Chamber and committees

Scottish local authorities are working towards the target of having all schools connected to the Internet by 2002.

The Scottish Executive has not established any targets for pre-school centres to have access to the Internet.

The Scottish Executive has not set any targets for pupils in pre-school centres to have their own e-mail addresses.

Of the four NHS Trusts in Scotland delivering paediatric pathology services, all but Yorkhill NHS Trust included a statement in the post-mortem consent form covering the retention of organs or tissue for medical education or research.

The Scottish Executive Health Department has issued a Management Executive Letter (MEL(2000)21) dated 27 April 2000 which makes it clear that all Trusts in Scotland are expected to comply with the Royal College of Pathologists' "Guidelines for the retention of tissues and organs at post-mortem". In particular, they are expected to use the model form drawn up by the college for use when carrying out a post-mortem with the consent of relatives. That form contains specific questions about the retention of organs and their subsequent disposal. We have also drawn all Trusts' attention to the guidance published by the Medical Research Council on the use of samples of human tissue for research.

Yorkhill has considered very carefully, in conjunction with parents' representatives, whether it should inform parents that their children's organs have been retained without their consent. Parents' representatives took the view that a pro-active approach could be a distressing intrusion into the very different and highly personal ways in which parents and families cope with the loss of a child. The Trust has accepted that view, but will of course respond sensitively to any approaches it receives from parents.

The Trust is now undertaking a review over the next 6-12 months of the retained organs to identify those of particular and continuing educational value. All other organs would be disposed of with respect and dignity after allowing a suitable interval, possibly a year, for further parental inquiries.

The Scottish Executive is aware of the census of all hospital pathology departments in England being undertaken by the Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health in England. He is expected to report in September, and consideration will be given to whether the recommendations he makes have any implications for the NHS in Scotland. We shall also consider whether any further action needs to be taken in the light of the recommendations of the interim report issued on 11 May by the public inquiry investigating paediatric cardiac surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-5615.

I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-5615.

I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-5615.

I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-5615.

Research published recently by the Scottish Executive found that child pedestrians from socio-economically disadvantaged families have a higher risk of injury in road accidents than children in higher socio-economic groups and that injuries tend to be of greater severity. The research suggested that the link between social deprivation and the high accident rate of child pedestrians may be partly explained by increased exposure to hazardous environments, such as busy roads with a lack of safe crossing sites, the location of schools within the community and the availability of and access to safe play areas. These factors, compounded by a lack of adult supervision of younger children, appear to exacerbate road accident rates in disadvantaged areas.

Research to be commissioned by the Scottish Executive later this year will consider road safety initiatives in deprived areas. In particular, the research will establish the extent and type of community road safety initiatives in Scotland, focusing on deprived areas. It will compare different types of initiatives and consider best practice. Guidelines to be produced in the light of the research will advise local authorities and community organisations on how to establish and run a road safety initiative.

The Scottish Executive and the UK Government recently announced targets for road accident casualty reductions in the period to 2010. These include a 50% reduction in the number of child fatal and serious casualties. The targets, together with a strategy for achieving them, were published on 1 March.

The Scottish Executive will take into account the findings of the research report Road Accidents and Children Living in Disadvantaged Areas, published by the Scottish Executive Central Research Unit on 19 April, when targeting road safety campaigns for disadvantaged areas.