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The Executive provides core funding for Alcohol Focus Scotland to support Local Councils on Alcohol provide individual counselling and support for people with alcohol problems. Section 9 funding is also provided as a contribution to training costs.

Recruitment policies are matters for the relevant NHS bodies, in this case NHS Argyll and Clyde, who must satisfy themselves that practice is consistent with current employment legislation. The Health Department is not aware of any conflict between recruitment policies operated locally by the NHS in Argyll and Clyde and the legislation. The new interim management team, whose appointment to NHS Argyll and Clyde I announced on 17 December, will review approaches to staff recruitment and retention across the board area.

Allocations are made to NHS boards and not the individual trusts. Argyll and Clyde Health Board received the following allocations:

Financial Year	Allocation Received(£000)
1999-2000	396,906
2000-01	430,583
2001-02	456,986
2002-03*	475,936

Note:*Not full year allocation (to October 2002).The distribution of these funds between the trusts is a matter for the board and trusts to negotiate.However, the following data has been extracted from the board accounts:

	Argyll and Clyde Acute(£000)	Lomond and Argyll PCT(£000)	Renfrewshire and Inverclyde PCT(£000)	Trust Total(£000)
2001-02	142,489	87,165	151,527	381,181
2002-03	148,866	90,664	158,099	397,629

I know that recruitment and retention of skilled staff is a major issue for NHS Argyll and Clyde, as elsewhere in NHSScotland. The new interim management team, whose appointment I announced on 17 December, will review staff recruitment and retention among other important matters.

The review is now complete and the report is being published today. The key recommendations of the report are as follows:1.1 Focus on users and carers. The report makes two recommendations to improve the representation of views from users and carers to the commission and one to improve information and guidance from the commission to users and carers.1.2 Operations, efficiency and review. The report makes two recommendations to support current action to improve processes and one to provide a better focus for on-going review of the organisation by commissioners. 1.3 Staffing, skills and staff appraisal. The report recommends a senior management structure which continues the post of director or chief officer as the chief professional and policy adviser and responsible officer in the commission. To support the chief officer, a new administrative post of business manager is proposed with a standing delegation for all management matters. The report also recommends that the appraisal process for all commissioners is made consistent; that the pay of professional staff remains linked to that of their respective peers; that skills shortages in internal finance and in medical practice are addressed, and that action is taken to further improve the operation of secondments and the motivation and management of seconded administrative staff. 1.4 External environment and partnership working. The report makes three recommendations to support improved partnership working in future. 1.5 Transitional arrangements. The report suggests an amended pattern of committee responsibilities and meetings to involve and use the specialist knowledge of part-time commissioners better, and also suggests some priorities for current planning for change within the commission.The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland have seen the report and in general accept the recommendations. The Scottish Executive will now work with the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland to ensure effective implementation.A copy of the report has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25847) and is available on the Scottish Executive and Mental Welfare Commission websites.

The appointment of the interim management team to NHS Argyll and Clyde, which I announced on 17 December, enables a range of strategic and operational issues to be addressed. Among these, I expect that the board and the management team will consider recruitment, staffing and related issues across the board area, including at the Vale of Leven District General Hospital.

An important part of the responsibilities of each NHS board is to plan and ensure the provision of sustainable health care services to meet the needs of their populations. I expect NHS Argyll and Clyde, and the interim management team whose appointment I announced on 17 December 2002, to ensure that its responsibilities in this regard are fulfilled.The review of health care services across Argyll and Clyde referred to in the answer given to question S1W-32080 today, will ensure that people living in all parts of Argyll and Clyde, including those north of the river Clyde, have the opportunity to be involved in considering options and future patterns of services.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 appointment of the interim management team to NHS Argyll and Clyde, which I announced on 17 December, enables a range of strategic and operational issues to be addressed. The board and the interim management team are expected to bring forward plans for a review of health care services across Argyll and Clyde, to help achieve a balanced and sustainable pattern of services. The timing and duration of the review are matters for the board, but there must be adequate time allowed for genuine public engagement, consultation and involvement in these important issues.

The appointment of the interim management team to NHS Argyll and Clyde, which I announced on 17 December, enables a range of strategic and operational issues to be addressed. Work had already begun on a review of maternity services across Argyll and Clyde. There will now be wide consultation with the public and with staff about options for maternity services, as part of the review. The outcome of the review will be shaped by this consultation process and by relevant departmental guidance, including the Framework for Maternity Services, published in February 2001, and the report of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services, published on 18 December 2002; and will guide future patterns of maternity services at the Vale of Leven District General Hospital.

The support team that I sent in to NHS Argyll and Clyde on 26 September 2002 to help the chairman of the board and his colleagues address management issues across the NHS board area concluded that there were strategic management shortcomings that needed to be put right. As a result, senior staff changes have taken place, and I announced on 17 December 2002 that an interim support team had been appointed to tackle key strategic and management challenges in the area. Among these challenges will be designing and delivering sustainable health care services across the Argyll and Clyde area and the recruitment and retention of staff.