Chamber and committees

The Glasgow Drug Court sat for the first time on Monday 12 November. This opens the way for a second stage pilot and so I was pleased to announce on Monday that a Drug Court will be established in Fife. The plans are for it to be in operation by summer 2002.

The extra funding was to support ChildLine in their valuable work in providing a free confidential telephone counselling service for children in trouble or danger. It took account of the significant increase in the volume of calls to ChildLine.

I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-14438.

I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-14438.

I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-14438.

An amendment proposing an extension of entitlement to free school meals to schoolchildren whose parents receive Working Families Tax Credit or Disabled Person's Tax Credit was considered and rejected during the passage of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000. The level of Working Families Tax Credit and Disabled Person's Tax Credit is a reserved matter.Ministers are committed to quality school meals, other healthy eating initiatives and improving the uptake of both. However, we do not collect information about the arrangements which education authorities operate for the provision of free school meals. Authorities are aware of their responsibilities, and in making such arrangements it is for them to take into account questions surrounding the identification of pupils receiving free school meals.There are no immediate plans to conduct research into best practice in the provision of free school meals in other countries or into why children do not take up their entitlement to free school meals. We have, however, raised the matter of uptake with CoSLA and have agreed to further joint discussion with them about this.

Funds have already been distributed to local authorities.The funds are provided as revenue grant, and local authorities have been advised that they can agree the flexible use of the funds with their partners locally.

The resources for 2001-02 were distributed through the Grant Aided Expenditure for services for people with disabilities. The GAE Green Book, setting out the elements for each authority, is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 12261).Guidance on the change funds issued on 26 March, advising that local authorities, with their partners, should use new and existing resources to achieve improvements in services and to deliver the review's objectives. Authorities are expected to apply Best Value principles to ensure maximum benefits for agencies and the best outcomes for all those who require services.We will assess the development of services and the use of resources through the Partnership in Practice agreements which are due to be submitted in June.

Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, published on 14 December 2000, sets out a wide range of measures to improve access to NHS services and to improve greater equity of access across Scotland.

Management Executive Letter 2000(17), which was issued by the Scottish Executive Health Department on 14 April 2000, draws the attention of boards and Trusts to the coming into force of the Data Protection Act 1998. The letter is available on SHOW. Amongst other things, it announces new arrangements under the Act for enabling patients to see their health records. In particular, it notifies NHSScotland of the new charging regime for subject access requests.More detailed guidance is now at an advanced stage of preparation and will be issued shortly.