Chamber and committees

Our plans to increasethe number of people signing up to the Organ Donor Register are not age-related.A child under the age of 12 years can join the register but in the event of theirdeath while still aged under 12, authorisation would be needed by a person withparental rights or responsibilities for the child before organ donation could lawfullytake place. In terms of the 2006 act, children aged 12 or over can add their namesto the Organ Donor Register and that counts as self-authorisation under the act.

The Scottish Governmenthas funded a teaching resource pack aimed at raising awareness amongst senior schoolpupils of the issues associated with organ donation and transplantation. The pack,which we expect to be in use in schools across Scotland, has the potential over time to produce a population with a heightened awarenessof the benefits of transplantation.

With the support of the Scottish Government, NHS Blood and Transplant is also about to send a new educationalresource, Give and Let Live, to all secondary schools in Scotland. Itis aimed at 14 to 16-year-old pupils and is designed to highlight the concept ofdonating blood, organs, tissue and bone marrow.

The duty is dischargedmainly through the funding of advertising campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the need to increase organ donation numbers. The main focus of these campaigns hasbeen to encourage people to add their name to the NHS Organ Donor Register. The2006 act recognises these registrations as forms of authorisation, and is designedto ensure that people’s wishes are respected after their death.

As a significant contributionto discharging our duties under the 2006 act, we took full advantage, in terms ofraising awareness of organ donation and encouraging people to sign up to the Register,of the launch in Edinburgh in July of Transplant Awareness Week, and the holdingof the British Transplant Games in the city. We intend to mount a further advertisingand PR campaign later in the year.

The costs and benefitsof providing, operating and maintaining the Forth Replacement Crossing are estimatedover 60 years, in line with Treasury guidance on economic appraisal and evaluation.

The operating andmaintenance costs over 60 years are estimated at £594 million for a tunnel and £647million for a bridge.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area andcan be contacted if required.

The costs associatedwith including light rail at the design stage for each of the proposed options wereprovided at the Public Information Exhibitions.

To provide sufficientwidth for light rail on a new bridge would mean strengthening the deck, increasingcosts by around 20%. Tunnels would require an additional tunnel for light rail onlywhich would increase costs by around 50%.

No work has been conductedon adding light rail to a crossing at a later stage.

Heavy rail has beendismissed as an option for any replacement crossing as the existing rail infrastructurecan be improved to meet foreseeable demand.

There are no projectionsof traffic over 30, 60, 90 or 120 years as these fall far beyond the limits overwhich any reasonable estimate of traffic levels can reliably be made.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area andcan be contacted if required.

The work of theStrategic Funding Review concluded in February 2007, with the agreement of theConvention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Council for VoluntaryOrganisations. The final two papers from the review, on support services andfull cost recovery, were published at that time.

The ScottishGovernment supports the general principles of the review, noting thatimplementation falls largely to those who fund and those who receive funding towork more closely together. Effective cooperation, particularly with councilsand public sector bodies, should enable third sector organisations tocontribute fully to a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economicgrowth.

The Scottish Governmentis evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot scheme in increasing the uptake ofPass Plus in the Grampian Police area and will make this information available indue course. No externally commissioned research is being carried out at this stage.

The whole issue ofdriver training and testing is currently the subject of a detailed review by theDriving Standards Agency and it is expected that this will include considerationof Pass Plus.

The pilot schemeis being monitored to evaluate its effectiveness in increasing the uptake ofPass Plus. A decision on future support for Pass Plus will depend on the resultsof the pilot scheme and the outcome of the current review by the DrivingStandards Agency on the future of driver training and testing in the UK.

Research hasshown that around one in five new drivers is involved in an accident within oneyear of passing their driving test. The Pass Plus pilot scheme encouraged alldrivers between 17 and 25 years of age, resident in the pilot areas and who hadpassed their driving test within the last 12 months, to apply for a grant towardsthe cost of Pass Plus. The aim was to increase uptake of Pass Plus among thetarget group and we are currently evaluating the effectiveness of the pilotscheme in increasing uptake of Pass Plus. Information on the uptake of PassPlus will be made available in due course.

It should benoted, however, that because the scheme is entirely voluntary there will alwaysbe drivers within this group who choose not to benefit from the additionaltraining available through the Pass Plus scheme.

The Scottish Governmentplans to develop a 10 year road safety strategy for Scotland. A panel of experts has been set up to advise on appropriate initiatives,including measures to improve the safety of young drivers.

Through Road SafetyScotland, the Scottish Government is targeting publicity on speeding, drink anddrug driving and seat belt use at drivers aged between 17 and 25 years.

“Crash Magnets”, aneducational resource for upper secondary pupils, aims to influence attitudes to driving behaviour beforeyoung people get behind the wheel. A website to support and enhance the resource,www.CrashMagnets.com, was launched earlierthis year.