Chamber and committees

High quality, nutritiousfood is essential to improving the health and functional ability of hospitalpatients. Our National Health, published in December 2000, (Bib. number10298), invited the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland (now NHS QualityImprovement Scotland) to develop clinical standards for food, fluid andnutritional care in hospitals.

The standards were publishedlast month (Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care in Hospitals, Bib. number29700) and delivery against these standards will be reviewed by NHS QualityImprovement Scotland and the findings published.

Currentpolicy is that all students are entitled to experience learning a modern languageno later than primary 6. There are already some Scottish projects involvingchildren as early as primary 1 in learning modern languages through partialimmersion techniques.

In thepre-school setting, the Scottish Executive’s CurriculumFramework for Children aged three to fiveprovides guidance to early years practitioners which recognisesthat the pre-school years are an ideal stage to enrich children’s languageexperiences by exposing them to different languages.

It is expected that regulations to implement these changes will be laid before Parliament during the summer session and, if approved by Parliament, will come into force in the early autumn this year.

Financial assistance to owner-occupiers in blocks of flats mainly owned by local authorities or registered social landlords is provided through Housing Improvement and Repairs grants, administered by the local authority. Most grants are paid at the discretion of local authorities, at rates of up to 50% or up to 75%, depending on circumstances. The amount of grant which may be made available makes no distinction between types of owners. At present, installation of secure entry systems would not normally be eligible for grant, although it might be included with a wider programme of improvement, or if required to make the property suitable for a disabled occupant. The Scottish Executive intends to implement changes made in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, under which the installation of a main door entry-phone system in buildings in common ownership will be specifically identified as work eligible for grant. The amount of grant will depend on the income of the applicant.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33550 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Scottish Steering Group for the European Year of Disabled People 2003 announced its proposals for the year on 23 January. The steering group's focus is on national activity. A range of activities is planned and progress is being made through the steering group.Some local events are being funded through the grant scheme run by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Scottish Executive has no role in administering this scheme.

The Scottish Steering Group for the European Year of Disabled People (EYDP) includes organisations representing a broad range of impairment groups, including physical and sensory impairments, learning disability and mental illness. The steering group's activities to mark EYDP will relate to a broad range of impairment groups.

For information on the activities planned by the Scottish steering group I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33375 on 23 January 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa. The Scottish steering group is focussing on national activity and has no plans for a local event in North Ayrshire.Local organisations may be planning their own events around Scotland. However, we are unaware at this stage of any specific events taking place in North Ayrshire.In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions is running a grant scheme for local and national projects. There are 22 successful projects in Scotland as follows.

National (Scotland-wide)
Birds of Paradise Theatre Company Limited	Working Towards Equality
Deafblind Scotland	From Isolation To Participation
Ownership Options in Scotland	Mainstreaming Ownership Skills Training
Local
Ayrshire Independent Living Network	South Ayrshire fun day
The State Hospital	Calendar of Patients' Artwork
North Lanarkshire Arts Association	Community Open Arts Exhibition
Project Ability	Building Creative Bridges
Kincardine and Deeside Disability Action Group	Aberdeenshire Disability Advisory Group
Survivors' Poetry Scotland	Manifesto
Inverclyde Council on Disability	Accessible Infoclyde
Glasgow Association for Mental Health	Accessible Information Project 2003
Fife College of Further and Higher Education	Listen and Learn
Leonard Cheshire Scotland	Manifesto
Inverness Access Committee	What Barriers Face Disabled People Seeking Work?
Computers and Integration Ltd	Able to Communicate
West Dunbartonshire Council: employment development for people with disabilities	Community Cafe/Social Firm
Volunteer Centre Edinburgh	The Volunteer Personal Development Project
Barnardo's Scotland	Our Lives - Snakes and Ladders
Augment	Mind Yer Heid
Clackmannanshire Council	ROAD - Raising Operators' Awareness of Disability
Access to Training and Employment	Aberdeen Business Disability Awareness Project
Intowork	Rights and Participation: A Scottish Perspective on Disability and Access to Employment

In Scotland, the Scottish Executive has convened a steering group for the European Year of Disabled People 2003.Most of the organisations on the steering group are from the voluntary sector, including the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. We will look to steering group members to promote EYDP through their networks and partnerships and facilitate participation by the voluntary sector.

The Mental Health and Well-being Support Group, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (QIS), the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, the Social Work Services Inspectorate and the Performance Assessment Framework all play a part in evaluating the progress made in the provision of modern, responsive mental health services.More specifically, Mr Chisholm recently announced an assessment of existing mental health services in relation to the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill, now being considered by the Parliament. Details of this process are given in my answer to question S1W-33754 on 5 February 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.