Chamber and committees

The Site Restoration Plan is a living document which will evolve over time to reflect the views and requirements of stakeholders. It is essentially a programme for the decommissioning of Dounreay. As such it is an operational matter, responsibility for which lies with the site operators, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as the sponsor department which provides funding.

Scottish Executive officials, however, attended a presentation by UKAEA on the proposed Dounreay restoration programme and participated in follow up discussions with UKAEA, DTI and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency about the Site Plan.

There is no national screening programme in Scotland for hepatitis C. Information about the cost of preventive health education and treatment provided by individual NHS Trusts and health boards is not collected centrally.

Information about the total cost to the NHS of treating patients with hepatitis C infection is not collected centrally.

Combination antiviral therapy using interferon alpha and ribavirin is proving a successful treatment in certain cases of hepatitis C infection. However, treatment has unpleasant side effects, is expensive and there is currently a clinical debate about its effectiveness. The cost of such therapy for six months is approximately £5,000.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

The expenditure on the New Deal 18-24 programme in Scotland to November 2000 was £75.5 million This represents 8.72% of the GB New Deal 18-24 programme spend.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

Figures to end-October show that 14,300 (66%) of the 21,800 sustained jobs secured through the New Deal for Young People were through the Gateway stage of the programme.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

Figures to end-October show that 5,050 young people had entered the voluntary sector option, 5,590 had entered the environmental task force option and 9,530 had entered the full-time education and training option.

Comprehensive information on whether young people left their options having completed them or before having done so is not collected in that form. The New Deal aims to help unemployed people to move as quickly as possible from welfare into unsubsidised employment. Many young people will leave their New Deal options before completing them because they have found jobs in the regular labour market and are no longer unemployed. Young people do not therefore need to complete their New Deal options in order to succeed in the programme.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

The average cost per participant in the New Deal for Young People is around £2,000.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-10980.

The New Deal for Schools capital grant was introduced in financial year 1997-98 and provides additional capital resources of £115.7 million over five years for repairs to school buildings and to improve facilities for information and communications technology. The grant is distributed to all authorities in Scotland on a formula basis, with the detailed decisions concerning spending needs at particular schools being matters for the authorities. These additional resources are allowing many schools across Scotland to benefit from improvements to their fabric, ranging from capital minor works to work of a more extensive nature and including improved ICT facilities.

In November 1999, Scottish Enterprise launched the "Framework for Action": a four-year £40 million strategy to grow the biotechnology cluster in Scotland.

One year on, the cluster is growing faster than forecast. The number of new biotech companies, support and supply organisations and jobs in the cluster are all ahead of target at this stage. There are now 382 organisations in the Scottish cluster, a presence that is significant in UK and international terms. This is a result of new company creation, the growth of existing businesses and an increase in the number of organisations choosing to participate in the biotechnology cluster.

20 new core biotech companies have been created since March 1999 and provided with vital support from the 11 biotechnology related incubator units across Scotland. Development finance has been provided from a range of sources with Scottish Equity Partners Ltd looking to put together a £75 million fund to invest across technology areas.

Inward investment through LIS has also supported the growth of the cluster, with companies like Organon NV and Serologicals Ltd expanding their operations in Scotland. Global competitiveness has also improved and over the last 18 months STI activities have resulted in a total of £21 million worth of business for Scottish biotech organisations and a further £16 million of projected business in Asian, European and US markets.

Scotland is becoming a world centre of activity in biotechnology. With our excellence in university research, the emergence of Biotech Parks, real success in manufacturing and a highly supportive Economic Development Agency, the biotechnology cluster is progressing towards maturity and self-sufficiency.