Chamber and committees

Data about injury road accidents is collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report format. These returns cover only accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover "damage only" accidents.The following figures indicate the percentages, of all injury road accidents which involved one or more cars or powered two-wheeled motor vehicles, for which one or more of the drivers or riders involved in each accident was aged between 17 and 25 years inclusive:

1999	33%
2000	31%
2001	31%

The Scottish Executive supports public transport improvements in rural areas through the Rural Public Passenger Transport Grant. To date £15 million has been awarded to local authorities for new rural public transport services. So far over 400 new or enhanced services, mainly bus but also ferry, have been introduced.Further support is provided through the Rural Community Transport Initiative. To date £4.4 million has been awarded to 108 rural community transport (RCT) projects. The latest round announced £683,000 to 20 projects on 31 January 2002.In addition the Public Transport Fund has funded a number of capital projects in rural areas that have a direct impact upon public transport provision in these areas.

Recently qualified drivers who participate in the Pass Plus scheme pay a fee to driving instructors for an additional course of instruction designed to equip them with additional experience and driving skills in areas such as driving at night and in all weathers.Local authorities receive a block allocation for a range of services, including transport. It is for each local authority to decide spending priorities on road safety, including the promotion of Pass Plus, based on local needs.The Scottish Executive has provided additional resources to local authorities for Safer Routes To School and for Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets projects. These total over £21 million over the period 2000-01 to 2003-04.In September 2001 the Executive announced funding of £810,000 over six years for pilot child pedestrian training schemes. Funding is being provided to selected local authorities to enable them to run pilot training schemes for five- to seven-year-old children, with priority being given to schemes in disadvantaged areas.

The Scottish Executive is committed to the equalisation of age eligibility for concessionary travel at age 60 for men and women. Provisions to enable this are included in the Local Government Bill currently before Parliament, and the intention is to implement this policy from 1 April 2003.The Executive has reached agreement with COSLA and the local authorities to introduce free local off-peak bus travel within existing scheme areas for elderly and disabled people from October 2002. Assuming that the legislative provisions noted above are approved by the Parliament, persons aged over 60 will automatically become eligible to this entitlement.

The Executive welcomes Pass Plus as a scheme which enables new drivers to gain additional experience and positive driving skills that would otherwise take a long time to acquire. The scheme has been developed by the Driving Standards Agency, which chairs a board that promotes the scheme throughout the UK. The Executive understands that there are currently no statistics to show the success of the scheme, but it continues to have the support of participating insurance companies, who offer substantial discounts on premiums to those who complete the course.

Fuel poverty is caused by a combination of low incomes, fuel prices and poor home energy efficiency. Those on low incomes are being helped by the Chancellor of the Exchequer's reforms of the tax and benefit systems, particularly the Working Families Tax Credit and the Minimum Income Guarantee for pensioners. Competition in the provision of domestic fuel, and the activities of the Regulator, exert a downward pressure on fuel prices. In addition, some fuel companies offer fixed rate packages of gas or electricity for low-income households. Poor home energy efficiency is tackled through the Executive's Warm Deal programme.

Our response to the committee's inquiry has issued today (Reference SE/2002/104).Copies are available from the Scottish Parliament's Reference Centre.

Officials are continuing to liase closely with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on the validation of outstanding claims and, in particular, any civil or criminal action to recover payments made. We will involve the police in cases where we believe that fraud or other criminal activity may have taken place. There have been initial discussions with Strathclyde Police Fraud Squad and our solicitors are also involved in offering advice.

Scotland supports substantial areas of both raised bogs and blanket bogs, with an estimated total resource of 27,884 ha and 1,060,000 ha respectively. Peat extraction occurs from both habitat types.The proportion of peatland currently subject to planning permission for commercial peat extraction is calculated as 4% of raised bog and 0.002% of blanket bog habitat; overall this equates to 0.3% of the total Scottish peatland resource.There is no commercial peat extraction from any of Scotland's national or internationally protected sites.

The UK Lowland Raised Bog and Blanket Bog Habitat Action Plans encourage the use and production of alternatives to peat, and the Scottish Executive is jointly responsible for the objectives of the plans, in partnership with other agencies. The action plans aim to:1. Review and where necessary amend or develop policies on the consumption of peat by 2002, with the aim of achieving a reduction in peat consumption in all sectors and for all purposes. A minimum of 40% of total market requirements to be based on non-peat materials by 2005.2. Encourage and provide advice on the development and marketing of peat alternatives to reduce amateur and professional demand for peat-based horticultural products, to achieve the long-term safeguard of peatlands. It is recognised that approximately 75% of extracted peat is used by amateur gardeners in the UK, and one of the key themes of the Scottish Biodiversity Forum is addressing this audience through the Garden for Life initiative. Useable alternatives to peat based garden composts are now easily available.In addition, the Scottish Executive provided an additional £3 million to local authorities in 2001 to enable them to increase recycling and composting. A further £50.4 million is also now available for local authorities to begin implementing area waste plans, and this should enable a significant increase in the production of compost in Scotland. The Scottish Executive supports two market development programmes (ReMaDe and WRAP) which aim to promote the use of recycled products, including compost.