Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is seekingto ensure that more Scottish food is processed and consumed in Scotland, byencouraging localised food distribution systems and by supporting local marketingschemes. For example, we have provided over £60 million since 2001 enabling a totalinvestment of £308 million in Scotland to support improvements in the processing and marketingof Scottish primary produce.

The Scottish Executive is seekingto reduce the distance travelled by food through working with the industry to ensurethat more Scottish food is processed in Scotland, by encouraging localised food distribution systems andby supporting local marketing schemes. For example, we have provided over £60 millionsince 2001 to support investments that add value to Scottish primary produce withinScotland. We also welcome recent initiatives by Marks and Spencer, and by Tesco,to reduce their food miles and label food imported by air.

This level of detailed informationis not collected, and the distance that these commodities travel will vary, as willthe definition of “local Scottish shop”.

The IPPC Regulations are designedto tackle a range of potential pollution problems which can result from pig andpoultry farming and which may have an adverse impact on the environment, human healthor both. Although the regulations will impose additional costs on the industry,they should help to promote and secure the positive environmental reputation whichis essential for the future of Scottish farming.

It is for every Scottishpublic authority to adopt its own system for monitoring requests it receives forinformation. It is for each public authority to determine what information canmost effectively be recorded, and there is no requirement to monitor requestsin any particular way, for example by reference to any particular circumstanceof the requester. Further the Executive is not party to the detailed informationheld by any other public authority as a result of that authority’s monitoringsystem. It is therefore not possible for the Executive to answer this question.

The evidence on the leachingof nitrate to groundwater as a result of the spreading of manure is summarised inAnnex B of the Executive’s consultation paper on proposed amendments to the ActionProgramme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, issued on 16 November.

The Executive has a broad rangeof interventions in place which ensure that individuals are offered access to treatmentat each stage in the criminal justice system. The range includes arrest referralschemes, mandatory drug treatment for arrestees, diversion from prosecution, pilotingof drug treatment and testing as a condition of bail, drug treatment as a conditionof probation order, Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, drug treatment throughoutprisons sentences and upon release from prison through the Throughcare addictionservice. In addition, the Glasgow and Fife Drug Courts focus specifically on offendersdriven by addiction and the 218 centre in Glasgow provides services for women offenders.The aim of this wide-ranging strategy is to reduce levels of addiction and to reduceor eliminate associated levels of crime.

We have put in place a rangeof measures to enable local agencies to address antisocial behaviour (ASB) drivenby addiction. For example:

We are providing £2 million fundingbetween 2006 and 2008 to three local authorities for Breaking the Cycle projects,testing intensive supervision and intervention models aimed at encouraging behaviouralchange in the small number of families, many of whom have addiction problems, whoare responsible for much of the most serious ASB in each community.

We have provided the police withpowers under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 to disperse groupsengaged in persistent ASB, including street drinking, and to close premises beingused as drug or drinking dens.

We are supporting local authorityproposals to introduce byelaws prohibiting drinking of alcohol in designated publicplaces under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

These measures are in additionto the £120 million funding which is supporting local authorities between 2004 and2008 to develop a full range of ASB services appropriate to local circumstances.We require local authorities to show how local action to tackle ASB is co-ordinatedwith that to tackle alcohol and drug addictions.

Health Protection Scotland publishedthe latest figures on MRSA bacteraemia (blood infection) rates on 16 January 2007. A copyof this report is available from: http://www.documents.hps.scot.nhs.uk/hai/sshaip/publications/mrsa-quarterly-reports/jan-2003-to-sept-2006.pdf

Hospital specific informationis not held centrally.

MRSA bacteraemia rates have remainedstable in Scotland as a whole since national mandatory reporting began in2003.

As part of our drive to improvesurveillance, compulsory reporting of all Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemias (whichincludes MSSA and MRSA) was introduced in July 2006. As expected, this has increasedreporting of MSSA infections (which was previously voluntary), but this will enablemore effective targeting of measures to reduce these infections.

Wide-ranging measures to addresshealthcare associated infection (HAI), set in place by the HAI Task Force, includea national campaign to raise awareness amongst NHS staff, patients, visitors andthe public of the benefits of improved hand hygiene to public health. localhealth board co-ordinators are being appointed to help implement and monitor compliancein hospitals. Additional training courses for NHS staff, and robust monitoring of the standards of cleaning in Scotland’s hospitals are also part of the Task Force’s DeliveryPlan.

The environmental risks frommanure spreading are related to several factors, such as the quantity and the timingof the application, but not to whether it is annual. Evidence on the possible adverseeffects of the spreading of manure is summarised in Annex B of the Executive’s consultationpaper on proposed amendments to the Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones,issued on 16 November.