SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Football
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the views of football supporters are taken into account by the football authorities. (S1O-3512)
The football authorities know that supporters' views must be taken into account if the professional game is to prosper. Following meetings that I have had with the football authorities and supporters organisations, we plan to arrange a conference in the autumn to consider the role of football clubs in their local community.
Is the minister aware of the concerns and anger of many Airdrieonians Football Club fans regarding the involvement in their local club of a man who is chairman of Ayr United Football Club, vice-chair of the Scottish Football League, a board member of the Scottish Football Association and provisional owner of Airdrie football stadium? Does the minister think it appropriate that an individual should have significant interests in two SFL clubs, as well as senior positions in the organisations that could be asked to arbitrate on whether such involvement constitutes a conflict of interest?
Football, like other sports in this country, is largely self-regulated. Ministers have no locus to interfere in the affairs of the sport's governing bodies. I am aware of Airdrie supporters' concerns, because I met them and Karen Whitefield. Following that meeting, I wrote to the SFL emphasising the importance of avoiding inappropriate conflicts of interest and of retaining the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium as a local community asset. Football's governing bodies know that they need to conduct their affairs in an open and above-board way if they are to earn the confidence of the football community, of Airdrie supporters and of all other supporters.
Will the Scottish Executive take into account the views of Falkirk football supporters by expediting approval of Falkirk Council's structure plan to enable the building of the new stadium to begin as soon as possible?
I am happy to meet representatives of any football club's supporters. The secondary issue to which the member refers is a matter for the minister responsible for planning, rather than for me.
Will the minister confirm that, when he next meets the football authorities to discuss football supporters trusts, he will urge them not to see trusts as a threat or takeover? Supporters trusts are set up because people who have an emotional investment in a club want to make a minor financial investment in it, beyond paying for tickets on a weekly basis or buying the latest version of the strip.
I agree entirely with what the member has said. I made the same point to the football authorities at my most recent meeting with them. The Executive believes that there should be more openness and transparency in the financial and other management of football clubs. We welcome the licensing scheme that the European football governing body, UEFA, is producing to that end.
Schools (Refurbishment)
To ask the Scottish Executive how long it will take to deal with the current backlog of repair and refurbishment of local authority schools. (S1O-3504)
Through a number of generous funding arrangements, we are enabling authorities to take positive steps to tackle the years of neglect of school buildings that were the legacy of the 20 years before 1997. We are discussing with local authority representatives aspects of school building needs, with a view to clarifying the level of need for improvement, and establishing strategic priorities for the future and the best use of financial support for planned improvement.
In addition to those steps, will the minister consider two other measures? The first is the establishment of a minimum tolerable standard for school accommodation, which would not include rain penetration of windows that are boarded up because the frames cannot hold glass, as is the case in one primary school in the south of Scotland. The second is to make a special repair allocation to local authorities as quickly as possible to overcome difficulties such as the one that I have described. That would make schools much more acceptable very quickly.
Over the past two years, we have regularly made special repair allocations to schools. I remember the Opposition parties accusing us of taking a piecemeal approach when we did that. Such money is welcomed by schools and is used to good effect.
Is the minister aware of the innovative proposals of Argyll and Bute Council to tackle the huge backlog of repairs in Argyll and Bute, which it is estimated will cost some £50 million? Is the Executive backing Argyll and Bute Council's proposals and is it allocating money to help to progress those proposals?
Yes, with the caveat that the local authorities must accept some responsibility for their stock and the financing of school repairs and new school buildings—the money should not come solely from the Executive. It is important that the Executive's financial support is recognised and continues to be well used. George Lyon will be aware of a £200,000 investment by the Executive in the development of Argyll and Bute's public-private partnership. Members of other political parties condemn that PPP scheme—
Absolutely. The schools could be built more cheaply.
However, it is important that the people of Argyll and Bute realise that the schools that are being built there would not be built at all if that PPP scheme was not in place.
Will the minister join me, local head teachers and pupils in welcoming the public-private partnerships, through which £1.2 billion will be invested in Glasgow's secondary schools? Instead of having to listen to political soundbites from Opposition members, would he appreciate the opportunity to visit those schools, whose head teachers and pupils welcome that investment?
I welcome the investment in Glasgow, where more than £200 million is refurbishing schools to a high quality. I hope that the people of Glasgow will hear the comments of Mr Sheridan, who clearly does not want the new schools to be built.
I want our schools to be built with public money.
They are public schools and it will be public money. Next year, All Saints Secondary School in Glasgow—which I believe both Mr Martin and Mr McAveety attended—will be knocked down and replaced with a new school. I hope that, when that new school is built, Mr Sheridan will welcome it, too.
Sleep Apnoea
To ask the Scottish Executive what provision the national health service in Scotland makes for the treatment of sleep apnoea. (S1O-3515)
Individual health boards and national health service trusts should co-operate to plan and provide services for the treatment of sleep apnoea.
Is the minister aware that a recent petitioner to the Parliament, who was complaining about access to services for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnoea, pointed out that, whereas in the past patients had to wait three months to access those services, some people are now having to wait up to two years to access them? Given the serious nature of the condition and the fact that there is a recognised and available treatment, does he recognise the importance of his acknowledging such complaints and producing proposals to increase funding to begin to match the massive increase in the demand for the service?
I am aware of the petition and I recently spoke to the person who submitted it to the Parliament. There is a problem in Edinburgh, due to the increasing demand for what I, as a constituency MSP in Edinburgh, know is a valuable service. I am pleased that the trust is working with Lothian Health and other health boards in Scotland on a review. That review will report in June and I hope that there will be progress in the very near future. A Scottish intercollegiate guidelines network guideline will also be issued soon, which will give guidance on both the diagnosis and the treatment of sleep apnoea.
Water Industry
To ask the Scottish Executive whether competition is beneficial to the water industry. (S1O-3514)
The crucial question is whether competition is good for customers, rather than whether it is good for the water industry. In our consultation paper on the proposed water services bill, we have made it clear that, within the right framework of legislation, competition will deliver to customers the benefits of efficiency, innovation and improved services without compromising drinking water quality or social or environmental objectives.
The minister will be aware that that is exactly what the Tories said about gas, electricity and rail privatisation. Will he confirm that the coalition Executive has rejected the option of seeking exclusion from the provisions of the Competition Act 1998, thus paving the way for the privatisation of Scotland's water industry? Will he further confirm that the Executive intends to impose on our water industry cuts of £168 million, resulting in the loss of 2,500 jobs? Scotland's largest public sector union, Unison, has said that—
Order. We have had the question.
Mr Sheridan misses an important point, which is that, by blocking competition, we would run the serious risk that some major users would opt out of using the publicly owned water services company, irrespective of the legislation.
The minister should not mislead people.
It is not a question of misleading people. The large private organisations would opt out of that service. That would not reduce the cost, but it would impose on the customers, for whom we should be concerned, a burden that they will not be able to sustain. The Scottish Executive is absolutely committed to keeping in place a publicly owned Scottish water service delivering the highest-possible quality of water and sewerage services at the most competitive price to those who pay for them.
Page 5 of "The Water Services Bill - The Executive's Proposals" explains that four types of licence will be available to the private sector in Scotland and the rest of the world to take over Scotland's water industry. How can the minister reconcile that with his statement that he is going to keep the water industry in public ownership? Why does he not come clean to this chamber and the people of Scotland and admit that those proposals will privatise Scotland's water industry?
There is absolutely no evidence of that. The fact that some people may want to gain access to the market does not mean that there will be access to the majority of services and it does not mean that the proposed bill will result in a privatised industry. For those who were not listening, I repeat: the Scottish Executive is committed to keeping water services in public ownership.
I thank the minister for his repeated statements of the Executive's commitment to keeping the water industry in public ownership. Will he assure me that he will consider the experiences of Welsh Water and the opportunities that have arisen to return control of Welsh Water to a form of public ownership and that he will learn the lessons relating to the mutual sector when consideration is given to a future form for the industry in Scotland?
Cathy Jamieson has already approached me on that issue; I recognise her interest in the nature and structure of the body that will ultimately own the new Scottish service. We have not come to a conclusion on the matter and the issue is being consulted on. My mind is open to ensuring that that body is in public ownership and will have a structure that will ensure that it remains in public ownership.
I congratulate the minister on his enlightened approach. What plans does he have to utilise in partnership with the private sector the resources and expertise of that sector, which would help to provide high-quality services at a lower price to the consumer?
What about the 2,500 jobs that would be lost?
I am always slightly nervous when Mr Davidson regards my approach as enlightened; he has given me my first doubt about the proposals. The issue is not one of harnessing people in the private sector. We want to construct a Scottish water industry that will be in a position to resist competition from other sources. For Mr Sheridan's benefit, I point out that that position would be one from which it could protect people's jobs.
Unison said that 2,500 jobs would be lost.
Order.
I repeat to Mr Sheridan: if the Scottish water industry starts to lose customers, that is when jobs will be lost. The only way in which we can protect jobs is by having a Scottish water industry that can deliver water and sewerage services at the most competitive price.
National Health Service (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the criteria applied in the Arbuthnott formula to determine rurality take into account the distance between local communities and their nearest NHS hospital. (S1O-3503)
The Arbuthnott committee examined very carefully the evidence on the effects of the remoteness and rurality of areas on the costs of providing them with health care. The indicator of remoteness, as recommended in the final report, is the number of road kilometres per 1,000 population. That indicator reflects the extent to which communities are dispersed over a large area and is the factor that influences the need to provide small hospitals in remote and rural areas to ensure that services are accessible.
The minister will be aware that, although every other health board in the country is projected to receive much more than £1,000 per person through the Arbuthnott formula, Grampian Health Board is to receive just £991 per head. Given that the majority of people in Grampian live in rural communities and need rural heath services, and given that ministers, including the Minister for Health and Community Care, have said in this chamber that Arbuthnott is good for rural Scotland, why are we in the Grampian area down at the bottom of the league for funds? It is no use the minister shaking her head. Does she agree that Arbuthnott is failing in its aim of ensuring a fair and equitable distribution of those badly needed health funds?
I do not agree with Mr Rumbles's statement. We should remember that the Arbuthnott formula is a radical and, rightly, distinctively Scottish measure, which was designed to put in place a better, fairer funding formula for the national health service in Scotland. For the first time, it allows for an examination of how resources can be allocated based on need, particularly on the needs of remote and rural areas and of more deprived areas.
Given what the minister has just said about resource allocation in the health service, does she agree with George Foulkes, the Scotland Office minister, that Scotland receives more than its fair share of UK health spending, or does she agree with me that, with friends like that in London, we do not need enemies?
That was not relevant to the question. We will move on.
Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received concerning the proposed sale of the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena. (S1O-3505)
None, because there is no such proposal.
Mr Wilson must contact different people in Glasgow City Council from the ones I do. I have received plenty of representations on the issue—nearly 1,000 signatures. Does he agree that the loss of the Kelvin Hall would be a major blow for Glasgow, and that we need investment in community facilities, not the sell-off of vital public assets?
That is entirely typical of the Scottish National Party's scaremongering, which we have come to expect in the chamber. Several weeks ago, I received representations on the issue from the constituency member, Pauline McNeill, and my officials made inquiries of the city council in order to establish the status of the press comments on which Ms White is clearly basing her question. Those inquiries confirmed that Glasgow City Council is at a very early stage of considering the options consequent to the possible relocation of the Museum of Transport. The council will fully consult the local community, sportscotland, the Scottish Athletics Federation and any other interested party before coming to a decision. Council representatives have already met representatives of sportscotland to explain the position to them.
Question 7 has been withdrawn.
Dental Health
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to improve dental health. (S1O-3529)
"An Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland", which was published on 20 August last year, sets out a number of initiatives aimed at improving the dental health of the people of Scotland.
Will the minister join me in welcoming the Ayrshire and Arran figures on dental registration for young children, which are 14 per cent above the Scottish average? Can he reassure parents following recent publicity about reviewing guidance on dental X-rays for children?
I welcome the figures and the fact that Ayrshire and Arran Health Board is developing an oral health strategy. I am unable to comment in detail on Irene Oldfather's second point, in view of the fact that the case mentioned in the papers today is before the General Dental Council. However, I assure her that patient protection is paramount for the Executive. She can be assured that we are taking action in general terms in the area to which she refers.
Education (Qualifications)
To ask the Scottish Executive what factors contributed to the general improvements in standard grade results identified in "Scottish School Leavers and their Qualifications: 1998-99". (S1O-3522)
Improved standard grades and other improvements in attainment are the results of the hard work of Scotland's pupils and teachers. Those improvements are supported by comprehensive investment in education and a clear policy framework, including target setting, which has acted as a focus for improvement in schools.
I thank the minister for his answer. Will he provide reassurance that, contrary to reports in this morning's newspapers, there will be no move away from external examiners in the conduct of the Scottish examinations system?
Yes, I am able to provide that reassurance.
As we are discussing improvements in education, is the minister aware that Dundee City Council's education department has received an excellent report from Her Majesty's inspectorate of education? Dundee City Council is the first and, I believe, the only education department so far to receive very good scores for any of the inspectorate's indicators. I understand that the department scored above the line in all 11 indicators, with two scores of very good and nine scores of good.
All members in the chamber should warmly congratulate Dundee City Council. The local authority faces a number of challenges, but the report by Her Majesty's inspectorate of education on its education department is first class. The department and the schools in Dundee deserve congratulations on that. I suspect that some of those congratulations should be directed towards the member for Dundee West who, I believe, was the council leader when the director of education was appointed—well done.
Might results also be improved if all examination questions, for school children and students, were subjected to the Plain English Campaign? If the minister studies examination sheets, as I have had the misfortune to do, he will discover that some of them are heavily laden with gobbledegook, jargonism and stuff that the children cannot understand. I am not referring to trick questions, which will always remain.
Did you understand the question, minister? [Laughter.]
For the sake of a short answer—yes.
Regional Selective Assistance
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer by Ms Wendy Alexander to question S1O-3411 on 10 May 2001, how much of the £4 million of regional selective assistance offered to companies in the Scottish Borders has been disbursed. (S1O-3508)
As the member said, £4 million has been offered to projects in the Scottish Borders through regional selective assistance and the invest for growth grant scheme. Those offers are usually paid in instalments as projects are implemented. Therefore, disbursement will happen only when agreed capital expenditure and job targets have been achieved.
I thank the minister for her answer.
A number of members, including constituency members in the Borders, have been in touch with me about Signum Circuits. I want to record in the Official Report that we have considered how the grant offer can be revised in the light of the fact that the company may need access to grant despite recent redundancies. That is the sort of flexibility that my department is willing to show. However, the offer must be commensurate with the rigour that all parties—and some of the Opposition parties in particular—wish to show in the disbursement of moneys to companies whose commercial prospects will be matters of interest to us in the future.
How many companies have been offered support under the scheme? How much capital investment will be attracted by the RSA that is offered? Does the minister agree that objective 2 funding and the granting of assisted area status in general gives the Borders a real opportunity to diversify its economy? Will she offer her full support to the new ways strategy for the recovery of the Borders economy?
The new ways strategy is excellent, as is the embryonic way in which the local economic forum is working as a model for the rest of Scotland. The designation of assisted area status—which the Executive argued for—has attracted £4 million in RSA offers. More significant is the fact that it is expected to leverage in in excess of £20 million to the Borders economy and safeguard in excess of 940 jobs in the period ahead. I hope that all members will welcome that.
Tourism (Information Centres)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that the current tourist information network is maintained and that there is not a reduction in the number of months that information centres are open. (S1O-3510)
As Mr Raffan will appreciate, provision of tourist information centres is an operational matter for the area tourist boards.
Is the minister aware that the proposed winter closure of several tourist information centres, such as that at a gateway location in Kinross, is causing widespread confusion and concern as it seems to contradict the Executive's message that Scotland is open for business following the foot-and-mouth outbreak? Does he realise that many tourism facilities in Kinross-shire—such as the RSPB's Vane Farm nature reserve—depend on winter visitors? If he can agree to a huge salary for a chief executive and intervene two days later to terminate that appointment, he can intervene—if he has the will and if he wants to—to keep the Kinross tourist information centre open. Its superb staff have been described as absolutely crucial to the local economy.
I do not doubt the quality of the staff in that tourist information centre, but the micromanagement of individual tourist information centres is not and should not be the responsibility of ministers.
Child Protection
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the outcome of its consultation on the establishment of an index of adults unsuitable to work with children and its proposals for any legislation on this issue. (S1O-3521)
"Protecting Children: Securing their Safety—A Pre-legislative Consultation Paper on the Establishment of an Index of Adults Unsuitable to Work with Children" was published in July 2000. The consultation period finished on 27 October 2000. There was general support for the paper's proposals. I am finalising our detailed response and I hope to make an announcement very soon.
Has the minister considered whether anyone whom it is deemed necessary to place on such an index, so preventing them from working with vulnerable children, should also be prevented from working with vulnerable adults, such as those with mental health problems?
There are a number of complex issues that relate to that subject, which came up during the consultation. This is an important issue that needs to be handled sensitively. It is likely to be one of the areas on which we seek further consultation responses when we publish our more detailed proposals.
Statins
To ask the Scottish Executive whether statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs, are not being made available to patients due to a lack of resources and, if so, whether it will take measures to rectify the situation. (S1O-3502)
Doctors prescribe statins on the basis of their assessment of the needs of each patient, taking into account the evidence-based guidelines produced by independent expert clinicians. Since 1992, the number of prescriptions for statins has risen twentyfold, to more than 1 million per year.
Is the minister aware of serious allegations that patients suffering from heart disease have died as a result of a lack of availability of those particular drugs, or a lack of access to them? Will she please look into this as a matter of great urgency? It is extremely important that the high incidence of heart disease in Scotland should be speedily arrested.
I am certainly aware of the allegations, which were made by one clinician in the press last week. I would like to take this opportunity to correct some of the assertions. It was claimed that official guidelines deny the use of those cholesterol-lowering drugs. As I have already said, the guidelines in question are produced by multidisciplinary groups of expert clinicians. They are not Government guidelines. They are prepared to improve standards in the treatment of various conditions and have been recognised worldwide as being an effective way of setting standards. They are based firmly on the available evidence. The twentyfold increase over the past 10 years or so is testament to the fact that, where appropriate, clinicians prescribe them if that is the best way to treat a patient.
Exchange of Information (Norway)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate an exchange of information with the Norwegian Government on matters of common interest. (S1O-3519)
We already have very constructive links with all the Nordic countries, including Norway. We will take every opportunity to develop those links further.
I am very glad that the minister has already established links. If he has made friends in the Norwegian Government, he may agree that it would be sensible to find out why, with wildly fluctuating oil prices, the Norwegians have an oil-based economy that delivers much better economic standards, welfare benefits, internal sea transport—I will not go on with the list—than we do although they have much in common with us and very much the same basic resources. If he will not try to find that out, is it because hearing the answers would force him to rethink his unionist position?
If resources are to be put into a long-term fund—and I accept that that is a reasonable argument for any political party to put forward, although it is quite clearly outside the powers of this Parliament—the SNP must have a credible explanation of how core services, such as education and health, can continue to be funded. We cannot—as the SNP continually does—count the same money twice. We need a fair discussion on factual information, not a fictional debate on fantasy figures.
Given that the Norwegians are developing more sustainable salmon fish farming and sea cage fish farming; given that, in Wester Ross, according to a report from the World Wide Fund for Nature today, salmon are about to become extinct in the rivers Corrie, Shieldag, Kishorn, Atadale, Strontian and Carnoch; given that the Scottish Executive may have representatives—[Members: "Question!"] The question is coming. Given that the Scottish Executive may have representatives at the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, will the Executive be pursuing common policies with the Norwegian Government for the conservation of salmon?
The first and most important thing to say is that we have many lessons to learn as a nation from other countries—not only from Norway, but from other Scandinavian countries and from other countries both inside and outside the European Union. If we are narrow-minded and insular, we will have failed the test of the establishment of this new Parliament.
Does the minister agree that Scotland is one of the remaining strongholds for Atlantic salmon? Indeed, the WWF report says that 63 per cent of salmon-bearing rivers in Scotland are healthy. Our water and rivers are in good condition and we must take care of them, because they provide a good environment for salmon and we are one of the four major nations in the world that provide a good base for salmon to develop.
I did not hear a question, but would you like to answer, minister?
I agree with that. Our future, not only in relation to the salmon industry but in relation to all our fishing and food, has to be based on high environmental standards and high quality. We are fortunate to have an excellent reputation in that area already, but I hope that we can enhance it further in the coming years.
Given Norway's sky-high taxes and beer at £4 a pint—[Interruption.] If members give it out they have to take it as well. Given those points, does the minister believe that Norway offers an excellent blueprint for an independent Scotland?
I do not think that that requires an answer. Perhaps we should draw a line under this discussion.
Science Strategy
To ask the Scottish Executive when the science strategy for Scotland will be published. (S1O-3518)
I intend to publish the science strategy during the summer. In the light of the exchange that we have just heard, Mr Adam will be aware that Opposition parties were justifiably anxious that the Executive should show appropriate sensitivity during a UK general election period with respect to major new announcements.
I thank the minister for that reply. I was not going to attack her for failing to publish the strategy; I merely wish to ascertain whether she will provide the appropriate resources to implement it when it is published and what steps she intends to take to recruit and retain the high-quality scientists we have, particularly in higher and further education.
As Mr Adam will be aware, we announced that we intend to create a new science advisory committee. He will appreciate that we are also considering the role and status of such a committee in the context of the review of non-departmental public bodies that is currently under way. Science is funded on a UK basis. As I meet members of the scientific community around Scotland, particularly in the run-up to this UK general election, their overriding preoccupation appears to be that they should not be cut off from the above-population-share of resources that they currently secure from the UK research councils, which were so generously increased recently. They are also somewhat perturbed by the risk that Scottish politics would be dominated by those whose sole raison d'être would be to cut them off from their counterparts and larger-scale funding in the rest of the UK.
Foot-and-mouth Disease
To ask the Scottish Executive how the £5 million additional funding announced on 28 March 2001 for enterprise networks to help alleviate the immediate impact of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has been spent. (S1O-3507)
The detail of how the cash will be spent is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I am happy to ask both Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to write to the member with further details.
I note that response, but does the minister share my concern that it appears that none of the money, nor the additional £5 million that Scottish Enterprise allocated to the Dumfries and Galloway part of its network, has made its way directly to business? Does she share my disappointment that it took the personal intervention of Robert Crawford to clarify the loan terms for businesses in Dumfries and Galloway? Is it not about time we got some cash to businesses that are crying out for their survival?
I am happy to confirm that on Monday 21 May the terms and conditions for the spending of the money were made available. The initiatives are available now to businesses in Dumfries and Galloway and we are keen for them to apply. Members in all parties will be pleased to know that Scottish Enterprise has gone down the route of interest-free financing through a loan scheme and an interest relief fund, which is what many members from all sides asked it to do.
Question 17 has been withdrawn.
Public Finances
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to increase transparency and accountability in relation to public finances. (S1O-3517)
We publish and widely circulate the annual expenditure report and our draft budget proposals, which set out the broad financial direction of the Executive and our proposed budget for the following year. We also undertake budget roadshows to explain our thinking and hear people's views.
During the current debate about the Barnett formula and the possibility of fiscal autonomy, would it be in everyone's interests for the Scottish Executive and the UK Government to be more forthcoming about the exact amount of revenue that is raised in Scotland and the exact amount of public expenditure that is spent in Scotland, so that the people of Scotland can make up their own minds about whether the Scottish Parliament should continue to be virtually the only Parliament in the world that depends completely on another Parliament for every penny it spends?
I am somewhat surprised to hear Dennis Canavan ask that question. He should know that such a survey exists—it is called "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" and is published annually by civil servants in the Scottish Executive, taking account of a wide range of data that are available from several reputable sources, including the Treasury. The most recent GERS publication shows that Scotland has a structural deficit of £5 billion with the rest of the UK. Even taking into account oil, Scotland still has a structural deficit that exceeds £2 billion.
We are two minutes late starting First Minister's questions, so I will add two minutes later.
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