Chamber and committees

Therehas been a small overall rise in people with learning disabilities who aresubject to compulsory detention under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003 (the 2003 Act). The numbers have risen from 239 people in2004 to 252 people in 2006. Peoplewith learning disabilities have a higher incidence of mental health difficultiesthan the general population. There is also some evidence that they are subjectto orders for longer periods.

Peoplewith learning disabilities (with or without a co-morbid mental illness) havethe same rights and safeguards under the 2003 Act as other mental healthservice users. The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland visits all people on long term ordersand provides an important safeguard for people with learning disabilities whomay not be able to make representations to the Tribunal.

The admissionrate for males under the Mental Health Act has been consistently higher thanfor females in the years 2000–05 (the latest years for which we have completedata). There is also a much greater tendency for men to be subject to mentalhealth orders following a criminal order. This is a complex area and it is notpossible to ascertain whether this reflects differential need between males andfemales or whether there is any systematic bias in the system.

Once admitted tothe psychiatric unit, there is no evidence of any significant difference inlength of hospitalisation between males and females.

I refer the memberto the answers to questions S3W-2593 and S3W-2595 on 21 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The rolling stockprocurement plan continues to be developed by Transport Scotland alongside the wider procurement plan to address the requirementsof both the Major Projects, including Airdrie to Bathgate, and the increasing demandsfor rail services. Transport Scotland is confident that it can successfully procurethe rolling stock needed to continue growing Scotland’s railways, and the procurement plan is on schedule to meet the deliverydeadline for the Airdrie to Bathgate project of December 2010. No decision has beenmade on the type of rolling stock that will be deployed on the route.

The rolling stockprocurement plan continues to be developed by Transport Scotland alongside the wider procurement plan to address the requirementsof both the major projects, including Airdrie to Bathgate, and the increasing demandsfor rail services. Transport Scotland is confident that it can successfully procurethe rolling stock needed to continue growing Scotland’s railways, and the procurement plan is on schedule to meet the deliverydeadline for the Airdrie to Bathgate project of December 2010.

The Electoral Commission’srecommendation is fair under the terms of the legislation by which it is bound.Nevertheless, on behalf of Scottish ministers I have written to both the ElectoralCommission and the Secretary of State for Justice stating our opposition to theterms of an act which does not properly reflect the devolved and political contextin which the MEPs representing Scotland operate.

The Scottish Government is aware that Argyll and Bute Council spends less than its grant aided expenditure allocation on community care services. That is a matter for the council. The council is required to meet its statutory responsibilities for the assessment and delivery of services to older people in its area. It is for the council to determine the most appropriate allocation of the total resources available to it to meet these and its other responsibilities.

Both I and my officials have met with bodies such as the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland and the Scotland-Malawi Partnership, as well as relevant non-governmental organisations to discuss international development and that will continue as required.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-3292 on 27 August 2007. 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/wa.search.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

	Grant Aided Expenditure Allocations (£ Million)	Revenue Expenditure (£ Million)
1999-2000	11.630	5.056
2000-01	11.802	6.297
2001-02	13.197	7.119
2002-03	19.070	16.885
2003-04	21.955	17.514
2004-05	22.215	18.447
2005-06	22.874	19.562
2006-07	25.158	not yet available
2007-08	26.592	not yet available

Notes:

1. Grant aided expenditure (GAE) allocations are derived from aggregating a number of sub-categories which together make up the older people’s services GAE line.

2. Revenue expenditure is sourced from Local Financial Return (LFR) 3, completed by local authorities, which covers social work services.

3. Revenue spending may differ from the GAE allocation for a number of reasons. Firstly, the GAE allocations given are neither budgets nor spending targets for older people’s services. They are components used in distributing the total block grant that the Executive provides to local authorities. Secondly, it is for each local authority to decide how best to allocate the resulting overall block grant across all its services, based on local needs and priorities.

4. The LFR3 return was revised in 2002-03 as part of a review of all LFRs. Due to the changes, pre 2002-03 figures are not directly comparable with those for 2002-03 onwards.