Encouraging greater collaboration between universities and businesses is one of our key commitments and a main theme highlighted in Science for Scotland. We will continue to work closely with the Scottish Funding Council, the Enterprise Agencies and Universities Scotland to take forward actions outlined in Science for Scotland to better support innovation and growth from our excellent science base.

We will also be publishing an Innovation Framework for Scotland in early 2009. It will outline how we plan to stimulate increased demand for innovation across the public and private sectors and ensure that our innovation support systems are best placed to meet that demand. We will work with the enterprise agencies and the Scottish Funding Council to implement the framework through targeted interventions with individual companies and campaigns to spread the message of innovation.

It is equally important that our universities are engaged with businesses in the drive to improve the use of skills in our workplaces. This is why the Scottish Funding Council is a member of my Skills Utilisation Leadership Group and why they have invited universities to submit proposals to enhance the contribution they make to skills utilisation. In particular, universities are being asked how they could help to address one or more of the areas below:

Improving provision for people in work to develop their skills in a way that can be better used by their employers or to develop people into new roles;

Improving leadership and management provision to encourage workplace innovation and more ambitious market strategies;

Innovative ways of linking knowledge in colleges or universities with business'' skills development and utilisation, and

Developing individuals to better use in the workplace the skills they acquire in colleges and universities.

A number of incentives are already in place to encourage collaborative working between universities and businesses. A recent initiative includes a partnership between universities and the chemicals industry to create 31 Chemistry PhD studentships. This is an excellent example of collaboration focussed on a particular industry which is key to increasing sustained economic growth and demonstrates our clear commitment to developing and improving links between universities and businesses.

New Horizons, the report from the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce on Universities, made clear that we expect universities to demonstrate that they use funds they receive from the Scottish Government to support activities that are well aligned with our Purpose, our economic and skills strategies and other policy frameworks.

New Horizons, the report of the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce on Universities, makes clear that Scotland''s higher education institutions have a key role to shape, preserve and develop our country, our economy, our culture and our society. Their broad contribution to Scotland''s future prosperity is reflected in my letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council, which recognises the role of both colleges and universities to deliver economic, social and cultural change. My letter to the Scottish Funding Council can be found on their website at:

http://www.sfc.ac.uk/about/about_us_guidance.htm.

Details of the new funding arrangements for the General Fund for Universities and the Horizon Fund for Universities are outlined in the Scottish Funding Council''s response to the New Horizons report of the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce. Their response is available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/hetaskforce/JFTTSFCresponce.

I have identified increasing knowledge transfer and innovation as one of my priorities for the Horizon Fund for Universities in my letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council dated 18 November 2008.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18502 on 12 December 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The provision of primary medical services in Kinloch Rannoch is a matter for NHS Tayside. NHS Tayside directly provides the out-of-hours service that covers Kinloch Rannoch and I am aware of the detailed consideration by NHS Tayside of options to supplement that existing service with a First Responders Scheme. I am also aware that the local community remain concerned about these services and I shall ask NHS Tayside to continue to engage with the local community on the matter.

NHS Tayside did not end the out-of-hours GP service in Kinloch Rannoch. The then GP chose to opt out of the provision of out-of-hours services. This was contested by NHS Tayside and referred to an independent assessment panel. The panel upheld the case for opt out. This was all carried out in terms of the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts)(Scotland) Regulations 2004. As a result, NHS Tayside now directly provides the out of hours services for Kinloch Rannoch.

The provision of primary medical services in Kinloch Rannoch is a matter for NHS Tayside. I am aware of the detailed consideration by NHS Tayside of options to supplement the existing out-of-hours service for Kinloch Rannoch with a First Responders Scheme. I am also aware that the local community remain concerned about these services and would encourage them to continue to engage with NHS Tayside on the matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18148 on 8 December 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.