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I am already on the record as saying that a substantial amount of the funds set aside for Euro 2008 will be committed to the development of youth sport including football. I met with the SFA and sportscotland this week to discuss the issue. The current review into youth football development will help to inform decisions about how youth football might benefit.

Detailed drug seizure information, including a breakdown of cocaine seizures by the Scottish Police Service, is collated and published annually by the Home Office and can be found on their website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/drugs1.html.

Our criminal statistics cover recorded crimes rather than persons arrested. Within those statistics, possession of cocaine cannot be separately identified from the number of all recorded crimes for possession of a drug.

The numbers of patients removed from GPs' lists in the Lanarkshire NHS Board area each year excluding those removed as a result of death, emigration or change of address are as follows:

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Number of removals	754	667	1,096	1,007	435	568
Removals in cases of violence	11	13	17	6	30	6

The terms of service for GPs are set out in the NHS (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995. Except where a GP wishes removal to take place with immediate effect because of violence or the threat of it, the regulations do not require GPs to give reasons for the removal of a patient and consequently no guidance has been issued from the Executive.The General Medical Council has issued guidance to doctors which states that they must not discriminate against patients on the basis of their lifestyle, culture, beliefs, race, colour, gender, sexuality, age, social status or perceived economic worth. The guidance makes clear that it refers in cases where patients are removed.

Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland, 2000-2001 (GERS) will be published on 20 January 2003. This is later than the more usual pre-Christmas launch for GERS. The decision to delay the publication was made by the Chief Statistician in order to accommodate key statistical information that has only recently become available, and in line with procedures to ensure the integrity of official statistics.

On 2 December 2002, the Executive launched Choose Life: A National Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent Suicide in Scotland, which aims to tackle the rising rate of suicides in Scotland through co-ordinated national and local action. The strategy and action plan are supported by new investment of £12 million over three years for both national and local initiatives.

None. The Terms of Service for GPs are set out in the NHS (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995. They give GPs the right to request the removal of any patient and place no requirement on them to give reasons of any nature. Where the doctor/patient relationship has broken down, the prime concern is that the patient should continue to have ready access to general medical services. Islands NHS Boards and Primary Care Trusts are empowered to assign to a GP any patient who has not been accepted by another practice.

The taxi accessibility provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 will, when implemented, greatly improve the accessibility of taxis for people with disabilities. Responsibility for implementing these provisions is reserved to the Westminster Parliament. In the meantime, we have written to local authorities, offering informal advice as to the steps they can take to improve the accessibility of taxis in their area within the framework of the existing legislation. There are no general grants available to increase the number of taxis accessible to people with disabilities. However, if a case is put to us by the taxi trade for the introduction of such grants we will consider its merits.

I had previously announced to Parliament in May that the second round of the Modernising Government Fund had up to £30 million at its disposal. The challenge was for public sector bodies to use this fund to work together and form partnerships that would deliver Scotland-wide solutions to modernise our public services.I am pleased to announce today that the public sector across all of Scotland has reacted positively to this challenge, bringing forward proposals costing some £39.5 million. These proposals are cross-cutting and will support key policy objectives at both the national level and the local level. For that reason I have been able to look across the Executive and bring in £9.5 million of additional funding; underpinning the Executive's commitment to joined-up working and joined-up services.The key outcome is a co-ordinated approach to service delivery including:

• joint working between the health department and local authorities for the secure sharing of health and social work information, helping to deliver a single shared assessment process for elderly and children's services and reducing the need for multiple interventions;
• a 32 council partnership to develop youth services and a young persons smartcard and employing young people themselves in delivering services in a way that is meaningful to young people;
• a partnership of 21 councils will be working together to improve how they deliver services, to speed up customer transactions and to deliver better - measurable - outcomes for customers;
• a further 11 councils will lead the way in developing a Scotland-wide electronic citizen's card to improve access to education and transport services, and

a local authority-led public sector partnership to deliver a standardised land and property database, reducing multiple records and helping to improve land and property management across Scotland.

Child poverty is defined not only by income, but also by children's ability to reach their potential. Social inclusion partnerships are assisting in the alleviation of child poverty by promoting a range of activities to encourage and empower communities; health projects; child care provision, and routes into employment and training.