Chamber and committees

Monitoring and evaluating the implementation of this guidance is a matter for CoSLA.

The Scottish Household Survey is a continuous survey which started in February 1999 and interviews are being conducted each month. Three quarterly Bulletins have been published to date and the next Bulletin will be published in May 2000. An Annual Report and accompanying Technical Report will be published in August 2000, giving key findings from the survey for larger local authorities and groupings of smaller local authorities. By August 2001, a sufficiently large sample will have been collected and analysed to provide results for all local authorities.

There is no common definition between local authorities of the term "adviser". Centrally-held data does not disaggregate numbers of non-teaching staff in local authority education services.

Responsibility for the provision of Safer Routes to School, Home Zones and Road Safety Schemes rests with the local authorities in respect of local roads. The local authorities already have powers under existing legislation to promote and implement schemes in all of these areas, and further legislation is not necessary.In the case of trunk roads, the Scottish Executive reviews annually accidents on such roads, and investigates clusters of accidents at particular locations and routes with high accident rates.

Since coming into office, the Scottish Executive has taken a number of actions related to cycling.In December last year I hosted the Scottish Cycling Conference. The aim of this high level conference was to address strategic issues related to the promotion and development of cycling as a mode of transport in Scotland. Each local authority and health board in Scotland was invited to send representatives.I shall shortly be meeting the Scottish Cycling Forum to discuss the outcome of the conference and to see how best its conclusions can be taken forward in Scotland.I intend to commission a programme of research to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the recent Scottish Cycle Challenge Initiative. The outcome of the research will help to inform policy on the need for other possible challenge schemes intended to encourage and promote cycling.Our recently published guidance on Local Transport Strategies makes clear that the Scottish Executive expects local authorities to build on existing efforts to increase the amount of cycling. In addition, local authorities are expected to produce a local cycling strategy as part of their overall transport strategies.Cycling and walking projects are eligible for consideration for support from the Public Transport Fund provided they meet the criteria for submitting applications.The Scottish Executive has recently published Cycling by Design which provides comprehensive guidance and advice on the design of all aspects of cycling infrastructure. This guidance has been made available to each local authority in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive is well aware of the real and understandable public concerns over genetically modified organisms. Throughout, public health and environmental considerations continue to drive policy in this area. We are neither pro- nor anti-GM but pro-safety, pro-environment and pro-consumer choice - a view shared with the UK Government.

Existing indicators within the grant distribution system measure relative levels of deprivation across all council areas. As I announced to the Scottish Parliament on 8 December, we have agreed with CoSLA that the joint review we are undertaking of the impact of deprivation and poverty on council costs will consider both rural and urban areas in grant distribution. The review is due to report later this year in time to be implemented within the 2001-02 local government finance settlement.

In line with our shared priorities, we agreed with CoSLA that the special deprivation payments for 2000-01 should be targeted at those councils facing higher levels of deprivation, as measured by above average numbers of Income Support recipients as a proportion of their total populations. This is in line with existing indicators of deprivation and poverty within the distribution system. The allocations to individual councils arise from this objective measure of relative deprivation.

The Executive directly supports the Scottish National Dictionary, the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, the Scots Language Resource Centre and the Scottish Poetry Library (which promotes poetry in Scots as well as other languages). These grants amount to £135,000 in the current year. Curricular guidelines encourage the teaching of Scots literature in schools and contain numerous opportunities for including Scots in the curriculum. The forthcoming national cultural strategy will provide an occasion to review the position of Scots and the means of support for it. Scots will also attract the provisions of Part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which the UK Government signed on 2 March.

The Scottish Executive provides funding to the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to enable it to develop road safety education and publicity initiatives. Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, the resources allocated for this work were increased by £1 million over the three years beginning 1999-2000. Following a review of the Scottish Cycle Training Scheme by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign, the written training materials have been revised and a new training video made. The new training pack will be issued shortly to all Road Safety Units in Scotland and its use promoted in schools throughout Scotland. The pack will assist in the delivery of high quality cycle training.Local authorities receive a block allocation for expenditure on a number of services. It is for each local authority to determine its expenditure programme, including provision for cycle training and Safer Routes to School schemes, in the light of its various priorities.