Seòmar agus comataidhean

We have conducted extensive testing for foot-and-mouth disease of sheep flocks in all parts of Scotland, concentrating on Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. All tests were negative and all of Scotland has been declared foot-and-mouth disease free. The current veterinary advice is that further testing in Scotland is not considered necessary.

Farms in Ayrshire, as elsewhere in Scotland, benefit from public support through a wide range of schemes funded by the Scottish Executive and the European Commission. The Farm Business Development Scheme, for example, supports farmers with the development of additional income generating opportunities so strengthening the sustainability of the farming business. It is, of course, for each individual business to decide how to maximise their potential for prosperity. The Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture, published in July this year, set out a series of actions through which the farming industry could build a financially sustainable future, and the action which the Scottish Executive would take to support this.

Advertising of jobs for school teachers is a matter for local authorities. The information requested on advertised posts is not held centrally.

Farmers and agricultural workers in Ayrshire have access to free business advice through the Small Business Gateway operated by Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire. The Scottish Executive also funds the Scottish Agricultural College and LANTRA to secure the availability of skills training and advice to farmers and agricultural businesses. As part of implementation of the Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture, the Scottish Executive intends to review the current patterns of business and skills advice and training for agricultural businesses, to ensure that these best meet the needs of the industry.

Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change commits the Scottish Executive to developing a complaints process which is "credible, easy to use, demonstrably independent and effective".The revised NHS complaints procedure will continue to cover services provided by general practitioners and their out-of-hours services when it is introduced in 2002. A working group, which includes patient representatives, has been established to develop proposals for inclusion in a public consultation on a revised procedure. The group is currently considering responses to a consultation on the report of the independent evaluation of the NHS complaints procedure that issued in September.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Executive is today going out to consultation on the terms of The Taxi Drivers' Licences (Carrying of Guide and Hearing Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations. Copies will be available from the Parliament's Reference Centre and can be accessed on the Scottish Executive website. The consultation papers will also be provided on audio tape, disc and large print on request. We will consider all responses carefully before finalising the terms of the proposed regulations.

Our policy statement, "Renewing Mental Health Law" is being published today and copies have been placed in SPICe. The statement sets out our proposals for a new legislative framework, designed to respond to the needs, rights and aspirations of people in Scotland who use mental health services, as well as their carers and families.

Our proposals reflect the great majority of the Millan Committee's recommendations, and were informed by the views of the Mental Health Legislation Reference Group, which we set up as a source of advice and expertise and by the consultative events arranged with interests in the mental health field.

For the first time, mental health law will be based on explicit principles, reflecting concepts of equality, fairness and respect for service users and carers. A new mental health tribunal will be established, offering greater scrutiny of compulsory care, and the rights of patients will be strengthened, while having full regard to issues of public safety.

As already announced, a new Mental Health Bill will be brought to the Scottish Parliament early next year, giving Scotland, when enacted, modern legislation, which reflects the priority the Scottish Executive has accorded to mental health.

The Disability Rights Commission is currently consulting on a Code of Practice about the implementation in schools of the provisions in the Act.

The duty in Part IV of the Act (as amended) on education providers to plan for increased access to the physical environment of schools and the curriculum is devolved. Scottish ministers are considering how best to bring in this duty to plan to progressively improve the accessibility of the school environment, school information and the curriculum to disabled pupils, and they expect to announce their proposals shortly.

Many producers choose to use the services of agricultural consultants on a variety of business matters, including the claiming of EU subsidies. The Scottish Agricultural College offers a full range of such services for which they charge fees. When offering advice on business issues, including those relating to livestock quotas, the college does so purely on a commercial basis.