Chamber and committees

All of the 8,245 modern apprenticeships who completed training in the last two years obtained a Scottish Vocational Qualification at level 3 or above.

From 1 October 1998 to 31 March 2001, a total of 588 new appointments were made of which 383 (65%) were male and 205 (35%) were female.For the same period, a total of 255 re-appointments were made. We are unable to provide the gender breakdown of re-appointments for the period 1 October 1998 to 31 March 2000 because this information was not collated at that time. However, since April 2000 data on the gender breakdown of re-appointments has been collated. For the period 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001, a total of 110 re-appointments were made of which 80 (73%) were male and 30 (27%) were female.

Services for people with brain injuries are provided by local authorities from their general social work allocations in accordance with locally assessed needs and priorities, and are often provided in partnership with the health board and local voluntary sector organisations. These are set out in each authorities' Community Care Plan. Most local authorities provide services for the brain injured from their mental illness specific grant allocations, often in tandem with their health partners. Total local authority net budgeted expenditure on services for people with mental health problems, including acquired brain injury, was £47 million last year, including funding from general Scottish Executive revenue grant and £19 million through the Mental Illness Specific Grant (MISG). For 2002-03, MISG will support 22 projects offering services and support to those with brain injuries, many of which provide, or help facilitate access to, rehabilitation programmes.

There have been no formal discussions with COSLA and local authorities outwith COSLA about the provision of refuges and supported accommodation for the victims of domestic violence since the spring of 2001 when the allocation of monies in respect of the first tranche of the Refuge Development Programme was being considered.Communities Scotland local officers have since had informal discussions with individual local authorities about projects under the programme.

No electoral pilot studies have yet been run under the provisions of the Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002.

Fires at sea are a maritime safety issue, which is reserved. Commercially operating vessels are required to report accidents to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) if they are UK registered or carrying passengers to or from a UK port. The statistical information shown in the following table has been obtained from the MAIB and relates to a category of accident entitled "Fires/Explosions". The MAIB records indicate that there were no reports of assistance from coastal fire brigades in Scotland for any of the incidents recorded in the table. Information about recreational vessels e.g. yachts is being obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and I will write to the member and place a copy in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Year	Commercial Vessels
1999	9
2000	7
2001	6

The Maritime Coastguard Agency confirm that only one Scottish Fire Brigade - Highland and Islands - has a declared resource to firefight offshore. The agency would, however, ask each brigade if they could assist should an incident occur in their brigade area.There are a range of complex issues surrounding the ability of fire brigades to fight fires at sea and these have been examined by HM Fire Service Inspectorate. The issues will also be considered as we take forward the recommendations contained in the Policy Paper The Scottish Fire Service of the Future, which was published on 29 April.

The Enterprise Network works with other key partners to increase the number of Modern Apprenticeships in manufacturing industries and in a broad range of service sector industries. The Make it in Scotland roadshow campaign aims to promote the image of the manufacturing sector to S2 pupils and to raise awareness of career opportunities, including Modern Apprenticeships. The roadshows will be rolled out nationally in 2002-03.

The available information on police officer numbers in each year since 1997 is given in the following table:Number of Police Officers

As at:	No. of Male Officers		No. of Female Officers		Total
31/3/97	12,752		2,037		14,789
31/3/98	12,753		2,227		14,980
	Full-Time	Part-Time	Full-Time	Part-Time
31/3/99	12,540	5	2,128	137	14,810
31/3/00	12,363	11	2,150	175	14,699
31/3/01	12,531	16	2,372	230	15,149
31/3/02	12,490	23	2,451	287	15,251

Notes: 1. This information is taken from Quarterly Strength Returns from forces.2. Although part-time working and job-sharing was introduced for police officers on 13 December 1995, detailed figures were not collected until 31 March 1999.

The available information is given in the following table. Data for the year 2001 are not yet available.Persons with a Charge Proved where the Main Offence Related to Pollution of Rivers and Other Waterways¹

	1999	2000
Companies:
Fine	17	21
Other2	2	2
Total	19	23
Average Fine (£)	3,706	3,090
Persons:
Fine	4	3
Other2	3	-
Total	7	3
Average Fine (£)	412	2,167

Notes:1. Includes relevant offences under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.2. Includes absolute discharge, admonished and no order made.