Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive has commissioned research into the extent and effectiveness of local authority throughcare and aftercare arrangements, as governed by Sections 29 and 30 of the 1995 Act. The study is being conducted by the University of York and all local authorities have agreed to participate. It began in September and will take two years to complete.

The following bilateral Concordats are being published today:

• Ministry of Defence
• Lord Chancellor's Department
• Home Office
• HM Treasury
• Department of Social Security
• Department of Health

A Concordat will also be published today on the responsibilities for European Structural Funds.The texts have been made available to the Parliament and are available in the Document Supply Centre and on the Executive's web site.

A Bill to prohibit fur farming in England and Wales was published on 23 November. There are currently no fur farms in Scotland. Nevertheless, I propose to bring forward a Bill in the Scottish Parliament to prevent any existing fur farming businesses in England and Wales relocating to Scotland, and to prevent any such business being established in Scotland in any other circumstances. Details of the Bill will be published in due course.

In terms of land originally set aside for Phase three of Queen Margaret Hospital, there has been no sale of land on this site. The Trust notes however that there is land available on this site for future development.

Fife Health Board indicates that work on the options for the future provision of acute services in Fife is ongoing. This work will identify the costing of the possible options.

Our Land Reform Action Plan sets out an integrated programme of action and legislation on land reform over the next 4 or 5 years. It has 43 separate items, and demonstrates the scale of our commitment to change.I promised that we would publish regular updates to show how we are delivering on our promises. The first of these progress reports is published today. All MSPs are receiving copies.I am delighted to say that it shows that we have already achieved 5 of our targets and that we have made significant progress on a wide range of other items. Further progress reports will be published quarterly.There will be an opportunity for a Debate on this on 24 November.

The Food Standards Bill received Royal Assent on 11 November. The establishment of the Agency underlines the Executive's commitment to food safety, from farm to fork. We will make sure that the Agency gets the best possible start so that it can quickly achieve its paramount aim of protecting public health and meet the challenges that it will undoubtedly face. Arrangements are underway for setting up the Scottish arm of the Agency to be based in Aberdeen and the independent Scottish Food Advisory Committee to advise on food safety issues in Scotland. We are currently recruiting the Scottish Director and the process of recruiting the members of the Advisory Committee begins at the end of the month.

I refer Mr Barrie to the answer given to question S1W-1654.

The Scottish Executive expects Health Boards to undertake thorough consultation on their strategic proposals. In doing so, Health Boards should consult all bodies with a valid interest in time to allow all comments to be considered and taken into account before they take final decisions. We expect Fife Health Board to follow this process in taking forward its proposals for acute services.The Executive is aware that the Health Board has declared its preferred configuration for acute services. However, the Health Board will be reviewing its proposals in the light of the outcome of the options appraisal that has still to be completed, public discussion and formal consultation which is scheduled to commence in January 2000. Following consultation the Health Board will submit to us any final decisions that require our approval.

I would like to congratulate the team representing Dunfermline on their win.