Chamber and committees

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:We do not consider that there is a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. Access to toilet facilities during the day is generally unrestricted. At night, an automated system allows prisoners in single cells to access toilet facilities. For security reasons, prisoners who are sharing a cell cannot make use of the automated system. Staff require to supervise the unlocking of their doors. Night shift staffing has recently been increased to reduce the delay in unlocking doors. Furthermore, procedures are in place to ensure that women with serious medical conditions are not required to share a cell.

Information on persons with a charge proved in 1999 and 2000 where a bail aggravation was recorded in the sentence is included in Table 14 of the annual statistical bulletins Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts published for those years (Bib. numbers 11289 and 17818 respectively). Data for the year 2001 are expected to be available in November 2002. Assault and robbery falls within the Scottish Executive Justice Department's crime category of robbery.

The information requested is set out in the following tables:1997-98

Department/Agency	Number of Cases	Conditions	Referred to Prime Minister
Central Services	1	-	-
Environment and Rural Affairs Department	2	1	-
Development Department	3	1	-
Home Department	1	-	-
Justice Department	1	-	-
Scottish Records Office	1	-	-

1998-99

Department/Agency	Number of Cases	Conditions	Referred to Prime Minister
Development Department	3	1	2
Central Services	2	1	2
Locate in Scotland	1	1	1
Environment and Rural Affairs Department	6	-	-

1999-2000

Department/Agency	Number of Cases	Conditions	Referred to Prime Minister
Central Services	1	-	-
Common service Agency	1	-	-
Director of Roads	1	1	-
Education and Industry Department	3	2	2
Development Department	1	-	-
Historic Scotland	1	-	-

2000-01

Department/Agency	Number of Cases	Conditions	Referred to Prime Minister
Development Department	4	-	-
Environment and Rural Affairs Department	1	-	-
Health Department	1	-	-
Justice Department	1	-	-
Central Services	1	-	-
FCSD	1	-	-
Business Development Unit	1	-	-

Information for the private sector is not collected by local authority area. The time between confirming an application as eligible and receiving central heating will vary between areas according to such things as the kind of heating system chosen and whether listed building consent is required. It is for local authorities and housing associations to determine the programme of work for their own stock and advise their tenants accordingly.

The position with regard to applications for the central heating programme submitted between September 2001 and August 2002 by private sector householders living in the Scottish Borders area is as follows:Between 1 September and 31 December 2001, 73 eligible householders submitted applications. Thirty-one of those have now had their central heating installed and a further 30 will have their central heating as soon as possible. There are others who are waiting for a number of reasons, such as gas connections by Transco or listed building consent from the local authority.Between 1 January and 2 August 2002, 105 eligible householders submitted applications. Eleven of those have now had their central heating installed and a further 17 will have their central heating as soon as possible. Forty are awaiting survey and there are others who are waiting for a number of reasons, such as gas connections by Transco or listed building consent from the local authority.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29181 today. 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/webapp/search_wa.

About 220 local bus operators in Scotland qualify for Bus Service Operator's Grant at any one time, although the exact number varies. The table sets out the total amount rebated to bus operators in Scotland in the years requested.

Year	Amount Rebated
1999-2000	£45.2 million
2000-01	£49.3 million
2001-02	£49.5 million
2002-03 to date	c.£16.0 million

Under the Bus Service Operator's Grant scheme, ultra low sulphur diesel (the fuel predominantly used in the operation of local bus services) currently attracts a rebate of 80.1% of the fuel duty paid.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including fuel duty rates.

Accreditation is a term that refers to the Autism Quality Audit and Accreditation Programme, run by the National Autistic Society. This supports and accredits services that cater for the needs of people with autistic spectrum disorder. Providers of such services decide if they want to seek accreditation.