Chamber and committees

Personal Medical Services (PMS) operate under the NHS (Primary Care) Act 1997 and introduce flexibility to primary care services by meeting specific local needs through PMS pilots. Pilot GPs can be salaried either to Primary Care Trusts or within practices or pilots can be practice-based (where the GPs remain independent contractors but have a locally agreed contract). There are currently 15 PMS pilots in Scotland. Regulations state that Scottish Ministers may introduce the permanent PMS option if a review of pilot schemes has taken place and they are satisfied that it would be in the interests of any part of the health service to introduce permanency.A review of Scotland's first round pilots has recently been completed and, from this, I have concluded that the permanent PMS option would be of benefit to the NHS in Scotland. A copy of the review is available in SPICe and SHOW. A copy has also been sent to the Health and Community Care Committee, health boards, Primary Care Trusts and representative bodies.

I am therefore pleased to announce that a Permanent Personal Medical Services (PMS) option will be available to GPs and to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) from April 2001. This will mean that, for the first time, PCTs will be able to employ salaried GPs directly on a permanent basis to help recruitment and retention in deprived and remote and rural areas. This permanent PMS option will also enable PCTs and practices to develop local contracts to meet the specific needs of their local communities.Regulations bringing this permanent option into force will be circulated to Parliament and to representative bodies for comment in February 2001.

The Scottish Executive has now concluded discussions with the Department of Health and the Scotland Office about arrangements for the funding of five bodies in the health field, which deal with reserved matters. The bodies are the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; the Human Genetics Commission; the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Authority; the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee, and the National Biological Standards Board. Prior to devolution, the former Scottish Office contributed to the costs of these bodies; and financial provision has hitherto remained within the Scottish Executive budget. Arrangements have now been made to transfer to the Department of Health the Scottish share of the costs of these bodies. The sums involved are as follows:

1999-2000 £000	2000-01 £000	2001-02 £000	2002-03 £000	2003-04 £000
62	991.8	970.5	994.1	1018.7

Once the transfer has been completed, funding of these bodies will become the responsibility of the Department of Health.

Under the Lottery Sports Fund, £2.2 million per year is committed to the Talented Athlete Programme and £1.75 million to the Junior Groups Programme. The former currently supports some 450 athletes in 39 sports. The latter is designed to develop emerging talent in order to ensure international success in sport in several years time when the current crop of elite athletes have retired. Also, in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04, the Scottish Executive will allocate £200,000, £100,000 and £100,000 respectively to sportscotland for the preparation of the Commonwealth Games and Youth Commonwealth Games.

Through sportscotland, the Scottish Executive is wholly committed to the Sport 21 vision of Scotland achieving and sustaining world class performances in sport. Scotland has taken the lead in the UK by setting up, in October 1998, the Scottish Institute of Sport (the Institute). The Institute will be part of the United Kingdom Sports Institute network and will be at the pinnacle of this process, promoting excellence and ensuring that our top athletes have the support and encouragement that they need to succeed at the highest level. £20 million of funding has been earmarked from the Lottery Sports Fund over the next four years to fund the Institute. The Institute's key target is an increase in the number of Scottish medallists at World and Olympic competition.Following discussion in the UK Sports Cabinet in October, Dr Jack Cunningham MP was appointed to lead a review group to examine the way top athletes in the UK are supported through the Lottery Sports Fund. This will cover the World Class Performance Programme's structure and finance, and the underpinning support structures provided by the UK Sports Institute and Home Country Sports Institutes.

No.

No. The working group was set up by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions and comprised of representatives of various animal and dog welfare groups. Our observer status was given on the basis that it would assist the Executive's consideration of this topic.

Our intention is for any future consultation resulting from the working group's report to be extensive with all interested groups, as well as the general public, being given the opportunity to comment.

Given the scale and complexity of the issues that can be raised, there are no set targets for Reporters completing reports.

Two reports are awaited. In both cases the public local inquiry concluded on 24 October 2000.

One case currently awaits ministerial decision. This relates to a proposal for a golf course and holiday home development on the Rowallan Castle estate in East Ayrshire.

Our consideration of the working group's report is almost complete and an announcement as to how we intend to proceed, including its availability, will be made in the near future.