Chamber and committees

In clearing this outline planning application back to Glasgow City Council on 28 June 2001, the Scottish ministers indicated that they were content for the matter to be dealt with by the local authority. It is now for the council to deal with all planning related matters and any associated consultation processes.

UK Government and Scottish Executive employment initiatives in Glasgow Kelvin include the New Deal programmes, the Glasgow Employment Zone and Training for Work. It is not possible to completely separate the impact of these initiatives on unemployment since May 1999, from the effects of improved economic conditions over the period. However, claimant unemployment in Glasgow Kelvin fell by 11% between May 1999 and March 2002.

The Housing Improvement Task Force has already begun the work of considering the options for revising local authority powers, as part of the second stage of its work which is due for completion in early 2003. The Scottish Executive will give careful consideration to any recommendations made by the task force.

A draft specification for the Time Out project is currently being drawn up. This work is near completion and will be followed by a formal tendering exercise.Work is also under way on progressing the other conclusions in respect of alternatives to custody for women offenders set out in the ministerial report A Better Way.

The Executive sponsors applied research and knowledge transfer activities such as TCS and Faraday partnerships, which are available to all universities. Following the report on the Knowledge Economy Cross-Cutting Initiative, published in February 2001, an additional £1.5 million was allocated to these schemes. The Executive is also a founding member of Technology Ventures Scotland, which aims to promote and accelerate commercialisation and knowledge transfer in Scotland.

The Report of the Review of the Planning, Allocation and Management of Resources in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service published on 4 March considered that it would take up to two years to implement fully its recommendations. I have moved quickly to appoint a Chief Executive to lead the introduction of the necessary changes and I look to him to do this with appropriate speed. Consultation on some of the report's recommendations, including in relation to future area and management structures will take several weeks and recruitment of significant numbers of additional qualified managerial and legal staff will take time. The current annual expenditure of the COPFS is some £64 million. The Executive have agreed that significant additional resources will be allocated to the department in 2002-03 and beyond.

On-going recruitment of consultants has resulted in two further recent appointments. An additional £2 million ring-fenced investment will see the recruitment of up to 35 more nurses and other clinical support posts, additional and replacement equipment and the commissioning of additional space for chemotherapy at Gartnavel Hospital.NHS Greater Glasgow published a comprehensive progress report on Monday 4 March 2002. The published agenda, papers and minutes of the NHS Greater Glasgow Board also document the position at 19 March when the report of the Expert Review Team was considered. Progress is also being made on the preparation of the full business case to support the Phase II West of Scotland Cancer Centre at Gartnavel.

Legal aid is available to any child as long as the matter is one of Scots law, the child meets the relevant statutory tests and the court or Tribunal concerned is prescribed in the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986, or relevant subordinate legislation.

Yes. The Executive supports these proposals and has today advised the Scottish Ambulance Service that it should proceed with the operations rooms changes and with the implementation of priority based dispatch. I, alongside the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, will be making a full statement later today.

Under the New Opportunities for PE and Sport in Schools fund, announced on 19 March, up to £21.75 million will be committed throughout Scotland to support out of school hours programmes, organised through schools, which offer children and young people a wide range of sporting and cultural activities.Each local authority has been given a provisional allocation to fund these activities from the spring of 2003. Swimming lessons for children and young people aged five to 16 could be funded, provided they meet programme priorities, eligibility and assessment criteria.