Chamber and committees

The report was published on 27 March 2000.

Under the Members' Allowances Scheme, any travel outside Scotland is reimbursable only if it has been authorised in advance by the SPCB. There is no specific set of criteria used by the SPCB to decide whom it will fund for foreign trips and every application is considered on an individual basis with reference to the definition of "Parliamentary duties" in the Allowances Scheme.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is putting in place an administrative process that will identify the costs of individual trips funded by the SPCB of Members travelling outwith Scotland/UK.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will determine at the time of considering each request for travel to other countries, whether a report on the outcomes of the visit is necessary.

Information regarding the current ratio of qualified rehabilitation workers to people with a sensory impairment is not held centrally. It is for local authorities to assess how many people with a visual impairment in their area require the services of rehabilitation workers and arrange for their staff to be trained accordingly. Guide Dogs for the Blind Association train rehabilitation workers. They have been supported in their work by funding from section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 for a number of years. In 1999-2000 they received £20,600. In 1999-2000, a grant of £150,000 from section 9 was awarded to six voluntary organisations to take forward the recommendations in the Social Work Services Inspectorate report Sensing Progress.

The information requested in relation to the target of 17 working days for the period 1 November to 31 December 1999 is detailed in the table below.

Department	Number of replies issued	% of replies to MPs and MSPs issued within 17 working day target
TOTAL	1,243	36%
Crown Office	40	68%
Development	422	35%
Education	122	45%
Enterprise & Lifelong Learning	115	47%
Health	162	10.5%
Justice	150*	50%*
Rural Affairs	212	32.1%
Others	60	52%

Notes: The figures for the Justice Department are estimated.These performances against target figures reflect the increased number of letters received by Ministers. But we are taking steps to introduce a new ministerial correspondence system to deliver faster replies. I expect the system to be fully operational shortly.

Details of the political activities of all applicants for public appointments are not held centrally. However, details of the political activities of successful applicants are provided on a quarterly basis to the Commissioner for Public Appointments for inclusion in her Annual Report. The Commissioner's Code of Practice requires all applicants to declare their political activities in terms of the following three categories:

Category A

Applicants who have:

• obtained office as a Local Councillor, MP, MSP, MEP etc;

• stood as a candidate for one of the above offices;

• spoken on behalf of a party or candidate.

Category B

Applicants who have:

• acted as a political agent;

• held office such as Chair, Treasurer, or Secretary of a local branch of a party;

• canvassed on behalf of a party or helped at elections;

• undertaken any other political activity which they consider relevant.

Category C

• Applicants for whom none of the above activities apply.

In the majority of cases, individuals appointed to public bodies are not, and have not been, politically active. During the period from 1 April 1999 to 31 December 1999 a total of 186 appointments were made by Scottish Office/Scottish Executive Ministers. Of this total, 142 appointees came within the scope of Category C; 18 within the scope of Category A and 26 within the scope of Category B.The most recent published figures showing a breakdown of political activities by appointee are contained in the Commissioner's Fourth Annual Report.

Scottish Ministers decide these limits, taking into account corporate plans of the bodies. Her Majesty's Treasury has no role in this process.

Education Maintenance Allowances are designed to encourage more young people to remain in full-time education at school or FE college. There is currently a single three-year EMA pilot in Scotland which commenced in August 1999.

The Scottish Executive is considering how to allocate the Barnett formula consequentials of the Chancellor's announcement.

I met Commissioner Barnier to discuss Structural Fund issues, including our overall approach to implementation of the new round of Structural Funds in Scotland as well as the negotiations on the Special Programme for the Highlands & Islands. I saw Commissioner Schreyer to discuss issues of mutual interest concerning budgetary matters and financial management. I also met Claude Chene, Head of the Commission's Task Force on Reform, and launched a seminar on the Equal Opportunities Toolkit at which Commission staff and others were present.