Chamber and committees

Under the present arrangements both capital allocations and the total grant paid to councils are included in the Assigned Budget. The method by which grant is distributed to councils takes account of councils' debt servicing costs through an amount for loan and leasing charges.

Within national accounting, to avoid double counting, the repayment of debt by local authorities is excluded from public expenditure totals. This is consistent with the accounting treatment of local authority borrowing and debt repayment across the United Kingdom. Any change in the capital arrangements, or in their accounting treatment might well lead to a corresponding adjustment to the Assigned Budget.

We are having detailed discussions with CoSLA on what can be done to improve council tax delivery. These involve groups where we have drawn expertise from organisations such as CIPFA, IRRV, SMASO, Audit Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland, Scottish Consumer Council, Poverty Alliance, Money Advice Scotland, Scottish Association of Law Centres and the Scottish Consumer Credit Association.

The Scottish Executive and its agencies will continue to encourage population retention based on employment opportunities through assistance to business and the efforts of Locate in Scotland to attract inward investment to the area. A study was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire, Scottish Homes and Inverclyde Council in November 1999 to assess the links between the housing market, the local economy, and depopulation in Inverclyde. The findings are being considered.

The Scottish Executive and its agencies will continue to encourage population retention based on employment opportunities through assistance to business and the efforts of Locate in Scotland to attract inward investment to the area. The Dundee Partnership, which comprises public, private, academic, voluntary and community bodies, is implementing the "Vision for Dundee" strategy, a central objective of which is the stabilisation of the city's population. Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Dundee City Council and Scottish Homes are also working within the Partnership to address population decline through housing policy.

The Executive is also committed to building the Dundee economy. As an example of this on 18 September the mobile phone company, One 2 One announced that it is to establish a call centre at Dundee Technology Park, which will invest over £13 million into Dundee and create 1,000 jobs by December 2002.

The Chamber Office has prepared the information requested and indicated that it would be happy to make this available to Mr Gibson.

I refer you to the audit of written parliamentary questions lodged in SPICe in response to question S1W-3227.

The Deputy Ministers for Communities and Community Care regularly meet with organisations representing older people to discuss issues of concern. To date council tax has not been raised as an issue.

The average cost of a court hearing to deal with non-payment of a fine in the sheriff court was £35 in 1998-99. Similar information is not readily available in respect of non-payment cases dealt with in the district court. The average fine imposed in Scottish courts was £176 in 1998, the latest year for which data are available. We have commissioned research on implications for the criminal justice system, and hope that the results of this research will be available in the early part of next year.

Greater Glasgow Health Board already receives £8.503 million each year specifically to reduce waiting lists. A further £11.179 million was recently allocated to the health board as its share of the additional £60 million allocated to the NHS in Scotland to tackle waiting times, prepare for winter and reduce the problem of delayed discharge.

On 8 August I announced the allocation of £11 million for cancer imaging equipment: Glasgow's share is £2.573 million. I also announced £5 million for the provision of dedicated MRI scanners at each of Scotland's five specialist cancer centres, including the Beatson Oncology Centre attached to the Western Infirmary, Glasgow. In addition, on 29 August I announced the allocation of a further £7 million for the redesign of services. Each NHS Trust in Scotland will receive £225,000 to reduce waiting, bureaucracy and provide a better, more responsive service for patients.

Sustained improvement can only be achieved by investment underpinned by strategic planning and changes to working practices and service design. I have made it clear to health board and NHS Trust senior management that I expect them to develop strategies to ensure that waiting lists and waiting times are driven down at an early date, and that downward pressure is sustained for the benefit of patients throughout Scotland.

A Scottish Executive co-funded GB survey into mental health of children and adolescents showed approximately 10% with a mental disorder. No significant geographic differences were shown.

The results of the survey are being used to inform future planning of services and areas of research that could further assist in the best organisation of child and adolescent services, screening and support. The Scottish Executive is funding three separate studies into mental health problems amongst school-age children. £225,000 has been awarded for research into adolescent psychiatry outpatient services, adolescent depression in schools and adolescent psychosis. A further 18 projects are under way in NHS Trusts in Scotland on child and adolescent mental health problems.