Chamber and committees

The figures in the table show the South Lanarkshire Council's Grant Aided Expenditure formula allocation for education from 1996-97 onwards. These figures include any in year adjustments.

	£ Million
1996-97	148.060
1997-98	144.344
1998-99	148.697
1999-2000	159.254
2000-01	165.193
2001-02	180.547
2002-03	198.772
2003-04	212.954
2004-05	224.636
2005-06	234.493

Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocations are not spending targets or limits; they form one part of the distribution formula that calculates each councils block general grant allocations.The following table gives details of the main additional allocations that have been made to South Lanarkshire Council for Education since 1996-97.

	Pre-School Grant(£ Million)	Additional Financial Resources for Schools(£ Million)	Support for Science(£ Million)	Modern Languages in Primary Schools(£ Million)
1996-97				0.057
1997-98				0.140
1998-99	2.974			0.149
1999-2000	6.529			0.110
2000-01	7.405	2.873		0.134
2001-02	7.791	1.806	0.301	0.187
2002-03	0.213**		0.185	0.242
2003-04	0.213		*	*
2004-05	0.354		*	*
2005-06	0.354		*	*

Notes:*Individual allocations have yet to be decided.**Since 2002-03 the main element of funding for pre-school education is provided through general grant.

We have recently received some representations concerning school reorganisation proposals in the Hamilton area which are related to South Lanarkshire Council's proposed public private partnership for schools.

We have recently received some representations concerning school reorganisation proposals in the East Kilbride area which are related to South Lanarkshire Council's proposed public private partnership for schools.

The particular financial considerations taken into account in any school closure proposal, whether or not related to a public private partnership, are matters for the local authority making the proposal.

The particular balance is a matter for the education authorities, taking account of the issues they have identified and the issues raised during consultation on particular proposals.

A number of checks are being carried out at key stages of the research to ensure that the new survey does not contain any errors. The precise location of each of the wind farms involved has also been carefully calculated and mapped.

The Scottish Executive study Evolving the right to buy: evidence for Scotland included a review of existing research on the resale of former right to buy properties. It was published in 2000 and is available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 7129).Subsequently, Communities Scotland commissioned research which was published in the report Assessing and Predicting the Long-run Impact of the Right to Buy, and which included information on resales. This was published in June 2002 and is available from the Communities Scotland website.The Scottish Executive Development Department's research programme for 2003-04 includes provision for a project entitled "Right to buy sales and resales" which is planned to examine further the impact of right to buy sales and resales on affordable housing, community stability, stock condition and local housing markets.

The resources announced for 2004-06 to tackle vacant and derelict land in Glasgow and North Lanarkshire will be allocated following discussions between the Scottish Executive and the two local authorities, Communities Scotland and the Scottish Enterprise network to determine where the resources can deliver maximum economic, social and environmental benefit.

The fieldwork is due to be completed before the end of March. Substantial work will then be undertaken to collate the findings and to ensure that the data is free from errors. The results will be published before the end of June 2003.

The Scottish Executive's Social Justice Annual Report, A Scotland where everyone matters sets out the Scottish Executive's strategy for tackling all aspects of poverty and social exclusion.Low income is one aspect of poverty. Tables 1 and 2 of the document Households Below Average Income: Figures for Scotland Using the Range of Low Income Thresholds, include the numbers (and proportions) of children and pensioners that were living in low income households in each year from 1994-95 to 2001-02. Table 1 presents numbers of those in absolute low income (compared to the baseline year of 1996-97); table 2 presents numbers of those in relative low income.A copy of the report is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 27023) and is also available on the Scottish Executive website at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library4/FCSD/OCEA/00016688.aspx.