Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6978 on 29 March 2004.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/webapp/search_wa.

On its establishment inApril 2002, Careers Scotland brought together some 80 guidance-relatedorganisations. Its original budget was based on the total of the supportprovided by the Executive to these conjoining organisations, supplemented byspecific funding for all-age guidance, inclusiveness and enterprise in education-relatedactivity.

Careers Scotland is nowan integral part of the enterprise networks. Its costs therefore form part of the network’s overall operating costs. The Executive’s grant funding of the networksincludes the original budget allocated up to April 2002. Allocation of  thelevel of resources necessary for Careers Scotland is therefore an operationalmatter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6978 on 29 March 2004.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/webapp/search_wa.

The Scottish Executive provides funding to the Enterprise Networks to support economicdevelopment, including the delivery of a national all-age guidance servicethrough Careers Scotland. Issues in relation both to the use of this serviceand the costs of providing it are operational matters for the enterprise networks.

In 2002, Scotland took part in an international studyof asthma and allergies in Schoolchildren which suggested that, while thediagnosis of asthma had become more common since 1995, the prevalence ofsymptoms had declined. The Global Initiative for Asthma has suggested that Scotland has the highest incidence of thesymptoms of asthma among 13 to 14 year olds of the countries involved in theirsurvey.

Both thesestudies have yet to be formally published but, when available, will inform policydevelopment by the Executive and the clinical practices of NHSScotland.

The diseaseregisters and the reviews, including medication reviews, (established in theQuality Framework) in the new General Medical Services contract provide anopportunity to standardise the management of asthma in line with good practiceand available evidence-based guidelines. The new contracts for other healthprofessionals enable the use of the expertise of other health professionals inthe wider primary care teams such as the community pharmacists in the reviewand management of people with asthma.

We have introduced a number of measures to complement the action planinstigated last year. These include a fast-track scheme for 120 graduates to train as socialworkers within 15-18 months, an incentive scheme for eligible social workgraduates to work in priority areas, grants to relevant employers towards thecost of student practice placements, a new Framework for Social Work Education,including a new four-year honours degree, a leadership training initiative for200 first line and middle managers, specific grant to local authorities fortraining in the current year and an additional £9 million over the next threeyears for the same purpose. We have also provided £1.22 million to create theInstitute for Excellence in Social Work Education, developing new approaches tolearning and ensuring that training inthe new degree equips new workers to be confident in their knowledge and skillsand to work effectively with other professionals.

As well as our on-goingrecruitment and awareness campaign, we are campaigning specifically to encourageschool-leavers to take advantage of the new degree. In addition, I am chairinga national workforce group to develop a workforce action plan that will besupported by three working groups. One will be responsible for producing anational education, training and development strategy, the second for improvingworkforce information and intelligence and the third will support recruitmentand retention, human resource management and organisational development acrossthe sector. These groups will have substantial impact on helping this valuableworkforce achieve the improvements we all seek.

This information is not held centrally.

Scottish IntercollegiateGuidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines are best practice guidelines primarily foruse by clinicians, and are not intended to serve as mandatory standards ofmedical care. Their implementation is a matter for NHS boards, and any costswould fall to be met from boards’ unified budgets.

Data are not held centrally on costs associated with specific conditions such as asthma.

Our strategy for encouraging the growth and sustainability ofvoluntary organisations involved in the delivery of public services was set out in A Review of the Scottish Executive’sPolicies to Promote the Social Economy,which was published in January 2003. This is available from Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre.

We are currently developingan action plan to implement the specific recommendations of the review and hopeto publish this shortly.