Chamber and committees

A combination of improved accessto fluoride toothpaste and an improved range of available treatments for dentaldecay and gum disease have led to a considerable and continued decline in toothloss in Scotland over the last 30 years.

As far as Kinship Carers areconcerned, local authorities are currently able to pay allowances to such carersif they wish, but this issue is part of our wider consideration of fostering allowances.

We are not aware of significantevidence to demonstrate the benefits of a particular limit on the number offoster children per placement and consider other factors such as the needs ofeach individual child, the number of foster parents in the household and thenumber of other biological or adopted children to be relevant factors. We willbe considering the issue further in our review of fostering and invitinginterested parties to submit any further evidence they hold.

Source: LFR 3 (Social work)returns.

In addition, we haveallocated £12 million extra funding to local authorities over the period October2005 to September 2007 to improve fostering services.

There are no plans tomonitor how much is spent on placements provided by local authorities comparedto placements provided by other fostering agencies.

Table 1 and Table 2 show theestimated median gross weekly pay for full-time, part-time and all employee jobs.Table 1 provides earnings estimates by area of work, whereas table 2 provides earningsestimates by area of residence.

Table 1: Median¹ GrossWeekly pay (£) - for All Employee Jobs²: Area of Work: April 2005

Source: Annual Survey of Hoursand Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. The median is the value belowwhich 50 per cent of employee jobs fall. It is preferred over an arithmetic averagefor earnings data as it is influenced less by large or extreme values.

2. Employees on adult rates whosepay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.

3. Pay estimates are roundedto the nearest ten pence.

4. The estimates are based on a sample survey, and as such,are subject to some sampling error. The qualityof each estimate can be inferred from this sampling error. The quality is indicatedby the letter following the estimate: (P) is a precise estimate, (RP) is relativelyprecise, (A) is acceptable and x indicates that the estimate has been suppresseddue to being unreliable.

Table 2: Median¹ GrossWeekly Pay (£) - for All Employee Jobs²: Area of Residence: April 2005

Source: AnnualSurvey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Notes:

1. The medianis the value below which 50 per cent of employee jobs fall. It is preferred overan arithmetic average for earnings data as it is influenced less by largeor extreme values.

2. Employeeson adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.

3. Pay estimatesare rounded to the nearest ten pence.

4. The qualityof each estimate is indicated by the letter following the estimate (P) is a preciseestimate, (RP) is relatively precise, (A) is acceptable and x indicates that theestimate has been suppressed due to being unreliable.