Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is engagingwith national governments to place Scotland as a nation rather than a region, but we will continueto cooperate with EU regions in areas where there is sufficient interest, goodwilland mutual benefit. Ministers are currently considering the Scottish Government’sengagement with our European partners and this will form part of the European Strategythat is being drawn up at the moment.

I have accepted an invitationto speak at the 2008 ENCORE (Environmental Conference of the Regions of Europe)event later this year. Most recently, Scottish ministers were represented at a sideevent to the Conference of the Partiesto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali in December2007. The event was organised by The Climate Group, for politicians and officials from states and regions, includingrepresentatives from EU regional legislatures, to discuss climate change policysolutions.

No meetings or consultationshave taken place with other European Union regional legislatures on matters relatedto sport as of yet. Sports Officials attended the EU Sports Directors Conferenceon 12 to 14 July 2007 where Sports Directors from the 27 member states were present.Discussions were held on the European Commission White Paper on Sport, health insport and anti-doping.

There have been no such discussionsat ministerial level. The Scottish Governmentwill be looking to engage with national governments to place Scotland as anation rather than a region, but we will continue to cooperate with EU regions inareas where there is sufficient interest, goodwill and mutual benefit. We are currentlydeveloping a European Strategy which will include the Scottish Government’s engagementwith our European partners.

Tourism is not an EU competence.However, officials keep in touch with developments affecting tourism across Europe, includingon the subject of funding for tourism projects involving other member states. TheEU organises an annual conference on tourism issues, and officials have in the pastattended these when the agenda has promised to be of relevance to tourism issuesin Scotland, using them as an opportunity to speak to representativesof other regional legislatures. In addition, delegations of ministers and officialswith an interest in tourism from legislatures such as Catalonia visit Scotland fromtime to time, and these visits are opportunities for further exchanges of views.

In the last three months oneScottish Cabinet Secretary, one Scottish minister and the Solicitor General forScotland have attended meetings in Brussels. All of their programmes have included business relatedto the European Commission’s work programme.

RichardLochhead MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment attended EuropeanAgriculture and Fisheries Councils on 22 to 23 October (in Luxembourg), 26 to 27November (in Brussels) and 17 to 19 December (also in Brussels). Whilst in Brussels forthe November Council, Mr Lochhead held talks with Deputy Director General of theCommission’s Agriculture Directorate (Loretta Dormal Marino) to discuss the needfor swift approval of Scotland’s Rural Development Programme. He met the AgricultureCommissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel on the margins of the December Council on thesame issue.

Separately, Mr Lochhead visitedBrussels on 16 October and 13 December 2007 together with the UK and NorthernIrish Fisheries Ministers, for talks with European Fisheries Commissioner, Joe Borg,ahead of the 2007 EU Fisheries negotiations.

JimMather MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, visited Brussels on Tuesday 27 November 2007 when he met with Commissioner Danuta Hubner to discuss regional policy andofficials in the Commission’s Directorate General for Transport and Energy to discussissues relating to Scotland’s renewable energy agenda.

Frank Mulholland QC, the SolicitorGeneral for Scotland, attended Justice and Home Affairs Councils on 8 to 9 Novemberand 6 to 7 December. The Solicitor General spoke on behalf of the UK on the CouncilFramework Decision on the recognition and supervision of suspended sentences, alternativesanctions and conditional sentences.

I have approvedthe reduction in the cost of a modacrylic wig in line with the reduction inprescription charges leading to abolition of the charge from 1 April 2011. Where the clinician prescribes a human hair wig tomeet the patient’s clinical need, the charge levied will be the same as aprescription charge. Patients who are exempt from payment of prescriptioncharges will also be exempt from paying a charge for their prescribed wig. Patientswhose prescription does not specify provision of a human hair wig will be freeto purchase one privately if they prefer.

Although we can dolittle to reduce the risk of developing inflammatory arthritis, early interventioncan reduce symptoms, improve function, and reduce deformities and damage of jointsby optimising treatment. This delays the progression of disease, and improves theday-to-day functioning of individuals and therefore their mental health and wellbeing.

Those who developarthritis may also benefit from anticipatory interventions that address the riskfactors for cardiovascular disease, found often as a co-morbidity with arthritis.One such approach is the “Keep Well” programme which provides a health check thatidentifies and addresses clinical, lifestyle and social needs of 45 to 64-year-oldsin deprived communities.

The Community HealthPartnerships Long Term Conditions Toolkit is intended to be used generically forall long-term conditions. In its first year of implementation, the focus has beenon establishing the baseline for services to manage long-term conditions.

Rheumatoid arthritisis mentioned as a potential “marker” condition when evaluating the effectivenessof the toolkit.

We intend to workwith those who have completed the toolkit to review their experience of the process.This will help us to draw out and communicate widely common themes of good practicefrom all over Scotland. The analysis of the action plans derivedfrom each toolkit may also reveal gaps in the pathway of care which need to be addressed.

The fundamental aimof the toolkit is to encourage generic approaches to long-term conditions in a waythat encourages consistency of approach across the whole of Scotland. Theaction plan derived from each toolkit is intended to inform each board’s arrangementsfor prioritisation of services within the local health system.