I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-1682 on 28 August 2003. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Executive has not madeany representations to the Department for Transport on this matter. Trainingfor sheriffs is a matter for the independent Judicial Studies Committee.Sheriffs do receive refresher training on matters such as sentencing practice.

Following correspondence from a member of the public in May 2002 about this issue, Scottish Executive officials asked Scottish Water to provide information on the position at Kirkcaldy to enable a reply to be made. This is the only such correspondence received by the Executive on this matter.This is, of course, an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:Scottish Water is having on-going discussions with residents of the area and thoroughly investigating any smell complaints. At this time the plant is working efficiently and there have not been any reports of smells since the beginning of June. Scottish Water is again meeting residents in August and in the meantime asks that residents contact the customer helpline on 0845 601 8855 if they notice any smells.

NHSScotland is working to minimise cancellations of planned hospital admissions for in-patient and day case treatment. Managing Waiting Times - A Good Practice Guide, which was published on 13 June 2003, provides guidance to hospitals on the effective management of hospital admissions and recommends that they should monitor and review cancellations and, where appropriate, set performance improvement targets.Cancellations as a percentage of planned hospital admissions for in-patient or day case treatment is one of the indicators in the Performance Assessment Framework (PAF). The PAF supports self-assessment by NHS trusts and performance management of them by NHS boards. It also enables the Scottish Executive to hold NHS boards to account for their performance via the annual Accountability Review process.

Since August 2000, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) has made approximately £88 million of capital funding available to the further education sector to improve the fabric of college buildings and, in some instances, provide finance for new buildings.Approximately £58 million of this has been allocated on a formula basis (based on student activity) to address the most pressing, short-term, capital needs of the sector, notably in relation to health and safety, disability legislation and backlog capital maintenance. This has allowed colleges the flexibility to address their own individual needs. Based on a "snap-shot" estate condition survey commissioned by SFEFC in spring 2000, colleges have confirmed that formula funds have reduced their priority capital investment needs by approximately 16% over the period 2000-02 from about £116 million to about £98 million.The remaining £30 million has been allocated to certain colleges for specific medium-scale capital projects. Examples include:a £350,000 grant to Anniesland College to fund emergency accommodation requirements;a £2 million grant to Clydebank College to address urgent capital requirements;a £1.45 million grant to Langside College to fund health and safety works, and£1 million to North Glasgow College to address immediate capital requirements.SFEFC is currently in the process of allocating significant capital funds to several large-scale projects. These include:a £21 million contribution towards the relocation of Edinburgh's Telford College;a £6.1 million contribution towards the redevelopment of Fife College's St Brycedale Campus, anda £3.1 million contribution towards Angus College's new Community Access and Learning Centre.In addition, £10 million was made available in 2002-03 to provide extra help to colleges in meeting the cost of particularly expensive items of teaching equipment and to help colleges meet the infrastructure implications of special needs legislation.

Considerable progress is being made across Scotland in implementing the recommendations of The same as you?. Local authorities, NHS boards and their partners set out plans for implementation at local level in Partnership in Practice Agreements for 2001-04. Local area co-ordinators have been appointed in many areas, all but seven long-stay learning disability hospitals have closed, and people with learning disabilities are taking part in a greater range of employment, lifelong learning and social activities.At national level, I announced on 20 June that I would chair the National Implementation Group set up to oversee implementation of The same as you?; change funds provided by the Scottish Executive have now increased to £16 million for 2003-04, and the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 provides a right to direct payments to all people with learning disabilities who want them, from 1 June 2003.The Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability, funded by the Scottish Executive to offer consultancy and support to implement The same as you?, is sharing information and good practice, promoting joined-up services, letting people know about useful research and undertaking public education campaigns. The consortium is also involving people with learning disabilities and carers in improving training standards and providing training to a range of professionals.Scottish ministers are committed to successful implementation of The same as you? and to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families.

The primary responsibility for the delivery and management of physical education within the curriculum rests with education authorities. However, the Scottish Executive has taken a number of steps to promote physical and recreational education in schools, including the establishment of a PE Review Group, an Active Schools Working Group and the Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit. Funding has also been made available to adapt and develop the School Sports Co-ordinator Programme as part of the Active Schools Programme.

The Scottish Executive promotes healthy eating in primary schools in a number of ways including the development of nutrient standards for school meals and by supporting the provision of breakfast clubs and fruit in nurseries and schools.Advice and support materials provided by the Scottish Executive give health education, including nutritional education, a secure place within the curriculum and seek to ensure that it is provided in all schools. The Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit supports schools in becoming Health Promoting Schools. The main responsibility for the delivery and management of nutritional education within the curriculum, the quality of school meals and the provision of additional services such as breakfast clubs rests with local authorities.

The Scottish Executive met Fife Council, along with the Strategic Rail Authority and ScotRail, on 25 March 2003 to discuss the proposed Markinch public transport interchange. Officials also met the council on 14 January to discuss roads issues, in particular the A92 trunk road.

Following on from the activities of Science Year, the Scottish Executive recently supported a major international conference on 5 March that offered a vision of science education by 2020. In addition, £10 million of new funding was announced by the Executive for school science education over the next Three years.