Chamber and committees

The information requested is published by the Registrar General in Table 2.3 of his 1998 Annual Report, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

There are no such plans at present. I have, however, asked SNH for advice on the recommendations contained in the UK Raptor Working Group Report, including the recommendation that scientific studies be undertaken on the range of possible means of reducing predation on racing pigeons.

I refer Mr Neil to my answer to question S1W-4163 in which I indicated that I had asked SNH for advice on the recommendations obtained in the UK Raptor Working Group Report and how they might be implemented in Scotland. The Scottish Executive has not held bilateral discussions on the report with interested parties, but I have asked SNH to consult relevant interests before offering advice.

Part V of the Police Act 1997 provides for extended access to criminal record checks. New certificates, which will be available next year, will be phased in. Our first priority is to improve child protection and the highest level of check, the Enhanced Criminal Record Certificate (ECRC), will initially be for those regularly caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children. We intend to extend these checks to those caring for vulnerable adults. Applications for ECRCs will have to be countersigned by a registered body, so it will not be possible for an individual to obtain this level of check for care assistants or others. Registration is essential to protect the use of sensitive information. Under Part V, individuals will be able to apply for Criminal Conviction Certificates (CCC) which will contain details of any unspent convictions. Those employing care assistants will be able to ask to see a copy of their CCC although the information will not be as comprehensive as that on the ECRCs.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has funded Members on the following foreign trips:

Mr Michael Russell - India - Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference on "Parliament and the Media: Building and effective partnerships"

Mr George Reid - France - Academic Conference on "Europe United, the Kingdom Divided?"Rt. Hon Sir David Steel - Australia - 15th Annual Conference of Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding OfficersMr George Reid - Canada - International Conference on FederalismMr George Reid - Belgium - Opening of Scotland HouseRt. Hon Sir David Steel, Mr Andrew Welsh, Mr Robert Brown - Netherlands & Belgium - as members of the Corporate Body on an information gathering exercise on comparative parliament buildings.

The costs of these individual trips are not available, as this information is not held in this format.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has put in place mechanisms to record the costs of Committees travelling and for delegations, but not for individual trips. However, the total cost of trips, both national and international, that have been approved by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will be available at the financial year-end.There are no plans to place copies of the breakdown of trips in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

There are no plans to do so. It is for the Accounts Commission to collect and publish Performance Indicator information under the Local Government Act 1992.

The table below shows the level of funding made available by The Scottish Office to voluntary organisations for 1998-99 by Department. An exercise is due to commence shortly to update this database to show funding from the Scottish Executive. That information will show outturn figures for 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and planned funding for 2000-01.

It is also planned to collect data relating to the funding of voluntary organisations by executive agencies. At present this information is not readily available. I will arrange for this information to be made available once it has been collected.

Department	£
Agriculture Environment & Fisheries	4,153,214
Development	2,186,837
Education and Industry	8,937,282
Health	1,036,700
Home	6,553,473
Total	22,867,506

In December 1999 the UK-wide Disability Rights Task Force (DRTF) reported on a comprehensive review of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The Executive is considering the DRTF recommendations although any new legislation would be reserved to the UK Parliament. Meanwhile, the remaining provisions of the DDA on access to goods and services are being implemented between now and 2004. For example, from 1 October 1999 service providers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide services. From 2004 it is intended that service providers will have to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.

Various aspects of the Individual Learning Account (ILA) concept have been tested through development projects running across the UK. One official ILA development project is currently running in the Grampian area, with a second project about to begin in the Lochaber area.The Grampian development project has been running for a period of six months. During this period 445 learners have taken up ILAs. Learners contributed at least £25 themselves and by so doing were able to access a public incentive of £150 - as such, individual contributions of £11,125 were made, with the value of public incentives available totalling £66,750. Employer contributions have varied from £0 - £500 per person. In terms of positive outcomes, all but a small number of the 445 learners have completed the learning in question (5% non-completion rate).In addition to the official development projects, the ESF Objective 4 programme has approved some Euro ILA programmes throughout Scotland. The best known of these is the Fife programme, set up in response to a number of large scale redundancies in the area. The Fife programme specifically targets small employers in the Fife area. An evaluation of this programme is available from Fife Enterprise Ltd.The Scottish Executive is committed to the development of a UK framework for ILAs for the launch of ILAs in autumn 2000.

The information available from the recorded crime statistics is given in the table below:

Drug crimes recorded by the Scottish police, 1996 - 1999
	1996	1997	1998	1999
				Jan-Sept
				(provisional)
Total drugs crimes:	23,992	29,386	31,460	24,376
Of which:
Illegal importation of drugs	35	27	30	8
Production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs	284	238	170	108
Possession of drugs with intent to supply	6,638	7,915	8,290	6,478
Possession of drugs	16,739	20,929	22,588	17,483
Drugs, money laundering related offences(1)	-	-	-	8
Drugs, other offences	296	277	382	291
1) Introduced with effect from 1 January 1995