Chamber and committees

Alzheimer Scotland figures indicate there are at least 59,000 people with dementia. The General Practice Quality & Outcomes Framework guidance advises that Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50-75% of cases of dementia.

Dementia is a national priority for the Scottish Government reflected in our new target for NHS boards focussed on earliest possible identification and intervention to reach more and address better the needs of all those affected, including carers and families.

Support in each area can vary but includes partner agencies combining in a range of settings and approaches across primary and secondary NHS care, care homes and care at home. Support, wherever possible tailored to individual needs, is provided through memory clinics, a range of psychological and occupational therapies, home and care home liaison, respite and specialist in patient care.

The seven bills were informed by advice prepared by civil servants since May 2007. I am unable to comment on exchanges that civil servants may or may not have had with ministers in the previous administration.

Information on the Scottish Government’s investment plans for schools, working closely with local authorities, is set out in the Infrastructure Investment Plan  (Bib. number 45134) published on 27 March 2008.

The information requested is not yet available for 2007-2008. Information on the number of people that were screened prior to 2007-08 is available on the Information Services Division website:

(a) Breast screening – 2005-06

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/cancer-breast-screening.jsp?pContentID=1622&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

(b) Cervical screening – 2006-07

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/cancer-cervical-screening.jsp?pContentID=1673&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

(c) Bowel screening – This programme is currently being rolled out across Scotland. Data from the original pilot will be published in August 2008. Data from the roll out will be published in early 2009. Full information on the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme can be accessed on the website at:

http://www.bowelscreening.scot.nhs.uk/.

(d) Prostate screening – No data is available on the number of patients screened for prostate cancer, as this is not a national screening programme.

(e) Testicular screening – No data is available on the number of patients screened for testicular cancer, as this is not a national screening programme.

The information requested is listed in the following table.

Office	Principal Base	PO Staff	Ministerial Office Based	Parliament Based
First Minister	St Andrew’s House	10	10	0
Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture	Victoria Quay	2.5	2.5	0
Minister for Parliamentary Business	Scottish Parliament	6	0	6*
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth	St Andrew’s House	5	5	0
Minister For Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change	Victoria Quay	3	3	0
Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism	Meridian Court	3	3	0
Cabinet Secretariat for Health and Wellbeing	St Andrew’s House	4	4	0
Minister for Public Health	St Andrew’s House	2	2	0
Minister for Communities and Sport	Victoria Quay	2	2	0
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning	St Andrew’s House	4	4	0
Minister for Schools and Skills	Victoria Quay	2	2	0
Minister for Children and Early Years	Victoria Quay	2	2	0
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment	St Andrew’s House	4	4	0
Minister for Environment	St Andrew’s House	2	2	0
Cabinet Secretary for Justice	St Andrew’s House	4	4	0
Minister for Community Safety	St Andrew’s House	2	2	0
Lord Advocate & Solicitor General	Chambers Street	4	4	0

Notes:

All Cabinet Secretaries and ministers have an office base at the Scottish Parliament and members of their staff work from this base on average two days a week.

*The Minister for Parliamentary Business has six staff who are based in his ministerial office at the Scottish Parliament, this includes the Parliamentary Clerks Office.

HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has been monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of Hungry for Success through its programme of school inspections. Inspection activities include checks to ensure that school meals meet the Scottish nutrient standards for school lunches. Feedback on inspection findings, including recommended points for action where necessary, are given to the head teacher and senior member of catering staff in the school and also to nominated staff within the local authority. Where appropriate, follow-through inspections include evaluation of progress made in addressing any main points for action related to school meals.

HMIE will also be involved in monitoring implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 (the Act) through their programme of inspections. Inspections will build on the activities that inspection teams undertook to evaluate aspects of health promotion and the implementation of Hungry for Success. They will focus particularly on the impact of actions taken by schools and local authorities to improve food provision in schools and the uptake of food provided.

We are currently discussing with HMIE the main features of inspection activities. Where an inspection finds that a council or school is not complying with the requirements of the act, recommendations for action will be discussed with the council or school, and will be followed through to check progress as necessary. Where councils are found to take insufficient action to secure improvement, HMIE will refer them to Scottish ministers who will consider what action to take. Self-evaluation by schools and local authorities will continue to be important in measuring impact, identifying effective practice and securing continuous improvement.

The act will place duties on local authorities and managers of grant aided schools to ensure that all food and drink provided in schools complies with nutritional requirements, specified by Scottish ministers by regulations. Draft regulations, The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008, are currently with the Parliament for approval. If approved by the Parliament, we will be publishing guidance to local authorities to assist them in implementing the regulations. Local authorities will also be advised on approaches to menu analysis to ensure that the data will be accurate and reliable for use in self-evaluation.

HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has been monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of Hungry for Success through its programme of school inspections. Inspection activities include checks to ensure that school meals meet the Scottish nutrient standards for school lunches. Feedback on inspection findings, including recommended points for action where necessary, are given to the headteacher and senior member of catering staff in the school and also to nominated staff within the local authority. Where appropriate, follow-through inspections include evaluation of progress made in addressing any main points for action related to school meals.

A progress report on the implementation of Hungry for Success was published by HMIE in January 2008. It included evidence from inspections of primary, special and secondary schools. It found that Hungry for Success has been successful in meeting many of its aims and that there have been notable improvements in the quality of school meals in Scotland. It also identified areas for further action and improvement, by schools and local authorities.

HMIE will also be involved in monitoring implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 through their programme of inspections. Inspections will build on the activities that inspection teams undertook to evaluate aspects of health promotion and the implementation of Hungry for Success. They will focus particularly on the impact of actions taken by schools and local authorities to improve food provision in schools and the uptake of food provided. Self-evaluation by schools and local authorities will continue to be important in measuring impact, identifying effective practice and securing continuous improvement.

The Scottish Government is committed to marking St Andrew’s Day as a National Day and as a holiday. With effect from this year, staff in its core Directorates, including senior civil servants, and those agencies which make up the Scottish Government main bargaining unit have therefore been given an extra day’s holiday to celebrate St Andrew’s Day. In 2007 staff were given the option of exchanging an existing half day holiday for a half day on St Andrew’s Day.

St Andrew’s Day is a Scottish bank holiday and therefore it does not affect other parts of the UK.

Individual employers are free to decide whether to take St Andrew’s Day as a holiday.

The information requested is not held centrally.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service currently collects information on the ages of children confined in Scottish prisons on its prisoner record database.

The Scottish Prison Service does not collect data on female prisoners’ children and does not intend to do so.