Chamber and committees

The number of dentists working in Scotland has increased constantly over the last 30 years and by 300 in the last eight years, and we are committed to increasing numbers further. The Scottish Advisory Committee for the Dental Workforce (SACDW) advise on the most effective way to achieve this. Increasing the student intake is only one of the various options that the committee considers. There are currently no plans for a new dental school in Scotland.The Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education is currently working with ISD Scotland to map the characteristics and supply dynamics of the dental workforce, based on our current annual target output of 120 dental graduates per year. Once this information is available, SACDW will consider the findings and will recommend on the most appropriate method to increase the number of dentists working in primary care in Scotland.

Discussions are under way with the dental profession on extending the range of treatments which may be given by general dental practitioners under NHS general dental services to non-registered patients.

There are a range of meeting facilities within Scottish Executive buildings. These are intended to support a range of meetings, discussions, seminars and conferences.The main meeting facilities in the Executive's larger buildings are set out in the following table.

Victoria Quay Edinburgh	A suite of 12 conference rooms, seating between 15 and 100 people.
St Andrew's House Edinburgh	Six conference rooms seating between six and 16 people, conference style (or up to 40 people where adjacent rooms are combined). In addition there are two media rooms seating up to 40 and 100 people in theatre style only.
Saughton House Edinburgh	One conference room seating 25 people, conference style.
Pentland House Edinburgh	Two conference rooms seating 20 and 25 people, conference style.
Meridian Court Glasgow	Two conference rooms seating 20 and 30 people, conference style.
Europa Building Glasgow	Three conference rooms seating 30, 35 and 35 people, conference style.

The Scottish Executive Health Department does not make national recommendations on staffing levels as they would cut across local responsibilities and would undermine boards' and trusts' ability to provide a modern, flexible service matched to local needs. It is for NHS boards and trusts to assess and provide for local needs and to determine the staffing levels required for effective delivery of service outcomes.

Treatment by general dental practitioners is funded from the NHS general dental services budget which is demand-led. The Executive is in discussion with the dental profession on improved support for dentists in rural areas. These will inform the way forward in respect of these dentists.

As a consequence of devolution, since 1999 the Scottish Executive has strengthened the resources devoted to media and communications in order to respond to the much higher level of public and media interest in the work the Executive is doing than was the case for The Scottish Office. There has in particular been an increase in the number of press officers to support the work of cabinet and deputy ministers, from some 20 in 1999 to over 40 today, as well as the development of a news based component to the Scottish Executive website and continuing spending on publicity and other communication functions.The out-turn for spending in the Media and Communications Group budget (covering running costs but not publicity spend) was £1.966 million in 1999-2000 and £2.007 million in 2000-01. Based on spend to date, we expect the outturn in 2001-02 to be of the order of £3 million. No firm budget is in place as yet for 2002-03.

The Scottish Executive has had no recent discussions with the UK Government about landing fees at Scottish airports.

The Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill will codify and reform the rules governing the constitution, validity and enforcement of non-feudal real burdens on property which will remain following abolition of the feudal system. Real burdens are conditions and restrictions on the use of land which are imposed in title deeds when land is sold. They are therefore used as a means of the private regulation of land. This contrasts with the public regulation of land contained in planning and environmental legislation. The Bill will not impose any specific regulatory procedures.

Aberdeenshire Council is responsible for proposals for the refurbishment of schools in its area. The Scottish Executive makes substantial resources available to all authorities to help them take forward their school building programmes, including allocations of consent to incur capital expenditure, the New Deal for Schools capital grant, the School Buildings Improvement Fund capital grant, and support for school Public/Private Partnership projects. Following Jack McConnell's meeting with council leaders on 31 October we are taking forward with COSLA the establishment of a group to deliver a long-term school building investment strategy.

I announced improvements to the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme for 2002 on 29 November. These were achieved following detailed discussions with the European Commission, supported by the UK Government and industry representatives. The measures help farmers in all parts of Scotland's less favoured areas.