Chamber and committees

There are no present plans to do so but the existing legislative framework will be kept under review to ensure it remains appropriate.

We actively promote teaching as a career through a range of recruitment and publicity measures. At career events and on other occasions the Department takes every opportunity to encourage people from ethnic minority groups into teaching.

I refer Ms Oldfather to the reply given to Question SW1-1968.

Assistance for households in such circumstances falls within the scope of the improvement and repairs grant scheme which is administered by local authorities. Grant may be paid in respect of works to private houses more than 10 years old. It is subject to a test of resources and payable at rates up to 90% for low-income households. The cost of the test to establish the level of lead in the drinking water is eligible for grant purposes. The improvement and repairs grant system is funded by local authorities from their general fund. It is for each local authority to allocate resources to the scheme from its general fund, in the light of local circumstances.

The information is not available in the form requested, but that which is available is given below. It includes those entrants to undergraduate higher education courses in both Further and Higher Education Institutions. The domicile of the student is recorded as the permanent home location.

Table: Full time entrants to Higher Education courses who were recorded as being domiciled in North Ayrshire

Academic Year	1st Degree	Other Higher Education	Total
1996-97	638	1,136	1,774
1997-98	601	974	1,575

Information prior to 1996-97 academic session is not readily available at individual local authority level due to reorganisation.

'Other Higher Education' relates to those on sub degree Higher Education courses such as HNC, HND, etc.Students were not required to contribute to tuition fees during these two years. In academic year 1998-99, when contributions were first introduced, 59% of the first year students domiciled in North Ayrshire who applied to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland were assessed as not being liable to make a contribution to their tuition fees.

The role of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and higher education institutions in Scotland is to make available qualifications which are relevant to the needs of employers and individuals. Occupational sectors, including the manufacturing sector, are represented by a UK-wide network of National Training Organisations whose role is to define the education, training, skills and development needs of employers in their sector, and to convey these needs to those organisations involved in the development and delivery of qualifications.

The Scottish Executive is considering how the wide ranging commitments of the National Strategy for Carers will be taken forward in Scotland and will make an announcement to Parliament in due course.

The Food Standards Agency will have around 500 staff in total with approximately 45 posts within the Food Standards Agency Executive in Scotland.

The General Medical Council, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association have provided extensive guidance to general practitioners about removing patients from their lists. The Scottish Executive sees no need to add to this guidance.

Internal audit coverage in the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department (SERAD) is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive Audit Unit (SEAU). As part of its rolling programme of work, the Unit undertakes regular reviews of controls in the different schemes involving Common Agricultural Policy expenditure. Internal audit plans for the coverage of these schemes, together with reports on the scope and outcome of audit reviews, are considered by the Department's Audit Committee.Central to the overall audit arrangements for part of Community Expenditure is a Protocol between the European Commission and SERAD, to which the Commission's Financial Controller, the Department's Accounting Officer and Head of SEAU are co-signatories. This document promotes closer co-operation between the Commission and SERAD in the audit and administration of expenditure.