Chamber and committees

In order to review and develop its flood prevention policy and to assess the resources required to meet flood prevention needs, the Executive is informed by its bilateral contacts with councils, the biennial reports published by councils under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 and the outcome of its research programme. The information available from these sources was taken into account in the recent Spending Review when significant additional resources for local authority expenditure on flood prevention were set. Allocations of these resources for major confirmed flood prevention schemes are considered subsequently on request by councils.

Changes in manufacturing employment reflect a range of factors, of which exchange rate fluctuations are only one. Data from the Civilian Workforce Jobs series show that there were 289,000 employee jobs within manufacturing in June 2000, a fall of 12,000 from the same period the previous year. Data are not available for individual manufacturing sectors.

The Executive understands the concerns of businesses, and particularly manufacturers trading with Europe, about the value of the exchange rate. However manufacturers are well placed to benefit from the positive domestic and global economic outlook, with recent business surveys indicating that manufacturers expect higher demand and increased export orders over the coming months.

The Executive is committed to supporting manufacturing in Scotland, as outlined in our publication Created in Scotland - The Way Forward for Manufacturing in the 21^st Century and the Scottish Executive's Framework for Economic Development aims to secure economic growth over the longer term by promoting action on policies to boost competitiveness.

Police authorities have responsibility for setting police force budgets, taking into account the resources made available by the Scottish Executive through police grant for funding current expenditure within local authority Grant Aided Expenditure. Provision for police current expenditure in the spending plans for justice which were announced on 27 September did, however, take into account projections of costs for the period 2001-02 to 2003-04 made by the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland.

The collective results thus far of epidemiological studies of breast cancer risk among adults living in the vicinity of high voltage power lines do not indicate a clear link between proximity to such lines and the occurrence of breast cancer.

Available information does not suggest that the overall incidence of female breast cancer amongst residents of the Brookfield area of Renfrewshire is unusual when compared with either that for Argyll and Clyde Health Board area or Scotland as a whole. The figures are as follows:Incidence of female breast cancer (ICD-9 174 / ICD-10 C50)Observed and expected (O/E) number of cases in postcode sector PA5.8, based on rates for (a) Scotland and (b) Argyll & Clyde Health Board area; all ages: 1988-1997

(a) Compared with Scotland
	Observed registrations	Expected registrations	O/E
Females	58	58.61	0.99
(b) Compared with Argyll & Clyde HB area
	Observed registrations	Expected registrations	O/E
Females	58	58.52	0.99

Source: SOCRATES (Scottish cancer registration database); population data supplied to ISD Scotland by GRO(S).

The information requested is primarily a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) under Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and may be obtained from SEPA. Information about noise from quarries is a matter for local authorities under the statutory nuisance provisions in Part III of the 1990 Act.

The Executive does not hold information on water levels in the River Clyde. However, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency holds records of flows from their network of gauging stations in the Clyde catchment, some of which date back 40 years. We understand that there seems to be little change in average flows during this period but a trend over the last 25 years of increased high flows. The relationship between river flow and water level depends on local river conditions. The impacts on Clydeside of any increases in water levels are matters for the consideration by the authorities concerned.

The Executive does not hold details of this research but understands that studies into this matter were carried out by the former Strathclyde Regional Council.Since 1997 all local authorities have been required to publish biennial reports on flooding, these reports will record the instances of flooding in their areas.

This information is not held centrally in the form requested. Individual forces do supply details of the numbers of absences due to sick and maternity leave but do not provide information on absences for other reasons, such as training, secondments or unpaid leave. It is for chief constables to put in place appropriate absence control procedures to ensure that sufficient officers are on duty at any time.

Local authorities have resources at their disposal to meet the housing needs of all Scotland's population, including older people. Total resources of around £345 million are available this year for capital expenditure on local authority housing stock. In addition, Scottish Homes will invest over £206 million this year on 6,000 new and improved houses across Scotland to meet housing needs, including those of older people.

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

All prison officers are issued with staves which they are trained to use to defend themselves if they were physically attacked.

All prison officers are also trained in approved control and restraint techniques designed to restrain a violent prisoner in a way which minimises the risk of injury to prison officers and prisoners.

Prison rules also provide for the Governor to order that a prisoner be placed under a restraint by means of a body belt if the prisoner threatens to injure, or is in the course of injuring, himself or others. Use of such a restraint is rare.