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The M74 Northern Extension was first proposed by Strathclyde Regional Council and has been taken forward by Glasgow City and South Lanarkshire Councils as successors to Strathclyde Region. No Government, past or present, has given any commitment to designate the proposed route a trunk road. A strategic route through Glasgow is already provided by the M8, which was incorporated into the trunk road network on 1 April 1996. The Executive is committing very significant resources to the M8 through Glasgow, including a £30m programme of structural repairs on the Kingston Bridge, to address the inherited problems. The M8 through Glasgow is used by high volumes of local traffic, including a significant element of commuting by car. The Strategic Roads Review appraisal shows that the M74 Northern Extension would have a similar mix of strategic and local traffic. The need for additional motorway capacity across the city has to be considered in the context of the Local Transport Strategies which Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and all other Councils in the area have been asked to prepare. The authorities concerned are best placed to assess the contribution which the M74 scheme can make to the delivery of these strategies and to address the significant impacts inevitably associated with any urban motorway.

I have asked Glasgow City and South Lanarkshire Councils to take forward proposals for the M74 Northern Extension in the context of their Local Transport Strategies and in co-operation with other authorities, including Renfrewshire. These strategies should aim to improve access, including public transport access, across their areas and to reduce congestion, thus increasing the reliability of journey times. Such strategies should improve access to Glasgow Airport and assist in its development.

Since 1996-97, local authorities have received a block allocation to cover expenditure on all their non-housing capital programmes including Roads and Transport. This method of allocating resources is by agreement with COSLA. Authorities can also use capital receipts and revenue to meet capital spending needs. It is up to authorities to determine spending priorities from the total resources available to them.

As noted in the report on the Strategic Roads Review, published on 4 November, the Scottish Executive proposes to meet Glasgow City and South Lanarkshire Councils to discuss the M74 Northern Extension. I expect the meeting to consider funding issues and the input of other councils with an interest in the scheme.

The identification and accreditation of suitable training courses and the recognition of qualifications in any complementary therapy is primarily the responsibility of the professional body or bodies which regulate it.The regulation of health professions is a reserved matter. However, I understand that herbal medicine professional bodies have been encouraged by the Government to form a single self-regulatory body for all herbalists, in the hope that in due course the profession may be in a position to apply for statutory self-regulation.

£23 million will be spent in Scotland by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) to offer training to every teacher and school librarian in the use of ICT in their subject area.In addition the Scottish Executive has commissioned a training course aimed at helping primary headteachers plan and manage ICT.

Legislation on drugs and driving is a reserved matter under the Scotland Act. Driving a motor vehicle while unfit through drugs is an offence. The police may take a person whose driving appears to be impaired to a police station for examination by a police surgeon.

The police however have no powers to test drivers for drugs at the roadside comparable to their powers to test for alcohol. Primary legislation would be required to introduce such a power and it would be for the Westminster Parliament to introduce such legislation. The Scottish Executive has recently commissioned research to investigate the prevalence of recreational drug use and driving in Scotland.

Data on the total numbers of episodes of NHS care for inpatient and day case treatment and the total number of consultant outpatient and Accident and Emergency attendance's for the years 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 is provided in the table. Comprehensive information for all aspects of treatment carried out within a primary care setting is not available.

It is not possible to provide the proportion of the population who have received NHS care in hospital as many patients have had more than one episode of treatment or attended an outpatient clinic on more than one occasion.

NHS In Scotland: Inpatient¹, Day Case¹, Outpatient² and Accident and Emergency Activity; Years Ending 31 March 1997 - 1999

	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99p
Total Inpatient Episodes3	969,283	982,804	981,574
Total Day Case Episodes	384,291	414,869	437,819
Total Outpatient Attendance's	4,720,866	4,759,628	4,857,736
Total Attendance's at A&E	1,550,704	1,571,608	1,556,258

p Provisional

1 Includes NHS activity in joint-user and contractual hospitals.

2 Excludes NHS activity in joint-user and contractual hospitals.³ Includes transfers between specialities, between significant facilities or between NHS hospitals.

I refer Mr Gibson to pages 112-115 of the report on the Strategic Roads Review which was published and made available to Members on 4 November.

As indicated in our paper Strategy for Carers in Scotland and as discussed in the debate on 25 November, the carers' legislation working group which we are setting up will consider what provisions are necessary to ensure that carers under 16 years can have an assessment of their care needs.