Chamber and committees

Data protection is a reserved matter. When data protection issues arise they are considered by the Minister responsible for the policy area in which they occur.

The statistical information necessary to answer this question is not available.

The Scottish Executive is planning to support events in Washington, Chicago and New York with a view to strengthening our links with the USA and promoting Scotland. A detailed programme is being developed in co-operation with the Scottish Parliament, organisations funded by the Executive that are active in the USA (for example Locate in Scotland and Visitscotland) and American organisations.

As with other areas of roads legislation, the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and associated Codes of Practice are kept under regular review.

Codes of Practice are kept under regular review and may be amended following consultation, as and when deemed necessary. This could be following the introduction of new or revised legislation or following on from representations received from roads authorities or utility companies.

I have no immediate plans to visit Dumfries and Galloway, but I hope that it may be possible to visit the area at some point later in the year.

The Scottish Executive determined that it was not necessary to postpone the commencement of the public inquiry over the issue of Forest Enterprise's participation in the proceedings and the inquiry opened on 13 February as scheduled.

This information is not held centrally.

One of the pre-requisites for on-line booking of hospital appointments is a connection to a secure communications network. All GP surgeries in Scotland now have such a connection either to NHSNet or to a Local Health Board Network. In addition to a network connection, on-line booking of hospital appointments also requires specific software in the GP surgery and electronic out-patient systems in hospitals. Availability of all of the necessary software at the present time is limited. There is now however a major programme of work under way in the NHS Scotland to ensure that all GPs and hospitals have all the necessary facilities. This programme known as Electronic Clinical Communications Implementation (ECCI) includes:widespread clinical e-mail including seeking consultants' opinionco-ordinated referral informationelectronic booking - protocol-based where appropriatetest ordering and results receivingdischarge letters and summaries and clinic lettersinformation in support of shared careIT systems' capability in support of ECCI is being strengthened by a programme of work entitled Scottish Care Information (SCI). This programme will create a range of applications based on modern software that will enable clinical information to be communicated electronically throughout the NHS Scotland.

The booking of out-patient appointments electronically is now included in a wider programme of electronic clinical communications between primary and secondary care. This wider programme known as Electronic Clinical Communications Implementation (ECCI) includes:-widespread clinical e-mail including seeking consultants' opinionco-ordinated referral informationelectronic booking - protocol-based where appropriatetest ordering and results receivingdischarge letters and summaries and clinic lettersinformation in support of shared careDetailed ECCI project plans are being agreed between the Scottish Executive and each health board area. ECCI is a Scotland-wide project and it is planned that all GP surgeries will have the facility to make "on-line hospital appointments" by 2003.