Chamber and committees

We have ensured that the core funding that visitscotland provides to ATBs is guaranteed for a three-year-period. We are monitoring closely local authority funding decisions as we promised to do in A New Strategy for Scottish Tourism published in February 2000.

Outreach dental student education from Dundee Dental School has been established as a pilot in Tayside. Once the success of this pilot has been confirmed this initiative will be extended to Grampian and Highland.

Scottish Enterprise has an External Complaints Adjudicator who investigates complaints against Scottish Enterprise and its Local Enterprise Companies, once their own internal complaints procedures have been exhausted.

The Executive's commitment to farmers and crofters is to pay valid Countryside Premium Scheme management claims within six weeks of receipt. This is not a statutory obligation and there is no provision for compensation should payment take longer.

The provision of local bus services is a matter for the commercial judgement of bus operators. However, local authorities have the power to subsidise local bus services if they cannot be run on a commercial basis and if the services meet an identifiable social need. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, which received Royal Assent on 25 January, includes provisions to enable local authorities to play a key role in determining local bus service provision and to enhance service frequency through subsidy. The requirement for local authorities to consider whether, by making such subsidies, competition might be inhibited has been replaced by a general requirement to have regard to the interests of the public and bus operators.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13298.

The information is set out in the table:Tuberculosis notifications: numbers and percentage of population, by age

	Notifications		Percentage of Population
Year	Children1	Adults2	Children1	Adults2
1979	110	1,113	0.010	0.028
1980	91	1,047	0.008	0.026
1981	95	877	0.009	0.021
1982	74	828	0.007	0.020
1983	56	773	0.005	0.019
1984	58	680	0.006	0.016
1985	40	667	0.004	0.016
1986	65	691	0.007	0.017
1987	36	524	0.004	0.013
1988	34	494	0.004	0.012
1989	36	497	0.004	0.012
1990	31	532	0.003	0.013
1991	35	511	0.004	0.012
1992	50	509	0.005	0.012
1993	31	523	0.003	0.013
1994	21	525	0.002	0.013
1995	39	439	0.004	0.011
1996	34	475	0.004	0.011
1997	21	412	0.002	0.010
1998	14	443	0.001	0.011
1999	32	464	0.003	0.011

Source: Common Services Agency for the NHS.Notes:1. Under 15 years of age.2. 15 years of age and over.

It is anticipated that payment of all eligible CPS management claims submitted on time will be made by 16 March 2001.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13069 on 19 December 2001.

The Scottish Executive fully recognises the importance of stability of bus service provision, and of proper consultation when changes are being proposed. I plan to bring regulations forward to require local bus operators to consult local authorities 14 days before submitting registration details to the Traffic Commissioner. I also plan to increase the registration period from 42 to 56 days for all new services, variations, cancellations and public holidays, and to introduce a requirement to give 30 days notice to the public of variations and cancellations.The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, which received Royal Assent on 25 January 2001, contains powers to require bus operators to operate new or varied services for a minimum of 90 days. The Act also includes statutory consultation requirements as regards Quality Partnership, Quality Contract and joint ticketing schemes, and the provision of information about local bus services.This represents a formidable package of additional powers which should encourage local authorities and bus operators, taking account of the views of bus users, to work together to ensure the stability of, and improvements to, local bus services.