Plenary, 02 Nov 2000

Meeting date: Thursday, November 2, 2000

Official Report 699KB pdf

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Question Time

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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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Records of Needs

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reassess the current record of needs provisions for children. (S1O-2463)

The Scottish Executive, with advice from the National Special Educational Needs Advisory Forum, is currently reviewing all aspects of the record of needs process.

I hope that the deputy minister appreciates that there is great concern among parents about the record of needs. It is a protection for children and their parents. There appears to be a suggestion among certain local authorities that they move away from a record of needs and towards an individual learning programme. Will the minister comment on that?

On 6 October, in response to reports that some local authorities were refusing to undertake assessments and were moving to other forms of assessment, the Executive wrote to the local authorities concerned to advise them that they should continue to apply record of needs legislation as it stands.

Lloyd Quinan will be aware that many parents think that the system has become too bureaucratic. It is difficult for parents to understand and there is not, in all circumstances, a right of appeal. The situation needs to be updated and it seems inconceivable that the record of needs process will remain in its present form. In the meantime, the current system should operate and we have taken steps to require local authorities to proceed on that basis.

Question 2 has been withdrawn.

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Mental Health

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it has made to fund mental health strategies in 2000-01. (S1O-2462)

The Scottish Executive has increased general spending in both the national health service and local authorities. The "Framework For Mental Health Services in Scotland" sets out an agreed policy framework. It is for local health boards and local authorities to decide how best to fund and deliver services locally.

The minister will be aware of my concerns about the implementation of the agenda of the "Framework For Mental Health Services in Scotland" in the Ayrshire and Arran Health Board area, where year 2 funding of the programme has been postponed.

Will the minister inform the chamber of the action that she will take to rectify the situation as described in a report of the Executive's mental health and well-being support group on its visit to Ayrshire? The report brought into question the commitment of senior officers of the board to the effective implementation of the strategy. It also highlighted the absence of any information management system, which will severely hamper any understanding of what it is that the services are doing and what they intend to do. And finally—

Order. The standing orders say that questions must be brief.

It is important to put the question in context.

I am sorry, but the standing orders are clear: questions must be brief. Please sit down.

It is precisely because I want the "Framework For Mental Health Services in Scotland" to be implemented across Scotland, not only by Ayrshire and Arran Health Board, that I established the mental health and well-being support group, which is visiting every part of the country to meet health boards, local authorities and other agencies to see how effectively the strategy is being implemented.

Scotland has a good policy framework for mental health. We know that we have much to do in many parts of the country to ensure that it is implemented effectively. The exercise that Adam Ingram described is an integral part of ensuring that change happens.

The minister will be aware that one of the key at-risk groups in terms of mental health is that of young women suffering from depression. Some such people in my constituency are as young as 12 or 13 years old. Can the minister give an assurance that mental health strategies and funding will adopt an holistic approach to the problem and will not be too reliant on prescription drugs and anti-depressants?

I share Irene Oldfather's concern to ensure that we take an holistic, person-centred approach to dealing with mental health and other health problems. We cannot see health as being about just the absence of disease. We must recognise that people's mental health is affected by a range of different factors that also affect their overall well-being. I want to ensure that, where appropriate, we offer people suffering from depression the best possible medical support through the national health service, but I agree that support for such people must be wider than that.

I want to ask about the mental well-being of students in particular. Recently, I attended a conference organised by SKILL Scotland. I acknowledge that the current First Minister granted that organisation £115,000 last year—a result of my successful begging letter. Will the minister pay attention to the high suicide rate among young students, which may be linked to the crushing poverty in which they live?

The Executive has explicitly recognised the rise in suicide rates among particular groups—not least young men—that has occurred in Scotland but mirrors patterns elsewhere in the UK and abroad. Some of our investment through the £26 million health improvement fund is targeted at action in that area. It is a complex and sensitive area, and we should not rush to conclusions on the causes. We are certainly determined to continue to work to improve the situation.

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Police (Funding)

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer by Mr Jack McConnell to question S1W-6297 on 4 October 2000, when it expects the review of the formula that determines the level of grant-aided expenditure distributed to individual police forces to be concluded. (S1O-2454)

The review is making good progress and is expected to be concluded next year.

People in the north-east are looking forward to the conclusion of the report. The minister will be aware that the increasing population of Grampian, the North sea oil industry, and the very welcome but increasing visits of the royal family to Deeside put extra pressure on Grampian police. I am sure that the review will address that pressure. Can the minister confirm that all those factors are being taken into account by the review?

A number of police forces make very strong cases for a fairer budget share of the current spending line: Strathclyde police has strong arguments about international sporting events; and, clearly, Lothian and Borders can make a case in relation to the Parliament, tourism and the festivals. The GAE review is intended to achieve a fairer division of the cake so that police authorities, such as the one to which Mike Rumbles refers, will feel that they have the resources that they need to do the job.

The minister will be aware that Fife has fewer police officers per head of population than any other region of Scotland. Will he give an assurance that, at the very least, the review of funding will allow Fife to employ the additional 28 officers who are needed to bring the number of officers in Fife up to the national average?

The purpose of the review is to ensure that whatever money is distributed across police authorities in Scotland is allocated on a fair, equal and appropriate basis. From memory, I think that the Executive committed an additional £18 million across Scotland in the current financial year and that that money has been baselined for future years. Police forces are already spending significant additional resources.

Does the minister accept that recruitment of officers is not a short-term measure, that certainty of finance is a major factor for chief constables, and that that certainty will come from a quick response by the Executive to ensure that long-term recruitment can go ahead?

I have a strange feeling that I have not quite left the justice brief. As Phil Gallie well knows, as a result of the additional funding for the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, which will provide extra officers in local police forces and the central agency, and the additional funds that I mentioned in my response to Tricia Marwick, the number of police officers on the street is likely to reach record levels in the coming years. There should be no doubt about the Executive's commitment not just to put extra officers on to the front line, but to ensure that the resources required to keep them there are available in succeeding years.

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Pre-school Education

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the working group on deferred entry to pre-school education to submit its report to ministers. (S1O-2431)

Ministers expect to receive the working group's report in the next few days.

I am very pleased to hear that. Does the minister share my concern about the current level of pre-school provision—about the fact that, because children are entitled to pre-school provision from the term after their third birthday, and because most schools and many authorities have an annual intake, children who enter school at the age of four and a half go to school after one-and-a-half years' pre-school education, whereas children born in March go to school after two-and-a-half years' pre-school education? In the current situation, any local authorities and parents who feel that a child who is four-and-a-half years old is too immature to enter primary school have no provision for the year between—[Members: "Question."] Wait a minute. I am asking it.

Briefly.

I am asking whether the minister is concerned that there is no provision for the year between the ages of four and a half and five and a half. Is he aware that local authorities must provide funding from their own resources, and that that is particularly difficult in rural and remote areas—

Order.

I would like to ask for the—

Order. I have already stated that questions must be brief: that is what the standing orders say. I call on Mr Stephen to answer.

Just say yes. [Laughter.]

Indeed, answers must also be brief.

The issue is important, and has caused parents much concern. We are committed to publishing the report. We will consult widely on its recommendations. I can assure Elaine Murray and all members that the Executive is not only aware of the concerns but is committed to taking action in due course.

Is the working group likely to recommend a new concept of funding for deferred entry places, given that Scotland's councils currently have no budget from which to meet the cost of more than 3,000 such children's places? Would the Executive support changes to extend grant funding to deferred entry children if that were recommended? Would it consider the backdating of payments to councils?

I have not seen the report yet, but it is likely to recommend some form of change. As I have said, the Executive is committed to taking appropriate action. It would be inappropriate to comment on that prior to the report's publication and prior to the consultation that we wish to conduct on the issue.

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Rugby (Meetings)

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of Scottish rugby and what issues were discussed. (S1O-2441)

The last meeting between the Scottish Executive and representatives of the Scottish Rugby Union was on Wednesday 20 September. The Executive was represented by Ms Rhona Brankin, the then Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport. Several issues relating to the development of rugby were discussed at that meeting, in particular sport and physical education in schools.

I welcome Allan Wilson to question time in his capacity as a deputy minister. Is he aware that, following that meeting, a report in Scotland on Sunday contained criticism from Jim Telfer, the SRU's director of rugby, of the former Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport regarding the encouragement of sport in Scottish schools, and that Mr Telfer called on the Government to change its thinking and priorities? Will he take Jim Telfer's advice and give sport greater priority in our schools?

I am not familiar with the terms of the article to which Mr Monteith refers, but I can assure Mr Telfer that, as a former rugby player at school, I am—[Members: "Oh!"] Yes, it is true: I am living testimony to the value of a rugby-playing education.

I would not accept any charge by Mr Telfer of buck-passing. There will be no buck-passing in this Administration; we will be picking up the buck and running with it. [Laughter.] Seriously, the Executive is introducing a school sports co-ordinators programme. It is important to the future of international rugby and to the development of sport in general that that programme is successful. As a consequence of the importance that we attach to that programme, I will be meeting Jack McConnell tomorrow on his home island of Arran to discuss further how we can develop it.

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Signposting

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in reviewing the procedures for approving signposting of tourist attractions from motorways and trunk roads. (S1O-2432)

The Scottish Executive has no plans to review the procedures for approving signposting of tourist attractions from motorways and trunk roads.

That is a very disappointing answer. I understood that the Executive was undertaking a wide-ranging policy review and it is a matter, if the views of the Scottish Tourist Board are taken into account, that should be being reviewed. The STB's view of the minister's current procedure is that it relies on the personal opinion of one or two individuals in her department whose expertise is in road engineering rather than tourism or economic development. Will she give tourism and economic development more priority?

It might be helpful for me to explain how the procedure works. It has been changed in the past few years to give greater attention to tourism and to ensure that quality is considered. That is why the STB looks first at any proposals for signing on motorways and trunk roads. If it approves and considers that the sign will lead to a tourist facility, as defined in the regulations, and so should be constructed, our roads engineers will then look at the safety considerations. So the procedure focuses on two issues: whether tourist quality is identified, and secondly, whether safety considerations are met. I see no reason to change the procedures.

After a meeting with Elaine Murray and local representatives from Dumfries and Galloway and from Moffat community council, I agreed to look at the specific issue of sign design where we have trunk roads with directional access to two areas. That work is under way, but we do not intend to review the overall procedure.

If quality is so important, surely there is an unanswerable case for Wigtown, Scotland's national book town, to be signposted from the A74(M) at Gretna.

There are ways in which towns can be signposted. I had expected Mr Mundell to mention Moffat today, as it has now got a lovely thistle sign. The criteria specify that for a particular location to be signed it must be a tourist location, not a retail site. There is on-going correspondence with Mr Morgan. If there is something new he would like me to consider, he should write to me and I will be happy to do so.

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National Cultural Strategy

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the next phase of its national cultural strategy. (S1O-2456)

The Executive is currently discussing the implementation of the strategy with our potential partners, including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Scottish Arts Council, the Museums Council and other interested parties.

Although people welcomed the strategy and recognised that it is a first shot at the subject, one of the numerous criticisms made of it is that community arts, despite promises to the contrary, are not mentioned in it. What does the minister intend to do to develop community arts?

The cultural strategy does not include strategies for each individual form of the arts—that would have been the wrong way ahead and might have lead to cultural death. The strategy is a series of principles and a framework for development, through enhancing education, developing excellence and making culture more available to all, for example. Community arts, which are vital to the strategy, will be developed within such frameworks.

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Terminal Illness (Care)

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that appropriate care is available to terminally ill patients admitted to general hospitals. (S1O-2468)

Any terminally ill patient admitted to a general hospital would, like every other patient, be given the best possible care according to his or her needs.

I thank the minister for that answer and congratulate him on his promotion to Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care. [Applause.] He may be aware that the two general hospitals in Fife have separate, dedicated hospices for some terminally ill patients, but that is not the case everywhere. Is it the Executive's intention to encourage other health boards and trusts to examine and expand such provision throughout Scotland?

I thank Scott Barrie for his kind words.

The Scottish Executive attaches the utmost importance to palliative care. It believes that pain and other distressing symptoms must be managed effectively, whether that care takes place in a hospice, in a specialist unit or, indeed, at home, where an increasing number of terminally ill patients wish to be. The Executive does not believe that one place is better than another; the quality of the palliative care is what the Executive emphasises. The Executive has commissioned work from the Scottish partnership agency for palliative and cancer care to ensure that health boards have effective policies in place. The newly formed Clinical Standards Board for Scotland is developing standards for palliative care. It will ensure that those standards are kept to throughout Scotland.

I welcome the minister's comments. Can he reassure us that terminally ill patients who go home to receive care will not have to face the trauma of being assessed for charges? Will that trauma be removed from that section of the population?

A national health service letter in 1996 dealt with the group of patients to whom Hugh Henry refers. The letter emphasises that those patients, wherever they are, should be under the care of the NHS.

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Housing

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage local authorities to address the issues outlined in its "Statistical Bulletin Housing Series" of October 2000. (S1O-2440)

I assume that Mr Harding is referring to "Housing Trends in Scotland: Quarter Ending 31 March 2000", which we published on 26 October. The Executive is committed to ensuring decent, affordable housing for all. Our priorities for this term are attracting new investment, empowering tenants, reducing fuel poverty and tackling homelessness. We are working with local authorities and other partners to deliver those priorities.

I welcome the minister to her new post. Her assumption is correct. Does she acknowledge that the number of homeless households in Fife has risen by 938 over the past three years, at a time when Fife Council has lost almost £5 million in rents because it has failed to bring unlet properties into use? Does she agree that, as a result, the 3,300 homeless households in the region are being badly let down by the poor management of Fife Council's Labour administration?

I am going to enjoy jousting with Mr Harding in the coming months. The legacy that the Tories left us was one of disrepair and under-investment. We have slowed down the number of people who make homelessness applications in Scotland. In Fife, a decrease has been recorded. We should therefore be congratulating local authorities that are trying to make inroads into homelessness in Scotland.

On a point of order.

Is it a genuine point of order?

I think so, yes. The minister possibly misled us there. The report—

Order. That is not a point of order.

But the report—

No, we cannot have an argument about the content of questions and answers.

I welcome the minister to her new post; and I, too, look forward to jousting with her in the months ahead.

An issue that is addressed in the housing bulletin is the level of housing benefit referrals to rent officers. Can the minister confirm that a pensioner couple on full housing benefit, who have been assessed as under-occupying a three-bedroom council house, cannot have their housing benefit referred to, or cut by, a rent officer; whereas a similar couple, who have been assessed as under-occupying a housing association house, can have their housing benefit referred to, and cut by, the same rent officer? Does she agree that that has serious implications for poor pensioners who are caught up in the stock transfer proposals? What steps does the Executive intend to take to protect pensioners in that position?

I also look forward to jousting with Mr McAllion in future, although I hope that it will be good-humoured. We are examining housing benefit issues closely, in the context of stock transfers. We want to ensure that we get the best deal for tenants. A review of housing benefit is being undertaken as part of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions green paper on housing. The Executive will respond to that.

I welcome the minister to her new post.

Shelter has commented on the increase in homelessness that is apparent from the bulletin. Has the minister responded to Shelter's allegation that the right to buy has exacerbated the situation? Will she listen to the community-based housing association movement and abandon her predecessor's obsession with the extension of the right to buy?

I thank Linda Fabiani for her question. The increase in homelessness has slowed considerably. Overall, there is only a 0.5 per cent increase across the board; in the last two quarters it has decreased dramatically. It is rather early to draw firm conclusions from that. However, I suggest that a downward trend in homelessness in Scotland is to be welcomed.

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Enterprise

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to expand its cluster approach to enterprise. (S1O-2430)

We are preparing a strategy for enterprise, which will set out the Government's overall approach to enterprise and will include the cluster approach.

I welcome the minister to her new post. What benefit does she expect the strategy to offer for the development of the health care sector in Clydebank?

The health care sector is not currently a cluster. However, I am sure the member will be interested to know that we have recently subscribed to a study to assess the effectiveness of the cluster approach. I want to reaffirm that the Executive thinks that key sectors can be supported outwith the cluster approach. As the member who represents Clydebank, Des McNulty will be particularly interested in the work on the marine sector that is currently being done by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow. A seminar on that subject will take place later this month and the member is welcome to attend.

I congratulate the minister on her new appointment. On the cluster approach and its relationship to job creation, is the minister aware that 350 job losses have been announced in Ayrshire in the past week? What will the minister and her department do about that?

As the member will know, under my predecessor—now the First Minister—we put in place a set of procedures to address the circumstances when a particular community is facing difficulty. Members should recall that youth unemployment has fallen by 70 per cent and long-term adult unemployment has fallen by 50 per cent from the figures under the party that John Scott represents.

I, too, welcome the minister to her new post. Will she demonstrate the way in which she is prepared to do business by telling us what action she will take to reduce the bureaucracy on Scottish business, which is stifling enterprise?

As the member will know, on Monday, we are holding a conference on the review of the enterprise network. The entire membership of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, which made recommendations on areas of duplication, has been invited to attend. If the member has a particular interest in attending the conference, we would be happy for him to join us in considering those issues.

On a point of order. That was news to my ears—[Interruption.]

Was that a point of order? I cannot hear Miss Goldie as her microphone is not switched on.

I am happy to confirm that all members of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee have been invited to the conference, hosted by the Executive on Monday, which will consider the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee's report and the issue of duplication in the provision of economic development.

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Renewable Energy

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in developing renewable energy in Scotland and what plans there are for the future. (S1O-2448)

We have made considerable progress, reflecting our commitment to the promotion of renewable energy. Over 100 projects have been awarded contracts under the Scottish renewables obligation, including a wave energy power plant on Islay. I will publish shortly a consultation document on our new renewables obligation, which I expect will raise Scotland's already significant use of renewable energy.

Will the minister confirm that the commitment made in the "Scottish Climate Change Programme Consultation" for 5 per cent new renewables by 2010 is still on target? Will he indicate what proportion of those renewables might come from wind, hydro and wave power?

As Robin Harper will know, we have the highest level of renewables in the UK, at 11 or 12 per cent, and we expect that to go up to 13 per cent by 2003. We have proposed a commitment to an additional 5 per cent by 2010, in line with the rest of the UK, which will bring us up to about 18 per cent. We consulted on that in the climate change programme, to which we have had a wide and varied response. I hope to make a final announcement soon.

Is the minister aware that before any proposed schemes for renewable energy can go ahead in the north of the country, a new interconnector will have to be provided to allow the renewable energy that is generated access to the national grid? Will that problem be addressed?

That matter is under consideration. It is correct that one of the problems is that the greatest source of renewable energy is in the west but the best aspects of the grid are in the east. We need to deal with that. An outstanding conference on renewable energy is taking place in Stornoway tomorrow, at which an outstanding speech will be given by Mr Alasdair Morrison. I suggest that everyone listens to the speech in the context of the conference.

The Executive will be aware of the negotiations in Campbeltown in Argyll on the proposal by a Danish company, which is the foremost wind farm manufacturer in the world, to build a wind farm manufacturing plant at Campbeltown. Will the Executive give its full support to wind farms in Scotland, and especially to that proposal, which would provide hundreds of jobs in Campbeltown and revitalise that economically depressed area? The area is an ideal location for such a project, which would be of great export value to Scotland and would utilise the new Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry when it comes into existence.

One area that I will not get into is the Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry. The proposal concerns a private development and is commercially sensitive, and I do not have anything specific to say about it.

With regard to the Scottish renewables obligations, we will not try to prejudge the market and direct it one way. Everything is open and available for renewable forms of energy.

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National Health Service

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to provide further additional funding to enable excessive winter pressure to be avoided in the national health service this year in the light of the recent closure to admissions of several Glasgow hospitals. (S1O-2467)

The Executive has already provided substantial additional resources to every health board in Scotland. A great deal of work has been done locally and nationally to spread good practice and to ensure that effective winter plans are in place. It is the responsibility of local health boards and NHS trusts, working with their partners in local authorities and the voluntary sector, to manage changing patterns of need over the winter period and throughout the year.

Is the minister aware that, between 1991 and 1999, Greater Glasgow Health Board lost 1,163 adult acute beds, while in the north of Glasgow alone there has been an 11 per cent increase in general medical activity and demand in three years? Does the minister accept that the extra £1 million for Glasgow, which will support only an extra 83 beds across the whole of the city, is totally inadequate?

I do not know where Tommy Sheridan gets his figures from—some of them have literally been penned on the back of an envelope. I do not know where the £1 million that he mentions comes from. For example, Greater Glasgow Health Board has had £8.5 million of additional resources, on top of its increased allocation for this year, specifically to deal with reducing waiting lists and waiting times, preparing for winter and tackling delayed discharge.

I beg members' pardon; Greater Glasgow Health Board has actually had £11 million plus for that purpose. The numbers are higher than I said, and I thought that I should give the facts. In addition, it has had £8.5 million recurring to deal specifically with waiting.

Alongside that, it is worth remembering that next year, under the new Arbuthnott formula, and given the record increase in NHS spending, the health board's budget will increase by more than 7.5 per cent, which equates to more than £60 million. Let us not underestimate the investment that is going into the system.

Tommy Sheridan raised the issue of bed numbers. If we are to have sensible and reasoned debate about the health service, we must start to realise that the service does not provide just beds. Debate must be about the whole service that is provided in the community and in hospitals. If members examine the pattern in Glasgow, they will see that improvement is taking place.

Members should keep to the question.

Is the minister aware that the £1 million for the Glasgow north trust to relieve winter pressures has enabled the creation of 13 additional beds and one full-time ward standing by for emergencies? That is the first time that that has happened. Can the minister ensure—or is there a mechanism to ensure—that trusts that gain from such additional resources for contingency plans will retain that money so that Scotland can feel that it will always be able to deal with winter crises and emergencies?

It may help if I write to members who represent Glasgow and detail all the additional investment for Greater Glasgow this year. None of us should be in any doubt about the scale of that, because there is a good story to tell.

Pauline McNeill is right. We should consider not just how much money is put in, but how that money is used. Setting up effective contingency plans is crucial for the winter and for other points through the year. I am pleased that there is better preparation, planning and investment this year than in previous years.

I have other information for the minister. She is not aware—because she could not supply the information in a written answer to me—that 111 older people in Glasgow hospitals were assessed last month for residential care, but have nowhere to go. That means 111 delayed discharges, to use the euphemism. What does the minister intend to do about that autumn crisis?

Delayed discharge is one of the most deep-rooted and profound problems facing the health and community care system. More than any previous Administration, the Executive has acknowledged that from the outset and has tackled the issue with increased investment, and, crucially, with wider policies that go to the root causes of delayed discharge. The system must be made to work more coherently and we must ensure that all parts of the national health service co-operate effectively. The number of people who are in acute hospital beds inappropriately, for lack of support in a more appropriate setting, is a real tragedy. That is why the £100 million package for older people, which I announced just a few weeks ago, is so important.

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Paralympians

To ask the Scottish Executive what response it has given to the success of Scots Paralympians in the UK team in Sydney. (S1O-2451)

We will write to each of the successful athletes to congratulate them on their superb performances in Sydney and their contribution to Team GB's most successful games since Seoul in 1988. As members who were present at Mary Mulligan's excellent members' business debate last night will know, we will also host a reception for the Scots members of the Great Britain Olympic and Paralympic teams.

I thank the minister for his answer and take this opportunity to congratulate him on his elevation to the front bench. I wish him every success and look forward to hearing less about Puccini and more about Porrini. [Laughter.] Well, everybody else is doing it.

Will the minister explain what steps the Executive is taking to build on the success of gold medal winners such as Gourock's Margaret McEleny—whose gold in the 50 m breaststroke was one of three medals she brought home—by considering how we can help more disabled people to become involved in sport?

I will miss Duncan McNeil's subtle persuasion on how I should cast my vote.

Everybody who participated in the Paralympics was a gold medal winner in their own right. For many people, the games rekindled the true Olympian flame.

The key target is an increase in the number of Scottish medallists at Olympic and world level. I believe firmly that through the programmes we are putting in place in our schools and communities—building an infrastructure that will increase overall participation in sport—more talented athletes will emerge across a spectrum of sports. That talent must be nurtured and its potential realised.

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Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure the smooth implementation of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. (S1O-2436)

The major bodies with an interest in the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 are represented on a national steering group, which is progressing the implementation of the act. The group is also considering the best way of providing information to the public and raising awareness among professionals about the act.

Parts 2 and 3 of the act, which deal with powers of attorney and the access to funds scheme, will come into force in April 2001. Draft codes of practice in relation to parts 2 and 3 were issued for consultation on 14 September and comments have been requested by 15 December. The remaining parts of the act will be implemented by April 2002 and, again, there will be consultation in advance on draft codes.

The new office of the public guardian will open in April 2001 in Falkirk. Adverts have been placed in the press to recruit staff and the interest shown has been encouraging.

I thank the minister for his answer.

Many people with incapacity and their families and carers cannot feel the full benefit of the reforms until the act is implemented. Will the minister reassure people, such as members of the Renfrewshire Autism and Asperger Group, who are concerned that they have no say in their adult children's lives unless they have the means to go to court?

Will the minister reassure me that, while the legal technicalities, draft codes for attorneys and the rest are devised, the wishes of people with incapacity, or of those who are close to them, will remain at the centre of our thinking?

When the act was passed, Hugh Henry and, indeed, the Parliament, acknowledged that one of its main purposes was to simplify legal procedures for those people who are incapacitated and their friends and carers.

It is important that we take full advantage of the consultation periods. We look forward to receiving a wide range of representations on the draft codes that we have published. I assure Hugh Henry and his constituents, to whom he referred, that proper consideration will be given to all representations received.