Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10232 on 4 March 2008. 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.

The latest figures for landlord registration show that the number of applications by landlords for registration is approximately 108,000, while the number of privately rented dwellings they operate is approximately 160,000. Landlords and agents are required to register in each authority where they own or manage property, so these figures include multiple registrations for some individuals or organisations.

The landlord registration system does not collect information on whether properties meet the Tolerable Standard or the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SQHS). However, on the basis of the sampling carried out by the Scottish House Condition Survey we estimate that at least 96% of privately rented properties meet the Tolerable Standard and between 13% and 25% meet the SHQS. There is no legal requirement for privately rented houses to meet the SHQS. However, since September 2007 private landlords have been required to ensure that their properties meet the Repairing Standard. If a landlord fails to comply with a Repairing Standard enforcement order, the local authority must take this into account when determining whether the landlord is fit and proper to let property.

One of the aims of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 is to encourage pubs to become more child and family friendly. The new act replaces the complicated system of children's certificates with mandatory conditions concerning premises' policies on access by children and a requirement for baby changing facilities in every on-sales premises allowing access to children under five. It will be a matter for operators to ensure that their premises are safe and suitable for those under 18 and this will be carefully assessed by their local licensing board in granting the licence on those terms.

None. Matters relating to capital investment are the responsibility of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). I am aware that the SFC is currently in discussion with the college about its outline business case and that the matter is likely to be considered at the July 2008 meeting of the SFC's Capital Investment Committee.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has advised that there are two UK licensed MMR vaccines available for use in the routine childhood immunisation programme in NHSScotland: Priorix and MMRII.

The MHRA further advised that two other vaccines are licensed via the centralised licensing procedure administered by the European Medicines Agency. These are M-M-RVAXPRO and ProQuad. These vaccines are not used in the routine childhood immunisation programme in Scotland.

None of the above vaccines have been withdrawn since 2002.

We will implement provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 that enhance local authorities'' powers to enforce higher quality standards in the private housing sector as a whole, including the private rented sector. For example, a local authority will be able to require the drawing up and implementation of a maintenance plan for a house that has not been, or is unlikely to be, maintained to a reasonable standard.

For the private rented sector the recently announced National Voluntary Landlord Accreditation scheme will require landlords to confirm that they are meeting legal requirements in letting and will encourage a process of continuous improvement in both the physical condition and management of private rented accommodation. This builds on the steps already taken to ensure sound minimum standards through the requirement for private landlords to be registered and the introduction in September 2007 of the Repairing Standard for private rented houses. This standard extends the statutory responsibility of a private landlord to maintain a house in a reasonable state of repair. Tenants now have the power to enforce the standard by applying to the Private Rented Housing Panel, which can take action against landlords who fail to comply with the standard.

The following table records the cost of the Individual Learning Accounts Scotland (ILAS) scheme along with the number of learners participating in the scheme since it began in from December 2004 to March 2007. Figures for the financial year 2007-08 are not yet available.

Year	Enquiries to the ILA Scotland Helpline	Applications Issued	Accounts Opened by Learners	Learners who have Used their Accounts1	Amount Spent by Learners2 (Million)	Unit cost Including Amount Spent by Learners £3
2004-05 (3 months)4	31,110	12,690	5,750	700	£0.9	6,697
2005-06	99,070	53,630	24,860	12,820	£1.6	506
2006-07	116,340	52,350	31,280	22,670	£2.5	243
Total	246,520	118,670	61,890	31,690	£4.3

Notes:

1. The figures give courses which have been undertaken by learners and it includes

some repeat learning by individual learners.

2. The amount spent by learners excludes any personal or third party contribution

paid towards the cost of learning.

3. The unit cost includes all admin costs, VAT, development costs, marketing costs and the amount spent by learners as at 1.

4. The Individual Learning Account Scotland scheme began in December 2004 and

therefore the data is given to the end of the financial year at March 2005.

The Scottish Government has taken a significant number of steps to meet the support the needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their parents which includes:

Our new concordat with local government includes a commitment for local authorities to make progress towards delivering an extra 10,000 respite weeks per annum for carers'' support.

Funding, rising to £5 million per annum, has been allocated to support NHS boards in implementing their Carer Information Strategies. These strategies include a requirement for NHS staff to direct carers to appropriate local support services.

NHS Education were funded to develop an information booklet for parents of children diagnosed with an ASD which is available from NHS boards at diagnosis.

Strathclyde University has been funded to develop the Scottish Autism Service Network (SASN), which is a hub that can direct people to suitable services and share information and good practice across Scotland.

SASN has been funded to assist in the development of a toolbox for education authorities and schools. It is expected that the framework for the toolbox will be published on 2 April 2008, which is World Autism Awareness Day and the final document will be published in summer 2008.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act aims to ensure that all children with additional support needs, including those with ASD, receive the support they require to help them achieve their full potential. Local authorities are under a duty to publish Information on their policies under this act.

While the Autism Spectrum Disorder Education Working Group (the Group) has not published a specific report, the agreed output from their considerations is the production of an autism toolbox for local authorities and schools. The Scottish Autism Service Network is assisting the Group with this task and the framework for this toolbox will be published on 2 April 2008, which is World Autism Day. It is expected that the final document will published in summer 2008.

No. Section 48(5) of the Scotland Act 1998 enshrines the independence of the prosecution system in Scotland by providing that any decision of the Lord Advocate in his or her capacity as head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland shall continue to be taken by him or her independently of any other person.

However, in February 2005 the Lord Advocate announced that, wherever possible, victims and next of kin who request it will be provided with an explanation for any decision to mark a case no proceedings or, in cases in which proceedings have commenced, a decision to discontinue proceedings or to accept a plea to reduce a charge.