Chamber and committees

The Executive is committed to reducing the number of unwanted teenage pregnancies. On-going initiatives include the Healthy Respect Demonstration Project in Lothian and the provision of funding for four new Caledonia Youth Centres. Further initiatives are likely to be considered in the context of the Executive's Sexual Health Strategy, currently being developed.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have advised me that they are committed to reducing food borne illness in Scotland by 20% by 2006.The key elements of the FSA strategy to reduce food-borne illness will focus on improved risk management through supporting the implementation of effective Hazard Analysis systems across food businesses and a food hygiene campaign, targeting caterers and consumers, aimed at reducing cross contamination and improving hygiene standards.The areas of activity will include reduction of bacterial contamination of foods, improved food safety management and promotion of hygiene in the kitchen both commercial and domestic.

The number of general dental practitioners in each NHS board area who continue to carry out NHS dental treatment is shown in the following table:NHS General Dental Practitioners (Principals, Assistants and Vocational Trainees) Who Carry Out NHS Dental Treatment: by NHS Board Area at 30 September 2002

NHS Board Area	Number of Principals	Number of Assistants	Number of Trainees	Total
Argyll and Clyde	175	2	6	183
Ayrshire and Arran	130	2	1	133
Borders	40	3	5	48
Dumfries and Galloway	39	1	2	42
Fife	138	5	9	152
Forth Valley	96	1	9	106
Grampian	158	9	8	175
Greater Glasgow	427	9	15	451
Highland	84	1	3	88
Lanarkshire	199	7	13	219
Lothian	369	3	25	397
Orkney	7	0	0	7
Shetland	11	0	0	11
Tayside	165	8	12	185
Western Isles	9	0	0	9
Scotland	2,047	51	108	2,206

Notes:The figures relate to the number of dentists (not the whole-time equivalent, as the working hours of each dentist are not collected).General dental practitioners (GDPs) enter into a contract with their local Primary Care Trust (PCT) or Island Health Board (IHB). A GDP may have more than one contract with a PCT/IHB if he/she has more than one practice, or a contract with more than one PCT/IHB if he/she practices in more than one NHS board area; a GDP may therefore be counted more than once.

The information requested by the member is currently being collated. Once complete I will write to the member with a full response and place a copy in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

The following table sets out the percentage of the total budget spent on wages and salaries by the Scottish Executive for employees within its core departments in each of the last three years:

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
% Of Total Budget1	0.69%	0.66%	0.63%2

Notes:1. The calculations for wages and salaries includes National Insurance and pension contributions.2. The figures used in the calculations for 2001-02 are subject to confirmation of the annual Scottish Executive Core Departments' resource accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27744 on 22 August 2002. All answers 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/search_wa.

The Social Justice Annual Report 2001 included data on progress against some of the social justice milestones with an urban/rural breakdown for the first time. This showed that on a number of indicators, rural areas are performing better than urban areas. The 2002 report, which will be published later this year, will provide more detailed data. We are continuing to take forward the findings of the Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Scotland report, to improve our understanding of, and help us tackle, poverty in rural areas.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to change the current fee-waiver policy.

The average level of subsidy payment made to farmers who claimed under the main Common Agricultural Policy schemes for the scheme year 2000 is £19,000.

This is a matter for the relevant Island NHS Boards and Primary Care NHS Trusts. The information requested is not held centrally.