Chamber and committees

The review referred to in the answer given to question S1W-24478 was the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Quality and Practice Review Unit's Review of the Investigation of Road Deaths in Scotland. A summary of the review has been published and is posted on the website of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The revised guidance for Procurators Fiscal, referred to in the answer given to question S1W-24478, will take the form of amendment to the Book of Regulations issued by Crown Office to Procurators Fiscal. It is anticipated that this guidance will be issued in the summer.

The revised guidance for Procurators Fiscal, referred to in the answer given to question S1W-24478, is internal guidance on which it has not been necessary to consult the police but will be based largely on the recommendations made by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Quality and Practice Review Unit which have been published. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has been consulted on proposals to issue Lord Advocate's guidelines to the police on the reporting of road traffic deaths.

The Scottish Executive does not directly support any organisations which support male victims of domestic abuse. It does however provide £79,500 under Section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to Family Mediation Central Scotland. The aim of mediation is to enable divorced or separated parents to come to negotiated agreements about practical arrangements such as contact with children. The service also provides two contact centres, in Alloa and Falkirk, which can help parents maintain contact with their children after separation.

The definition of a central heating system is given in the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2001 No. 267. A gas, electric, oil or solid fuel central heating system is typically installed in the living room, the hall, the bathroom and the main bedroom or bedrooms, depending on the size of the household. All systems in the private sector must perform to the specifications set by the Scottish Executive and be capable of achieving a temperature of 23 deg C in the living room and 18 deg C in the other rooms. Local authorities and housing associations have been given these specifications also.

Responsibilities for assessing and meeting all housing needs at local level, including needs for sheltered housing, lie with local authorities.The Executive does, however, collect information at local authority level on (a) the total number of sheltered houses in the social rented sector at 31 March each year, and (b) the total number of lettings of local authority owned special needs dwellings each quarter (which includes sheltered but does not separately identify them). The most recent information on (a) was published in the Scottish Executive Quarterly Housing Trends Bulletin HSG/2001/6, which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (publication date 18 December 2001, Bib. number 18220). The latest figure on (b) for the period July-September 2001, for the council area of North Lanarkshire was 53.In deciding on the regular statistical information to gather from councils and maintain centrally, the Executive aims to ensure that the need justifies the costs to councils of assembling and supplying the information.

Scottish Executive support for lip-reading skills is focussed on the training of tutors in lip-reading, rather than support of classes in particular areas of the country. Support for local classes is a matter for local authorities and health boards.Grants are made under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to national voluntary organisations and would therefore not be awarded to local organisations in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency.In 2000-01 a pump-priming grant of £20,000 was made to the Scottish Course to Train Tutors in Lip Reading. Grant for 2001-02 was set at £30,000 and for 2002-03 it has been set at £35,000. These funds will contribute towards the training of up to 15 tutors each year.

As stated in my previous answer, we are unable to provide a substantive reply at this time, as the whole issue of the provision of lip-reading services in Scotland is currently under discussion.We have however consulted with the Scottish Course to Training Tutors in Lip-reading.

The question S1W-23159 concerned allocation issues which are the responsibility of individual landlords. Whilst the Scottish Executive may issue general guidance on allocations, allocation policies and processes are monitored by Communities Scotland as part of their regulation of social landlords. Individual allocations are for local authorities to decide.

Monies will be collected under the Scottish Graduate Endowment Scheme because it is fair that graduates, who are the people who principally benefit from their higher education, should make a contribution to ensure that others can gain similar benefits.Section 2 of the Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support)(Scotland) Act 2001 provides that the income arising from the graduate endowment will be used for the purposes of student support.