Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25098, which made clear that the criteria for advertising on the site will be covered by the business plan.

The Scottish Executive and its agencies meet airport operators on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of matters including the relationship of air transport with tourism.

Neither the Scottish Executive nor VisitScotland have commissioned such research.

The Health Professions Council (HPC) is a new, UK wide, regulatory body which formally came into being on 1 April 2002 replacing the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (CPSM). The HPC is an independent body whose purpose is to promote and safeguard the health and well-being of people and patients using the services of a number of Allied Health Professionals, including chiropody. All Allied Health Professionals must be registered with the HPC in order to practise. The HPC will maintain a register of properly qualified members of the Allied Health Professions and will have power to require registrants to demonstrate their continuing competence.

The Health Professions Council will put in place special transitional arrangements for those who have been practising as chiropodists but who have never been registered with the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine. The transitional pathway to registration will be open to those who can demonstrate that they have been practising safely and effectively for a sustained period and that their qualifications and experience are comparable to the current requirements for registration.

The Scottish Executive does not core fund area tourist boards. Details of VisitScotland grants to each area tourist board (excluding special funding for the JVP and foot-and-mouth disease) is provided in the following table:VisitScotland Grants to Area Tourist Boards in 2001 Prices

	1997-98 At 2001 Prices	1998-99 At 2001 Prices	1999-2000At 2001 Prices	2000-01At 2001 Prices	2001-02At 2001 Prices
Aberdeen and Grampian	320,380	309,758	305,080	295,367	290,000
Angus and Dundee	146,933	142,061	139,916	135,462	133,000
Argyle, the Isles, Loch Lomond, Stirling and the Trossachs	591,047	571,450	562,820	544,902	535,000
Ayrshire and Arran	234,209	226,444	223,024	215,924	212,000
Dumfries and Galloway	164,609	159,151	156,748	151,178	149,000
Edinburgh and Lothians	424,228	410,162	403,968	391,107	384,000
Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley	323,695	312,962	308,236	298,423	293,000
Highlands	824,151	796,825	784,792	759,807	746,000
Kingdom of Fife	152,457	147,402	145,176	140,554	138,000
Perthshire	197,752	191,195	188,308	182,313	179,000
Scottish Borders	164,609	159,151	156,748	151,758	149,000
Orkney	98,876	95,704	94,259	91,258	89,600
Shetland	96,114	92,393	90,998	88,101	86,500
Western Islands	120,971	116,960	115,194	111,527	109,500
Total ATB grant-in-aid	3,860,031	3,731,619	3,675,267	3,558,258	3,493,600

Information on the number and whole-time equivalent of chiropodists in each NHS board area is shown in the following table. Information on the number of chiropodists who are state registered and non-state registered is not held centrally.

Chiropodists1 Directly Employed by NHSScotland Headcount and WTE at 30 September 2000
	Headcount	WTE
Scotland	741	634.7
Argyll and Clyde NHS Board	58	53
Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board	75	64.1
Borders NHS Board	17	15.7
Dumfries and Galloway NHS Board	25	20.9
Fife NHS Board	60	47.3
Forth Valley NHS Board	32	29.5
Grampian NHS Board	69	55.4
NHS Glasgow	126	107.4
Highland NHS Board	25	22.5
Lanarkshire NHS Board	77	69.5
Lothian NHS Board	105	88.4
Shetland NHS Board	4	4
Tayside NHS Board	61	50.4
Western Isles NHS Board	7	6.6

Source: National Manpower Statistics from Payroll, ISD Scotland.Note:1. Comprises qualified staff only.

The Health Professions Council (HPC), will put in place transitional arrangements for those who have been practising as chiropodists but who have never been registered with the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (CPSM). The transitional pathway to registration is open to those chiropodists who can demonstrate that they have been practising safely and effectively for a sustained period or that their qualifications and experience are comparable to the current requirements for registration. In either case the HPC may, but need not, require them to pass a test of competence.

None. But I have met with representatives of most of the boards to discuss matters of general interest.

I will be announcing shortly how I intend to take forward the review of the area tourist boards network and the issues that will be considered.