Resources for certain services are provided through ring-fenced specific grants, for example through the Mental Illness Specific Grant. However, the vast majority of grant funding provided to local authorities is not earmarked for specific purposes. It is for local authorities to establish their expenditure priorities and to ensure that they meet their statutory responsibilities for the provision of care services. Guidance is issued to assist councils in meeting these responsibilities. We are also developing Local Outcome Agreements with local government to agree specific outcome targets for certain services, including care services for older people.

This is an operational matter for the Care Commission.

The employment and training of adequate inspection staff are operational matters for the Care Commission itself.

Provisional information, collected at end March 2002, shows that, in 2001-02, there were five people with mental health problems in receipt of direct payments - one in Fife, two in Highland, one in South Ayrshire and one in West Lothian.

The Executive has recently published a Know the Score booklet on cannabis, which includes a description of the risks to mental health posed by this drug. The booklet has been widely distributed; for example to GP practices, NHS boards and drug agencies throughout Scotland. People who may be concerned about cannabis misuse can also speak to trained operators at the free and confidential Know the Score information line, or they can log on to the Know the Score website.Our guidance to medical professionals Managing Incidental Drug Misuse and Alcohol problems in Mental Health Care Settings recommends that drug misuse is covered in assessments of patients with mental health problems. The Guidelines on Clinical management of Drug Misuse and Dependence recommend that psychiatric issues should form part of assessments of patients seeking help with drug misuse problems.Further advice on developing integrated care for drug misusers in Scotland will be published in October 2002. Integrated care aims to combine and co-ordinate all services required to meet the assessed needs of drug users including their mental health needs. We are also working with the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse to look further into the needs of drug misusers with underlying mental health problems.A report from the statutory Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs suggests that cannabis misuse triggers long-lasting mental health problems in relatively few cases, although it can undoubtedly worsen pre-existing mental health conditions. We are not aware of any current research which suggests that cannabis misuse increases the risk of suicide.

The amount of funding spent on advocacy services for people with a learning disability was £970,000 in 2001-02 rising to £1.25 million in 2002-03. It is not possible to define how much of this funding was drawn down from the Change Fund or other sources. Service provision will be developed to meet local need and is a matter for the local agencies. The Advocacy Safeguard Agency has overall responsible for monitoring the scope and quality of the services provided, the funder will also retain their usual monitoring and evaluation arrangements.

This information requested is not held centrally.

Individuals leaving hospital have gone to different settings depending on their assessed needs, the wishes of the individual concerned, and the policies of the local authority. These include sheltered housing and supported accommodation, care homes, own tenancies with packages of care and support, and a few have purchased their own homes.

The number of average occupied beds in the learning disability speciality reduced from 1,832 at end-March 2000 (the nearest available date to when The same as you? was published in May 2000) to 1,521 at end-March 2001 (the latest date for which figures are available), a reduction of 311 or 17%. (source: Scottish Community Care Statistics 2001 - Table 2.14).

Information about resource transfer for adults with learning disabilities is contained in Table 7.5 of Scottish Community Care Statistics 2001, published by the Scottish Executive in August 2002. A copy of this document is being made available to the Parliament's Reference Centre. The document is also available on the Scottish Executive's website:www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00180-00.asp.