Chamber and committees

As with any proposals for significant service change or closure approved by NHS boards, I would only make a decision on whether to endorse the preferred option or not following careful consideration of the relevant local review.

In the case of maternity service proposals, I would have to be satisfied that the preferred option is consistent with A Framework for Maternity Services inScotland (February 2001) and the recommendations of the Expert Group onAcute Maternity Services (December 2002). These policy documents set out clear action points and recommendations intended to ensure that NHS Scotland provides modern, safe and sustainable maternity services that are appropriate to the needs of women and families in Scotland.

In the case of NHS Argyll and Clyde’s maternity service proposals, I have taken the time to both carefully consider all the available information and to meet with local representatives and campaign groups.

I consider that NHS Argyll and Clyde’s proposed model of maternity services is the best available option for providing high quality, safe and sustainable maternity services that are consistent with national guidelines. As such, I can confirm that the plans will see a consultant-led maternity unit at the Royal Alexandra and new midwife-led community units in Greenock and Vale of Leven. However, I have asked NHS Glasgow and NHS Argyll and Clyde to do more detailedwork on the pattern of patient choice between Glasgow and Paisley and to submit a report to me by April 2004.

The consultation on the proposednew transport agency and regional transport partnerships will continue until 17December. The consultation paper Scotland’s Transport, Proposals for a New Approach to Transportin Scotland is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, fromthe Scottish Executive and on the Scottish Executive website. It is important thatas many individuals and organisations as possible with an interest in improvingtransport delivery in Scotland - including appropriate trade unions - contributeto the consultation. I had a useful discussion with the Scottish Trades Union Congresson a range of transport issues including the proposed strategic transport authorityon 4 September.

While there are examples in manyparts of Scotland of close partnership working between local transportauthorities and bus operators, there are no statutory quality partnerships. Initiativesby transport authorities include bus priority lanes, new and improved bus stations,improved passenger interchanges and shelters and park and ride facilities. Initiativesin response by bus operators include increased service frequencies, improved services,increased numbers of low emission and low floor buses and improved ticketing andpassenger information.

In view of the encouraging resultsso far, the Glasgow Drugs Court pilot will be extended to spring 2005 and in thissecond phase, the court will be able to take referrals at all stages in the courtprocess in addition to the present custody route. Referrals will also be extendedto include solemn cases. The period of the independent evaluation will be extendedto take account of these changes.

The Scottish Executive is committed to working for a cleaner and safer environment and works closelywith the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Water and theagricultural sector to ensure that all sectors play their part in reducing pollutionto the water, reduce pollution to the water environment and to encourage the applicationof best practice to protect the environment.

Since the production of the Scottish Executive’s Bathing Waters: A strategy for improvement in March 2002, SEPAhas developed an action plan approach to inspect all pollution sources and applysteps to remedy any problems found and the Scottish Executive has sanctionedthe expenditure of £1.8 billion by Scottish Water during 2002-06 to upgrade itsassets, with priority action being taken to protect bathing waters. A number ofpilot projects are being taken forward by the Scottish Executive on the range ofsources and pathways of diffuse pollution from livestock farms in bathing watercatchments to assess the most cost-effective solutions to minimise diffuse pollutionrisks.

These actions are already havingan effect, and results from this year’s bathing season (the best yet for Scotland) reflectefforts made by all parties on this complicated issue.

Quality contracts are a toolprovided by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 for use by local transport authorities. Theact refers to fares and frequency of service as matters which may be included ina quality contract submitted to Scottish ministers for approval. The act makes nosuch provision in relation to standards of employment.

No quality contract schemes haveso far been established.

The Transport (Scotland) Act2001 provides a toolkit of options for local transport authorities to revitaliselocal bus services; this toolkit includes quality partnerships. Comprehensive guidanceon the act was published in October 2001 and it is now for local transport authorities,working closely with bus operators, to decide how best to use the powers to deviselocal solutions to local problems. My officials are available to provide adviceas required.

As outlined in A Partnershipfor a Better Scotland, the Executive is committed to monitoring whetherthe quality partnership powers included in the Transport (Scotland) Actare adequate to protect and enhance evening, weekend and rural bus services. Workis progressing on a detailed report on the impact of partnership working, includingaction on quality partnerships. The next steps will be decided in light of thatreport.

Information on contact ordersby non-resident fathers is located within the individual court records where theorders were sought. Easily accessible, in-depth national information on contactorders (and, more broadly, civil actions) is not available centrally. Only top-lineinformation is collated and published annually in the form of Civil Judicial Statistics.

However, the Executive is currentlysetting up a project to review the practical use of statistical data collected andpublished in the form of Civil Judicial Statistics. This is with a view to ensuringthat what is collected is of practical use in shaping and informing the performanceof the civil justice system in Scotland. This will include consideration of contact order data.

In the meantime, the Executiveis planning to conduct research to examine contact applications in a sample of Scottishcourts. This is primarily to address the recommendations of the National Group toAddress Violence Against Women. This research will focus upon fathers applying forcontact orders where there have been allegations of domestic violence. It will generatea “snapshot” of information at the time of research. Although the research willgenerate evidence to help assess how best to monitor contact orders, plans to collecton-going national data centrally will fall primarily within the remit of the CivilJudicial Statistics Review.