Chamber and committees

Grant payments made by the Scottish Executive in respect of expenditure by Social Inclusion Partnerships are governed by standard conditions of grant. It is for grant recipients to ensure that they comply with the conditions of grant, which include a requirement to ensure the propriety and regularity of all payments. Scottish Ministers may reduce, suspend or withhold payment of grant, or require all or part of the grant to be repaid if it appears that an activity, or any part of it, has not been undertaken in accordance with the terms and conditions or for the purposes intended.

Guidance is issued on the make up of Social Inclusion Partnership boards. The Partnerships consist of local partners like the council, local enterprise company, housing agency, health bodies and, most importantly, the community, each being structured to suit its local circumstances and local needs.

This is a matter for North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust, which has management responsibility for the Glasgow Dental Hospital.

The three surgeons will be released for training in a way that does not disrupt the work of the unit. Their training is an integral part of the strategy for resumption in full of the Scottish heart transplant programme.

This is an integral part of the strategy for resumption in full of the Scottish heart transplant programme. The nurses' training will be undertaken in a way which does not disrupt the work of the unit.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) adheres to the Guidelines for the Medical Selection of Blood Donors. These evidence-based guidelines are frequently reviewed and revised by the Standing Advisory Committee on Donor Selection using the most up-to-date medical knowledge available. Information on the guidelines, and how they are applied, is available from SNBTS, and I have arranged for them to write to the member directly.

Six different types of digital hearing aid are already available to all NHS Trusts in Scotland through central contracts. Fife Health Board, Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and the Scottish Section of the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research are currently evaluating the effectiveness of current procedures for selecting hearing aids and the effectiveness of three digital aids. This work is due to be completed by February 2001.

The cost of the Diploma in Deaf Education, the teaching qualification, is £1,400. The British Sign Language course for interpreters costs £3,400.

Students for the Diploma in Deaf Education are required to undertake 8 modules. The course is likely to take a minimum of 2 years, and must be completed within 5 years.

Records of the number of deaf people in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland are not held by the Scottish Executive and there is no requirement for deaf people to be registered. Local authorities are required to assess the needs of people who are deaf and provide them with services and may hold information on the number of people known to be deaf.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People will be able to provide information on the numbers of deaf people in Scotland. The organisation's address is 19-23 Featherstone Street, London, EC1Y 8SL (tel no: 020 7296 8000), (e-mail www.rnid.org.uk).