Chamber and committees

The information requested is given in the table.

Year	Grants £	Loans £	Contracts £
1998/99	220,212	0	144,916
1997/98	190,462	0	48,696
1996/97	174,501	0	79.074

Full details of individual grants are listed each year in SNH's published Annual Report, a copy of which is laid before Parliament. Contracts, which are in the main for research commissioned by SNH, are subject to normal protocol concerning commercially sensitive information.In addition to the payments listed in the table, the RSPB also received the sums of £61,340, £69,204 and £41,731 over the years 1996/97 to 1998/99 respectively in respect of management agreements. These management agreements, details of which are also published in SNH's Annual Report, cover payments made to the RSPB for the management of designated sites such as SSSIs on its land in order to safeguard the natural heritage importance of the site.

The Scottish Executive is committed to promoting environmentally and socially sustainable economic development, through working in partnership with local agencies. We are very conscious of the particular problems of areas such as Ayrshire and we shall seek to ensure through investing in jobs and skills, fostering enterprise and encouraging the growth of new businesses that we create sustainable economic growth and employment opportunities for all members of the community. The Scottish Executive will also take this approach to tackle the challenges facing Lanarkshire and Falkirk about which Mr Neil asked in questions S1W-309 and S1W-311 respectively, also answered today.

I refer Mr Neil to question S1W-308, answered today.

An analysis of the available accident statistics for the 3 full years 1996-1998 between Fenwick and Malletsheugh on the A77 trunk road shows the following number of fatal and serious accidents:-

	1996	1997	1998
Fatal	5	0	2
Serious	6	5	9

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with United Kingdom Government Ministers and Departments, including the Department for Social Security and the Department for Education and Employment, on a wide range of issues, including the Single Work-Focused Gateway now called "ONE".

For the financial year 1998/99, financial allocations to the following bodies for post 16 education and training, and the number of places covered, were as follows:

£m Numbers

Further Education Institutions 288 ¹ 411,408 ²

Scottish Higher Education Funding Council 431 ¹ 118,700 ³

Scottish Enterprise 136 ⁴ 45,534 ⁵

Highlands and Islands Enterprise 11 ⁴ 3,320 ⁵

Notes:

1 Figures exclude tuition fee income.

2 The latest figure is for 1997/98 and covers all FE student enrolments. A student enrolled on more than one FE course is counted for each course. 84% of FEI enrolments are part time. FE enrolments include a number of students aged 16.

3 The SHEFC figure covers the main teaching grant allocated to Institutions, but not research and relates to full time equivalent places funded. 47% of HEI enrolments are part time.

4 Figures exclude ESF funds.⁵ Average numbers in training at end year.

Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which are responsible for delivery of the Skillseekers programme, have been asked to provide details of the number of employers involved in the programme. This information will take some time to collate. I shall write to the hon Member as soon as possible.

A number of options for improvements to the way in which Housing Benefit is provided are being considered by the UK Government. Since Housing Benefit is administered by local authorities, any change to Housing Benefit is likely to have some resource implications for local authorities. However, until clear options have been identified and published, it will not be possible to establish with any certainty the implications for particular budgets.

I refer Mr Neil to question S1W-308, answered today.

Officials from the Scottish Executive will regularly attend EU Council Working Group meetings, as part of the UK delegation, when issues of importance to Scotland are being discussed. Each decision on attendance will be based on the subject matter under discussion.