Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25269 on 8 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The functions of the SecurityService, Secret Intelligence Service and Government Communications Headquartersare reserved. It has been established practice for the Scottish Executive not tocomment on operational matters relating to these organisations since the Executive’sinception in 1999.

The Security Service, SecretIntelligence Service, Government Communications Headquarters and the armed forcesare all subject to the rule of law. Evidence of criminal offences committed by membersof these organisations is subject to investigation and prosecution in line withestablished procedures.

The practice of not commentingon operational matters related to the Security and Intelligence Services, as referredto in my answer to S2W-24499, exists because it has been deemed in the public interestnot to risk jeopardising the work carried out by these organisations by revealing,even inadvertently, potentially sensitive information or investigative techniques.

All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Wilson Doctrine is a matterfor the Prime Minister.

Authority to authorise interceptionof communications for persons located in Scotland, for the purpose of preventingor detecting serious crime, has been transferred to Scottish ministers but the relevantlegislation, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), is reservedto Westminster.

Section 65 of RIPA provides forany person who is aggrieved by any conduct to which the Act applies to complainto the independent Investigatory Powers Tribunal if they believe that the conducttook place in relation to them or their property in challengeable circumstances.

Information relating to the useof covert surveillance by relevant authorities would, if held by the Scottish Executive,be exempt by virtue of sections 31 (National Security) and 35 (Law Enforcement)of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. We believe it would be contraryto the public interest, to confirm whether or not any such information exists oris held by the Scottish Executive. The terms of this refusal are provided for bysection 18 (1) of the 2002 act.

As stated in my answer to questionS2W-21758 on 18 January 2006, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner publishes detailsin his annual report of the number of authorisations given under the Police Act1997 for property interference, and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act2000 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 for directed and intrusivesurveillance.

The most recent report – Bib.number 37809, document number SE/2005/203 – was laid before the Scottish Parliamenton 3 November 2005.

All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25269 on 8 May 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Since the expiry of thetransitional hardship fund on 31 March 2004 the Scottish Executive hasprovided considerable financial support to the voluntary sector. In 2004-05 thevoluntary sector was provided with £404 million in grants, either directly orthrough non-departmental public bodies and other public agencies. The amount offinancial support increased significantly to £523 million in 2005-06.

Moreover, organisationsapplying for grant funding should include all associated overhead costs,including water charges, as part of their bid in keeping with the principles ofFull Cost Recovery to which the Scottish Executive is committed.

The information requested isprovided in the following tables. It should be noted that prior to and including2001 the data was based on pupils with Records of Needs only. From 2002 onwardsthe data includes pupils with Records of Needs and/or Individualised EducationalProgrammes.

Numbers of Pupils in PubliclyFunded Primary Schools with Records of Needs and/or Individualised Educational ProgrammesHaving Autistic Spectrum Disorder as their Main Difficulty in Learning

Publicly Funded (Primary)	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999
Aberdeen City	65	60	48	43	24	18	9
Aberdeenshire	114	109	98	77	31	29	18
Angus	34	39	35	-	20	18	14
Argyll and Bute	26	25	23	14	15	12	7
Clackmannanshire	12	11	13	11	*	*	*
Dumfries and Galloway	67	56	41	36	29	19	13
Dundee City	90	66	55	44	20	11	8
East Ayrshire	24	26	19	18	13	5	*
East Dunbartonshire	15	14	10	7	*	*	*
East Lothian	25	26	22	23	12	15	12
East Renfrewshire	44	38	38	23	14	6	11
Edinburgh, City of	100	90	76	75	12	19	31
Eilean Siar	17	14	11	10	*	*	*
Falkirk	28	19	18	19	9	9	7
Fife	155	150	133	118	52	41	35
Glasgow City	57	53	33	22	48	63	16
Highland	151	147	130	103	73	63	56
Inverclyde	27	28	23	22	16	19	10
Midlothian	31	20	17	18	-	-	*
Moray	51	53	44	36	37	28	23
North Ayrshire	40	31	22	20	9	3	*
North Lanarkshire	109	96	90	89	60	41	32
Orkney Islands	30	28	28	29	*	*	*
Perth and Kinross	68	54	51	39	32	20	21
Renfrewshire	56	63	53	44	31	27	20
Scottish Borders	38	35	36	40	5	17	16
Shetland Islands	33	30	19	6	*	-	*
South Ayrshire	23	23	23	18	5	7	*
South Lanarkshire	91	65	59	53	24	20	14
Stirling	33	27	29	24	17	14	10
West Dunbartonshire	17	17	15	8	10	-	-
West Lothian	65	47	70	53	23	19	11
All Local Authorities	1,736	1,560	1,382	1,142	653	551	415

Note: *Signifies a numberless than five

Numbers of Pupils in PubliclyFunded Secondary Schools with Records of Needs and/or Individualised EducationalProgrammes Having Autistic Spectrum Disorder as their Main Difficulty in Learning

Publicly Funded (Secondary)	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999
Aberdeen City	31	18	17	14	11	10	12
Aberdeenshire	58	49	42	34	12	8	7
Angus	17	15	13	9	6	*	7
Argyll and Bute	19	16	8	8	8	5	*
Clackmannanshire	10	5	*	5	5	*	-
Dumfries and Galloway	24	20	20	19	12	9	*
Dundee City	27	27	21	14	13	8	*
East Ayrshire	16	18	19	13	*	*	5
East Dunbartonshire	13	7	6	8	*	*	*
East Lothian	13	8	7	*	7	*	*
East Renfrewshire	23	20	16	7	9	7	*
Edinburgh, City of	38	30	29	27	7	6	*
Eilean Siar	5	5	*	*	*	*	-
Falkirk	7	5	*	*	-	-	-
Fife	72	55	37	27	16	15	12
Glasgow City	51	41	16	12	*	*	11
Highland	95	80	68	51	*	9	2
Inverclyde	15	14	14	5	5	*	*
Midlothian	13	9	8	*	-	*	*
Moray	34	25	18	16	14	14	11
North Ayrshire	4	3	6	8	12	7	7
North Lanarkshire	44	40	36	32	23	18	*
Orkney Islands	8	10	7	6	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross	33	27	18	13	6	6	*
Renfrewshire	25	26	19	6	8	6	*
Scottish Borders	30	23	22	10	-	*	-
Shetland Islands	19	11	8	*	*	*	-
South Ayrshire	19	18	13	13	8	7	*
South Lanarkshire	25	20	19	15	10	5	*
Stirling	14	11	*	*	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	8	7	*	*	*	*	*
West Lothian	15	13	14	20	14	9	6
All local authorities	825	676	542	415	224	174	114

Note: *Signifiesa number less than five.

Seven of the 16 local concessionarytravel schemes included arrangements which enabled eligible people to travel witha companion either free or at a discounted rate. The schemes were the responsibilityof local authorities and information is notheld centrally on the number of people which were entitled to local authority companioncards.

Under the Scotland-wide FreeBus Scheme for Older and Disabled People, people who are eligible for the Schemeand who require assistance to travel are entitled to a companion travelling free.The criteria which apply are as follows.

People are entitled to a companiontravelling free if they:

(i) receive the higher or middlerate of the care component of disability living allowance;

(ii) receive attendance allowance;

(iii) live in a residential homeor hospital and are eligible for (i) or (ii), or

(iv) have been certified as blindand in consequence are registered as blind.