Chamber and committees

The Executive is committed to introducing a statutory power of community initiative for local authorities and a statutory basis for community planning at the earliest legislative opportunity.

Today, I shall be publishing a consultation paper on our proposals for legislation in these important areas. We want to encourage innovation and joined-up working between councils and their local partners so that they can meet the needs of their communities more effectively.

The consultation paper will also cover proposals to widen access to council membership by amending the rules which restrict council employees from becoming elected members.

The disposal of land by Railtrack is a commercial decision for the company and not a matter in which the Scottish Executive has any locus.

Allotments are essentially a local matter, in which the local authority is best placed to assess the needs of the inhabitants of its area, develop policy on allotments and administer allotment provision as they best see fit.

As such, there are no plans to introduce greater protective legislation. We will be looking at the role of best practice guidance on allotments.

The Scottish Executive has identified the parties considered responsible for damaging Erskine Bridge. However, it is not considered appropriate to release information on the parties who will be named in the summons until the summons is served.

All education authorities in Scotland have guidelines and procedures for Child Protection to ensure the safety and well being of children and young people and to protect those adults working with them.Schools also play a part in the prevention of child abuse through the teaching they offer. Within the curriculum, health education, personal and social development and religious and moral education can all serve as vehicles for considering aspects of physical, social and emotional wellbeing. Schools should keep parents, carers and other agencies informed about school child protection policies and procedures and about the content of personal safety programmes.A Commitment to Protect - Supervising Sex Offenders in the Community recommended amongst other things that all education authorities should have in place a personal safety programme promoting pupils' skills, knowledge and understanding to assist them in living safely and feel empowered to reject inappropriate behaviour. Practical advice on this recommendation is being developed by the Expert Panel on Sex Offending chaired by Lady Cosgrove. We look forward to receiving the panel's report in due course.

It is for the NHS and local authorities to consider jointly, the very real and sensitive needs of this care group in the organisation of care provision and accommodation that meets the assessed needs of their area.

To date the capital value of signed projects for school buildings using Public/Private Partnership is £319 million.

The Scottish Cancer Group, which leads and directs Scotland's cancer strategy, is working actively with the Scottish Executive and with the service to ensure that everyone with cancer has access to modern, high quality and responsive services, supported by up-to-date technology and information systems centred on their needs.

I announced recently the first round of NHS Capital Modernisation Fund investments which will provide state of the art linear accelerators and treatment planning computers for the delivery of radiotherapy in Scotland's Cancer Centres. Another example of technological investment to improve the care of people with cancer is the pilot telemedicine project involving the Glasgow & West of Scotland Gynaecological cancer network which is funded by the Executive's telemedicine initiative. A rolling equipment replacement programme is already in place for the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

The information currently available on the numbers of receptions into penal establishments for non-payment of fines is given in the table below. This information cannot distinguish those who had been subject to a means test enquiry. However, it is believed that the majority of fined offenders will have attended Means or Fines Enquiry Courts prior to extracts for imprisonment being enforced.

Fine default receptions to penal establishments, Scotland

1994	1995	1996	1997	19981
8,875	7,509	8,999	10,720	8,400

Notes:

1. During 1998 there were at least 20 weekdays for which information was unavailable. Any warrant information entered on these days could be lost. This means that receptions of prisoners serving only a day or two, such as fine defaulters, may not be counted. Because of this, the currently published figure of 8,400 fine default receptions may be under-estimated by a factor of up to 10%. Revised figures will be published on 30 August 2000 in the forthcoming News Release "Provisional Prison Statistics, Scotland, 1999".

The requirements of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency for replacement vessels are being kept under review. No decisions have yet been taken on the acquisition of new vessels.