The information requested on the prevalence of dementia is not held centrally. However, it is estimated that there are 60-70,000 people with dementia in Scotland and information collected routinely by Information and Statistics Division of NHSScotland showed an estimated 17,600 people with dementia presented to their GP during 2002.While the symptoms of dementia can be different for every person, attention is paid to the earliest possible detection, intervention and support. Services take the opportunity when a person presents for other symptoms or purpose to assess for wider needs. While services vary from area to area and range from specialist care to home support, involving a number of care agencies working in partnership including the voluntary sector, they share a common objective for early intervention.Information on the cost involved in diagnosis and care and support is not held centrally.Mental health is a research priority and we welcome high quality applications for dementia-related research. A wide range of research on dementia, from causes and epidemiology, through to support for carers has been supported with spending on average around £75,000 per annum on direct research costs over the past five years (1999-2000 to 2003-04).

There are three parts to the Scottish Executive Central Heating Installation Programme. The programme for the over 60s who own their own homes or rent in the private sector which is managed by Eaga, the local authority programme which is managed by individual local authorities and the housing association programme which is managed by Communities Scotland. Ten thousand, three hundred and twenty-one households where the householder or their spouse was over 60 had received central heating under the programme managed by Eaga by 31 May 2003. The local authority and housing association programmes are not restricted to the elderly and separate information on the number of elderly people to benefit is not collected.Four thousand, nine hundred and twenty-four owner-occupier or private rental households where the householder or their spouse is over 60 have been assessed as eligible for the Central Heating Installation Programme and are now waiting for installation. Local authorities and housing associations carry out installation works in their role as landlords.The programme is kept under review to ensure that it continues to deliver benefits to elderly people and address fuel poverty. In September 2002 the Scottish Executive announced that the programme would be extended from April 2004 to offer 4,000 very elderly households with partial or poorly functioning central heating either an upgrade or a new system as appropriate and regulations to allow this will be introduced later this year.

In Scotland, there are 231,000 women between the ages of 50 and 60 not working in full-time employment and 199,000 men between the ages of 50 and 65 not working in full-time employment.

According to the Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate for Scotland was 5.8% for the three months up to April 2003.

The provision of disability and invalidity benefits is a reserved matter and is for the Department of Work and Pensions. The Executive has no functions in relation to the provision of benefits and holds no information on the numbers of people in receipt of the benefits referred to. Information about the numbers of people who are currently in receipt of community care services in Scotland due to disability can be found in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2001, copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24284).

Total capital allocations for each local authority since 1996-97, with percentage year-on-year changes, are shown in the table.Local Government Capital Allocations (Housing and Non-Housing)Note:Caution should be applied in comparing capital allocations between years. For example, the allocations for 1996-97 include adjustments for liabilities inherited from the former regional councils; the figures exclude capital allocations transferred by councils for revenue purposes; the figures will include one-off additional allocations for specific projects; and for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 the allocations were calculated on a different basis, taking account of projected capital receipts raised by individual authorities.

	Net CapitalAllocation1996-97	Net CapitalAllocation1997-98	%Change	Net CapitalAllocation1998-99	%Change	Net CapitalAllocation1999-2000	%Change
Scotland	590,624	540,997	-8.4%	568,310	5.0	533,870	-6.1
Aberdeen City	11,142	15,194	36.4%	17,482	15.1	19,021	8.8
Aberdeenshire	16,135	14,214	-11.9%	16,314	14.8	15,839	-2.9
Angus	7,573	10,787	42.4%	9,990	-7.4	8,677	-13.1
Argyll and Bute	14,670	16,861	14.9%	12,681	-24.8	11,329	-10.7
Clackmannanshire	3,559	4,904	37.8%	4,982	1.6	5,204	4.5
Dumfries and Galloway	20,229	13,890	-31.3%	13,575	-2.3	14,251	5.0
Dundee City	22,553	19,916	-11.7%	17,912	-10.1	17,619	-1.6
East Ayrshire	9,439	11,094	17.5%	12,340	11.2	9,440	-23.5
East Dunbartonshire	8,557	8,852	3.4%	8,755	-1.1	7,932	-9.4
East Lothian	8,747	7,607	-13.0%	9,494	24.8	9,182	-3.3
East Renfrewshire	3,183	6,415	101.5%	6,646	3.6	5,768	-13.2
Edinburgh City	48,369	37,700	-22.1%	43,310	14.9	38,240	-11.7
Eilean Siar	7,361	13,219	79.6%	6,749	-48.9	14,040	108.0
Falkirk	12,957	11,893	-8.2%	12,550	5.5	13,003	3.6
Fife	24,102	24,376	1.1%	25,982	6.6	23,945	-7.8
Glasgow City	112,638	73,318	-34.9%	95,469	30.2	67,773	-29.0
Highland	33,506	30,430	-9.2%	26,881	-11.7	28,372	5.5
Inverclyde	12,224	11,908	-2.6%	13,213	11.0	9,885	-25.2
Midlothian	5,585	6,013	7.7%	7,005	16.5	6,474	-7.6
Moray	6,704	9,796	46.1%	8,400	-14.3	7,680	-8.6
North Ayrshire	12,402	12,392	-0.1%	10,424	-15.9	12,015	15.3
North Lanarkshire	28,767	27,670	-3.8%	27,871	0.7	27,649	-0.8
Orkney	3,279	4,404	34.3%	4,661	5.8	4,290	-8.0
Perth and Kinross	8,366	10,489	25.4%	14,398	37.3	17,605	22.3
Renfrewshire	22,689	19,811	-12.7%	18,340	-7.4	18,521	1.0
Scottish Borders	12,476	15,370	23.2%	16,072	4.6	8,630	-46.3
Shetland	2,217	2,181	-1.6%	2,394	9.8	2,448	2.3
South Ayrshire	7,419	9,833	32.5%	9,725	-1.1	9,062	-6.8
South Lanarkshire	18,872	19,651	4.1%	20,451	4.1	22,724	11.1
Stirling	13,246	7,548	-43.0%	8,615	14.1	10,379	20.5
West Dunbartonshire	12,471	10,389	-16.7%	11,979	15.3	12,956	8.2
West Lothian	8,220	10,735	30.6%	12,620	17.6	12,406	-1.7
Central Fire	885	1,091	23.3%	2,175	99.4	1,710	-21.4
Dumfries and Gal. Fire	390	515	32.1%	673	30.7	510	-24.2
Fife Fire	852	846	-0.7%	823	-2.7	1,107	34.5
Grampian Fire	2,290	1,427	-37.7%	1,261	-11.6	1,762	39.7
Highlands and Islands Fire	1,538	1,703	10.7%	1,523	-10.6	2,159	41.8
Lothian and Borders Fire	2,293	2,421	5.6%	2,258	-6.7	1,806	-20.0
Strathclyde Fire	5,900	5,776	-2.1%	5,522	-4.4	5,540	0.3
Tayside Fire	1,429	1,067	-25.3%	1,049	-1.7	1,254	19.5
Central Police	1,162	892	-23.2%	521	-41.6	469	-10.0
Dumfries and Gal. Police	1,737	772	-55.6%	709	-8.2	552	-22.1
Fife Police	1,437	1,347	-6.3%	1,279	-5.0	990	-22.6
Grampian Police	973	890	-8.5%	243	-72.7	1,234	407.8
Lothian and Borders Police	1,602	1,321	-17.5%	938	-29.0	1,188	26.7
Northern Police	2,064	2,837	37.5%	6,595	132.5	2,557	-61.2
Strathclyde Police	11,950	10,010	-16.2%	6,685	-33.2	10,732	60.5
Tayside Police	1,807	1,701	-5.9%	1,185	-30.3	830	-30.0
Tay Bridge	300	1,023	241.0%	2,250	119.9	600	-73.3
SPTA	12,358	6,498	-47.4%	5,341	-17.8	6,511	21.9

	Net CapitalAllocation2000-01	%Change	Net CapitalAllocation2001-02	%Change
Scotland	570,115	6.8	670,740	17.6
Aberdeen City	18,031	-5.2	15,921	-11.7
Aberdeenshire	14,944	-5.7	21,555	44.2
Angus	7,764	-10.5	8,815	13.5
Argyll and Bute	12,554	10.8	17,166	36.7
Clackmannanshire	5,827	12.0	6,617	13.6
Dumfries and Galloway	15,116	6.1	17,807	17.8
Dundee City	18,420	4.5	24,892	35.1
East Ayrshire	10,549	11.7	11,321	7.3
East Dunbartonshire	8,823	11.2	15,396	74.5
East Lothian	10,421	13.5	14,696	41.0
East Renfrewshire	8,920	54.6	9,803	9.9
Edinburgh City	56,380	47.4	47,878	-15.1
Eilean Siar	11,465	-18.3	15,207	32.6
Falkirk	13,201	1.5	17,159	30.0
Fife	24,243	1.2	34,499	42.3
Glasgow City	70,384	3.9	97,266	38.2
Highland	31,350	10.5	32,002	2.1
Inverclyde	11,082	12.1	11,756	6.1
Midlothian	7,606	17.5	8,751	15.1
Moray	7,213	-6.1	7,907	9.6
North Ayrshire	12,204	1.6	13,808	13.1
North Lanarkshire	30,571	10.6	33,783	10.5
Orkney	4,456	3.9	11,809	165.0
Perth and Kinross	16,451	-6.6	15,337	-6.8
Renfrewshire	20,224	9.2	21,988	8.7
Scottish Borders	11,166	29.4	13,160	17.9
Shetland	2,197	-10.3	2,258	2.8
South Ayrshire	8,483	-6.4	12,056	42.1
South Lanarkshire	22,082	-2.8	25,743	16.6
Stirling	12,279	18.3	14,066	14.6
West Dunbartonshire	11,897	-8.2	9,377	-21.2
West Lothian	10,078	-18.8	6,916	-31.4
Central Fire	585	-65.8	884	51.1
Dumfries and Gal. Fire	327	-35.9	733	124.2
Fife Fire	936	-15.4	978	4.5
Grampian Fire	2,262	28.4	2,200	-2.7
Highlands and Islands Fire	2,150	-0.4	2,980	38.6
Lothian and Borders Fire	1,956	8.3	3,059	56.4
Strathclyde Fire	5,843	5.5	7,266	24.4
Tayside Fire	1,018	-18.8	1,318	29.5
Central Police	4,274	811.3	3,391	-20.7
Dumfries and Gal. Police	677	22.6	385	-43.1
Fife Police	943	-4.7	1,361	44.3
Grampian Police	229	-81.4	1,420	520.1
Lothian and Borders Police	2,633	121.6	3,005	14.1
Northern Police	1,381	-46.0	2,700	95.5
Strathclyde Police	8,791	-18.1	9,849	12.0
Tayside Police	2,050	147.0	1,402	-31.6
Tay Bridge	800	33.3	800	0.0
SPTA	6,879	5.7	10,294	49.6

Source: As reported on the statistical return Capital Payments and their Financing (CPR FIN 5) for the relevant financial year.Note:Comparable figures are not yet available for 2002-03.

Statistics are obtained on an annual basis and have yet to be collated for 2002-03. The following table relates to full-time firefighters over the period 1998-2002.

Brigade	1998-99			1999-2000			2000-01			2001-02
	R'crts	Retire	Vac's1	R'crts	Retire	Vac's	R'crts	Retire	Vac's	R'crts	Retire	Vac's
Central	5	3	3	14	6	0	21	10	1	12	8	6
Dumfries and Galloway	7	1	1	3	3	+2	0	3	1	11	8	+5
Fife	16	19	3	30	19	+2	13	16	10	53	21	3
Grampian	11	5	4	13	10	17	46	3	14	0	17	12
Highland and Islands	8	6	5	8	10	0	0	1	2	0	4	0
Lothian and Borders	43	16	28	26	12	19	30	5	4	21	33	6
Strathclyde	39	48	22	23	46	28	110	57	10	68	90	23
Tayside	12	14	2	12	17	5	15	19	3	6	29	1
Scotland	141	112	68	129	123	65	235	114	45	171	210	46

Note:1. Vacancies have been identified as variations between authorised establishments and strengths. The vacancy figures are as at 31 March of the given year.

The figures are shown in the following table.Capital Allocations 1997-98 to 2002-03

Local Authority	1997-98	1998-99	% Change	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Aberdeen City	5.210	5.293	1.6	5.293	5.293	5.293	5.293
Aberdeenshire	4.424	4.495	1.6	4.495	4.495	4.495	4.495
Angus	1.513	1.536	1.5	1.536	1.536	1.536	1.536
Argyll and Bute	1.582	1.607	1.6	1.607	1.607	1.607	1.607
Clackmannanshire	1.573	1.597	1.5	1.597	1.597	1.597	1.597
Dumfries and Galloway	4.186	4.251	1.6	4.251	4.251	4.251	4.250
Dundee City	8.305	8.436	1.6	8.436	8.436	8.436	8.436
East Ayrshire	3.435	3.489	1.6	3.489	3.489	3.489	3.489
East Dunbartonshire	2.351	2.388	1.6	2.388	2.388	2.388	2.388
East Lothian	2.472	2.510	1.5	2.510	2.510	2.510	2.510
East Renfrewshire	0.949	0.964	1.6	0.964	0.964	0.964	0.964
City of Edinburgh	14.686	14.916	1.6	14.916	14.916	14.916	14.916
Eilean Siar, Comhairle nan	1.675	1.701	1.6	1.701	1.701	1.701	1.701
Falkirk	5.286	5.369	1.6	5.369	5.369	5.369	5.369
Fife	6.900	7.007	1.6	7.007	7.007	7.007	7.007
Glasgow City Council*	43.074	43.750	1.6	23.750	23.750	43.750	31.500
Highland	7.119	7.230	1.6	7.230	7.230	7.230	7.230
Inverclyde	3.904	3.965	1.6	3.965	3.965	3.965	3.965
Midlothian	2.090	2.122	1.5	2.122	2.122	2.122	2.122
Moray	1.819	1.848	1.6	1.848	1.848	1.848	1.848
North Ayrshire	2.915	2.953	1.3	2.953	2.953	2.953	2.953
North Lanarkshire	12.139	12.330	1.6	12.330	12.330	12.33	12.33
Orkney Islands	0.220	0.224	1.8	0.224	0.224	0.224	0.224
Perth and Kinross	2.076	2.108	1.5	2.108	2.108	2.108	2.108
Renfrewshire	8.434	8.565	1.6	8.565	8.565	8.565	8.565
Scottish Borders**	2.362	2.399	1.6	2.399	2.399	2.399	2.000
Shetland	1.951	1.981	1.5	1.981	1.981	1.981	1.981
South Ayrshire	2.862	2.906	1.5	2.906	2.906	2.906	2.906
South Lanarkshire	5.767	5.858	1.6	5.858	5.858	5.858	5.858
Stirling	3.002	3.048	1.5	3.048	3.048	3.048	3.048
West Dunbartonshire	5.569	5.657	1.6	5.657	5.657	5.657	5.657
West Lothian	2.065	2.097	1.5	2.097	2.097	2.097	2.097

Notes:1. The 1996-97 figures have been excluded, as prior to 1997-98, allocations were issued on a gross basis, which took into account capital receipts and they are not therefore comparable with later years. The table relates only to mainstream HRA allocations.2. Allocations from 1998-99 onwards have remained unchanged with the following exceptions:* Following discussions with Glasgow City Council allocations were reduced in the years 1999-2000 and 2000-01. This followed the agreement to transfer HRA debt associated with demolished housing stock from the HRA to the general fund, which resulted in a net saving of £20 million to the council. The overall effect in terms of available resources was, therefore, neutral. The allocations were re-instated to previous levels in 2001-02. The 2002-03 allocation was reduced to reflect the recent transfer of the housing stock. **The 2002-3 allocation for Scottish Borders was reduced to reflect the recent transfer of stock.

This is primarily an operational matter for the Firemaster in consultation with his Fire Authority. The nationally recommended standard is five crew on the first pumping appliance and four crew on any subsequent pumping appliance. There are agreed risk assessments to allow four crew on a pump to operate safely. Furthermore, national guidance for operational deployment requires a dynamic risk assessment for all incidents before work commences. The crucial test, therefore, is not the number of crew deployed but the action taken at the incident to ensure their safety. Strathclyde Fire Brigade, which generally has five crew on the second pumping appliance, is therefore operating above the current nationally recommended crewing criteria.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34694 today. 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.