Chamber and committees

The operation of the feederbus service is the responsibility of Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT). SPThave various procedures in place for monitoring all of its contracted busservices.

TheCroy Interlink services commenced operating on 29 September 2002; from theinformation supplied to SPT by the contractor the use of the service has beenas follows. For the 72 weeks up to 21 February 2004, the average number of passengers for Sundays (when a reduced serviceoperates) was 28 (total 1992), for Mondays 101 (total 7,268), for Tuesdays 111(total 7,965), for Wednesdays 118 (total 8,489), for Thursdays 100 (total 7,186),for Fridays 119 (total 8,537), and for Saturdays 84 (total 6,051). The overalltotal number of passengers carried since the service started has therefore been47,488.

From the informationavailable, it is not possible to break these figures down into different timeperiods for each day.

The available informationrequested can be found in the following tables:

Table A: Scottish Executive Staff whose Reason for Resignation was a Move To a Public Sector Post Outwith The Scottish Executive

	Apr 1999 to Mar 2000	Apr 2000 to Mar 2001	Apr 2001 to Mar 2002	Apr 2002 to Mar 2003	Mar 2003 to Feb 2004
Number of staff	276	32	37	57	45
% leavers	4.3	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.6

 

Table B: Scottish Executive Staff who Have Been Seconded To a Public Sector Post Outwith The Scottish Executive

	Apr 1999 to Mar 2000	Apr 2000 to Mar 2001	Apr 2001 to Mar 2002	Apr 2002 to Mar 2003	Mar 2003 to Feb 2004
Number of staff on secondment	45	22	19	36	48
% staff on secondment	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.6

I agree entirely with the need for practical support to pupils.

Pupil welfare and support is one of the four key themes of our current review of school/college links.  I launched the review’s consultation paper last month inEdinburgh’s Telford College.  There I saw the sterling partnership working that is already taking place.

In delivering our Partnership Agreement commitment to provide 14 to 16 year olds with vocational opportunities in colleges as part of their school week, we are not therefore starting from a zero base.  However, it is absolutely right thatwe review current arrangements for pupils’ practical support to spread best practice.

We will consult further on the detail of our plans when we produce our a draft strategy for schools and FE colleges in the autumn.

The following table provides the latest available information for Scotland. It combines deaths from events of undetermined intent and deaths from intentional self-harm, as the majority of the former are likely to have been suicides. Detailed tables presenting similar information for parliamentary constituencies have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 31357).

Deaths From Intentional Self-Harm and Events of Undetermined Intent, by Gender and Age Group

Gender	Age Group	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Males	Total	650	663	674	646	676
	under 15	2	3	3	2	3
	15 - 29	182	186	202	167	176
	30 - 44	228	232	228	232	252
	45 - 59	137	128	134	151	144
	60 and over	101	114	107	94	101
Females	Total	228	211	204	241	223
	under 15	3	3	5	1	2
	15 - 29	48	39	42	42	44
	30 - 44	68	72	69	90	67
	45 - 59	46	49	49	54	54
	60 and over	63	48	39	54	56

The following table provides the latest available information for Scotland. Detailed tables presenting similar information for parliamentary constituencies have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 31358).

Deaths from Assault, by Gender and Age Group, Scotland, 1998 - 2002

Gender	Age Group	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Males	Total	77	101	68	74	97
	under 15	4	2	3	3	4
	15 - 29	29	36	29	22	29
	30 - 44	27	37	18	29	36
	45 -59	11	23	14	16	18
	60 and over	6	3	4	4	10
Females	Total	17	20	25	18	21
	under 15	2		4	1	4
	15 - 29	5	5	1	7	5
	30 - 44	4	8	12	5	6
	45 -59	3	4	5	4	3
	60 and over	3	3	3	1	3

The Scottish Executive will await the outcome of the inquiry into the Rosepark tragedy beforeconsidering what, if any, changes need to be made to the current arrangements.

We are committed to an independent review of localgovernment finance and are currently discussing the remit and format of thisreview with COSLA.

However,when reviewing council tax alongside possible alternatives, the review islikely to look at issues such as fairness and ability to pay for all households- including pensioner households.

The Scottish Centre forAutism at Yorkhill Hospital has no role in the development of the diagnosis andassessment centre at New Struan. For the last 10 years it has provided adiagnostic service for children up to the age of 18 years with suspectedautistic spectrum disorders by offering second opinions on referrals from NHS boardsacross Scotland. New Struan House is being developed by the ScottishSociety for Autism to provide education, health and social care services,including a diagnosis and assessment centre for people with autistic spectrumdisorders.

The Executive has announcedthat the current scheme will continue beyond 31 March 2004.The scheme will assist those households that are in receipt of council taxbenefit and would otherwise have to pay for water services at a ratesubstantially in excess of that paid by households occupying properties in counciltax band A. Band B households in receipt of council tax benefit will be amongthose that benefit from the scheme.

The Executive has announcedthat the current scheme will continue beyond 31 March 2004.The effects of ending it on 31 March would have depended on the circumstancesof the individual households affected by the scheme.

The Executive estimates thathouseholds in council tax Bands B and C in receipt of council tax benefit,which comprise the majority of households affected by the scheme, would havefaced increases in their water charges of between 23% and 40% in 2004-05.