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The Scottish Executive is working closely with Scottish Enterprise to strengthen Scotland's position as a world centre for leading edge biotechnology and pharmaceutical research. Between 1999 and 2004, as part of the biotechnology cluster action plan, Scottish Enterprise is due to inject £38 million into the continued development of this key sector. This promotional activity is taking a number of forms, including issuing regular e-bulletins to over 2,000 international contacts and use of the Biotechnology Scotland website, where 50% of visitors to the site are from overseas. Opportunities for networking and international partnership working are also being developed.

This work is supported by Scottish Trade International and its network of overseas offices, including its four Scottish Technology and Research Centres in the US. This provides a platform within priority markets for the promotion of Scottish research expertise and the development of strategic alliances. One such partnership agreement was signed in August between Scottish Enterprise and the Maryland Bioscience Alliance, with the support of the Scottish Executive and the State of Maryland. This alliance will help promote business and research collaborations with one of the premier life science centres in the United States.

In another recent development, a research agreement worth over £5 million, between the Japanese company Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Scottish Biomedical, will see the creation of a brand new research facility based at the West of Scotland Science Park.

Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG) continuously monitors market availability and suitability to ensure that all aspects of demand for office accommodation in Glasgow can be accommodated. SEG in partnership with Glasgow City Council has over the last five years assembled and promoted the Strategic Sites Programme, which allows IT companies who wish to build their own facility to purchase serviced sites direct from SEG at seven locations throughout Glasgow. In addition, SEG in partnership with Services to Software operate a incubator facility at 150 St Vincent Street which provides small offices on flexible terms with associated infrastructure and business support facilities. The incubator facility has been fully occupied since it opened three years ago.

The city centre office market with a total stock of some 20 million square feet represents the largest office sector outwith London. Modern large scale occupiers with a heavy IT requirement typically require increasingly large floorplates. This is to achieve economies of scale, to provide raised access flooring for underfloor cabling and air conditioning, and a floor to ceiling height of c.2.5 metres. To date there has been no evidence to suggest that the private sector has been unable to provide this standard of accommodation. However, due to the continuing trend for larger floorplates there is increasing evidence of development activity in the Broomielaw. This is primarily due to the fact that the traditional grid iron layout of the city centre cannot provide the size of floorplate some large companies require whereas the Broomielaw can. SEG together with Glasgow City Council and private sector developers have under consideration proposals for the development of business parks at several locations outside of the city centre. SEG in partnership with the private sector are creating a business park at Pacific Quay adjacent to the new National Science Centre. It is envisaged that Pacific Quay will appeal to companies with large IT requirements in the creative industries sector, for example media, design, and software development companies.

In September Henry McLeish also announced the proposed inner-city Science Park development adjacent to Strathclyde University at a site which has been assembled by SEG at George Street/Albion Street to the east of the city centre. This projected £60 million development will ultimately provide c.500,000 square feet of office accommodation aimed specifically at target sectors of the economy which includes software, optoelectronics and biotechnology.

Following the launch of Smoking Kills in December 1998, £3 million was allocated to health boards for smoking cessation services and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to be targeted at areas of social deprivation.

Smoking cessation has also been identified as a priority for investment from the £26 million Health Promotion Fund. Health boards will be able to provide more practical support through the NHS for those people who want to quit smoking.Comprehensive information on local smoking cessation services and on the number of people who have received free NRT is not held centrally.

National planning policies encourage the reuse of brownfield sites for new development.

The Scottish Enterprise Network offers support for brownfield development ranging from direct property and site assistance, such as addressing adverse physical conditions associated with brownfield land, to indirect support, advice and advocacy, assessment of the property market and opportunities for competitive advantage.

The development of some dwellings in deprived areas is supported financially through Scottish Homes Grants for Rent or Ownership scheme.

The Scottish Executive will examine the findings of the recent survey, commissioned by HEBS and ASH (Scotland) on public perceptions of passive smoking, when they become available.

The Executive recognises the importance for public awareness and understanding of issues surrounding passive smoking. Everyone should be able to be free from smoke and the effects of smoke wherever possible. It is important for employers, owners and managers of premises to understand these issues and to share the responsibility for creating smoke-free environments

The Executive will consider the need for a public awareness campaign on the effects of passive smoking in the light of the results of this latest survey when known, together with the impact of the Scottish Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places and the HSE's proposed Approved Code of Practice on Passive Smoking in the Workplace.

The amount paid in rates is just one of many influences on the birth, growth and survival of businesses, and so extremely difficult to isolate its effect.

A comprehensive range of policy measures is in place to reduce unemployment in Scotland, including the establishing of Local Economic Forums, the New Futures Fund and a Review of the Training for Work Programme all of which aim to ensure that unemployed people can play an effective part in Scotland's economic future.

To directly encourage the creation of new employment opportunities and safeguard existing jobs in areas of relatively weaker economic performance, the Regional Selective Assistance and Invest for Growth grant schemes offer financial support to businesses located in the Assisted Areas. The Scottish Executive is also contributing £454 million in supporting the Enterprise Network.Figures to the end-August show that 33,000 young people and long-term unemployed have gained employment through the New Deal in Scotland.Youth unemployment (18-24s unemployment for six months or more) in Scotland was around 3,000 in October 2000. This was 67% lower than in 1998. Long-term unemployment (over 25s who have been unemployment for two years or more) in Scotland was 11,000 in October 2000. This was 21% lower than October 1998, but has almost halved since 1997.I also refer Mr Gibson to the reply given to question S1W-11148.

The objective set by Scottish Enterprise for the Business Birth Rate Strategy was very ambitious. In early 2000 Scottish Enterprise conducted a review to consider why the target had not been achieved. This is available on their website. Their review concluded that, although the number of new businesses created per head of population remained below the UK average, there had been some improvements in the infrastructure to support new businesses and an increase in the number of people enthusiastic about starting a business, and that these changes would have effect in the longer term. Scottish Enterprise are about to commission an independent review of the strategy to help focus on ways to improve the strategy in the 21st century. We are also working closely with Scottish Enterprise to improve our support for the small business sector, for example through the recent introduction of the Small Business Gateway.

At a national level, the Scottish Executive is supporting the work of the Social Work Information Review Group which is committed to ensuring that information requirements and data standards set for social care are coherent with those set for health care. The outcome of this work will provide the agencies with a common currency of information to inform the planning and commissioning of services. The establishment of an Older People's Centre in 2001 to champion the development of good and innovative community care services will inform the commissioning process.

At local level, the Joint Future Group report will provide a new lead on service priorities and on improved information and systems integration in support of the delivery and commissioning of services.

The content of university medical courses is not a matter for the Scottish Executive to determine. The General Medical Council has a UK wide responsibility for determining the extent of the knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications. The route to reaching these standards is a matter for each individual medical school.

The content of specialist training for doctors is a matter for the Specialist Training Authority in the case of hospital doctors. The content of vocational training is a matter for the Joint Committee On Postgraduate Training For General Practice (JCPTGP) in the case of General Practitioners. The Scottish Executive would expect that, following completion of their training, doctors, as professionals, would keep their skills up to date in the areas which are relevant to their sphere of practice.

Training for nursing staff in dealing with childhood sexual abuse is embedded within the curriculum for certain qualifications such as paediatric nursing, forensic nursing, health visiting and midwifery. Dealing with the survivors of childhood abuse is a highly specialised aspect of childhood sexual abuse and training is the responsibility of individual practitioners in this field and their employers who are required to assess and meet the training needs of the multidisciplinary team.