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Information on the number of childminders registered in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 was collected by each local authority and was not held centrally. From 1 April 2002, the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care has had responsibility for registering childminders. Information on the number of childminders currently registered is a matter for the Care Commission.

The total number of children aged three to four in 10 half day sessions of pre-school education a week was 5,683 in 1999-2000 and 12,782 in January 2001. The data collected does not take account of the employment status of the parents.

The Scottish Executive is providing £16.75 million of Childcare Strategy funding in the current year to local authorities to deliver affordable, accessible, good quality childcare, including childminding provision, to meet the local childcare needs of working parents.

There are no immediate plans to increase the training grants to Alcohol Focus Scotland. The Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems has only recently been published and the Executive will give consideration to training grants for Alcohol Focus Scotland as the plan rolls out and priorities are clarified.

The Executive has recently published an analysis of the public consultation on the recommendations in the report of the Scottish Charity Law Review Commission (the McFadden report). Whilst the majority of respondents agreed with the general thrust of the report's recommendations, it is clear that a number of the proposals need some refining if they are to be translated into durable practice. Officials are now approaching the organisations which have agreed to participate in the Charity Law Advisory Forum which I announced on 23 October 2001. The published analysis will provide important context for the forum's work. We will be expecting the forum to provide advice on the practical aspects of implementing the recommendations in the McFadden report to enable ministers to decide how best to proceed. That advice will be key, not only to the analysis of issues and proposals for legislation but also to the eventual successful implementation of reforms. In addition to the responses received to the public consultation on McFadden, the forum will have available to it the outcome of our Social Economy Review and any relevant recommendations arising from the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit's report on charities and not-for-profit organisations.The following organisations have agreed to be represented on the forum: Association of Charity ShopsAssociation of Chief Officers of Voluntary Organisations in ScotlandAssociation of Chief Police Officers in ScotlandBritish Heart FoundationCapability ScotlandCharity CommissionChurch of ScotlandCOSLACouncils for Voluntary Service Scotland Inland Revenue (Charities)Institute of Charity Fundraising ManagersLaw Society of ScotlandRoman Catholic ChurchRoyal Botanic Gardens EdinburghRoyal Society for the Protection of BirdsScottish Charities OfficeScottish Charity Finance Director's GroupScottish Council of Independent SchoolsScottish Credit Union PartnershipScottish Federation of Housing AssociationsVolunteer Development Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24449.

The range of measures is set out in our Diversity Strategy, launched in November 2000. Our efforts in the last year have been concentrated in three main areas: awareness raising within the organisation; diversity proofing personnel processes with the aim of removing unnecessary barriers, and outreach work with under represented groups. With regard to monitoring, we produce regular reports against targets for the Executive's Management Group and for Cabinet Office.

The Executive currently provides the following childcare facilities for its staff:Two workplace nurseries, both in Edinburgh, which currently provide care for 66 children, andThree subsidised holiday play schemes, in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. The schemes were attended by 41 children over the Easter and summer breaks last year.Twenty-seven staff are currently awaiting nursery places.We are currently undertaking a review of our childcare strategy provision to ensure that the childcare support we provide best meets the needs of staff, their families and those of the Executive.

Twenty-four members of staff currently work permanently from home on a full-time basis and nine do so part-time. Information on staff who work from home on an ad hoc basis is not held centrally. However, 370 staff currently have information technology installed which allows them to work from their home computer.

Currently, 0.5% of senior civil service grades within the Executive have identified themselves as coming from an ethnic minority background and 1% have self-declared a disability.