Dementia is a priorityfor the Scottish Government.

I have establisheda Dementia Forum to provide input and advice on all aspects of the dementia agenda.The forum has contributed to the consideration underway on the development of a dementia based HEAT target forNHS Scotland to drive further change, particularly to reduce undiagnosed dementia.

GPs are already paidfor maintaining a register of those with dementia and for undertaking an assessmentof their mental and physical health needs. A new standard for an integrated care pathway for dementia will be publishednext month which among other key aspects will highlight the need to help both theperson with dementia and their carer. A lead clinician has been appointedin each area to take forward the implementation of this and other standards.

The needs of thosewith dementia and their carers are also being considered in the current review ofNHS Continuing Care which reports early next year. We are also considering whataspects of health improvement and awareness raising are needed for the dementiainterest and will be involving stakeholder organisations including Alzheimer Scotland,Help the Aged and Age Concern in this attention.

The Scottish GovernmentChief Scientist Office is currentlyfunding three research projects on dementia and we have provided over £1 millionthis year to local authorities to support local dementia projects across Scotland through our Mental Health Specific Grant scheme. Fundingis also provided to the Dementia Services Development Centre and to Alzheimer Scotlandfor events and materials that advance understanding and better responses for thosewith dementia and their carers.

The focus forSpending Review 2007 has been on improvements and enhancements to front lineservices. The Mental Health Legislation and Services Budget outcome has securedcontinued funding at appropriate levels for the Mental Welfare Commission forScotland; the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland; the Leadership and otherinitiatives that underpin and help advance delivery of the 17 published targetsand commitments for mental health in Scotland (Bib. number: 41410), and allowsfor adjustments within the overall allocation to maintain a focus on localservice improvement and implementation.

Electric and magneticfields of the type produced by the electricity distribution system can induce electriccurrents in the the body. If these currents are large enough then sensations suchas small electric shocks and flickering sensations in the eye can occur.

The existing guidelineson restrictions on public exposure to electric and magnetic fields are 5 kiloVoltsper metre and 100 microTeslas, and these are based on the avoidance of these variousestablished biological effects.

There is some epidemiologicalevidence that prolonged exposure to power frequency magnetic fields well below 100microTeslas may be associated with a small risk of childhood leukaemia, but theUK Health Protection Agency advises that this evidence is not strong enough to justifythe firm conclusion that exposure to such fields does cause leukaemia in children.

The Stakeholder Advisory Group on Extremely Low FrequencyElectromagnetic Fields (SAGE) published their First Interim Assessment: PowerLines and Property, Wiring in Homes and Electrical Equipment in Homes on 27 April 2007. The report of the Cross PartyInquiry into Childhood Leukaemia and Extremely Low Frequency Electric and MagneticFields was published in July of 2007.

The Scottish Governmentwill consider the content of these reports in close liaison with colleagues in relevantUK Government Departments and devolved administrations.

The £94 million allocatedin Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 is ring-fenced in the Justice portfoliofor drug treatment. There is a similar line of funding in the health portfolio ring-fencedfor the provision of alcohol treatment services. Given the close link between alcoholand drug misuse and that many individuals receive treatment for both alcohol anddrugs issues, the Scottish Government accepts that a degree of flexibility may beapplied at a local level in the funding of treatment services for this populationas a whole.

Draft budget proposalsinclude an £85 million boost over three years to increase access to early interventionand treatment for people with alcohol problems; the single largest increase everfor tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland.

Decisions on the exactallocation of this funding will be taken over the coming months, but treatment andprevention programmes will benefit from increased resources.

The Stakeholder AdvisoryGroup on Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (SAGE) published their FirstInterim Assessment: Power Lines and Property, Wiring in Homes and Electrical Equipmentin Homes on 27 April 2007. The report of the CrossParty Inquiry into Childhood Leukaemia and Extremely Low Frequency Electric andMagnetic Fields was published in July of 2007. Both of these reports includeconsideration of how planning guidance might be used to control development nearhigh voltage overhead powerlines.

The Scottish Governmentwill consider the content of these reports, including implications for planningguidance, in close liaison with colleagues in relevant UK Government Departmentsand devolved administrations.

The CabinetSecretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth announced in the 2007 StrategicSpending Review on 14 November 2007 that the baseline funding for sport willincrease by 25% over the period 2008-11. While the future of sportscotland iscurrently under consideration, its core functions will continue to be deliveredin any future arrangements and our commitment to an increase in the baselinefunding for sport will remain.

This budget will beused to support anticipatory care programmes, targeted at chronic disease prevention,largely through primary health care programmes, which reach deprived individualsand communities. Such anticipatory care programmes will build on the experienceof delivering Keep Well in areas of multiple deprivation.

However, we are alsoplanning to implement a programme, prepared by the North of Scotland Public HealthNetwork, which addresses the anticipatory care needs of deprived people living inremote and rural areas.

In our current trunkroad investment programme to 2012 we plan to deliver over a dozen improvement schemeson the A9 and the A96 which will improve safety, provide additional overtaking opportunitiesand help to reduce platooning and driver frustration.

I wish to wait untilLord Archer of Sandwell’s independent inquiry into infection from blood and bloodproducts in the 1970s and 1980s concludes and reports, before deciding what remainsto be done. I will then be in a position to consider the legal framework, scope,remit and timing of the Scottish public inquiry.