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The table gives information on the number of deaths aged under 35 in Scotland. It also gives figures for the principal causes of death affecting this age group. More detailed data on cause of death may be found in the Annual Report of the Registrar General for Scotland. Each year all MSPs receive a copy of this report. It may also be found on the General Register Office for Scotland website (http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk).

Deaths aged under 35, selected causes, by sex, Scotland
Cause of death	ICD9 code	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
		Males					Females
All causes		1,204	1,223	1,110	1,151	1,146	597	569	515	531	502
of which
Suicide (incl. 'undetermined')	E950-9, E980-9	250	256	282	268	285	60	75	75	72	70
Drug dependence	304	111	125	102	125	147	28	30	20	27	31
Motor vehicle traffic accidents	E810-819	157	144	154	133	121	57	39	41	43	38
Cancer	140-208	70	75	63	72	78	69	86	66	62	63
Perinatal conditions	760-779	91	103	82	98	73	87	76	58	67	53
Congenital anomalies	740-759	80	76	66	71	59	64	63	59	60	44
Homicide	E960-969	48	51	35	42	49	11	22	7	9	10
Ischaemic heart disease	410-414	16	14	19	17	16	9	5	4	5	6
Cerebrovascular disease	430-438	16	11	7	16	13	15	12	7	9	11

The Scottish Executive and Her Majesty's Government are frequently in touch to discuss a wide range of issues including taxation. Taxation remains reserved to the Westminster Parliament. The Scottish Executive takes full account of representations made to it on such issues and continues to liase with the relevant Whitehall Departments to ensure that Scottish interests are taken fully into account.

The following table details the percentage of children living in households with net equivalised income in the lowest quintile for the years 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 both before and after housing costs.Percentage of Children in the lowest Income Quintile¹, Scotland 1996-97 - 1998-99

	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
Before Housing Costs	31%	31%	28%
After Housing Costs	27%	26%	27%

Source: DSS Households Below Average Income.Notes:1 Income is net equivalised household income; equivalisation takes account of the number of individuals living in the household.2 Quintiles are based on the GB distribution of income.3 Estimates are based on sample counts, and are therefore subject to sampling variability.4 Caution should be exercised in drawing conclusions about changes over time due to the small sample sizes in Scotland.

These matters fall within the remit of the current inquiry by the Local Government Committee into local government finance. We will give careful consideration to any recommendation the committee makes about them.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government, which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland, it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.The New Deal for Young People provides help to all those aged 18-24 who have been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for six months or more to find work and improve their prospects of remaining in sustained employment. Young homeless jobseekers may be given early entry to the New Deal. The Executive is also assisting young homeless people through the New Futures Fund which has provided funding for 29 different homeless projects across the country. Through intensive intervention and support these projects help people overcome barriers of confidence and motivation and assist them to develop employability and work skills.

Per capita expenditure on NHSScotland already exceeds the equivalent per capita expenditure on the NHS in Northern Ireland. In 1999-2000 Scotland spent £966 per person on health services compared to £874 per person in Northern Ireland.

According to the Labour Force Survey run by the Office for National Statistics, in summer 1997 the employment rate for working aged men in Glasgow was 62.0%. This had risen by 3.2 percentage points to 65.2% in summer 2000. Over the same three years, the employment rate in Scotland amongst working aged men increased by 2.2 percentage points from 75.2 to 77.4%.Through its membership of the Glasgow Alliance, the Executive is working in partnership with all of the relevant authorities and agencies to address this issue in the city. The alliance's target is to provide 15,000 additional job placements for Glaswegians by 2003.

All information on cause of death collected when a death is registered is held on public registers. The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) collates this information and codes the cause of death data using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). There is not at present a specific ICD code for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It is therefore not possible to identify the numbers of deaths to which MRSA may have contributed.

As I made clear in my statement which was issued on 18 January 2001, a further statement on the review will be made in May.

The water quality of the River Clyde has been improving year on year since the 1970s. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) continuously monitors river water quality and sets discharge limits into watercourses. There is a multi-million pound programme of improvements to combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sewage treatment works throughout the Clyde and its tributaries, and SEPA is confident of continued improvements in water quality.