Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-10185 on 11 October 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-10185 on 11 October 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

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

The Scottish Executive has taken action on a number of fronts to help to improve energy efficiency in dwellings, including insulating almost 200,000 homes through the Warm Deal Programme and installing central heating and insulation in over 41,000 homes through the central heating programme. The Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 shows that the number in fuel poverty had more than halved to 13% since the last report in 1996. The Scottish Housing Quality Standard aims to provide additional energy efficient measures, where technically feasible, to achieve a minimum National Home Energy Rating rating of five or StandardAssessment Procedure rating of 50.

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

Individual local authorities were asked to submit their initial Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) strategies to the then Secretary of State by the end of 1997. The initial HECA strategies that included local authorities target improvements in energy efficiency are used as the baseline to monitor the impact of HECA. The Scottish Housing Quality Standard provides guidance on desired energy efficiency ratings.

There are no current plans to introduce mandatory targets.

We are currently investing an additional £3 million over three years for voluntary sector training.

We have also invested an additional £9 million in local authorities over three years for social work training. I have made it clear I expect that voluntary organisations will share in and benefit from this extra investment.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9189 on 1 July 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The aim is to publish the Hepatitis C Action Plan later in the year.

An application from the Scottish Viral Hepatitis Group for assistance with the administrative costs of developing a Scotland-wide Managed Clinical Network in Hepatitis C care will be considered by National Services Advisory Group at its next meeting.

The implementation of the new railway communications system (GSM-R) is primarily a matter for Network Rail, however the Scottish Executive is aware of the significant concern of local people at some of the mast sites. Network Rail have confirmed that they will in future write to all elected representatives who have an interest in the installation of each of the masts and undertake a mail-drop to all householders in the area affected. The Scottish Executive has been involved in meetings and discussion to help resolve this issue and continues to monitor the situation.

The partnership agreement gives a commitment to encourage the active participation of young people through the development of a national strategy for youth work.

The Executive is encouraged by the interest around the strategy. Discussions with stakeholders are progressing and broader consultation is anticipated over the next few months.