Over the period 2001-03, up to £4,000,000 will be made available through sportscotland and about £1,000,000 will be made available from Reduction in Pools Betting Duty monies.

The criteria applied to the funding available through sportscotland are the Policies and Procedures of the Scottish Lottery Fund Football Academy Strand. These criteria are based on the proposals drawn up and endorsed by the Scottish Football Partnership established by the Scottish Executive. Criteria for other sources of funding have yet to be established.

The core telecommunications networks in Scotland provided by operators such as BT, Thus and Energis, all are engineered as Integrated Digital Networks. The fibre backbone extends from Wick in the Highlands, through central Scotland and into Galashiels in the South of Scotland. The principle challenge is to ensure that advanced digital services are extended out to individual customers - the so-called "last mile" problem. The Scottish Executive is working to promote conditions for the most rapid and comprehensive provision of such services.

The position in Scotland regarding retention of organs following post-mortem examination is set out in detail in the Report of the independent Review Group on the Retention of Organs at Post-Mortem published on 6 February 2001.The Executive is seeking urgent changes to the law to make it clear that parents' consent must be sought to the retention of children's organs at post-mortem, and to make it an offence to retain organs without such consent.

I understand that South Lanarkshire Council have lodged an appeal in relation to this decision. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment in the meantime.

The sum of Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limits and Non-Domestic Rate Income, as a proportion of UK GDP, is set out in the table. Over the period, DEL + NDRI has grown by 15.5% in real terms.

	Scottish DEL + NDRI as a proportion of UK GDP %	UK GDP at market prices £ million	Scottish DEL + NDRI at market prices £ million
1994-95	2.03	677,594	13,730
1995-96	1.95	713,980	13,920
1996-97	1.87	756,058	14,168
1997-98	1.76	805,402	14,157
1998-99	1.73	851,654	14,704
1999-2000	1.74	891,583	15,510
2000-01	1.76	936,697	16,514
2001-02	1.81	984,117	17,797
2002-03	1.83	1,033,941	18,941
2003-04	1.84	1,086,283	20,023

* Figures for 2000-01 to 2003-04 are based on projections.Due to the conversion to resource accounting, the sum of DEL (Departmental Expenditure Limits) and NDRI (Non-Domestic Rate Income) is the most robust basis on which to make this comparison.

Preventing and controlling hospital-acquired infection (HAI), including infections attributable to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is a key priority for the NHS in Scotland. The Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: a plan for action, a plan for change, published on 14 December, makes clear that every local healthcare system will be expected to combat HAI by achieving service standards to be established by the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland on infection control, cleanliness, and other matters. To assist this process, the Advisory Group on Infection is developing, in consultation with the NHS in Scotland, recommendations for a system of surveillance of HAI. This will collect data to allow trends to be monitored and remedial action to be targeted effectively.As part of the drive to combat antimicrobial resistance, the Executive launched a national public education campaign in December 1999, which aimed to increase public awareness of the problem and to help health professionals reduce the prescribing of antibiotics where other approaches were available. The Executive also issued for consultation last August a three-year action plan for Scotland, which was linked to the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and set out a framework for minimising the development of antimicrobial resistance, including MRSA, and maintaining the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents in the treatment and prevention of microbial infections in humans and animals. Consultees included health boards and NHS Trusts. The implementation of the strategy and the action plan for Scotland is being overseen and reviewed by the Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy Steering Group, a multi-disciplinary group, which brings together experts from the fields of animal and human health as well as from the Executive. In line with commitments to keep the action plan under review, the plan is currently being updated and modified to take account of the results of the consultation and other developments.

A sub-group of the Health Department's Advisory Group on Infection is currently working up proposals for a national surveillance system for hospital-acquired infection, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The group is considering what standard criteria and definitions should be used by laboratories in Scotland, so that consistent and meaningful data are collected in the most effective way.

The provision of business space within the city of Glasgow is one of the key priorities of the City Council, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG) and the Glasgow Alliance, and a great deal of activity is being undertaken in this field.Current developments include:Proposals for developers to construct two advance factory units, one of 2,787 square metres and one of 4,645 square metres at Robroyston Business Park, to the north of the city. Proposals by developers for two speculative business units at Cardonald Park, one of 2,414 square metres the other of around 3,251 square metres.Discussions regarding the construction of a speculative unit extending to 929 square metres at the West of Scotland Science Park.The need to enhance the physical business infrastructure of the city has also been recognised by the Scottish Executive, which has recently allocated an additional £2 million to SEG specifically to support Glasgow's Strategic Business and Industrial Sites Programme.

These issues are of prime concern to the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and Glasgow City Council.In terms of provision of quality modern office space, tenant demand in the city centre is strong, with the vacancy rate at 5% and a good level of enquiries. Currently available stock amounts to around 20,000 square metres in three buildings. A further 22,000 square metres will come on the market during this year.There has, as a result, been an increase in investor interest in the city. At Pacific Quay, one of the city's Strategic Sites, a developer has applied for planning permission for a speculative office development of 6,000 square metres while SE Glasgow has plans for 22,000 square metres of space at that location for digital media companies. On the north bank of the river, a developer has proposals to develop office accommodation on the former Daily Record site and is being encouraged to proceed by SE Glasgow and the City Council.

At the junction of George Street and High Street, SE Glasgow has applied for planning permission to develop, in partnership with the private sector, a business park of some 50,000 square metres of space aimed at technology, software and science-based companies.With regards to steps that are being taken to ensure the provision of trained service sector office staff, this provision is being met through various Scottish Executive training schemes.