Chamber and committees

Yes. Sewel motion S1M-3608 consented to the conferral on the Scottish Ministers of executive functions in relation to extraditions to and from Scotland. The functions in question are contained in Part 2 of the Extradition Act 2003 and relate mainly to extradition requests made by certain designated, non-EU countries (category 2 territories). An example of the Scottish ministers'' functions under the 2003 act can be found at section 93 (Secretary of State''s consideration of the case) which has to be read in conjunction with section 141 (Scotland: references to the Secretary of State). Following the receipt of an appropriately made request and the consideration of certain prescribed factors by the sheriff at Lothian and Borders, section 93 provides, among other things, that the Scottish ministers must decide whether or not they are prohibited from ordering a person''s extradition by virtue of the factors listed in section 93(2) and more fully detailed in sections 94 (death penalty), 95 (speciality), 96 (earlier extradition to the United Kingdom from another territory) and 96A (earlier transfer to the United Kingdom from the International Criminal Court). If the Scottish ministers decide these questions in the negative they must order the person to be extradited unless any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 93(4) apply.

The motion and further details can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Sewel/FirstSession/Extradition.

This PQ was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0122-01.htm

Such information is currently not available. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19727 on 21 January 2009, which refers to data on possible future levels of oil and gas supply from the Scottish sector of the UK continental shelf up to 2013.

Information for the year 2020 is not currently available. However, the Scottish government published in 2008 a report which provided estimates of Scotland''s geographical share of oil and gas production, operating costs and tax revenue from 2000 to 2013.

The report, produced by Aberdeen University, concluded that while overall production from the UK continental shelf is expected to fall by 2013, the Scottish share of production is expected to remain relatively constant in the case of oil and rise with regard to gas.

Further information from the report can be found at the following location:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/17858/ScotShareNorthSeaRevenue.

The Scottish Government does not make specific projections for installed generating capacity as future investment patterns are largely a matter for the private sector and the generators themselves who respond to market signals and incentives within a largely market driven structure.

However, estimates for possible future levels of electricity generation by fuel type can be found within the Scottish Energy Study - Volume 5 at Table 13. The report, which was published in November 2008, can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/14093227/0

The Scottish Government has of course set out plans to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources, with a milestone of 31% of gross electricity consumption in Scotland to come from renewable resources by 2011, rising to 50% by 2020.

Credit unions have important roles in encouraging members to save in times of financial difficulties and in providing them with access to affordable credit, particularly for those who may not be able to access mainstream financial services and products. Many credit unions allow members to save through payroll deductions as well as paying in cash and benefits direct. Additionally, a number of them promote financial capability by facilitating budgeting skills workshops for members.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3F-1200 on 20 November 2008:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor1120-02.htm#Col12616.

I believe the vast majority of Scotland''s children and young people are making a meaningful and positive impact within their communities. This report raises the gap that currently exists between reality and perception. The reality being:

99% of head teachers believe that all or almost all pupils are generally well behaved in class.

Over 185,000 young people are actively engaged with voluntary youth organisations across Scotland.

And less than 1.5% of young people commit crime.

To show his personal commitment to this issue the First Minister recently hosted a dinner with opinion-formers in the public and private sector. The aim of this was to move forward an ambitious agenda for our young people through Young Scot Active, an element of which will specifically target unfair and negative reporting on young people. This work is being further echoed in the development of the Youth Justice Framework and the Anti Social Behaviour review.

Funding is available through the Scottish Investment Fund and will shortly be available through the Third Sector Enterprise Fund and the Social Entrepreneurs Fund. Funding may also be available through the Fairer Scotland Fund which is deployed and managed by Community Planning Partnerships.

(i) The most recent comparable figures for the UK are provided by ONS, for 2004 and are shown in the following table.

At birth, and at 65 years of age, Scottish men and women have lower life expectancies, healthy life expectancies and disability-free life expectancies than people in the rest of the UK.

From birth, and over the age of 50, men and women can typically expect to live in good health for 15 and 19 years respectively, or free of disability for 11 and 13 years for men and women respectively.

From age 65, men and women can typically expect to live in good health for around 11 and 14 years respectively and around nine and 10 years free of disability.

Table 1 Life Expectancy, Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) and disability-Free Life Expectancy (DFLE) at Birth and Age 65: by Country and Sex, 2004

Country	Life Expectancy Years	Healthy Life Expectancy Years	Disability-Free Life Expectancy Years
At birth
Males UK	76.6	67.9	62.3
England	76.9	68.3	62.6
Wales	76.3	66.5*	60.6*
Scotland	74.2	65.6*	61.0*
Northern Ireland	76	66.8*	59.7*
Females UK	81	70.3	63.9
England	81.2	70.6	64.2
Wales	80.7	68.3*	62.2*
Scotland	79.3	69.6	63.4
Northern Ireland	80.8	68.4*	60.3*
At age 65
Males UK	16.6	12.5	9.9
England	16.8	12.7	10.1
Wales	16.4	11.8	9.3
Scotland	15.5	11.5*	9.3
Northern Ireland	16.4	12.8	8.8*
Females UK	19.4	14.5	10.7
England	19.6	14.6	10.8
Wales	19.2	13.2*	9.6
Scotland	18.4	13.9	10.5
Northern Ireland	19.3	13.6*	8.7*

Source ONS http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=12964.

(ii) and (iii) Comparable EU and OECD figures on health expectancies are not available, mainly due to differences in methods used to calculate HLE and DFLE.

Financial close and the subsequent contract award are expected to be concluded by the end of the year.