Chamber and committees

Tuition fees have been abolished for Scottish domiciled and EU students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland. This support is not repayable and is available to all eligible full-time students to undertake one first degree, or comparable course of higher education, provided they have not previously undertaken such a course with assistance from public funds. This support is paid irrespective of the students' family income.Scottish domiciled students who study full-time higher education (HE) courses elsewhere in the UK make an annual means tested contribution of up to £1,100 towards the cost of their tuition. Such students from low-income families will, therefore, have their tuition fees paid on their behalf by SAAS.In the current academic year there are 2,018 undergraduate students from Argyll and Bute and 1,808 undergraduate students from West Dunbartonshire local authority area who have had their tuition fees waived. Scottish domiciled students who study part-time HE courses in Scotland can apply to their institution to waive their fees if they have a disability, are claiming benefits or are from a low income family. Information on the number of part-time students who have their fees waived is not held centrally. Students studying at institutions overseas generally do not receive tuition fee support.

The Scottish Executive's drugs strategy, Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, is backed by around £130 million in new resources for 2001-02 to 2003-04. All areas of Scotland have benefited from these additional resources in terms of new drug treatment and rehabilitation services, improved support for young people and families, improved treatment provision in prisons, more criminal justice interventions, strengthened enforcement activity, enhanced drugs education in schools and in the community and better improved information on drugs.However, the planning and delivery of local activities and initiatives is the responsibility of local drug action teams and partner agencies. drug action teams are required to report to the Scottish Executive on actions undertaken and planned in their annual corporate action plans. These can be found on the national drugs website at www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org The plans show evidence of enhanced service provision in the areas requested, particularly in terms of services for vulnerable young people, the further development of integrated services, and the provision of training and employment opportunities for recovering drug users. A Drug Treatment and Testing Order has also recently come into operation in the Argyll and Clyde area.Information on drug-related expenditure is not held on a constituency basis. The main components of drugs specific expenditure allocated to NHS boards and local authorities in the areas requested is outlined in the following tables. The areas may also be benefiting from other resources which are not drug specific, but which impact on the problem. Drug Treatment

NHS Board	2001-02(£000)	2002-03(£000)	2003-04(£000)
Argyll and Clyde	1,111	1,338	1,338
Greater Glasgow	4,387	4,488	4,488

Rehabilitation

Council Area	2001-02(£000)	2002-03(£000)	2003-04(£000)
Argyll and Bute	119	119	119
West Dunbaronshire	126	126	126

Drugs Education in Schools

Council Area	2001-02(£000)	2002-03(£000)
Argyll and Bute	17.5	17.5
West Dunbaronshire	21	21

Changing Children's Services Fund (for work with young people and families)

Council Area	2001-02 to 2003-04(£000)
Argyll and Bute	259
West Dunbaronshire	510

The statutory scheme of drink-drive rehabilitation courses is a reserved matter. The Department for Transport, which administers the scheme, has commissioned research into the operation of these courses and their effectiveness in discouraging reoffending since the creation of a permanent scheme in January 2000. The research will cover Scotland and the Scottish Executive will have access to the results of that evaluation as soon as they are available. Monitoring of the pilot scheme, which ended in 1999, found that those offenders who had attended a course were between two and three times less likely to re-offend than those who had not.

Young Scottish students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland from 2001-02 are entitled to an annual Young Students' Bursary (YSB) of up to £2,050, which replaces part of their loan support. Young Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK for the first time from 2002-03 onwards are entitled to an annual Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary (YSO) of up to £510, which is provided in addition to their student loan entitlement. Both bursaries are provided as an entitlement based on the level of parental income and eligibility is assessed as part of the overall assessment of eligibility for student support.In academic year 2001-02, there were 13,579 recipients of YSB. In the current academic year, to date, 21,384 YSB awards and 317 YSO awards have been made. The following table shows the percentage of recipients domiciled in each area since the bursaries were introduced.

Area	% in 2001-02	% in 2002-03
(a) Argyll and Bute	1.80	1.86
(b) West Dunbartonshire	1.97	2.07
(c) Dumbarton	1.45	1.76

Constituency statistics are only available for the New Deals for young people aged 18 to 24, for the long-term unemployed aged 25 and over and for lone parents. These statistics indicate that across these three New Deals, to the end of September 2002, a total of 1,489 people had gone into jobs within the Dumbarton constituency.

Young Scottish students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland from 2001-02 are entitled to an annual Young Students' Bursary (YSB) of up to £2,050, which replaces part of their loan support. Young Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK for the first time from 2002-03 onwards are entitled to an annual Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary (YSO) of up to £510, which is provided in addition to their student loan entitlement. Both bursaries are provided as an entitlement based on the level of parental income and eligibility is assessed as part of the overall assessment of eligibility for student support.In the current academic year, to date, 21,384 YSB awards and 317 Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary awards have been made, of whom 403 were domiciled in Argyll and Bute and 450 were domiciled in West Dunbartonshire.Non-repayable supplementary grants are also available for those students who have additional financial needs, such as students who have dependants or who have a disability. Additional discretionary grants are available from individual colleges and universities for new mature students with child care costs and for any student who faces particular financial difficulties, which might prevent them from accessing or continuing their course.

Two of the New Community Schools pilot projects are located in Argyll and Bute. One project covers Clyde Cottage Nursery and Dunoon, Kirn and St Mun's Primary Schools. The other covers Campbeltown Grammar School and Carradale, Castlehill, Dalintober, Drumlemble, Gigha, Glenbar, Rhunahaorine, Southend and St Kieran's Primary Schools.Two of the pilot projects are located in West Dunbartonshire. One focuses on Braidfield High School. The other covers Vale of Leven Academy, Our Lady and St Patrick's and St Columba's High Schools, and Bonhill, Christie Park, Gartocharn, Haldane, Highdykes, Jamestown, Ladyton, Levendale, Renton, St Eunan's, St Joseph's, St Kessog's, St Martin's, St Mary's (Alexandria), St Mary's (Clydebank), St Michael's, St Patrick's, St Peter's, St Ronan's and St Stephen's Primary Schools.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33868 on 17 February 2003. 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.

The Scottish Executive has actively encouraged the establishment of community safety partnerships led by the local authority and the police and involving the public, private and voluntary bodies to tackle community safety issues at a local level. Community Safety Partnerships are encouraged to focus on the main themes of improved crime prevention; tackling alcohol and drug related crime; changing attitudes and modifying behaviour; diverting young people away from criminal and anti-social behaviour, and reducing the fear of crime.Crime prevention spend by the Scottish Executive in Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire is outlined in the answer given to question S1W-33835 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.Both council areas also benefit from Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) and Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) funding.Under BNSF Argyll and Bute has been awarded £2.7 million and West Dunbartonshire has been awarded £9 million over a three-year period 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04. Although the Local Outcome Agreements for neither area are specifically aimed at preventing crime, Argyll and Bute do include activities aimed at reducing the fear of crime among older people and West Dunbartonshire is providing a range of information, services and activities for young people to make it less likely that they will become involved in crime.Since 1997 the Argyll and Bute SIP has funded various crime prevention projects totalling £204,000. Although in West Dunbartonshire few project allocations by the SIP have been for direct crime prevention work, they have provided £1 million funding for projects which have an impact on crime prevention and reduction, such as young person's befriending schemes, action against vandalism, domestic violence, crimestoppers, youth diversion schemes and other similar schemes.

Spend by a local authority on crime prevention is a matter for that local authority. The information is not held centrally.Under the Make our Communities Safer Challenge Competition, which ended in March 2002, the awards detailed in the following tables were made:Argyll and Bute

1996-97	Campbeltown Town Centre CCTVDunoon Town Centre CCTVHelensburgh Town Centre CCTV	£11,700£76,288£23,544
1997-98	Oban Town Centre CCTV	£71,000
1998-99	Rothesay Town Centre CCTV	£63,300
1999-2000		£0
2000-01	Campbeltown CCTV	£9,500
2001-02	Dunoon New Community Schools	£8,100

West Dunbartonshire

1996-97	Clydebank Town Centre CCTV	£108,490
1997-98	Clydebank Town Centre CCTVDumbarton CCTV	£27,000£63,000
1998-99		£0
1999-2000	Dumbarton Town Centre CCTV	£160,000
2000-01	New Bonhill CCTV	£140,000
2001-02	Clydebank Trust CCTVYouth Shelters	£129,440£18,500

On 1 April 2002, we introduced a new Community Safety Partnership Award Programme for all council-led Community Safety Partnerships. For 2002-03, Argyll and Bute Community Safety Partnership were awarded £84,127 to address local community safety priorities, West Dunbartonshire Community Safety Partnership were awarded £118,491.