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All information on cause of death collected when a death is registered is held on public registers. The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) collates this information and codes the cause of death data using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The Ninth Revision of the ICD, which was used from 1979 to 1999, did not have a specific code for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. However, the Tenth Revision of the ICD, which GROS has been using since 2000, does have a relevant code. This would assist with the identification of relevant cases in the future.

The date of the ballot is a matter for Glasgow City Council in discussion with tenants and other interested parties. Current plans are that it will take place in November 2001.

Current membership of the working group follows:

Dr P Craig, Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Executive

Mrs C De Placido, Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Mr S Eales, Scottish Executive Health Department

Professor Stuart Gatehouse, Medical Research Council, Institute of Hearing Research

Mr F Lauder, Argyll and Clyde Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Mr G McHardy, Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust

Mrs M Milligan, Scottish Healthcare Supplies, Common Services Agency.The working group was established to look at adult hearing aid fittings and services in Scotland. The group invited a team of experts to prepare guidance for the benefit of NHSScotland. The guidance is likely to contain a set of statements and recommendations for good practice in hearing aid fittings and services and will be presented to Ministers for approval shortly.

The working group detailed in the answer to question S1W-12861 met on Thursday 1 February to consider a number of issues, including the terms of a possible remit for a wide-ranging review of audiology services. Membership of the group is likely to be expanded to reflect a wider range of health interests. We expect to receive its recommendations in due course.

The amount allocated annually by the Scottish Executive to Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) has to be spent in the year to which it is allocated. However Scottish Executive Departments can apply to carry forward unspent amounts from one financial year to the next, with success depending on the position across the Executive as a whole, and in 1999-2000 this flexibility was passed on to Social Inclusion Partnerships.In 1999-2000, 18 Social Inclusion Partnerships applied to carry forward unspent amounts to the following year. Priority was given to underspends which had arisen because of delays in setting up new partnerships and allocating funds, and to those which had arisen because of slippage in capital projects. The 18 Social Inclusion Partnerships carried forward a total of £1.5 million from 1999-2000 to 2000-01. Arrangements for the carry forward of funds which have not been spent in 2000-01 have not yet been finalised, but we will be writing to SIPs shortly to provide further details.

I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-12843.

I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-12843.

The Scottish Executive expects all Social Inclusion Partnerships to allocate funds in accordance with the terms and conditions of grant. These are currently being revised. Once the revisions are complete a copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. Other than the requirement to comply with the terms and conditions of grant, it is for partnerships to decide how to allocate resources from the Social Inclusion Partnership Fund, including those arising as a result of slippage on other projects.

I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-12843.

There is already robust national and international evidence for the effectiveness of methadone programmes. In Scotland research carried out by clinicians and academic institutions consistently shows effective outcomes for individuals. These include reduced criminality, improved health, reduced illicit drug use and spread of blood-borne virus and improved personal, social and family functioning. Methadone programmes that include counselling and other forms of support for the individual are most effective.

The Executive's new drugs research programme will include an evaluation of the long-term outcomes and relative cost effectiveness of treatment with methadone. A large-scale research project into outcomes' effectiveness, funded by the Robertson Trust and supported by the Executive, is also under way. Over the next year, the Executive's Effective Interventions Unit will be developing detailed guidance on the effective planning and delivery of methadone programmes within shared care arrangements. Initial guidance will be issued to Drug Action Teams and related agencies shortly.The Executive has also set a national target that every Local Health Care Co-operative or Primary Care Trust is to have a locally approved shared care scheme by 2004.