Chamber and committees

Information on possible increases in road freight in Scotland arising from any restrictions on rail freight through the Channel Tunnel is not held centrally. However, we are in regular contact with the UK Government concerning European and International rail services.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including the restriction of rail freight, which might impact on Scottish businesses such as the whisky industry.

Neither the restaurant nor the shop currently accepts payment in currencies other than sterling, and there are no plans at present to change these arrangements. The SPCB will review this in planning for the Holyrood building.

The Scottish Executive does not monitor the volume of unsolicited faxes it receives; nor does it seek information from non-departmental public bodies about this.However, the Scottish Executive makes monthly telecommunications monitoring reports available to all its Budget Centre Managers, which show the number and cost of calls made from each telephone extension, including those used by fax machines. We also make monthly exception reports available, which identify individual outgoing calls which exceed a set duration or cost. If these reports give cause for concern, they are followed up in more detail.

The Scottish Executive has not made an analysis of the volume of unsolicited faxes it receives, nor does it seek this information from non-departmental public bodies. The Scottish Executive does however block outgoing access to premium rate telephone numbers.The Scottish Executive also makes monthly telecommunications monitoring reports available to all its budget centre managers, which show the number and cost of calls made from each telephone extension, including those used by fax machines. We also make monthly exception reports available, which identify individual outgoing calls which exceed a set duration or cost. If these reports give cause for concern, they are followed up in more detail.

The Scottish Executive has not commissioned research into the costs to it of unsolicited faxes.However, the Scottish Executive makes monthly telecommunications monitoring reports available to all its budget centre managers, which show the number and cost of calls made from each telephone extension, including those used by fax machines. We also make monthly exception reports available, which identify individual outgoing calls which exceed a set duration or cost. If these reports give cause for concern, they are followed up in more detail.

The Executive has no power to compel local authorities in Scotland to comply with any set standards. However, there is published guidance available for the public sector, including the Office of the e-Envoy publication Guidance for UK Government websites

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within NHSScotland. This role is well advertised throughout the healthcare and academic community. CSO is always happy to consider robust proposals for research projects, which would be assessed against the normal peer review and committee procedures and criteria.The CSO portfolio includes more than 30 cancer related projects with an annual spend of approximately £1.4 million, the findings of which will be relevant to all tumour types. The CSO also funds the indirect costs of cancer research. In 2000-01 approximately £7.1 million of the general funding allocated to the NHSScotland for research was used in support of cancer studies.Further information on CSO funding is available at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso.

I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-21411 and S1W-21413.

The clinical effectiveness of photo-dynamic therapy is the subject of on-going research and, pending the availability of evidence to support its safety and efficacy as a treatment option it would not therefore be expected to be widely available throughout Scotland.