Paisley, Kilmarnock, Stirling, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright,Stranraer, Kirkcaldy, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Inverness, Airdrie, Hamilton, Lanark, Edinburgh and Dundee.

These districts account for 73% of the totalcaseload of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

COPFS is committed to makingthe service available to the whole of Scotland by the end of 2004.

The new guidelines describe,for the first time in a publicly available document, the roles andresponsibilities of Special Branch in the UK; the legislative framework within which theyoperate; and the manner in which Special Branch work is co-ordinated across theUK.

FOS is an electronicworkflow and document management system which will streamline much of theadministrative and clerical work undertaken, including that arising frominitial decision making.

It was envisaged that staffsavings would be realised following implementation and that these savings wouldoccur primarily at the basic administrative grade.

In order to minimise anypossible redundancy situation, it was agreed, with trade union support, to fillvacancies at that level which occurred in the last 9 months on a temporaryfixed term basis in the expectation that a significant number of these postswould no longer be needed in 2004-05 and in order to avoid the need for redundanciesof permanent staff. The use of temporary or casual staff has indeed allowed thedepartment to avoid making staff redundant.

The registry met its targetof increasing new donors by 40,000 in 2002-03 and has a target of recruiting afurther 40,000 donors during 2003-04.

The Scottish National BloodTransfusion Service (SNBTS) provides tissue typing in support of the BBMR andcurrently has over 11,000 active donors on the register and around 1,000 donorsare added annually.

I am also conscious thatthere have been a number of meetings on this subject between the seniormanagement of the two NHS boards. The Chief Executive of NHS Argyll and Clyde hasundertaken to write to you in response to your detailed questions.

All public bodies covered bythe ethical standards regime have to have a Code of Conduct in place that isbased on the Model Code of Conduct for Members of Devolved Public Bodies, underthe terms of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland)Act 2000.

Argyll and Clyde NHS boardmembers are covered by such a code, and have adopted a code that also includes,as an annex, an extract of text on best practice guidance for members of publicbodies, published by the Scottish Executive in February 2003.