Chamber and committees

Narrowing the gap in unemployment is a key area of the Executive's strategy for the enterprise networks. By offering a range of skills and training initiatives, Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire is working hard to ensure that employment opportunities are open to all.The answers to S1W-33915 on 18 February 2003 and S1W-33916 today, provide information on action being taken through New Deal, and other Welfare to Work Initiatives, to reduce the gap between unemployment rates in the areas of lowest employment in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency, and the rate in Scotland as a whole. 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.Specifically, the Action Teams for Jobs Programme (available in three Dumbarton Wards - Dumbarton North, Dumbarton West and Dumbarton Central) aims to increase employment rates amongst disadvantaged groups in employment deprived areas. Statistics for the New Deal for Young People, for the long-term unemployed, and for lone parents indicate that to the end of September 2002 a total of 1,489 people had gone into jobs within the Dumbarton constituency since the introduction of these programmes.The Dumbarton constituency has benefited directly from £3.9 million from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund from the Western Scotland Objective 2 Programme 2000-2006. Projects supported will promote economic regeneration, vocational training and economic development opportunities. It is forecast that these projects will cater for 670 trainees and create 2,145 jobs.In the last five financial years to end March 2002, 11 projects creating and safeguarding jobs in the area have benefited from over £3.4 million in Regional Selective Assistance.Claimant unemployment rates have fallen in all wards in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency between January 1999 and January 2003 as shown in the following table.Residence-based claimant count unemployment rates, by all council wards in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency, in January of each year between 1999-2003.

Ward	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Dumbarton West	12.5%	11.3%	10.2%	10.3%	8.3%
Dumbarton North	11.8%	11.5%	10.9%	10.2%	7.8%
Renton/Alexandria South	7.6%	7.8%	8.1%	7.2%	7.1%
Bonhill East	9.0%	8.9%	8.2%	7.2%	6.4%
Haldane/Kilmaronock	7.3%	6.8%	6.7%	5.5%	5.5%
Tullichewna/Luss	6.5%	4.9%	4.6%	5.0%	5.1%
Dumbarton Central	5.5%	5.4%	5.3%	5.9%	5.0%
Riverside	5.5%	4.7%	4.8%	5.6%	4.9%
Helensburgh East	7.4%	8.4%	7.0%	6.6%	4.8%
Dumbarton South	4.7%	4.7%	3.9%	4.2%	3.7%
Arrochar/Kilcreggan	6.0%	6.3%	4.2%	4.2%	3.6%
Dumbarton/Bowling	4.3%	3.3%	4.0%	4.2%	2.9%
Helensburgh Central	4.3%	4.3%	3.5%	2.9%	2.8%
Helensburgh West	3.9%	3.4%	2.8%	2.5%	2.1%
Rhu/Garelochhead	4.4%	4.1%	3.1%	3.2%	2.4%
Cardross/Craigendoran	3.3%	2.3%	2.5%	2.0%	1.9%

There has been a reduction in the claimant count unemployment rate between January 1999 and January 2003 for Scotland of 1.5% and for the parliamentary constituency of Dumbarton of 1.9%. The percentage point gap between the average claimant count unemployment rate for Scotland and the average residence-based claimant count of the worst four wards in Dumbarton has also been reduced from 4.7 in 1999 to 3.4 in 2003.Claimant count unemployment rates for Scotland, the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency and the average of the worst four wards in Dumbarton in January of each year between 1999 and 2003:

Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
1. Scotland	5.5%	5.1%	4.5%	4.1%	4.0%
2. Dumbarton	6.5%	6.0%	5.6%	5.3%	4.6%
3. Average of worst 4 wards in Dumbarton	10.2%	9.9%	9.3%	8.7%	7.4%
Row 2 - Row 1 % point difference	1.0	0.9	1.1	1.2	0.6
Row 3 - Row 1 % point difference	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.6	3.4

All the rates in the previous table will be subject to revisions in autumn 2003 when the revised mid-year population estimates become available from analysis of the 2001 census.

The Executive provides funding to the Scottish Road Safety Campaign for the development of key road safety education initiatives and publicity messages. The campaign's strategy for drink drive publicity is informed by research, published by the Executive in 2001, on Drinking and Driving: Prevalence, Decision-Making and Attitudes. The research is enabling the campaign to target specific messages at key groups. Copies of the research report are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18061). The campaign provides publicity to complement enforcement campaigns, focussing on drink driving, organised by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

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.

Each local authority area has a community safety partnership. Therefore there are two partnerships in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency area, one led by Argyll and Bute Council and the other led by West Dunbartonshire Council.The community safety partnership in Argyll and Bute was established on 4 June 1999. The West Dunbartonshire community safety partnership was established on 22 January 1999.

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 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.

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.

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.

The amount of additional funding, provided from the spending review in 2002 over the three years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, was as follows:

	£ million
Police	317
Fire	72
Prisons	15

The breakdown for Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire is not available as it is a matter for the relevant Chief Constable, Fire Master or Chief Executive (in conjunction with the Prison Board) to decide how much is allocated within each area. However, the amounts added to Strathclyde Police and Strathclyde Fire Brigade Grant Aided Expenditure, following the spending review were as follows.

	2003-04(£ million)	2004-05(£ million)	2005-06(£ million)
Police	18	41	71
Fire	5	10	16