Chamber and committees

The decisions to close the schools concerned were the responsibility of Stirling Council. The Scottish Executive had no role in that process and does not hold information on the reasons for the closures.

	RCF	RSSF	LCGS
Fife	1 bid	0 bids	0 bids
Angus	6 bids	1 bid	4 bids
Perth & Kinross	5 bids	1 bid	4 bids

All bids received are currently being assessed and an announcement will be made early this year.

In 1997, 1999 and 2001 we produced and distributed some 700,000 election publicity leaflets to local authorities for circulation to parents of school pupils in Scotland in order to promote parental involvement in school board elections. These distributions coincided with elections for vacancies for parent members on school boards. In 2001 we produced a poster to accompany the leaflets. In 2000 the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 was amended to allow for a simpler election process to encourage more people to stand for election.

The general rule is that local authority by-elections cannot be held within the six-month period leading up to scheduled local government elections. This is in accordance with the current law as provided in section 37 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. In terms of section 37(2), where a vacancy in the office of councillor occurs within six months before the date of the next local government elections, a by-election should not be held but instead the vacancy should be filled at the next elections. This rule is subject to an exception if the total number of vacancies exceeds a third of the number of members. Therefore (subject to this exception) local authority by-elections cannot be held in the six-month period leading up to the local government elections currently scheduled for May 2002. On the enactment of the provisions of the Scottish Local Government (Elections) Bill, the local government elections scheduled for May 2002 will not take place. Section 2A(1) of the bill makes provision for any vacancies which would otherwise have been filled at the May 2002 elections by providing that an election to fill such a vacancy must be held within three months of the date on which the bill's provisions come in to force.As regards vacancies occurring after the date on which the act comes in to force, these will be filled in accordance with section 37 of the 1973 Act as amended by the bill. This means that a by election must be held within three months of the vacancy occurring unless it occurs within six months of the date of the next local government elections in which case the vacancy can be filled at those elections.

The Scottish Executive does not provide direct financial support for the training of school board members. Such training is generally supported from school board budgets provided by education authorities, or direct from education authorities' own budgets. The Scottish Executive has, however, provided funding to the Scottish School Board Association (SSBA) to develop training courses for school board members as follows:

2001	-
2000	£17,925
1999	£3,108
1998	£5,772
1997	£7,336

The Scottish Executive has also provided the following non-financial support in each of the last five years for the training of school board members:Regular telephone advice to school board members and others on school boards legislation. Guidance on various aspects of school board legislation and operation in the form of 16 Focus Papers, which are available from the Parent Zone website (www.ngflscotland.gov.uk/parentzone) or from the Scottish Executive free of charge. Advice and editorial assistance on the development of the training course materials funded by the Scottish Executive.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20923.

I have nothing further to add to my reply to question S1W-20472 on 11 December 2001 on this subject.

The following table shows provisional figures provided by each local authority for the net revenue expenditure on roads and winter maintenance. However, although the Executive collects forecasts of capital expenditure on the structural maintenance of roads in the current year, we cannot at present provide this information in the detail requested.Roads & Road Lighting Budget Estimate 2001-02

	Road Maintenance (£0)	Winter Maintenance (£0)
Aberdeen, City	3,105	1,561
Aberdeenshire	7,114	3,835
Angus	2,528	1,280
Argyll and Bute	6,615	1,698
Clackmannanshire	678	375
Dumfries and Galloway	6,170	1,033
Dundee	2,425	673
East Ayrshire	2,828	1,089
East Dunbartonshire	2,625	698
East Lothian	1,832	720
East Renfrewshire	1,886	450
Edinburgh, City	9,623	872
Eilean Siar	3,225	1,263
Falkirk	1,601	1,141
Fife	5,795	2,487
Glasgow	11,598	1,723
Highland	5,998	6,838
Inverclyde	1,504	238
Midlothian	2,130	635
Moray	£1,926	£1,350
North Ayrshire	2,485	430
North Lanarkshire	6,203	1,832
Orkney	3,105	718
Perth and Kinross	4,259	1,960
Renfrewshire	6,239	729
Scottish Borders	6,070	1,465
Shetland	4,446	1,007
South Ayrshire	3,831	660
South Lanarkshire	11,795	2,622
Stirling	2,433	1,243
West Dunbartonshire	2,481	574
West Lothian	4,017	1,687
Scotland	138,570	44,886

Note: The figures in this table are taken from local authorities' annual Provisional Outturn & Budget Estimate Return to the Scottish Executive.Figures do not include Capital From Current Revenue or any loan/leasing charges.

Prior to the 2000-01 round, applicants to the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund (SRPF) were not required to provide details of their local authority area to the department. This detail, coupled with the fact that electronic recording of application data was not undertaken, means that the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, it is possible to give an answer that refers to the successful bids submitted by Stirling and Clackmannanshire districts for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 rounds.(a) Stirling District

	2000-01 funding round	2001-02 funding round
Amount Applied for (£)	£68,750	£0
Amount Applied for (£)	£0	£0
Amount Applied for (£)	£28,000	£16,750

(b) Clackmannanshire

	2000-01 funding round	2001-02 funding round
Amount Applied for (£)	£0	£0
Amount Applied for (£)	£0	£0
Amount Applied for (£)	£0	£100,000

The poundage supplement for ratepayers occupying property with a rateable value in excess of £25,000 will be fixed when the poundage figure is set for 2003-04. A provisional poundage figure for 2003-04 is likely to be announced in December 2003 and confirmed the following February.