Chamber and committees

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Year	(a)	(b)
1997-98	12	1
1998-99	13	1
1999-2000	17*	nil
2000-01	11*	nil
2001-02	9**	2

Notes:*FAI determination awaited on one apparent suicide.**FAI determination awaited on six apparent suicides.

The Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI) has invited bids for project support in two bidding rounds held in 2000 and 2001. No bids were received from Stirling or Clackmannanshire. Details of the projects for which it has agreed to provide funding are available direct from RARARI or from its website at: www.rarari.org.uk.One of RARARI's aims is to identify and support projects which are likely to be of benefit to all remote and rural areas in Scotland.

The completion date for the construction of the new office building is 16 December 2002. Thereafter internal furnishings and fittings will be installed and it is anticipated that the new office will become operational in February 2003.

There are a number of developments which should be sufficient to obviate the demand for a School Sports Alliance.As part of the implementation of the organisational review which reported last year, sportscotland is setting up four advisory groups comprising board members and representatives from stakeholder organisations; these groups will have an important role to play in advising on policy development, implementation and monitoring. One of these groups will encompass school/youth sport in its remit.We expect that the Physical Activity Task Force will make specific recommendations in this area, which will encourage integrated approaches involving a range of organisations and programmes and to achieve a much stronger recognition in the education service and more widely, of the value of physical education, sport and physical activity. In the meantime we wish to see sportscotland continue to develop and deliver with partner organisations integrated programmes which will benefit children both within and outwith a school setting.In addition, sportscotland are about to review Sport 21, the national sport strategy, and in agreeing the approach to the review, ministers have made clear the priority to be given to addressing issues of participation by children and young people and the role of sport in raising levels of physical activity. Ministers expect that the issues relating to the identification of best practice and the materials available to schools, can be addressed as part of this review in close discussion with relevant stakeholders.

Officials from the Justice Department are in regular contact with Central Scotland Police about a range of policing issues. My most recent visit to the area was for the Safer Central Anniversary on 19 April 2002 during which I met the Convener of the Central Scotland Joint Police Board and the Chief Constable, amongst others.

Detailed information in the form requested has not been collected centrally.

We anticipate that the costs of directly electing members to the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority will be in the region of £50,000. Article 4 of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Elections (Scotland) Order 2002 provides for this cost to be borne, in the case of the first election, by Scottish ministers and in the case of subsequent elections by the National Park Authority.

Early feedback from project reports, visits and the Ministerial Steering Group suggests that the New Community Schools Initiative is delivering significant benefits through new ways of working.The New Community Schools Initiative is bringing about better integrated service provision by schools and their partner agencies, making a real difference to the lives of children and their families, the development of closer relationships between schools and parents, and increasing engagement of pupils with their local communities. That is why we are placing the new community school approach at the heart of our education agenda, and have committed ourselves to supporting its roll out across all schools in Scotland.

The contract for the national evaluation of the New Community Schools pilot programme was awarded to the University of London by competitive tender in March 2000. The total cost of the three year exercise will be approximately £167,000. The evaluation team is expected to present its final report in the summer of 2003.

Over the three years since its introduction in April 1999, the Scottish Executive has invested £26.6 million in the New Community Schools Initiative pilot programme.