Chamber and committees

Getting it Right forEvery Child in Kinship and Foster Care - the National Fostering and KinshipCare Strategy will be launched on 5 December 2007. Copies will be made available in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 44132) and at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/fosterkinshipcarestrategy.

The strategy isthe first publication to be published jointly with COSLA following the concordatagreed last month, heralding a new relationship between national and localgovernment in Scotland. This strategy will provide the frameworkfor joint working between national and local government to deliver a child-centredapproach to kinship and foster care, and to provide equitable support to allkinship and foster carers of looked after children to provide high-quality andnurturing care.

In tandem withthe publication of Getting it Right for Every Child in Kinship and Foster Care,a draft set of regulations which revise and update the existing relevantregulations will be published for consultation. The consultation period willrun from 5 December to 14 March 2008.

There is no evidencethat such an approach to the use of biofuels is required. The Scottish Governmentis pursuing a package of measures to address both transport CO₂ emissionsand the research, development and production of renewable energy. In relation toreducing emissions, measures includeinvestment in public transport, and the promotion of behavioural change which includes supportingthe development and use of travel plans, eco-driving, green fleet reviews and theuse of fuel and vehicle technologies that result in reduced emissions which includesbiofuels.

A strategic approachto the use of both biofuels and other fuel and vehicle technologies as they emerge,is supported by this wider range of behavioural measures being pursued and is consistentwith expert opinion and both UK and EU policy. The production and use of biofuelsis framed by UK and EU legislation. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)sets targets for the use of biofuels (5% by 2010) and Scotland has contributed tothe development of this UK legislation which complies with the EU directive on biofuels(2003/30/EC).

In terms of renewables,electrical output from stations using biomass fuel sources are supported under theRenewables Obligation (Scotland) Order, which obliges all licensed suppliers ofelectricity in Scotland to procure increasing amounts of power from renewable sources.The Scottish Government is also funding developments in the sector more generallyunder its Scottish Biomass Support Scheme.

The following tablesets out the number of staff who have declared that they have a physical disability.The figures are forcore permanent staff working in the Scottish Government at 3 November 2007 and are broken down by the businessareas line managed by each of the five Scottish Government Directors-General (DGs)and the Permanent Secretary respectively.

	Total Head Count	Physically Disabled Staff	As a % of Total Head Count
DG Economy	692	14	2.0%
DG Education	685	23	3.4%
DG Environment	944	25	2.6%
DG Health	440	13	3.0%
DG Justice	628	19	3.0%
Permanent Secretary	888	32	3.6%
Total	4,277	126	2.9%

 

Information on peoplewho declare themselves as disabled using the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)definition, people who declare themselves as work limiting disabled and people whodeclare themselves as both DDA and work limiting disabled is available from theAnnual Population Survey

Table 1 shows thepercentage of people in each of these three categories who are in full-time andpart-time employment.

As these estimatesare taken from a sample survey they are subject to a degree of error.

Table 1 Full-Timeand Part-Time Employment of those with Physical Disabilities

	Both DDA and Work Limiting Disabled	DDA Disabled Only	Work Limiting Disabled Only	Total Disabled
Full Time	23.1%	65.1%	51.4%	38.0%
Part Time	10.7%	19.9%	15.6%	13.8%
Total Employment	33.8%	85.1%	67.2%	51.8%

Source: Annual PopulationSurvey: January to December 2006.

Notes:

1. Working age isdefined as males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59.

2. Definitions arebased on self-classification.

3. Those declaringmental disabilities have been excluded from this analysis.

Data on the numberof people who are physically disabled but still able to work are not held centrally.

However informationon people who declare themselves as disabled using the Disability DiscriminationAct (DDA) definition, people who declare themselves as work limiting disabled andpeople who declare themselves as both DDA and work limiting disabled is availablefrom the Annual Population Survey.

Table 1 shows thenumber of people with physical disabilities in each of the three categories describedabove and also expresses these figures as a proportion of all working age people.

Table 2 shows thenumber of people with physical disabilities in each of the three categories whoare in employment and also expresses these figures as a proportion of all peoplein employment.

As these estimatesare taken from a sample survey they are subject to a degree of error.

Table 1 PeopleDeclaring Physical Disabilities in the Working Age Population

	Both DDA and Work Limiting Disabled	DDA Disabled Only	Work Limiting Disabled Only	Total Disabled
Number	313,700	131,900	80,300	525,900
Percentage of the Working age Population	10.0%	4.2%	2.6%	16.8%

Source: Annual PopulationSurvey: January to December 2006.

Notes:

1. Working age isdefined as males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59.

2. Definitions arebased on self-classification.

3. Those declaringmental disabilities have been excluded from this analysis.

Table 2 People inEmployment Declaring a Physical Disability

	Both DDA and Work Limiting Disabled	DDA Disabled Only	Work Limiting Disabled Only	Total Disabled
Number	106,000	112,200	54,000	272,200
Percentage of people in employment	4.5%	4.7%	2.3%	11.5%

Source: Annual PopulationSurvey: January December 2006.

Notes:

1. People in employmentincludes employees, those who are self-employed, people on government training schemesand unpaid family workers.

2. Definitions arebased on self-classification.

3. Those declaringmental disabilities have been excluded from this analysis.

The ScottishGovernment has four grading bands for staff: A, B , C and the Senior Civil Service.The numbers of physically disabled staff promoted between these bands in all of the Scottish Government’s core Departments are set out as follows.

	All Promotions	Secured by Physically Disabled Staff	As a % of All Promotions
April 2001 to March 2002	52	4	7.69
April 2002 to March 2003	32	*	-
April 2003 to March 2004	27	*	-
April 2004 to March 2005	41	1	2.44
April 2005 to March 2006	50	*	-
April 2006 to March 2007	91	4	4.4

Note: *No physicallydisabled staff were promoted in these years.

The Scottish Governmentsupports a range of environmental initiatives in Glasgow, including those to addresscontaminated land, waste management and recycling, urban woodland management, communityengagement and sustainable development projects. Furthermore, in the eight yearsto 2010, Scottish Water’s total planned investment in Glasgow will amount to almost £300 million.

Local authoritieshave a crucial role in advancing the Scottish Government’s Greener objective throughenvironmental initiatives in their areas, and the Spending Review settlement willfurther enhance their capacity to do so.

My officials havealready made contact with the new child poverty unit and will continue to work closelywith them to ensure that the analysis, measures and proposals they put forward properlyreflect the needs and circumstances of Scottish children, and the policies and prioritiesof the Scottish Government. We will seek to ensure that, between the UK and Scottish Governments, policies and programmes havethe maximum impact possible on child poverty in Scotland, in order that child poverty can be eradicated by 2020.

As noted in the answer to question S3W-4725 on 22 October 2007, in response toa public petition brought forward by Jim Milne on behalf of Dundee Anti-PovertyForum, we have agreed to undertake a review of clothing grant provision across Scotland.

It is anticipatedthat the review will collect information on (a) eligibility criteria and (b)level of clothing grants for school uniforms across local authority areas. Weshall consider what further action is required following the outcome of thereview.

All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, thesearch facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Information onthe average level of clothing grant per child, broken down by local authoritysince 1999, is not held centrally.