Seòmar agus comataidhean

Through Historic Scotland, the Scottish Executive is currently consulting on the proposal to abolish the Historic Buildings Council of Scotland as part of the Review of Public Bodies. Historic Scotland is the part of the Scottish Executive which supports Scottish ministers in carrying out their statutory responsibilities for the protection and presentation of Scotland's built heritage. Historic Scotland is directly accountable to Scottish ministers and the checks and balances applied are the same as with any other equivalent Executive agency.

Consultation on individual Public Transport Fund Bids is a matter for the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority (SPTA) as the promoting authority for this project.I understand that to date SPTA has consulted with industry partners, the statutory rail bodies, local authority officers, emergency services and rail user groups in the area. In addition a presentation of the full outline of the proposals was held for these organisations plus Glasgow City Council Planning officials on 3 September 2001.

A new leaflet will be available in November. Eaga are contracted to publicise the programme and will be doing so through a variety of media and by working with the many organisations who have access to the client group to develop referral mechanisms and strategic partnerships. A series of multi-agency seminars are planned over November and December and a series of media events will be undertaken over that time. A major promotional campaign will begin in February 2002.

The working group, which was chaired by Professor Allen Hutchinson, has now presented its report to the Chief Medical Officer in England. Arrangements for publication of the report will be announced in due course.

It is for the Scottish Ambulance Service to consult on proposals for operational changes. I understand that the service, in preparing the case for priority based dispatch, has consulted widely within NHSScotland, including clinicians, patients and patient representatives. The Scottish Executive has now asked the service to develop its proposals to the stage of a full business case. This will include proposals for the implementation of priority-based dispatch, including arrangements for any further consultation which the service proposes to undertake.

We have introduced a number of measures which have simplified the system of student financial support. We have aligned the levels of support in both sectors so that students in comparable circumstances will receive the same rate of maintenance support, which will be subject to a contribution from their parents or spouse above the same income threshold. The process of applying for student support for students in higher education has also been simplified. The Student Awards Agency for Scotland has established an electronic link with the General Register Office which removes the need for most applicants to submit original birth certificates. A system of sample checking income details has reduced the volume of supporting documentation that students and their families have to provide. The agency is also developing a system which will eventually allow student support applications to be made via the internet and to be processed almost automatically. In addition, we are integrating the two existing systems of support for pre-registration nursing students.The student support system in higher education will also become more simple over the next few years as new students increasingly fall within the new arrangements introduced this year and the various pre-existing schemes fall out of use.

The report highlighted six issues to be addressed by the Executive. Progress has been as follows:

Most telecommunications developments have been removed from the scope of the General Permitted Development Order (GDPO) and brought within full planning control. This work has taken priority over reducing the complexity of the GPDO itself.

The pro-forma for collecting development control performance data from local authorities has been revised. Performance against the revised targets will be measured from 1 October 2001.

Work is on-going to revise the Town and Country Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1987. Work on this theme is also continuing as part of more general initiatives to modernise the planning system.

A consultation paper on a new building standards system was issued in July 2001. It recommends that local authorities should make access to the building standards and planning systems as closely linked as possible, and that for certain small, simple projects joint planning/building warrant applications be considered. Responses are requested by 31 October 2001, with final proposals for a new system due next spring.

As far as the issue of trunk roads and development control is concerned, all the action points from the Audit Report have been or are being acted upon.

Planning Advice Note 40: Development Control has been revised and has been well received.

The progress that has been made on these issues has been achieved in the context of the main thrust of the Executive's planning agenda this year which has included the review of strategic planning, a proposed consultation exercise on public involvement in the planning system and the preparation of a policy statement on design and quality.

The Action Plan for Dental Services, which was launched in August 2000, included a number of initiatives aimed at improving children's oral health. As well as a range of initiatives affecting pre-school children, the caries prevention scheme, aimed at young children, and including the fissure sealing of permanent molars, will be launched shortly. The new caries prevention scheme should in due course have a direct impact on dental disease in 12-year-olds by protecting the most vulnerable teeth in the most vulnerable children before the disease begins.

Twenty copies of the October 1999 report of the Conservation Controls Working Group have been deposited in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

The asylum seekers dispersal programme is a matter for the Home Office since immigration and asylum are reserved. To date existing resources available to local authorities, the police, health services and further and higher education have covered the demands on devolved services arising from the asylum seekers dispersal programme. The position is, of course, being kept under review.

In September 2001, I announced £700,000 in additional funding for communities across Glasgow, including asylum seekers and refugees. I also announced the Executive's intention to provide new funding of £1.7 million in the current financial year, and in future financial years, for further education colleges to support a package of new measures which will strengthen the ability of the colleges to provide further education, including language skills. That sum comprises £0.5 million to boost college provision specifically for asylum seekers.

The package of measures will include the waiving of the residence and settlement criteria which, until now, have governed the ability of a college to claim funding and to reclaim the cost of waived fees; the provision of funding to allow colleges to provide books and support with travel, and a new discretion relating to asylum seekers which will allow colleges to approve continued studies beyond the level of basic courses.

The decision of the Scottish Executive to provide £1.7 million in extra resources will ensure that existing budgets can continue to be used for their original purpose without detriment to Scottish students.