evidence from HM Inspectorate of Education tosuggest intelligent design is being taught in school science classes.

I understand thatBritish Energy, the operator of Hunterston B, will make a decision on whether toextend the life of the facility in April next year. The Scottish Executive therefore,has no plans to conduct such an assessment.

Interpretation of the law is a matter for the courts in the particular circumstances of the case inquestion. Following the recent public consultation, I expect to make an announcementafter the summer recess on our intentions in relation to the law on snaring.

Yes. Five bidsfor this service were received, and the contract was awarded to Essentia Groupin January 2007 following a rigorous evaluation of tenders. The nationalservice was launched on 12 February 2007.

Yes. A workinggroup has developed, and continues to monitor and improve, the 24-hour nationalfreephone gateway service, which offers the general public easy access to childprotection services in local agencies as part of the recently-concluded three-yearChild Protection Reform Programme. The working group includes representativesof all the key agencies involved in delivering child protection services (e.g.local authority social work departments, police and NHS24) as well as existingchild protection helplines such as ChildLine.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran have no plans to build a new hospital on Arran.