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The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all children especially those at risk and ensuring that those who need help get a timely and proportionate response. Relevant information-sharing across agencies and prompt intervention are key components in achieving that outcome. Through the implementation of the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) agenda, we are promoting improved culture, systems and practice to facilitate better inter-agency working across all dimensions. The HM Inspectorate of Education-led joint inspection of child protection services in Scotland specifically monitors how well service providers share information and intervene to protect children at risk. We have been reviewing the inspection reports produced thus far; the annual reports from child protection committees in relation to agencies'' sharing of information and prompt intervention, and experience from the GIRFEC pathfinders. There is a need to straddle inter-agency and inter-disciplinary assumptions, principles and practices on risk and what this implies for appropriate levels of information-sharing and intervention. In going forward, we need to engage extensively with stakeholders and professionals and that process will start shortly.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The budget allocated to the Association of Visiting Committees for 2008-09 is provisionally set at £30,400. The budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been agreed.

The research on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent suicide and suicidal behaviour was commissioned by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is currently considering this research''s recommendations for future research and practice, in line with of our continuing commitment to base suicide prevention and interventions on the best evidence base.

Choose Life is Scotland''s national suicide prevention strategy and action plan and suicide prevention is a cornerstone of the Scottish Government''s action on population mental health improvement. The Choose Life national implementation support team will lead on acting on these research findings to improve suicide prevention measures, linking with national and local partners. The research''s findings were distributed directly through local Choose Life co-ordinators and suicide prevention trainer networks, as well as being promoted through the Choose Life newsletter network and website.

Our 2008-09 HEAT targets include a target to reduce suicide rates between 2002 and 2013 by 20%, supported by 50% of key frontline staff in mental health and substance misuse services, primary care, and accident and emergency being educated and trained in using suicide assessment tools/suicide prevention training programmes by 2010.

We are also focusing on building local capacity in suicide prevention, in response to local needs and underpinned by a focus on tackling inequalities.

The Scottish Government is committed to improvement in mental health services. As part of that on-going attention we have published a commitment to work with NHS Education for Scotland to extend access to and provision of evidence based psychological therapies by 2010.

Work to support this commitment includes a range of initiatives and interventions designed towards earlier intervention and better care management of mental health problems. These include: advancing a programme to improve training for a range of staff in cognitive behaviour therapy; publishing an Integrated Care Pathway for depression; rolling out a Self Help Treatment Access Resource Team (START) to support the delivery of training by using an evidence based programme for low mood and anxiety; establishing a pilot for a telephone advice line NHS Living Life.

The research on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent suicide and suicidal behaviour was commissioned by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is currently considering this research''s recommendations for future research and practice, in line with of our continuing commitment to base suicide prevention and interventions on the best evidence base. A decision on commissioning specific research into the usefulness of green cards in the prevention of suicide among individuals who are known to practice self-harm will follow from this process.

Choose Life is Scotland''s national suicide prevention strategy and action plan, and suicide prevention is a cornerstone of the Scottish Government''s action on population mental health improvement. Choose Life will lead on acting on these research findings to improve suicide prevention measures, linking with national and local partners.

A variety of similar cards are already used in community settings by a range of statutory and voluntary partners in the context of suicide prevention, and several are promoted as part of Choose Life website resource database. All of these suicide prevention resources are also already evaluated at local level and their effectiveness is reported through Choose Life''s local action planning mechanism.

The Better Health Better Care Action Plan indicated our commitment to the concept of mutuality and an annual ownership report. Distributed free of charge to all Scottish households, this will set out information on the rights and responsibilities of patients and their carers, alongside useful information about how to access local services, raise issues or complaints and get more involved in the design and delivery of local health services.

We will shortly begin work with patient and community groups to agree an appropriate form and content for the report. Until this work is completed it will not be possible to give an accurate estimate of the cost which will be incurred.

The option to buy added years in the NHS Superannuation Scheme in Scotland is being withdrawn from 1 April 2008, as part of the pension reform package agreed with NHS employers and trades unions.

Details of contracts between NHS boards and independent health care providers are not available centrally.

The Scottish Government has made clear that NHS boards can use existing private sector capacity, but that we will not invest taxpayers'' money to fund new private sector capacity.

I have been informed by NHS Lanarkshire that all operating theatres in Lanarkshire which carry out orthopaedic joint replacements have laminar airflow systems.

Details of contracts between NHS boards and independent health care providers are not available centrally.

The Scottish Government has made clear that NHS boards can use existing private sector capacity, but that we will not invest taxpayers'' money to fund new private sector capacity.