Chamber and committees

The government willreport to Parliament in due course.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3327 on 12 September 2007. Allanswers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The draft bill illustratesthe form that legislation could take to provide for a referendum for the questionposed. The government has not considered the detailed statutory instruments thatmight be made under the powers in the bill in the event of it passing into law.However, at a minimum a referendum would require provisions on the conduct of elections,form of ballot papers, and information to be returned to Scottish ministers similarto the provisions for the 1997 devolution referendum contained in Schedule 3 tothe Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997 (c. 61).

The 1997 devolution referendum would cost around £6.5 million in 2007 prices. As the provisions of the draft Referendum (Scotland) Bill are similar, the cost is likely also to be similar.

Choosing Scotland’s Future was prepared by officials as part of their normal duties,and there was no additional cost. The cost of producing and translating the documentis around £35,000 (including the web version, the design, printing and the summaryin eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distribution of the document costa further £5,000, and the cost of the launch event was £8,000. The total cost oflaunching the national conversation to date is therefore £48,000.

On the basis of sucha negotiation taking place after the support of the Scottish people in a referendum,the government would expect such negotiations to be friendly and speedy.

The cost of producingand translating the document is around £35,000 (including the web version, the design,printing and the summary in eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distributionof the document cost a further £5,000, and the cost of the launch event was £8,000.The total cost of launching the national conversation to date is therefore £48,000.

The costs of carryingout the conversation will depend on how its structure develops, in light of responsesfrom the people of Scotland as to how they wish to be involved. The workis being carried out within existing resources from the government’s constitutionalpolicy and communications teams.

The Scottish Governmentis considering its approach to tackling deprivation across Scotland in the context of the spending review. Specific measureswhich will make a positive contribution, such as health checks in schools and pilotingfree school meals for all primary 1 to 3 children, were set out in our Programmefor Scotland:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/09/05093403/0.

We will make furtherannouncements in due course.

Poor nutritional intakeand low levels of physical activity can have an impact on the incidence of diseasesof the digestive system. Tackling these in West Dunbartonshire is a matter for the Community Health Partnership(CHP) in the first instance.

A number of measureseither already exist or are being developed by the CHP to tackle these issues, asfollows:

the CHP makes a substantialcontribution to the provision of free fruit in schools for all primary school children,and offers a range of services to individuals, providing a range of specialist adviceand support around nutritional issues;

a number of NHS GreaterGlasgow and Clyde initiatives are currently being rolled outin West Dunbartonshire, including “Shape Up” (a diet and exerciseprogramme) and “Eat Up” (an eating programme specifically targeted at heart health).

through the “KeepWell” initiative, a community food worker is being appointed to target the hardest-to-reachgroups and offer opportunities to develop practical skills in cooking and shoppingfor healthy foods.

The planning and provisionof primary and community based health care services in Clydebank, Bearsden and Milngavie is a matter for the East and West DunbartonshireCommunity Health Partnerships (CHPs) within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Each CHP in Scotlandshould have in place a local delivery and development plan which it would have agreedwith its NHS board. This would have been based on an assessment of local need andinclude local priorities for action together with plans for service improvementto support these priorities.

CHPs have delegatedresponsibility and resources from their NHS board for all primary and communitybased health care services and are therefore accountable to their NHS board on howthese resources are used and the services provided.