Chamber and committees

To enhance efforts to prevent increased sharing of injecting equipment and the associated spread of bloodborne viruses, including HIV and hepatitis C, the Executive today announced plans to increase the maximum number of needles and syringes which can be issued by needle exchange facilities. The upper limits have generally been increased to 20 sets for first visits and 60 for subsequent visits, subject to the return of used equipment, at follow-up visits, for safe disposal by exchange staff. The full details of these revisions are set out in the revised Lord Advocate's guidance included within Health Department Letter (HDL) (2002) 90 which was issued today to NHSScotland, local authorities, drug agencies and voluntary organisations. The HDL can be accessed through the SHOW website - http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/hdl.asp.Copies of this guidance are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

I am pleased to announce that I am today publishing Lord Bonomy's report and launching a wide-ranging four month consultation on its recommendations. I am most grateful to Lord Bonomy for his thorough and detailed report. He has considered carefully the causes of the current difficulties in the High Court and put forward a range of practical solutions designed to serve the interests of justice and to improve the experience of victims, witnesses and jurors. We are committed to reform of the High Court, and his report gives an excellent basis on which to take that reform forward.We are today writing to all the key stakeholders (including the Justice Committees) with copies of the report and inviting their comments. We are also inviting comments from all those individuals and groups who responded to Lord Bonomy's earlier request for views. The report will also be available electronically on the Scottish Executive's consultation website, and we are lodging copies in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25575). Responses can be submitted online or by post. We will hold meetings where appropriate to facilitate discussion of the report. Special arrangements will be made to consult groups whose first language is not English.

We will continue to work with statutory and non-statutory agencies to expand and improve support to vulnerable families. We are providing enhanced resources to back this. For example, we will be providing an additional £31 million for Sure Start Scotland by 2006 (which provides a range of support to vulnerable and deprived families with very young children). And we are increasing resources for child care - by £23.9 million in 2006 - and to back change and improvement in the planning and delivery of children's services - by £32.5 million in 2006.

We are aware of continuing concerns over the appropriate registration of group home provision. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31157. I understand that the Care Commission is in dialogue with the interested parties and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Executive to meet the commission at this time. I shall, however, watch progress on this matter with interest.

The available information is given in the following table:Persons Aged 16 to 17 Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts, 1998-2000

	Aged 16			Aged 17
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Total proceeded against	3,325	2,806	2,083	8,042	7,084	6,186
Total with a charge proved	2,608	2,193	1,635	6,741	5,848	5,034
Number receiving monetary penalty	1,124	899	782	3,322	2,721	2,411
Probation or community service	610	542	340	1,224	1,092	1,008
Custodial sentence	327	297	173	877	899	726
Other sentence	547	455	340	1,318	1,136	889
Number where sentence was deferred1	260	217	148	1,274	1,128	852

Note:1. Proceedings where a deferral of sentence was recorded in the disposal information held by the Scottish Criminal Record Office.

Scottish Executive officials are in regular contact with the Home Office to discuss a wide range of firearm issues, including the misuse of air weapons and airsoft weapons such as BB guns.

This is an operational matter for the Care Commission as the independent regulator of care services in Scotland. The commission must decide which of the definitions in section 2 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 fit any particular care service, based on that service's statement of purpose and function, then register and regulate it as such.

I launched the National Recruitment and Awareness Campaign on 22 October. This aims to raise the profile of social care and social work and to highlight the range of career options available. The campaign is a key part of a sustained commitment to ensuring a confident and competent social services workforce which can meet the demands placed upon it.

The Scottish Executive has regular discussions with telecoms operators in Scotland on matters of common interest. The setting of individual "trigger levels" relating to the ADSL enabling of exchanges is a commercial decision for BT. However, the Scottish Executive shares the industry's desire to raise awareness and so stimulate the demand for broadband services.

Significant progress has been made over the summer months developing the proposed curriculum, including the place of practice learning in the new degree. I have now instructed the issue of a consultation document to seek the views of the social work profession and other key stakeholders before plans are finalised. The consultation paper has been issued today and I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.