Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive will support two major new initiatives.

The first will provide project funding to the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters to implement a “training of trainers” academic course to be delivered at Heriot-Watt University, in association with Edinburgh University. In two years this will create around 10-15 BSL/English Interpreter trainers working directly in Scotland.

Our target is to double the number of registered BSL/English interpreters in Scotland and, given that there are currently 44 of them, this is a very significant step towards achieving that.

The second will be a challenge fund for further and higher education institutions to develop other courses and materials to help increase the number of British Sign Language/English Interpreters.

These initiatives will be facilitated by the allocation of £500,000 between 2004 and 2007. These initiatives respond to the recommendations of British Sign Language and Linguistic Access Working Group, which is convened by the Scottish Executive.

It is a very rare occurrence to lose a patient’s records and for that reason central statistics are not kept. I have been made aware, however, that just such an event has befallen one of Cathy Peattie’s constituents. I very much regret that.

I am delighted to announce thatwe have met our partnership commitment to increase the apprenticeship programmeto 30,000 by 2006. There are now over 31,000 MAs in training which is an outstandingachievement and illustrates the popularity of the programme with both participantsand employers.

Our focus for the programme goingforward will be on strengthening quality and increasing completion rates, whilerecognising that many who do not complete have used their MA as a stepping stoneto other employment, further or higher education. 

We are promoting training in British Sign Language in anumber of different ways.

For example, we are providing £78,000 over three years tothe Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters; and this year weprovided £167,000 to run courses on the use of BSL and a further £93,000 forthe BSL Dictionary Project consortium.

We are workingwith Deaf organisations and the Scottish Association of Sign LanguageInterpreters to produce plans to double the number of BSL interpreters in Scotland.

The Joint Committee onVaccination and Immunisation advises UK Health Departments on issues relatingto vaccination and immunisation, based on currently available scientificevidence.

The committee is currentlyconsidering whether carers should be brought within the groups recommended forimmunisation against influenza.

We are aware of the pilot weatherforecasting service recently introduced into Wales and have asked theMountaineering Council of Scotland to monitor and evaluate its operation duringits trial period. We will then consider whether a similar service might beintroduced in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive issued guidance (CCD 2/2003) in March 2003 to local authorities, NHSScotlandand the voluntary sector advising on new legislative measures to support unpaidcarers contained in the Community Care and Health (Scotland)Act 2002. A fundamental principle underpinning the act and its associatedguidance is that carers are key partners in the provision of care and as suchneed resources to help them in their caring role. Resources can includepractical support or training. It is up to local authorities and health boards,working in partnership with local carers, to agree the provision of supportservices for carers. I understand that some Princess Royal Trust Carer Centres,which receive funding from local authorities and health boards, are already conductinglocal training of carers in moving and handling techniques.

The appointment of officersin Scottish police forces is solely the responsibility of chief constables. To assist chief constables in making appointments,the Scottish Executive provides guidance on the requirements, includingmedical standards, which those seeking appointment to the police service areexpected to meet. This is provided to assist the force medical officer inassessing a candidate’s suitability and includes criteria relating to bothphysical and mental health.

I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-6037 on 26 February 2004. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Association of Chief PoliceOfficers in Scotland published a Scottish Police Service People Strategydocument in August last year and intends to introduce a strategy for a healthypolice service as part of an associated action plan. The strategy documentmakes clear that the service recognises that its most valuable asset is itsstaff; that officers may be subject to stress and some may suffer from mentalhealth problems; and that it is important that forces are able to provideappropriate occupational health and welfare services.