Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Close the Gap Campaign was launched in March 2001 and will run until at least 2005. The work of the Close the Gap Development Partnership, which is the main part of the Close the Gap campaign, will be monitored and evaluated.

The additional £5.4 million funding was incorporated as a redetermination in the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2003, debated in Parliament on 6 February. The additional resources will be distributed before the end of this financial year.

The Close the Gap Campaign was launched in March 2001 and will run until at least 2005. Current activities under the Close the Gap Development Partnership include attendance of campaign representatives at seminars, conferences and other events, organisation of training events, and the dissemination of leaflets and publicity materials to employers, employees, trade unionists and advisors aimed at raising awareness of the gender pay gap and steps that can be taken to tackle it.

Activities under the Close the Gap Campaign have included seminars, conferences, road shows, training events, preparation of leaflets and publicity materials disseminated to employers, employees, trade unionists and advisors aimed at raising awareness of the gender pay gap and steps that can be taken to tackle it such as encouraging employers to undertake pay audits using the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland's Equal Pay Review Kit which was launched at a Close the Gap Conference in September 2002.The Close the Gap Campaign was launched in March 2001 and will run until at least 2005. The work of the Close the Gap Development Partnership, which is the main part of the Close the Gap Campaign, will be monitored and evaluated.

The Close the Gap Campaign partnership includes organisations representing businesses such as the Confederation of British Industry, Scottish Council for Development and Industry, Scottish Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses. We do not have a record of all of the businesses that have participated in Close the Gap events or received information about the campaign.

As an employer, the Scottish Executive is committed to carrying out an equal pay review. For further information regarding this, I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27237 on 29 July 2002. 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.The Close the Gap Campaign is the main initiative supported by the Scottish Executive that focuses on raising awareness of the gender pay gap and to take steps to address it. For further information about the campaign, I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33512 today. More widely, the Scottish Executive is committed to mainstreaming equal opportunities in all its policies and legislation. Many of the Scottish Executive's policies relating to education, training and economic development include reducing the barriers to women getting into work, being promoted at work or starting and maintaining a successful business.

In March 2001 the Scottish Executive launched the Close the Gap Campaign to raise awareness about the gender pay gap in Scotland by working together with unions, enterprise, business and employers. In November 2001, funding of nearly half a million pounds of European money was granted for a Close the Gap Development Partnership through the EQUAL European Community Initiative. Activities under the development partnership have included seminars, conferences, road shows, training events, and preparation of leaflets and publicity materials disseminated to employers, employees, trade unionists and advisors.

The following amounts have been included in police Grant Aided Expenditure calculations to meet pensions expenditure estimated by forces:

	£ Million
2003-04	128
2004-05	143
2005-06	171

This information is not held centrally.

The numbers of officers eligible to retire over the next five years, as supplied by Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, are shown in the following table. Information on the number of officers by force is not held centrally.

2003-04	300
2004-05	373
2005-06	567
2006-07	489
2007-08	451