To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Minister for Health and Community Care’s letter to me dated 28 November 2006, if NHS Lanarkshire has acted “in the normal way” since 1948, why the provisions of the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2004 were necessary. The Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act2004, passed by the Scottish Parliament, was introduced as part of the legislativeframework to support the new national (UK) GP contract arrangements, which came into effect from1 April 2004.The 2004 act updated the NationalHealth Service (Scotland) Act 1978 making more explicit the range of contractingflexibilities already available for NHS boards to discharge their duty to secureor provide primary medical services for their local populations.