£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.

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.

The recent report by the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) on "Transport and the Economy" highlighted the complexities associated with analysing the local economic impacts of transport schemes. They cautioned against exaggerated claims for the significance of such impacts, and argued that studies of local economic development impacts should take full account of the likely displacement of jobs from other areas. The report set out a number of recommendations on how such studies should be carried out. The Executive is currently considering, with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the implications of the SACTRA report for its future appraisal methodology.The appraisal carried out for the Strategic Roads Review indicated that the M74 Northern Extension would be likely to have an overall positive impact on the local economy. At this stage, it is impossible to be more precise than this.

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.

We have no current plans to do so. However, an additional £1 million per year in 1999-2000 and for the next two years has been allocated to Health Boards to spend on smoking cessation services and nicotine replacement therapy. These services will provide counselling, advice and support to smokers who want to give up. A week's supply of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) will also be offered, free of charge to those who can least afford it.

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.

Under the Directions to the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 1994 (as amended) a Prison Governor can prohibit a prisoner from making telephone calls to persons who have indicated to the Governor, in writing, that they do not wish to receive telephone calls from that prisoner.