Chamber and committees

On 21 August, a three-year £30 million additional investment programme for primary care was announced. This will add to NHS Boards' existing and planned spend on primary care and it complements our investment of over £100 million in primary care over the next three years for NHS 24, Personal Medical Services, Public Health Practitioners, IM&T developments and GP practice premises and health centre developments.

The Scottish Executive Health Department has not issued formal guidance to general practitioners regarding prescription of potassium supplements to elderly people taking diuretics on a long-term basis as this is essentially a clinical decision dependent on the specific diagnosis, the clinical condition of the patient, concurrent treatment or drug therapies and the clinical assessment of the patient by their general practitioner.General advice on the long-term use of potassium supplements for elderly people taking diuretics on a long-term basis, is provided by a number of authoritative bodies including the British National Formulary (BNF); Scottish Medicines Resource Centre (SMRC); the Audit Commission Report entitled Supporting Prescribing in General Practice, and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) publication Number 35 on Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure due to Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction and 49 on Treatment of Hypertension in Older People.

I refer to my Answer in April to a similar Question (S1W-14470). The Executive is continuing to monitor related work being done to review the procedure rules and the relevant table of fees for solicitors. Progress is being made but the Executive is not yet in a position to say when the Orders will be laid.

A number of representations have been received. The matter has been under discussion between the Health Department and Ayrshire and Arran Health Board.I regard proper public consultation as an essential aspect of any proposal for significant change to the pattern of health services in an area.All Health Boards have been asked to work towards implementing the recommendations of the national Framework for Maternity Services published in February. I understand that Ayrshire and Arran Health Board recently announced its intention to benchmark every aspect of the way they deliver maternity services against the Framework.

The Scottish Executive has made progress in locating public sector jobs around Scotland. The Education and Lifelong Learning Department is now wholly located in Glasgow; the Food Standards Agency has been set up in Aberdeen and the Public Guardian's Office has been set up in Falkirk. On 1 December last year I announced in answer to Parliamentary Question S1W-11704 that we are undertaking detailed reviews of six Edinburgh based public bodies. Decisions are expected on the location of the Health Education Board for Scotland and sportscotland in the course of this year. Decisions are expected on the location of the Common Services Agency of the National Health Service in Scotland in 2002, on the Scottish Arts Council before 2003 and on Registers of Scotland in 2004.The First Minister announced on 6 March that the National Office of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the offices of the Scottish Social Services Council will be located in Dundee. The Commission's regional office for the area will also be located in the Dundee HQ. Locations under consideration for the other five regional offices are Inverness, Aberdeen, Paisley, Hamilton/East Kilbride and East Lothian.On 17 July I announced that the Scottish Public Pensions Agency will be located in the Galashiels area of the Borders, subject to the successful conclusion of negotiations for suitable premises.

As the report was an internal working paper produced by the Scottish Law Commission, the Executive does not have a copy and it would not be for the Executive to decide whether to make it available to the public. I understand that such working papers do not contain proposals for public consultation, but provide internal advice to Commissioners; and that it is not the practice of the Commission to make such papers available to the public.

The consultation paper did not comment on the research report in such terms, but only noted inconsistencies between older and more recent court decisions. The relevant consideration is that the Commission recommended in its final report published on 25 March 1998 that it was not necessary to introduce legislation either to reform or restate the existing law on boundary walls. Ministers considered the recommendation at that time and also concluded that no legislation was necessary on boundary division walls. The Executive agrees with that conclusion.

I can confirm that the research in question was conducted by a student employed on a temporary basis by the Scottish Law Commission.

The Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland was published in February 2001 and this recommended certain levels of provision of maternity care based on the birth rate within a location. NHS boards have been asked to work towards implementing the recommendations of the framework. A number of areas already comply with the recommendation that, where there are births in excess of 3,000, there should be a consultant-led specialist maternity unit. All boards have been asked to test their maternity strategies against the framework and identify any shortfalls by autumn this year.

The Scottish Executive employs the Performance Audit Group who audit and inspect the operations carried out by Amey Highways Ltd to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the trunk road maintenance contract.