I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Executive is making £1.2 billion available over the next three years to meet the need for affordable housing in Scotland. The affordable housing programme is being increased from 18,000 to 21,500 homes; the low cost home ownership programme (including the new Homestake programme) is being expanded, and Communities Scotland is working with local authorities to implement the Community Ownership Programme, which will increase substantially the quality and choice of affordable housing throughout Scotland, particularly in the west. Allocation of investment funding for affordable housing is guided by local authorities’ Local Housing Strategies, which are based on an assessment of local housing market areas.

Provision of affordable housing in East Dunbartonshire is being addressed by:

an increase in investment in affordable housing via Housing Association Grant and NHP (New Housing Partnership) funding. This will result in the approval of 111 new units within the current financial year.

the adoption by the Council of its Affordable Housing Policy, requiring developers of housing to allocate a percentage of their development for affordable units. Up to 922 units could be secured through the implementation of the AHP.

the council’s New Housing Development programme, which aims to deliver over 120 new homes for rent and low cost home ownership.

In addition, the council is considering applying for Pressured Area Status designation in 2006, to reduce the impact of the Right to Buy on their stock.

Scottish Enterprise (SEn), which manages New Futures Fund, has provided funding for the following projects since its inception in 1998;

In East Dunbartonshire Lowmoss Prison Offenders project £55,000, East Dunbartonshire Council Multi Agency Drug and Alcohol Forum £129,118.

In West Dumbarton; Dumbarton Area Drug Initiative - Alternatives £74,118, NCH Action for Children Scotland - Homeless project £96,300 and West Dumbarton partnership project £536,987.

The cost of the Scotland-wide free bus scheme for older and disabled people will be capped at a maximum of £159 million in 2006-07. Estimates of costs below Scotland-level are not available.

The UK Government has the main responsibility for unemployment. Jobcentre Plus (JCP) delivers a range of employment programmes to support individuals into work, specifically through the New Deal. In West Dunbartonshire, Action Teams for Jobs also helps jobless people from disadvantaged groups who may not use JCP mainstream services. A range of complementary services, funded through the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise, European Social Fund and Local Authorities, such as vocational training (Training for Work), childcare services, financial advice, and the Working for Families Fund (in West Dunbartonshire) supports development of employability skills and the removal of barriers to employment.

The source of unemployment at ward level is the claimant count, which is the number of people claiming unemployment benefits. Table 1 below shows the unemployment rates for all wards in East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire, the totals for East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire local authorities and the total for Scotland.

Table 1: Claimant count unemployment rates for East and West Dunbartonshire, 1996-2004

	Unemployment Rate
	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	7.2%	6.0%	5.4%	5.0%	4.5%	4.0%	3.9%	3.8%	3.5%
East Dunbartonshire:
Barloch	3.2%	2.6%	2.1%	1.7%	1.5%	1.4%	1.3%	1.4%	1.0%
Keystone	3.3%	2.2%	1.8%	1.4%	1.3%	1.4%	1.3%	1.4%	1.3%
Craigdhu	5.3%	4.4%	3.9%	3.1%	2.8%	2.2%	2.0%	2.4%	1.7%
Clober	4.9%	3.8%	3.2%	2.5%	2.5%	2.2%	2.1%	2.2%	1.7%
Kilmardinny	2.7%	1.9%	1.4%	0.9%	0.9%	1.0%	1.0%	0.9%	0.7%
Thorn	3.0%	2.2%	1.8%	1.6%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.2%	0.9%
Castlehill	3.9%	2.9%	2.5%	2.2%	2.2%	2.0%	1.8%	1.8%	1.4%
Westerton	2.9%	2.8%	2.1%	1.4%	1.5%	1.5%	1.6%	1.6%	1.2%
Kessington	3.1%	2.5%	2.1%	1.5%	1.7%	1.4%	1.4%	1.4%	1.4%
Chapelton	3.6%	2.9%	2.4%	1.8%	1.9%	1.6%	1.6%	1.4%	1.4%
Hillhead/Broomhill	14.1%	12.0%	11.7%	10.8%	10.0%	8.9%	7.6%	7.1%	6.7%
Harestanes	6.0%	4.6%	3.9%	3.4%	3.3%	2.8%	2.7%	2.7%	2.2%
Central	4.9%	4.3%	3.8%	3.1%	3.3%	2.7%	2.8%	2.4%	2.0%
Woodhead	4.4%	3.5%	3.2%	2.4%	2.6%	2.1%	2.0%	1.8%	1.7%
Lenzie	4.0%	3.1%	3.0%	2.8%	1.9%	1.6%	1.7%	1.4%	1.2%
Kenmure and Baldernock	3.8%	3.1%	2.4%	1.6%	1.7%	1.6%	1.7%	1.3%	1.2%
Cadder	3.8%	2.8%	2.2%	2.1%	1.6%	1.5%	1.4%	1.2%	1.1%
Woodhill	3.9%	3.2%	2.4%	1.9%	1.9%	1.5%	1.6%	1.7%	1.2%
Auchinairn/Crowhill	8.4%	7.6%	6.8%	5.8%	4.8%	4.0%	4.0%	3.8%	3.1%
Campsie and Torrance	7.0%	5.7%	5.6%	4.5%	4.0%	3.7%	3.9%	3.5%	2.6%
Milton and Gartshore	5.3%	4.5%	4.5%	3.5%	3.6%	3.2%	2.9%	3.0%	2.2%
South Lenzie/Waterside	4.4%	3.1%	2.8%	2.1%	2.0%	1.7%	1.7%	1.8%	1.2%
Total East Dunbartonshire	4.8%	3.9%	3.4%	2.8%	2.6%	2.3%	2.2%	2.1%	1.8%
West Dunbartonshire:
Whitecrook	12.6%	11.5%	10.8%	9.3%	8.2%	7.4%	7.3%	6.3%	6.0%
Dalmuir/Central	15.0%	13.7%	12.9%	12.7%	10.9%	10.3%	10.8%	9.9%	8.9%
Mountblow	9.7%	8.9%	7.3%	6.7%	6.0%	5.7%	6.1%	5.6%	5.4%
Parkhall	6.4%	5.3%	5.0%	5.1%	5.0%	4.2%	4.0%	3.7%	3.2%
Linnvale/Drumry	10.7%	10.2%	9.9%	9.2%	7.5%	7.6%	7.1%	6.6%	6.1%
Kilbowie	8.4%	7.5%	6.9%	5.5%	5.0%	4.6%	4.9%	4.6%	3.8%
Kilbowie West	11.4%	10.5%	9.0%	7.8%	7.1%	7.0%	7.2%	7.2%	6.5%
Faifley South	12.4%	10.3%	10.4%	9.9%	8.3%	7.2%	7.9%	7.8%	6.4%
Faifley North	15.9%	14.7%	12.4%	12.0%	10.3%	9.5%	10.0%	8.5%	7.2%
Hardgate	5.3%	3.7%	3.4%	3.3%	2.9%	2.5%	2.3%	2.4%	1.9%
Duntocher	7.8%	6.7%	6.2%	5.4%	4.6%	4.4%	4.7%	4.5%	3.4%
Old Kilpatrick	7.2%	6.4%	5.9%	4.8%	4.5%	4.5%	4.5%	3.9%	3.1%
Dumbarton West	13.4%	12.9%	11.9%	11.0%	9.8%	9.3%	8.9%	7.1%	7.2%
Dumbarton Central	6.1%	5.7%	5.3%	4.9%	4.6%	5.1%	4.8%	4.3%	4.0%
Dumbarton North	15.2%	13.4%	12.2%	11.8%	10.4%	9.5%	8.2%	6.7%	7.4%
Dumbarton South	6.1%	4.8%	4.1%	4.4%	4.3%	3.5%	3.4%	3.3%	3.0%
Dumbarton/Bowling	5.3%	4.6%	4.1%	3.3%	3.3%	3.2%	3.3%	2.7%	2.5%
Renton/Alexandria South	9.8%	8.5%	8.2%	7.2%	7.3%	7.6%	7.3%	6.7%	6.2%
Tullichewna/Luss	8.9%	7.0%	6.3%	5.4%	4.5%	4.6%	4.9%	4.5%	3.8%
Haldane/Kilmaronock	9.6%	7.6%	6.8%	6.6%	6.3%	5.8%	5.2%	4.7%	4.0%
Bonhill East	11.5%	9.3%	9.6%	8.1%	7.5%	7.3%	6.0%	5.7%	5.5%
Riverside	6.7%	5.7%	5.7%	4.6%	4.3%	4.8%	5.0%	4.4%	4.3%
Total West Dunbartonshire	9.5%	8.2%	7.6%	6.9%	6.3%	6.0%	5.8%	5.3%	4.8%

Source: Office for National Statistics.

The available information is given in the following table. The recorded crime statistics collected centrally cannot distinguish a lower level of detail than the local authority level.

Percentage change in the numbers of crimes recorded by the police in West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire, 1996-97 to 2004-05.

	West Dunbartonshire	East Dunbartonshire
1996-97	-	-
1997-98	-9	-2
1998-99	-5	1
1999-2000	1	-13
2000-01	-9	-1
2001-02	2	-8
2002-03	3	-6
2003-04	-3	-5
2004-05	9	21

 

The increase in crimes recorded in 2004-05 was an expected effect of the introduction of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard.

The Scottish Executive has legislated to end the routine use of unsuitable temporary accommodation for households with children through the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order (S.I. 2004/489) which came into force in December 2004. The legal requirement on local authorities is to use temporary accommodation which meets the standards of suitable accommodation as set out in the order.

Local authorities use different types of housing in order to provide temporary accommodation; such as furnished and unfurnished flats, hostels and bread and breakfasts, and they have set out in their homelessness strategies how they plan to reduce the use of b and b accommodation.

The Code of Guidance on Homelessness, which local authorities must have regard of, says that temporary accommodation should not be used unnecessarily and residents of temporary accommodation should be moved onto permanent accommodation as quickly as possible, whilst also ensuring that this is only done at a time when the household is able to sustain permanent accommodation.

The information requested is not available.

The official source of low income data for Scotland is the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset available from 1994-95. This is derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The sample size of the FRS in Scotland is relatively small and can only be used to provide information for Scotland as a whole.

The following link provides the latest low income headline figures for Scotland (2003-04), together with data for previous years. This was published on 30 March 2005:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/29170611/06123.

The Executive is limiting the negative environmental effects of greenhouse gas emissions by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, as a contribution to wider global reduction efforts, and taking action to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Executive’s consultation on the review of its Scottish Climate Change Programme (a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib. number 38184) was published in December last year and summarised the Executive’s progress to date in responding to the threat of climate change. In September this year I announced that data published in Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 – 2003 (Bib. number 37621) showed that greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland had fallen by 10% compared with Kyoto baselines.

Together with the UK Government, we have recently launched a consultation as the first stage in the development of a national climate change Adaptation Policy Framework. The document describes some of the action already taken by the Executive to build adaptive capacity in Scotland. A copy of the consultation document is available on the Executive’s climate change website at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/climatechange.

Table 1a below show the regeneration budget allocated to West Dunbartonshire through the Executive’s core community regeneration programmes for the period 1997-98 to 2004-05.

Table 1a: West Dunbartonshire Regeneration Budget Programme

Year	Social Inclusion Partnership* (SIP)		Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF)
	Allocation (£)	Sum Given (£)	Allocation (£)	Sum Given (£)
1997-98**	2,209,000	na	-	-
1998-99**	2,587,000	na	-	-
1999-2000	2,193,000	2,186,700	-	-
2000-01	2,087,000	2,086,373	-	-
2001-02	2,365,500	2,283,571	2,000,000	2,000,000
2002-03	2,514,896	2,514,896	3,000,000	3,000,000
2003-04	2,515,937	2,515,937	4,000,000	4,000,000
2004-05	2,753,937	2,753,937	3,000,000	3,000,000

Notes:

*Figures for SIP include funds allocated through the Community Empowerment Fund and End Year Flexibility.

**Relates to Programme for Partnership allocation.

West Dunbartonshire has been allocated £4,956,000 through the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) and £60,000 through the Community Voices programme in 2005-06. These programmes combine and replace the previous SIP and BNSF programmes.

East Dunbartonshire did not receive SIP or BNSF funding. It has been allocated £271,000 through the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) and £30,000 through the Community Voices programme in 2005-06.

The only funding specifically earmarked for community planning was allocated in 2002-03 and 2003-04 to support capacity-building around the passage of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. Both West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire received £20,000 each in 2002-03 and £15,000 each in 2003-04.

This information is only available from 1998-99 and is contained in the Scottish Executive’s annual Statistics Publication Notice 5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre using the Bib. numbers supplied.

Title	Bib. Number
5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2003-04 (by June 2004)	34652
5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2002-03 (by June 2003)	30289
5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2001-02 (by June 2002)	25569
5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2000-01 (by June 2001)	18788
5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 1998-99 (by June 1999) and 1999-2000 (by June 2000)	25343