Chamber and committees

Decisions on the recruitment, deployment and the ratio of special to regular constables are operational matters for chief constables. A report on the role of the special constabulary was prepared by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and presented to the Police Advisory Board for Scotland last year. It recognised that there would be benefits in developing and enhancing the opportunities for members of the special constabulary to contribute to community policing. The recommendations contained in the report are currently being implemented by forces.

This type of technical information relating to the operational management of the structure has not been published in the past and it is not proposed to do so in the future.

The Scottish Executive welcomed the establishment by the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) of a Voluntary Sector Health Network. The Network, which was launched on 10 May, gives the voluntary sector a collective voice to represent its interests and concerns to the Scottish Parliament, statutory health bodies and wider community health interests.

As was made clear in the debate on 17 May, the concept of Managed Clinical Networks has the potential to bring about significant improvements in services for those with epilepsy. The Scottish Executive Health Department has therefore been encouraging clinicians and the voluntary sector to develop the idea of such Networks.Five health boards already include epilepsy in their Health Improvement Programmes.

The current strengthening works have been designed so that they could be undertaken with minimal disruption to traffic on this extremely busy and important route. No adverse effects have been reported by commerce and industry in Glasgow and the surrounding area.

The Secretary of State inherited two court actions against the consulting engineers who designed the bridge when he took over responsibility for this structure when the M8 through Glasgow was adopted as a trunk road on 1 April 1996. The actions were settled out of court in 1997 without any admission of liability on the part of the defendants. Each party bore its own expenses. Beyond that the terms of the settlement are confidential to the parties.

No. The current strengthening works will rectify the serious structural problems which have affected the bridge and will with normal maintenance ensure the integrity of this important traffic link.

The Scottish Executive regularly receives from the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation representing the 32 local authorities, information on the total number of council owned and privately owned road-carrying bridges to be assessed and strengthened to meet the 40-tonne EC standard.

I refer to the answer I gave to question S1W-2746 on 24 November which outlines the Executive's position on banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship. The Advocate General's opinion is significant, but we await the judgement of the European Court of Justice which is expected later this year. We remain committed to introducing a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship and will consider all available options to bring this about, including primary legislation.

Since the introduction of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations, which came into force on 1 December 1997, fire brigades have been concentrating their attention on high and medium risk premises and are carrying out fewer routine inspections of low risk premises.