Chamber and committees

Following the recent consultation on Urban Regeneration Companies Scottish ministers announced on 30 June 2004 that projects in Craigmillar, Raploch and Clydebank would be designated as pathfinder Urban Regeneration Companies and that £20 million of grant support would be offered to the projects in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The Executive is working with a wider group of projects across Scotland some of which may also in time become Urban Regeneration Companies.

The Scottish Executive has asked Local Economic Forums to develop local economic strategies and to feed into Community Planning. The Scottish Executive also supports the development of regeneration companies by local partners where they have identified these as the best vehicle to accelerate growth and deliver regeneration. However, Local Economic Forums are non-statutory bodies which bring together a range of different members on a voluntary basis. If a forum identifies a case for establishing a regeneration company this would need to be taken forward by member bodies of that forum.

Precise information on the amount of sewage sludge produced in Scotland is not held centrally. This is a matter for the operators concerned (principally Scottish Water). “Sewage sludge” is simply a term for a product of waste water treatment. No sewage sludge, therefore, is produced in Scotland by treatmentoutwith Scotland, though it is possible that sewage sludge produced outwithScotland may be subjected to further treatment within Scotland. Again, this would be a matter for operators of sludge treatment facilities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-10391 on 13 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The member will appreciate the difference between disposal and recycling or recovery. In terms of pure disposal, now that dumping at sea has been banned the remaining permissible routes are landfill and incineration (without energy recovery).

Recycling and recovery methods include spreading on agricultural land as a nutrient and soil enhancer for agricultural crops, on non-agricultural land (such as forestry) for similar reasons, and use in land restoration, for example in restoring opencasts. Sewage sludge is also burned as a fuel, which is a form of energy recovery.

While the Scottish Executive is aware of various activities involving sewage sludge, it does not regulate individual activities and consequently full information about locations, or indeed about whether all the routes described above are actually used, is not held centrally. Sewage sludge is, however, a waste and consequently all the activities described above are covered by various waste management regimes. These regimes are operational matters for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including pharmaceuticals. The regulation of medicines is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The Executive is in regular contact with the agency and information about all aspects of its work can be found at www.mhra.gov.uk

The Executive would support any initiatives which could lead to patients having access to modern and effective medicines.

There are a small number of mixed-sex wards which do not completely comply with guidelines on mixed sex accommodation at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Stobhill Hospital and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The Royal Edinburgh Hospital provides psychiatric care. Where a ward in any hospital remains mixed-sex interimarrangements must be agreed with the local health council to ensure the privacyand dignity of patients at all times.

A programme of work at Stobhill Hospital should end mixed sex wards by September, while work at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary will be completed by December.

Provision of a new building will end mixed sex wards at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. However, proposals have been developed and agreed with patient groups and the local health council which will safeguard the dignity and privacy of patients in the current accommodation and this work will be completed by December.

This information is not held centrally. Local planning authorities are, however, required to keep a register of all planning applications determined within their area.

Ofcom provide a sitefinder database on their website which can be used to locate masts at specific addresses or within particular areas. Information provided includes the name of operator, height of mast, frequency range, transmission type and power of mast. The address of this site is:

http://www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk/.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland, to answer. His response is as follows:

The Pilot Scheme to apply Listed Building Control for Exteriors of Churches in Ecclesiastical Use will end on 31 December 2004.

Historic Scotland will be making a formal assessment of the scheme at the end of this year with a view to bringing forward proposals as to future arrangements.

The Executive’s Review ofStrategic Planning: Conclusions and Next Steps set an indicative programme forreviewing all national planning guidance. A review of NPPG 6 is scheduled for 2006.