Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has committed to an evidence-based approach to screening and is given expert, independent advice on screening programmes by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC sets out the criteria to assess screening programmes; the introduction of proposed new population screening programmes; the modification and withdrawal of existing programmes, and the quality and management of such programmes.

The UK NSC currently advises that a national screening programme for Haemochromatosis should not be introduced. However, this advice is currently under review.

Information on haemochromatosis patients treated with venesection (phlebotomy) therapy is available for acute hospital inpatients and daycases. Information on procedures is not recorded for outpatient attendances and is not available centrally for community-based clinics. The following table shows numbers of patients treated in hospital at which a diagnosis of haemochromatosis and also a procedure venesection is recorded.

Table: patients with a diagnosis of haemochromatosis with venesection also recorded, by NHS board of treatment; financial year 2008-09:

NHS Board of Treatment	Number of Patients
Ayrshire and Arran	91
Borders	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-
Fife	109
Forth Valley	-
Grampian	2
Greater Glasgow	390
Highland	8
Lanarkshire	219
Lothian	141
Orkney	2
Shetland	2
Tayside	10
Western Isles	-

Source: Information Services Division: SMR01.

Information is not held centrally on the number of people who have haemochromatosis and have been infected with Clostridium difficile or MRSA.

There are currently no plans to identify the prevalence of haemochromatosis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31263 on 9 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Curriculum for Excellence does not require the upgrading of school buildings. Where authorities consider that modifications might be appropriate for individual schools, the assessment of the possible costs are a matter for local authorities, according to local needs and circumstances. styl

The report Offender Learning: Options for Improvement was published on 14 January 2010 and makes recommendations and observations for offender learning in Scotland. It is recognised that offender behaviour patterns may be influenced by a wide range of issues, including social deprivation, negative peer pressure and poor educational attainment. The report identified that learning and skills acquisition, including improved literacy and numeracy, could be a contributing factor to the route out of offending.

Communication impairment is a widespread characteristic of offenders and arises from a range of causes, most commonly from low educational attainment. Poor ability with verbal expression and reasoning is likely to predispose to more aggressive responses to challenge. The Scottish Government is aware of research in this field focussing on offenders with potential clinical needs relating to speech and language, including that highlighted by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) to the Parliament''s Equal Opportunities Committee.

Discussions with the Scottish Retail Consortium indicate that an increasing number of retailers recognise the commercial advantage of accepting euros from customers. These include most of the large retail chains, in addition to substantial numbers of hotels and other businesses dealing with visitors from Europe. In addition, Historic Scotland has been accepting euros from visitors to its sites for many years. As more and more retailers and other businesses in areas with substantial numbers of European visitors accept the euro, it is hoped that other businesses will make the commercial decision to do so.

I have asked Willie Pretswell, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table provides the numbers of full-time equivalent local authority social workers located in establishments across the prison estate.

Establishments	Manager	Social Worker	Total Full-Time Equivalent Social Workers
Aberdeen	1	2	3
Barlinnie	3	8	11
Cornton Vale	1	4	5
Dumfries	0.5	2.5	3
Edinburgh	1.5	7	8.5
Glenochil	1	7	8
Greenock	1	4	5
Inverness	0.3	1.5	1.8
Open Estate	1	6.5	7.5
Perth	1	7	8
Peterhead	1	7	8
Polmont	2	6	8
Shotts	1	6.5	7.5
Addiewell	1	4	5
Kilmarnock	1	3	4