Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual Chief Constables.

There is anational computerised call-recall system in place which ensures that eligiblewomen, who are registered with a general practitioner and are in the age range50-64 years are invited for breast screening every three years. Eligible womenare invited for screening on a general practice basis once every three years. Thereforewomen will be invited for their first screen before their 53rd birthday. Theupper age range for routine invitation is being extended to 70 years on aphased basis across Scotland from spring 2003.

The BreastScreening Programme has developed effective arrangements to invite knowneligible women who are not registered with a general practitioner. Proceduresare also in place for identifying and following up women who do not attend forscreening.

Maritimesafety is a reserved matter and responsibility in this areas lies with theMaritime and Coastguard Agency.

However,following the recent tragedy in the Forth Estuary when two men went missing ona fishing trip, Central Scotland Police are carrying out an investigation intothe circumstances and when their report is completed it will be considered bythe Procurator Fiscal. It would be inappropriate to offer further comment atthis stage. However, I can assure Parliament that any lessons learned from thistragic incident will be carefully considered by all the parties involved.

Racerelations legislation is a reserved matter. Any change would have to be made byWestminster legislation.

The Scottish Executive acknowledges the cultural identity of Gypsies/Travellers in Scotland andacknowledges them as a distinct group. This is reflected in a number of the Scottish Executive’s published documents including its Race Equality Scheme.

Information at this level ofdetail is not held centrally.

Police officers areappointed by the chief constable and are subject to the conditions of serviceas set out in police regulations.

The relevant statuterelating to dismissal from the Police Service in the context of police conductis set out in the Police (Conduct) (Scotland) Regulations 1996 and the Police (Conduct) (SeniorOfficers) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. Scottish Office Circulars 7-96and 10-99 respectively gave procedural guidance and clarification on howauthorities were expected to discharge their statutory role under these regulations.

National guidance onretention and destruction of medical records is set out in NHS MEL(1993)152which can be found at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/mels/1993_152.htm.Individual NHS boards follow the guidance set out in that circular. We are inthe process of reviewing guidance on the retention and destruction of medicalrecords and revised guidance will issue in due course.

The Scottish Executive very much welcomes the decision of the Fire Brigades Union Recall Conference to accept the employers' pay offer and bring an end to the dispute. This will enable all the stakeholders to work together to take forward the vision for the fire service outlined in our consultation paper The Scottish Fire Service of the Future, which we published last year. We all want a better, more efficient service which is focussed on reducing the unacceptably high number of fatalities and injuries from fire and which makes full and effective use of the skills and commitment of its staff in achieving this.

The performance of the operating companies is monitored by the Performance Audit Group (PAG) who report that, overall, Amey Highways and BEAR Scotland have generally met the standards of cleanliness for motorways required by the Environmental Protection Act and the associated Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. There have, however, been some areas in the south-east, south-west and north-east units which were not treated by Amey Highways or BEAR Scotland in accordance with the code of practice, namely the M876 in the south-east unit area, the M8, M74 and M73 motorways in and around Glasgow in the south-west unit area and the M90 in the north-east unit area. The specific problem areas on these routes were brought to the operating companies' attention and appropriate action was taken. The PAG will continue to monitor the situation.