Chamber and committees

The school dental service, which is being delivered under the Childsmile school programme, is currently operational in 201 schools in the following areas:

Area	Number of Schools
Ayrshire and Arran	28
Borders	13
Fife	33
Forth Valley	15
Grampian	3
Highland	11
Lothian	34
Shetland	21
Tayside	43

 

Other health boards are preparing to introduce the programme.

No date has been set, as it is for local authorities to determine how to take their fruit schemes forward locally. However, we are fully committed to, and confident of, meeting this pledge as the majority of local authorities have extended their free school fruit scheme beyond P1 and P2 pupils already. In addition, we are currently consulting with local authorities to explore the possibility of securing funding for 2010-11 from the EU under the EU School Fruit Scheme, to extend provision of free school fruit further.

Data on free school fruit provision is collected in the survey of school meals, the latest version was published in June 2009. The survey collects data on whether schools have extended their fruit scheme in some way to pupils beyond P1 and P2 pupils:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/22104701/0.

Progress to increase the availability of fresh healthy produce has been made thanks to partnership working between the Scottish Government, the Scottish Grocers Federation and Community Food and Health (Scotland) (CFHS).

Over 600 stores, around half in the most deprived areas, participate in the Scottish Grocers Federation Healthyliving Programme and have registered on average a 20 to 30% increase in sales of fresh fruit and vegetables since 2006. So far in 2009, shoppers at these stores consume an average of 3.9 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, up from 3.1 portions in 2006.

Community Food and Health (Scotland) support community food initiatives in the most deprived areas, helping to build capacity, offering training and a network to share best practice. CFHS also provides an annual grants scheme “ £140,000 to 58 groups in 2009. Twenty seven community food initiatives recently took part in a successful pilot to promote fruit and vegetables using Scottish Grocers Federation Healthyliving Programme training and resources.

The Scottish Government has committed ongoing support to both programmes in Recipe for Success “ Scotland''s National Food and Drink Policy.

We continue to support Scottish food and drink producers; since May 2007 we have supported 104 organisations with over £23 million funding through a range of grant schemes and awarded almost £700,000 to grow your own and community food projects through the Climate Challenge Fund.

This government will continue to work with local authorities, sportscotland and other key partners to expand the number of sporting centres of excellence. Since May 2007, the new sporting centres of excellence at Toryglen Regional Indoor Football Centre, Aberdeen Sports Village and The Peak at Forthbank in Stirling have all opened. It will be essentially for local authorities and sports governing bodies to determine how future centres of sporting excellence are developed according to their own needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government recognises that complementary or alternative medicines, including homeopathy, may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions and leaves it open to NHS boards to provide these therapies, based on their assessment of needs in their areas and in line with national guidance about treatment for the condition(s). The treatment of individual patients is a matter of professional judgement.

Guidance was issued to NHS boards in August 2005, to remind them that this option is open to them. The letter, NHS Circular HDL (2005) 37, is available at:

http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/HDL2005_37.pdf.

NHS boards are expected to take account of relevant evidence-based guidelines and advice in the planning and delivery of NHS services.

We have made good progress on this manifesto commitment.

A comprehensive programme for improving nutritional care in hospitals was established in 2008, backed by £1.5 million to support the implementation of the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland Clinical Standards for Food, Fluid and Nutrition in Hospitals. Food in Hospitals “ a National Catering and Nutrition Specification for Food and Fluid in Scottish Hospitals was published in July 2008; a monitoring tool has been developed; a Practice Development Programme and toolkit was published in November 2008; a web-based Educational Framework resource went live in December 2008 and continues to be built on; nutritional champions were appointed in each board area and a database of standard, nutritionally analysed recipes will be rolled out next year.

In care homes we piloted an educational programme which resulted in 50 nutrition champions being trained across Scotland. The overall aim of the programme was to improve nutrition, and food and eating practices within the care home sector. The final report of the project was positive but made a number of recommendations for any future project of this nature. We will ensure that resources are dedicated to developing this important area to ensure that the good start made by the Nutrition Champions project is not lost and all older people in care homes benefit.

Work in the pre-school sector includes a pilot project which aims to improve children''s health, increase healthcare capacity in schools (including nurseries) and reduce health inequalities. This is currently being delivered in four demonstration sites in Scotland “ South Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, Moray and West Lothian. There is also now a single curriculum for ages 3-18, which supports a more active approach to learning and teaching in pre-school and early primary school promoting various curriculum areas including healthy eating and living.

More generally, we are also making £19 million to NHS boards over the period 2008-11 to improve the nutrition of women of childbearing age, pregnant women and pre-school children in their areas.

The Food Standards Agency has produced Clear Food Labelling guidance, revised in 2008, which provides practical advice on how to label foods so that the information is presented in a clear and simple way to the consumer.

The review of EU food labelling legislation is ongoing. In January 2008, the European Commission published proposals for a Food Information Regulation for Consumers, which covers nutrition and general labelling and also includes a proposed option to allow for voluntary front of pack nutrition labelling. The proposal, amongst other things, requires mandatory information for consumers to be easily visible and clearly legible. The regulation is not expected to be adopted before 2011 and discussion on the detail is continuing.

In addition, any health claim made on food must comply with Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on Nutrition and Health Claims made on Foods. The purpose of this regulation, which came into force in 2007, is to harmonise legislation across the European Community and to protect consumers from misleading or false claims. All health claims must be supported by scientific evidence, assessed by the European Food Safety Authority and agreed by the EU Commission and member states.

Guidance on National Standard Eligibility Criteria And Waiting Times For The Personal And Nursing Care Of Older People, jointly agreed by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, was issued on the 28 September 2009. Local authorities were asked to confirm by 1 December 2009 that their local arrangements for access to social care services and timescales for access to personal and nursing care services are compatible with the national definitions and standards set out in the finalised guidance. Full text of the guidance is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/17655/research/NewPage.

The guidance delivers on a commitment to provide personal and nursing care services to older people within a maximum period of six weeks following the identification of need, where an individual is identified as being at critical or substantial risk as regards their independent living or wellbeing.

Eligibility criteria recognise urgency and risk as factors in the determination of eligibility for community care services. Where an individual is eligible, the urgency of that individual''s needs should be kept in focus in determining how to respond to the care needs assessment or ongoing review. It is fundamental to the approach set out in the guidance that individuals who require services should not simply be placed in a date order queue.

In April 2008, the Scottish Government and COSLA made a joint commitment to community empowerment which culminated in the launch of the Community Empowerment Action Plan earlier this year.

In relation to community councils, a Scottish Government Community Council Working Group (CCWG) was invited to identify expanded roles and responsibilities for community councils. They found that many, in discussion and agreement with their local authority, already undertook a variety of roles and responsibilities, including directing a portion of local spend, for example arranging minor repairs of certain local authority amenities, control of common good funds and community hall management/maintenance. However, in order for this to be more widespread, the capacity of community councils would require strengthening.

As part of their remit, and to address the development of capacity, the CCWG produced a Model Scheme of Establishment of Community Councils and Code of Conduct for Community Councillors. Adoption of these documents is key to the building of capacity as they will help to establish greater consistency of operational arrangements and a culture of accountability.

The Scottish Government is also funding a series of Community Council Pilot Projects. In partnership with COSLA and the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC), we have developed to date three out of six and another three are in train. The pilots will focus on budget management, potential asset management and community council elections.

Along with our key partners therefore, we are continuing to raise the profile and effectiveness of community councils throughout Scotland to enable them to build their capacity and to allow them to engage as key participants in local decision making and delivery.

In April 2008, the Scottish Government and COSLA made a joint commitment to community empowerment, which culminated in the launch of the Community Empowerment Action Plan earlier this year.

A Scottish Government Community Council Working Group (CCWG) was invited to identify expanded roles and responsibilities for community councils. They found that many, in discussion and agreement with their local authority, already undertook a variety of roles and responsibilities, including directing a portion of local spend, for example - arranging minor repairs of certain local authority amenities, control of common good funds and community hall management/maintenance. However, in order for this to be more widespread, the capacity of community councils would require strengthening.

As part of their remit, and to address the development of capacity, the CCWG produced a Model Scheme of Establishment of Community Councils and Code of Conduct for Community Councillors. Adoption of these documents is key to the building of capacity as they will help to establish greater consistency of operational arrangements and a culture of accountability.

The Scottish Government is also funding a series of Community Council Pilot Projects. In partnership with COSLA and the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC), we have developed to date three out of six and another three are in train. The pilots will focus on budget management, potential asset management and community council elections.

Along with our key partners therefore, we are continuing to raise the profile and effectiveness of community councils throughout Scotland to enable them to build their capacity and to allow them to engage as key participants in local decision making and delivery.