Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-2265 on 31 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-2265 on 31 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Children with autismspectrum disorder are most likely to be diagnosed in an outpatient clinic andmanaged in the community or general practice. Diagnostic information forpatients attending outpatient clinics is not available centrally.

On-going research inmolecular genetics and development of the brain should help to establish thenature of the association between fragile X and autism. A SIGN guideline forassessment, diagnosis and clinical interventions for children and young peoplewith autism spectrum disorder was recently published, which identifies andrecommends areas for further research.

Forestry Commission Scotland(FCS) and its agency Forest Enterprise Scotland are helping SNH and the RedSquirrels South Scotland project to develop and implement a response plan. FCSis helping to monitor the incidence of squirrelpox virus in the populations ofgrey and red squirrels in the affected area, and it has trained the projecttrappers and some private estate trappers to enable them to carry out greysquirrel control.

FCS and the Executive’sRural Directorate have also proposed measures under the Scottish Rural Development Plan for new targetedgrants for grey squirrel control to help red squirrel conservation.

The Scottish Government,through Historic Scotland, is supporting the creation of an Antonine WallInterpretation Centre in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow. This Centre, to be opened in 2008, will providevisual and virtual information on the Antonine Wall and on the Roman occupationof Scotland.

Yes. The Antonine Wallnomination for World Heritage Site status was prepared by Historic Scotland, onbehalf of Scottish Ministers, and submitted to the United Nations Education, Science and CultureOrganisation (UNESCO) by the Secretaryof State for Culture, Media and Sport on behalf of the UKgovernment in January 2007.

The Scottish Government doesnot currently have plans to commemorate this anniversary.

The Scottish Government willdo all it can within our devolved powers to support a sustainable rural postoffice network. I have written to Post Office Ltd urging them to be transparentin their forthcoming consultation and to consider opportunities for trialservice delivery to enhance the future of rural post offices.

I have also written to the Convention of ScottishLocal Authorities encouraging their pro-active co-operation in localconsultation and consideration of future service delivery in conjunction withlocal post offices.

The text of both letters is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/07/18115922.

Scottish Natural Heritage(SNH) currently employs two grey squirrel control officers in South Scotland.Since the discovery, in the Lockerbie area, of a red squirrel with squirrelpoxvirus, SNH has reviewed the strategy for control with advice from relevantexperts and stakeholder organisations in order to identify the most effectiveapproach to limit the spread of the disease and to maintain vigilance for suspectedcases elsewhere. Staffing levels were included in the scope of this review.

The conclusion was that the number of control officers iscurrently adequate but that this would need to be monitored as part of theoverall strategy for grey squirrel control in South Scotland.

Small-scale hydro developerscontinue to gain revenue from Renewables Obligation Certificates issued underthe Renewables Obligation (Scotland).

A Hydro Sub-Group set up bythe Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland will investigate andreport on the potential hydro resource available in Scotland,any constraints on developing this resource, and how such barriers might beovercome. The group held its first meeting in April this year.