Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Executive has not received any representations about the proposed promoted posts structure for teachers in the Argyll and Bute Council area.

Reducing harmful drinking by children and young people is one of the key priorities of the Plan for Action on alcohol problems, published on 18 January 2002. The plan sets out a range of action in relation to school and community-based education. There is also action to ensure children affected by alcohol problems have access to appropriate services and new resources for parents to help them to discuss alcohol issues with their children. We are also continuing to provide support to Health Education Board for Scotland and Alcohol Focus Scotland to provide information and advice on the dangers of under-age and excessive drinking and undertake preventative activities with schools and youth and community groups.The Executive has made £3.3 million available through central budgets in this financial year to support local and national action to tackle alcohol problems. A breakdown of funding to tackle harmful drinking by children and young people is not available.

Voluntary proof of age was an integral part of the Scottish Executive funded Dialogue Youth and Young Scot smart card pilot project. Under the pilot, cards containing a digital photograph and verified date of birth were offered to all secondary school pupils in Angus, Glasgow, Argyll and Bute and Edinburgh. Take-up of the card was between 80 and 90% and the young people themselves requested that the proof of age element be maintained and accredited. A full roll-out of the card to all 32 local authority areas is now planned, resulting in some 375,000 cards being issued by the end of 2004. Accreditation for the card is being sought under the British Retail Consortium's Proof of Age Standard Scheme, the outcome of which is expected in the spring.

We have enhanced the strategic planning role of local authorities by giving them responsibility for producing local housing strategies which will lead to a better analysis of the need for the provision and improvement of social housing across Scotland. Delivery against those needs will be assisted by the development programme of Communities Scotland (including resources which may transfer, in due course, to local authorities), the New Housing Partnership and Community Ownership programme and the housing programmes of local authorities operating, from 2004-05, within the prudential framework for capital expenditure. We have also announced that all social housing providers will, in due course, be required to ensure that their housing meets the proposed Scottish Social Housing Standard. This standard will set out the minimum quality standard that social landlords should be expected to provide.

The second, and final, stage of the Policy and Financial Management Review of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has now been completed and I have placed copies of the steering group's report in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26920). I have also written to the Convenors of the Education Culture and Sport Committee and the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee with copies of the report. The report has been posted on the Scottish Executive and SQA's websites. The report includes recommendations, some of which have already been implemented and many of which are currently in the process of implementation, and my officials will monitor progress to ensure that target dates are met.

In June 2002 we offered financial support to 15 local authorities to enable them to take forward school public private partnership (PPP) projects with a total capital investment value of £1.195 billion. Argyll and Bute Council's share of that figure is £80 million. West Dunbartonshire Council have not submitted a bid for financial support for a school PPP project.

In the period 1 December 1999 to 30 November 2001, no ASBOs were granted in Argyll and Bute and nine were granted in West Dunbartonshire. The information cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency area. This is the latest information held centrally.

I have asked Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Communities Scotland is investing £11.405 million in new social rented housing provision within the Dumbarton constituency over the three-year period 2002-03 to 2004-05. This investment will provide 268 new houses within the constituency over this period. Communities Scotland's funding is channelled through four housing associations, and a detailed breakdown of units/spend by association is as follows:Completed/Approved Units and Spend

	2002-03		2003-04		2004-05
	Units	Spend (£ Million)	Units	Spend (£ Million)	Units	Spend (£ Million)
Bellsmyre HA	-	-	30	0.075	-	0.945
Cordale HA	-	2.092	40	0.580	-	0.817
Cube HA	-	0.060	30	0.870	2	0.030
Dunbritton HA	66	1.183	70	0.530	30	2.045
Sub-Total	66	3.335	170	2.055	32	3.837
Additional Spend*		1.103		0.775		0.300
Total		4.438		2.830		4.137

Note:*Includes environmental projects, adaptations and wider role funding supporting/relating to housing developments.

I announced in Parliament on 20 February during the debate on Stage 3 of the Criminal Justice Bill that the Scottish Executive would set up a working group to look at how the justice system deals with people within groups defined by gender, age, disability and sexual orientation. We made this decision following consultation with Robin Harper MSP, and taking into account representations from equality groups. Final decisions on remit and membership must wait until after the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections.In addition, the Executive has recently commissioned a team from Edinburgh University to take forward a research project to examine the functioning of the Appropriate Adult Schemes in Scotland. Appropriate Adult Schemes are designed to assist people with learning disabilities or mental illness in their communications with the police. The findings of the research are expected in December 2003.

I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-33987 on 21 February 2003 and S1W-34192 today. 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.