Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally.

In the Grampian NHS Board area (a) the owners of nine dental practices have applied for grants under the Scottish Dental Access Initiative, of whom (b) five have been offered grants since the initiative's inception.

The number and proportion of farm businesses in receipt of subsidy payments under the main Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) schemes in the stated bands for scheme year 2000 are as follows:

Payment range	Number of Farm Businesses	%
£1- £1,000	2,548	12.4%
£1,001 - £10,000	7,548	36.6%
£10,001- £50,000	8,177	39.6%
£50,001 - £250,000	2,325	11.3%
Over £250,000	22	0.1%
Total in receipt of subsidy	20,632

In addition, approximately 8,200 farm businesses did not claim subsidy under the main CAP schemes.

To date, £94,500 has been offered to practitioners in Grampian, under the Scottish Dental Access Initiative.

The Scottish Executive does not give out information, which could identify a particular dental practitioner in receipt of a grant under the Scottish Dental Access Initiative, without consent, as this is commercially sensitive information. However, I am aware that some dentists in Grampian have consented to local publicity about the award of grant, among them, practitioners in Aberdeen and Banff.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland was launched in August 2000, with the aim of improving dental health of children and increasing access to dental services.A number of measures have been implemented nationally which target oral health and hygiene in children. These include:

• free distribution of a toothbrush and toothpaste to all children under 12 months;
• targeted distribution to all one- to three-year-olds in deprived areas, and
• enhanced monthly payments to dentists for the delivery of oral hygiene instruction and preventive advice to young children up to the age of five who are registered with them on the NHS.

In addition, a scheme was introduced in November 2001 aimed at six- and seven-year-olds. Under this, dentists are paid a monthly fee for providing oral hygiene advice and for fissure sealing the first permanent molar teeth to help prevent decay.

The Executive keeps in close touch with VisitScotland management by means of regular meetings, at which a wide range of matters are discussed.

The Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill will be introduced to Parliament tomorrow (6 June). The bill will mark the second stage in the Property Law Reform Programme commenced by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. It will reform and clarify the law relating to non-feudal conditions and burdens on land which remain following the abolition of the feudal system. The bill, which was originally drafted by the Scottish Law Commission, has been amended in the light of the consultation exercise conducted last summer, and I would like to express my thanks both to the commission and to all who offered an opinion.

The discussion paper was published on 14 December 2001 and responses had to be submitted to the Disabled Persons' Transport Advisory Committee Secretariat by 15 March 2002.