Chamber and committees

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.Progress2work is part of a wider suite of work in the New Deal Next Phase aimed at the harder to help clients. It will target jobless people disadvantaged by drug misuse. Employment Service are about to issue the contract for specialist support services in Fife that will allow drugs misusers better access to the New Deal.Employment Service have also appointed an employment and drugs measures co-ordinator in Fife to develop and manage a local plan to help ensure the cohesion of services and to build local referral networks. These measures are aimed at helping individuals move towards engaging with the New Deal and improving their opportunities of getting a job.

None.

The authority will comprise local authority representatives from the City of Edinburgh, Fife, Perth and Kinross and West Lothian Councils. It will be the role of these representatives to ensure that the priorities, policies and charging strategy of the authority are consistent with the priorities and policies of its constituent authorities. Opportunity to input on planning and the co-ordination of public transport provision will also arise through the democratic procedures currently in place, through the duty placed on local authorities to consult and the requirements placed on the authority in the 2002 Order to consult widely on its charging strategy.

None. Any varying of tolls proposed by the authority would require the approval of Scottish ministers and secondary legislation.

The authority will be tasked with developing a charging strategy, under the terms of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. It will also be able to use tolling income to support wider road and public transport improvements and traffic management measures.

In March 1999, as part of its survey into Health Behaviours of Scottish Schoolchildren, the Research Unit in Health and Behavioural Change, University of Edinburgh Medical School published a report on Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use in the 1990s. The report showed that among the 13-year-old schoolchildren surveyed, 10.3% in 1998 had ever used glue/solvents, compared to 9.2% in 1994. Among the 15-year-old age group, the figures were 15.2% in 1998 compared to 20% in 1994. The report also indicated that in 1998, 15.7% of 13-year-olds who had ever used drugs claimed to have used glue/solvents in the four weeks prior to the survey, compared to 16.2% in 1994. For the 15-year-olds, the figures were 6.1% in 1998 and 11.1% in 1994. Statistics for other age groups are not held centrally.According to statistics provided by St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, there were eight volatile substance abuse-related deaths in Scotland in 1999 (the most recent year for which data is available). This represented a small decrease from the total of 10 deaths recorded in 1998, and continued the downward trend since the figure of 21 deaths in 1991.Levels of solvent abuse will be monitored through a bi-annual survey of Scottish schools, funded by the Executive, of adolescent lifestyles and substance use.

The available information is given in the follow table.

Deaths from butane abuse, Scotland
Age Group	1997	1998	1999	2000
15-19	-	1	1	-
20-24	1	-	-	1
25-29	-	-	1	-

1999-99: ICD9 code 3046, with a mention of butane.2000: ICD10 code F182, with a mention of butane.Note: International Classification of Diseases, underlying cause of death codes selected.

Details of total expenditure on informing young people of the dangers of solvent abuse are not held centrally. However, organisations supported by the Executive produce materials which address the risks of solvents. For example, in 2000, the Scottish Drugs Forum and the Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) collaborated with others to publish Volatile Substance Abuse - Guidance for Professionals, produced in support of new legislation which prohibits the sale of butane gas lighter refills to under 18s. Scotland Against Drugs (SAD) and HEBS produced the booklet The Facts of Drugs - a Parent's Guide, which includes a section on volatile substances. SAD's publication, Drugs - Know Your Stuff, also covers solvents.In addition, the Executive contributes towards the funding of the National Drugs Helpline, which responds to calls about solvent abuse as well as the misuse of drugs. The Helpline also distributes some materials which give advice about solvents.

According to the 2000-01 Drug Action Team (DAT) Corporate Planning exercise, there are 99 drug agencies in Scotland which provide a solvent abuse service. Drugs services for young people include work with those who use solvents.With effect from 1 April 2001, the Executive has made new resources available over a three-year period of some £13 million for drug treatment, £20 million for drug rehabilitation and £20 million for drugs work targeting children and young people. This new investment will ensure an expansion of treatment and rehabilitation, including services catering for solvent abusers.

The information presented in tables 1 and 2 shows the number of discharges from general acute hospitals and psychiatric hospitals where a diagnosis involving solvent abuse was recorded for the years 1997-2001, by age group.The figures show numbers of discharges, not numbers of individual patients. A patient may undergo multiple admissions and discharges.Treatment services are also provided by a wide range of statutory and non-statutory agencies.Table 1: General acute admissions with a discharge diagnosis of solvent abuse¹: years ending 31 March 1997 to 2001

Age2		1997	1998	1999	2000	2001P
Total all ages		30	24	35	39	25
under 15 years		7	7	6	9	4
15-19 years		9	6	7	10	10
20-24 years		2	3	7	4	3
25-29 years		5	3	6	4	-
30-34 years		4	-	4	8	6
35-39 years		1	4	1	3	1
40 years and over		2	1	4	1	1

Table :2 Psychiatric inpatient discharges with a discharge diagnosis of solvent abuse¹: years ending 31 March 1997 to 2001

Age2		1997	1998	1999	2000	2001P
Total all ages		8	16	7	9	8
under 15 years		-	-	-	-	-
15-19 years		2	3	-	2	2
20-24 years		1	2	-	1	-
25-29 years		1	4	-	2	-
30-34 years		-	4	4	1	4
35-39 years		3	2	3	1	2
40 years and over		1	1	-	2	-

^P Provisional.Notes:1. Any mention at discharge of International Classification of Diseases 10th revision code F18 "Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of volatile solvents".2. Age at discharge.