Chamber and committees

I am advised by the Food Standards Agency, that EU Directive 92/46/EC is currently implemented by the Dairy Product (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations 1995.The new Dairy Product (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations will consolidate, update and amend these regulations and these have received the necessary clearance from the commission in respect of technical standards.Some proposed revisions to these regulations are, however, still under consideration and await legal clarification. It is anticipated that the new regulations will be laid before the Scottish Parliament as soon as these have been addressed.

The Statistical Bulletin "Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2001" will be published in August 2002. The previous bulletin, relating to staff at October 2000, was published in August 2001. This is available at: www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00106-00.aspand is also available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 19002).

Maps of the proposed nitrate vulnerable zones have been produced by the Scottish Executive using catchment boundaries generated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, in collaboration with the British Geological Survey. The maps are based upon an Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 digital backdrop, rescaled to 1:25,000 and provide the detailed information which farmers will need to see whether individual fields fall within the proposed nitrate vulnerable zones. Copies of the maps are held by local Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department offices and are available for inspection during normal office hours.

In determining this notified planning application, the Scottish Executive was made aware of certain pollution issues associated with other activities on the Spurryhillock industrial estate. However, we are satisfied that the operation of the new waste transfer facility will be strictly controlled in accordance with a waste management licence issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The proposal was in line with the development plan for the area and the relevant national planning policy guidelines. There was therefore no justification for the Scottish ministers to intervene in this case.

EU Council Directive 91/676/EEC (the Nitrates Directive) requires that member states shall designate as vulnerable zones all known areas of land which drain into waters affected by pollution and which could be affected by pollution (identified in accordance with criteria set out in Annex I of the directive) and which contribute to pollution. The proposed new groundwater nitrate vulnerable zones described in the consultation paper Protection of Scotland's Water Environment have been identified by the Scottish Executive on the basis of the criteria set out at Annex IA(2) of the directive, i.e. that the groundwaters of the proposed zones contain more than 50mg/litre nitrates or could contain more than 50 mg/litre nitrates if action programme management measures are not taken. The proposals are based on analysis of water, quality data from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's monitoring network and other sources and supporting research commissioned from the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and the British Geological Survey.

Women aged between 65 and 70 will be routinely invited for breast screening from April 2003, with the service phasing in over a three-year period. Women aged 65 and over may self-refer for screening at present.The number of women over 65 who were screened for breast cancer in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and the percentage of women of all ages screened for breast cancer in each year was as follows:

	1999-2000		2000-01
	No. of women screened	% of women screened	No. of women screened	% of women screened
Women < 65 years	109,177	91.2	121,546	91.5
Women aged 65 years and over	10,530	8.8	11,334	8.5
Total screened	119,707		132,880

Notes: 1. Scottish Breast Screening Programme data are only available by financial year. 2. The above figures relate to routine appointments and self/GP referral appointments.3. Routine appointments relate to women who have been invited, by the Scottish Breast Screening Programme, to attend a standard appointment. This usually occurs once every three years. Self/GP referral appointments relate to women who have referred themselves or been referred for screening by their GP.

The establishment of 15 new NHS boards was intended to improve governance and accountability of Scotland's local NHS systems, and was not intended to have any impact on staff numbers. Information on changes in the number of posts following the establishment of the new NHS boards is not currently held centrally, but may be held by local NHS management.

Patient Focus and Public Involvement, published in December of last year, reported on steps taken to develop the actions identified in the Involving People section of Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change. It also set out more detailed proposals for work over the coming three years to develop the capacity of the NHS to involve patients, the public and local communities in the development of health services.Work with local health services has shown that effective public involvement can:act as a catalyst for change;help achieve a major improvement in the health of the public, andhelp strengthen public confidence in the NHS.Local health councils have been supported to clarify their role and to identify the scope for increased public involvement in local services. Patient Focus and Public Involvement sets out how we will take this work forward by the proposed development of a Scottish Health Council - a national body with a local presence - and by establishing a Health Service Users Forum in each NHS board area.Each NHS board is required to have a designated director with responsibility for public involvement and a key part of their role is to ensure that public involvement is embraced by the whole organisation. A number of different approaches and methodologies have been piloted or developed nationally to improve the way in which local services engage with, listen to and respond to local people. These include Designed to Involve, an Executive funded project which initially supported the development of public involvement in primary care. It is now being rolled-out across NHSScotland. Other innovative programmes, such as Allies in Change, Partners in Policymaking and Partners in Change, have shown how local service users can be supported to become more confident in their dealings with the services they use and contribute effectively to their development.

The New Futures Fund managed by Scottish Enterprise supported 1,692 people in 2001 who had identified their drug misuse as a barrier to training and employment. In addition, there is a wide range of programmes and initiatives, such as Employment Services New Deal programme and Training For Work programmes operated by Local Enterprise Companies. These will contribute to meeting our Programme for Government target of assisting 1,000 reforming drug misusers per annum to prepare for training and employment.