Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally.

Financial support is not available from the Scottish Executive.

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.

There is no reason for VisitScotland to postpone signing the e-tourism contract. It will be a key condition of the new company's business plan that all tourism businesses have equal access to the website. The criteria for advertising on the site will also be covered by the business plan. The plan will require the agreement of both VisitScotland and the area tourist boards and therefore they will be fully involved in both access and advertising issues. Tourism businesses will also be consulted as necessary.

In the last five years, the number of graduates from higher education chemistry courses in Scottish higher education institutions, broken down by class of degree was as shown in the following table:

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Total	700	699	689	649	702
1st Class	85	74	93	87	87
2nd Class	240	235	222	230	227
3rd Class	54	38	45	54	29
Other	321	352	329	278	359

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Scottish Further Education Funding Council and Scottish Executive.

Figures on acceptances to specific subjects are not available from UCAS at an institutional level.Total acceptances to chemistry degree courses at Scottish higher education institutions for the last five years are shown in the following table:

1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
570	505	455	417	375

Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).The most recent figures from UCAS suggest that Scottish-domiciled applications to full-time chemistry courses in all UK institutions for 2002, have increased by over 20% on the same point in the process in 2001.

Figures on acceptances to specific subjects are not available from UCAS at an institutional level.Total acceptances to physics degree courses at scottish higher education Institutions for the last five years are shown in the following table:

1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
447	424	390	370	315

Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

In the last five years, the number of graduates from higher education physics courses in Scottish institutions, broken down by class of degree, was as shown in the following table:

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Total	334	345	296	308	296
1st Class	52	45	39	46	42
2nd Class	132	155	103	111	108
3rd Class	35	32	25	21	31
Other	115	113	129	130	115

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Scottish Further Education Funding Council and Scottish Executive.

The campaign budget will not be split by country brand. This is a Britain campaign, with Scotland featuring as an integral brand in the Britain portfolio.