Chamber and committees

Two higher specialist training posts in the specialty of allergy have been established in the west of Scotland. These posts are open to doctors who are eligible to apply. It is the responsibility of each trust, as the employer, to ensure that all health care staff have the training required to provide effective patient care. The amount of additional training provided locally by trusts for the treatment of specific conditions, such as anaphylaxis, will differ according to local needs.I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27347 today.

The report by the Scottish Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee Immunology and Allergy Services in Scotland, published in September 2000, recommended the establishment of Managed Clinical Networks for those with immunological and allergic conditions. The Executive would encourage relevant health professionals, patients' organisations and NHS boards to work together to take this recommendation forward.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26670 on 25 June 2002.

Signatories to the Voluntary Charter include the licensed, tourism and hospitality sectors. They agreed a target that 49% of their premises would offer non-smoking provision by the end of 2002. It is too early to say whether this target will be met although interim results are encouraging. The Scottish Executive has contributed £56,000 towards the cost of rolling-out the charter this year and monitoring take-up and implementation.

The Scottish Executive recently made additional funding available to widen the scope of Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places. The aim is to increase the stakeholder group to include restaurant associations, coffee chain outlets, fast food outlets, clubs and discos, bingo halls, ice-rinks, shopping centres and local authority premises.In addition, through, for example, the activities of the Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS), ASH Scotland and Scottish Health At Work (SHAW), we are keen to encourage employers to provide a health-promoting environment in the workplace. At present 726 workplaces are affiliated to SHAW accounting for 21% of workplaces in Scotland. These include diverse work areas such as airports, shopping centres, universities, schools and local authorities, many of which are open to the public. Criteria for attaining the SHAW Bronze award includes the implementation of smoking policies and promotion of smoke-free environments where non-smoking should be the norm.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23795 which provides the number of applications to chemistry degree courses at Scottish higher education institutions between 1997 and 2001.Limited data from prior to this date can be obtained by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) but will take some time to collate. I will write to the member with this information once it has been supplied.Comparable figures for 2002 entry are not yet available as the closing date for applications through UCAS is 30 June 2002.The latest figures we have on this, for applications to 16 May 2002, indicate that there have been 2,045 applications to chemistry degree courses at Scottish higher education institutions. This is an increase of over 10% on the same time in the process last year.

No. It is not the Executive's policy to buy out the concession contract, nor do we have the information necessary to calculate the full costs of so doing.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to discuss this with Communities Scotland. Responsibility for maintenance costs of amenity areas and unadopted roads and paths of former Scottish Homes (and previously Scottish Special Housing Association) stock lies with the owners themselves and the receiving landlords.

The information requested is not held centrally. The exercise of this supervision is a matter for local authorities in the first instance. Only in a small number of cases, where very high expenditure is being incurred because of the intensity of the supervision being provided or the nature of the residential placement, do authorities approach the Executive for supplementary funding to cover the additional costs.

Tourism People is the lead organisation for developing tourism skills. Its national strategy will shortly be circulated to MSPs.