Chamber and committees

Additional funding for Equalities was allocated following the spending review earlier this year and published in the Executive's spending plans Making a Difference.

We distributed 9,000 copies of the Learning Disability Review to approximately 800 statutory and non-statutory organisations across health, social work, housing, education, employment, leisure and recreation, and organisations representing people who use services and their carers. The formal consultation on how to implement the review ran from 11 May to end of August.

The Review sets out a programme of change for the next 10 years. It makes clear that agencies locally can make better use of existing resources. In addition, we are making available £36 million over the next three years to support implementation. Meanwhile, we have already invited applications from organisations to set up the Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities and hope to award the contract in February.

I refer the member to my answers to questions S1W-10654 and S1W-10655. The SPCB is constantly looking for ways in which services can be provided in the most cost-effective manner. For reasons of accessibility to the public, most of the Parliament's publications are currently made available both on the Internet through the Parliament's website (not the Intranet) and in printed form. Should it become evident that the printed form is no longer required, the SPCB would publish in electronic format alone. The search engine for the Parliament's website was upgraded at the start of the current parliamentary sitting period. Further search engine improvements for both the website and Intranet are dependent on the development of underlying databases as part of the corporate data strategy.

Jim Wallace set up a Voluntary Issues Review Group last year to examine the possible impact of the introduction of criminal record checks under Part V of the Police Act 1997 on voluntary organisations. The group, which is chaired by Jackie Baillie, has made good progress and it is hoped that it will report its conclusions by the end of the calendar year.

Most of the Parliament's publications are made available both on the Internet (not the Intranet) and in printed form. This is to ensure that information about the Parliament and its work is accessible equally to all parts of society. Print publication costs for Core Parliament Publications (Business Bulletin, Minutes of Proceedings, Official Report, Written Answers Report, Committee Official Reports, Committee Reports, Bills, WHISP) from May 1999 to end September 2000 are £253,911. On average 93% of these documents are delivered to the SPICe Document Supply Service, the balance being retained by the product owners or issued to the media, the Legal Office and Public Information, among others. Despatch costs, i.e. the shipping of Parliament documents between the Print Centre and the Parliament, are an average £689 per month, although some 10% of these costs relate to other ad hoc Parliament publications. Costs of sending Core Publications to MSPs' local offices are an average £541 per month.

Services for individuals diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder are provided by health boards and local authorities, based on their assessment of the needs of their respective areas.

Voluntary organisations also give services to people with mental health and learning disabilities, including services for those suffering from autism.

The Scottish Executive is committed to improving the quality of health and social care services, and the general well-being of people with learning disabilities, to enable them to play a full part in society. As recommended in the report of the Learning Disability Review, the Scottish Society for Autism and the National Autistic Society are co-ordinating the establishment of a national service network to improve awareness and understanding of the needs of people within the Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The network will provide access to specialist knowledge and training in both health and other fields. The network will be supported by the new Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities which is also being set up under the review. Work is progressing on these developments.

Local authorities have a wide range of duties and responsibilities for housing homeless people. The delivery of these duties is supported by detailed guidelines set out in the Code of Guidance on Homelessness (available in SPICE). The Code includes guidance on action which may be taken in the event of an emergency. The Executive has increased the total resources available under the RSI to £40 million and provided £5.3 million through the B&B initiative. Together these assist local authorities in providing a range of projects to prevent and alleviate rough sleeping and homelessness.

This information is not held centrally. Management responsibility for the Vale of Leven Hospital rests with Argyll and Clyde Acute NHS Hospitals Trust. The information requested can be obtained from the Trust and I have asked its Chairman to respond directly.

This information is not held centrally. Management responsibility for the Royal Alexandra Hospital rests with Argyll and Clyde Acute NHS Hospitals Trust. The information requested can be obtained from the Trust and I have asked its Chairman to respond directly.