Chamber and committees

The Executive has no current plans to amend the NHS (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1996 to provide that a dentist must provide patients with notification that their continuing care arrangement is due to lapse where the patient has not attended the dentist within the 15-month registration period.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33383 on 14 February 2003. 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 specific information requested is not yet available centrally. However, an approximation for the number of referrals from GPs can be obtained from centrally held data relating to first out-patient appointments. Figures are shown in the following table for the number of consultant-led out-patient appointments for Grampian residents referred by a GP in years ending March 1998 to March 2002. These figures exclude appointments where patients did not attend. Many patients who did not attend will be offered and attend subsequent appointments and these subsequent appointments will be counted in the figures in the table. Patients who did not attend and were not offered subsequent appointments because, for example, their condition had improved and they no longer required treatment, are not counted in these figures. The number of such patients is not known so the figures in the table will undercount the total number of referrals.First Out-Patient Appointments: Grampian Residents Referred by a GP

Year Ending 31 March	No. of Appointments1
1998	84,967
1999	84,591
2000	86,506
2001	82,128
2002	81,604

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.Note:1. Referrals by GPs only. Excludes appointments where patients did not attend.Data from the GP practices themselves is being developed under the Electronic Clinical Communication Implementation Programme (ECCI). In future this will allow us to track the number of referrals as they are made by the GPs.

The Scottish Agricultural Science Agency is responsible for the operation of the Seed Potato Classification Scheme in Scotland. I have asked Dr Robert Hay, Chief Executive of the agency, to respond. His response is as follows:The Scottish Agricultural Science Agency has not changed its system of payment for seed potato inspection services. The Seed Potatoes (Fees) Regulations 1993 require that all fees relating to seed potato inspections be paid in advance of the inspections. However, to facilitate trade, the agency extends credit facilities for the inspection of seed potato tubers and the provision of seed potato labels to customers who meet certain criteria. These credit facilities may be withdrawn from customers who do not settle their accounts within a reasonable time.

I have asked Dr Robert Hay, Chief Executive of the agency, to respond. His response is as follows:The Scottish Agricultural Science Agency has not changed the system of payment for the sale of seed potato plantlets. The usual procedure is for payment to be requested following dispatch of the plantlets, with payment due within 30 days of the date of the invoice. These credit facilities may be withdrawn from customers who do not settle their accounts within a reasonable time.

No submissions were made in the Scottish response to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report specifically about links between homophobia and racism.

The Executive does not have a single working group on discrimination. However, we have established a number of working groups which have considered aspects of discrimination for particular groups. For example, the Race Equality Advisory Forum considered issues of discrimination for minority ethnic communities in Scotland; we have established a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) health discussion forum which is considering access to primary health care for LGBT people, and we recently announced the creation of a new independent group to examine what more the Executive should do to improve opportunities for women.In addition, the Executive is in regular contact with a range of minority groups and equality organisations.

Negotiations on a new GP contract are on-going and at this stage it would be inappropriate for me to comment in detail on what measures might be introduced to safeguard GP practices in rural areas. However, the framework document for the new contract published in April 2002 recognises that special remote and rural arrangements are likely to be needed.

Future funding arrangements for GP practices in rural and urban areas are currently being considered as part of the on-going negotiations over a new contract for GPs. Negotiations are being taken forward on a UK basis by the NHS Confederation, representing the four UK Health Departments, and the UK General Practitioners Committee (GPC). As negotiations are currently on-going it would be inappropriate for me to provide details of what is being discussed at this stage. Any agreed proposals for a new contract arising from these talks will be subject to consultation with all GPs.

The audit of current swimming provision I announced on 24 May 2001 is now complete and copies of the report have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25875) and will shortly be distributed to all local authorities. Learning and Teaching Scotland has been commissioned to identify barriers to provision and suggest effective solutions to overcoming these barriers. This will provide valuable advice to local authorities and schools and a report of this work will be available later this year. In June 2002, local authorities were invited to bid for Quality of Life funding for initiatives aimed at supporting children and young people and improving the local environment. Seventeen local authorities decided to allocate almost £2 million for swimming provision in a range of proposals. Aberdeenshire Council received £300,000 for exercise promotion which included swimming. A further £180 million of Quality of Life funding has been allocated to local authorities over the next three years. Local authorities have been invited to submit proposals by 20 February and swimming lessons are eligible for funding under this scheme.Of course, swimming is part of the physical education curriculum which is currently being reviewed under my chairmanship. I believe that all children should be given the opportunity to learn to swim, and improve that ability, whether through home or school opportunities. I will be asking all local authorities to review the information provided in this report and to consider whether swimming lessons could be extended, for example through bids under the Quality of Life Fund.