Chamber and committees

If the young people are looked after by local authorities in terms of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the authorities retain a duty to support them until they reach the age of 18 years and a power to do so until aged 21 or until any full time educational course is completed. If a Record of Needs is already open for a child on his or her 16th birthday, then the local authority is required to continue to maintain it, and to review it (and the Future Needs Assessment report when appropriate) while the child remains in school education.For all other young people, the precise responsibilities of authorities will depend on individual circumstances. In addition, under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, local authorities have a statutory requirement to assess the need for community care services of any persons who appear to them to require such services and to decide, in the light of the assessment, whether they should arrange any services. The transition between children's and adult services is a key priority for local authorities, working in partnership with health and education services.

The information requested is shown in the table. Due to the small number of patients identified, this table has only been split by age for males and has not been split by health board for males or females. This avoids divulging personal information. Patients¹ discharged from psychiatric wards² in Scotland during financial years 1997/98 to 1999/2000 with a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome³

Age Group	Number of Patients
Males
All Ages	45
Under 15	6
15-24	26
25-44	13
45-64	-
65-74	-
75+	-
Females
All Ages	4

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR04.Notes:1 Patients who are discharged more than once during the 3 year period are only counted once in the above table. In such cases, age is determined at the date of last discharge.2 Inpatient discharges from psychiatric specialties in mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and learning disability hospitals3 Defined as code F84.5 in the International Classification of Diseases, Volume 10 (ICD10).

Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department is aware of 46 recently completed or ongoing studies into Asperger's Syndrome in the UK, 3 of which are in Scotland. None of these have been funded by the CSO. Details of the projects are available from the National Research Register, a copy of which is in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

The learning disability review, The Same As You?, explored the needs of people with autism and learning disability. Twenty-nine recommendations were made, including assessment of local need by local authorities and health boards, and the establishment of a national service network for people with autistic spectrum disorder and a Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities. Health boards and local authorities were also encouraged to identify a named professional who would be responsible for improving local services and linking into the national network.The Partnership in Practice agreements, due to be submitted in June, should include proposals for meeting the needs locally of adults with autism.

The Executive is committed to supporting individuals with additional support needs into further education, training or employment.

The Scottish Executive Innovation Grants Programme is providing £6 million over 3 years from April 1999 to support voluntary and non-statutory organisations in the area of special educational needs. Autism has been highlighted as a priority and the programme is currently providing over £500k to 4 voluntary organisations to run 6 projects specifically aimed at supporting children and their families with autistic spectrum disorder.In response to the Beattie Committee, we have made available additional resources of £22.6 million over 3 years to take forward action. £15.1 million is available for the development of key worker support, improved identification of learning and support needs and tracking. Careers service companies have been asked to co-ordinate multi-agency bids for imaginative projects to improve transition for Scotland's most vulnerable young people including those with Asperger's Syndrome.The Learning Disabilities Review recognised the need for more support for people with autistic spectrum disorder. In response to the review, local authorities and health boards will identify named professionals who will be responsible for improving local services for people with autism, linking into a national network.

This information is not held centrally.

The regulation and safety of medicines is a reserved matter. The importation and supply of unlicensed single measles vaccine is controlled and restricted under the Medicines for Human Use (Marketing Authorisations Etc.) Regulations 1994 and the Medicines (Standard Provisions for Licences and Certificates) Amendment Regulations 1999. Proceedings may be brought against anyone in breach of these regulations.

The diagnosis of autism ultimately remains a clinical one, which may require input from a number of different disciplines.Initial results from the Borders Multi-Agency Service for Children with Autism provide evidence that autism can be detected earlier in life through earlier screening. This service involved health visitors screening children before the age of two years and resulted in a 50% increase in the number of cases of autistic spectrum disorder detected.Over the last decade, broadening the diagnostic criteria to encompass "autistic spectrum disorders" has become more common in Scotland.General practitioners take responsibility for their own learning needs as part of the process of lifelong learning and maintenance of clinical skills. We would expect all GPs to keep up to date with current thinking and practice in all clinical areas, including autism, as part of their continuing professional development.

A definitive list of consultees has not yet been finalised but it is anticipated that a wide range of organisations representing all aspects of Scottish society and business will be directly consulted in relation to the revision of the private water supply regulations. In addition, the consultation paper will be made available through the Stationary Office Bookshop, appropriate libraries and the Executive's website, thereby allowing the widest possible consultation to be undertaken.

Reliable information is not available on the number of special educational needs teachers employed in state primary and secondary schools from 1997 to 2000.