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Local authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers and duties are set out in statute. They are responsible for ensuring that they fulfil their statutory obligations, including those under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987.

The Scottish Executive provides support to the engineering sector through a wide variety of general schemes and programmes for industry, administered through the Executive and the Enterprise Network. These support investment and job creation by companies in new projects. Support is also provided for innovation in developing new products and processes. I also refer Mr Gibson to S1W-4864 in the Official Report of 2 March, which announced the publication of Created in Scotland - the Way Forward for Scottish Manufacturing in the 21^st Century. This outlines our strong commitment to support the manufacturing sector through a variety of initiatives.

The guideline system reflects each council's historic spending pattern which is the reason for the variation between guideline and Grant Aided Expenditure and loan and leasing charge support. The guideline system is designed to promote gradual convergence by scaling back the annual guideline increases of those councils that spend above their GAE levels.

We will not be able to provide this information until we receive the returns from local authorities which give details of their budget estimates for 2000-01.

The Scottish Executive is committed to taking measures to ensure that the risk posed to communities from convicted paedophiles is minimised.

A number of steps have already been taken. Notably, the Sex Offenders Act 1997 requires certain sex offenders to register with the police, who, with other agencies, will take steps to assess and manage the risk posed. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 allows the police to apply for Sex Offender Orders against certain sex offenders whose behaviour gives cause for concern that the public is at risk of serious harm. The Act also allows courts to impose an additional period of supervision by social workers after release from prison on licence when it is necessary to protect the public from serious harm.

The 1997 report by the Chief Inspector of Social Work A Commitment to Protect contained proposals for more effective practice in the monitoring and the supervision of sex offenders. The wide ranging recommendations of the report are being taken forward by the Expert Panel on Sex Offending under the Chairmanship of Lady Cosgrove which is due to report in 2001.

Local Authorities who are responsible for statutory supervision of sex offenders in the community provide criminal justice social work services which are set firmly in the context of enhancing community safety and minimising the risk from offenders, including sex offenders. They work to National Objectives and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System in delivering these services.

Local authority initiatives such as the Fife Council community protection team Change Programme and the Tay Project are aimed at addressing the offending behaviour of adult sex offenders. The Scottish Prison Service provides programmes to tackle sex offending behaviour.

There are two sources of estimates of the number of dwellings below tolerable standard (BTS) in Scotland. The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a national estimate (generally every five years) - the latest of which, for 1996, gave an estimate of 27,000 BTS dwellings in Scotland. The SHCS estimate cannot be broken down by local authority area; however local authorities themselves produce annual estimates of the number of BTS dwellings in their areas - although the amalgamation of these estimates for 1996 was very different, at 84,000, from the SHCS estimate for that year.

The following table presents local authorities' estimates of the number of below tolerable standard (BTS) dwellings in the private sector in their areas in each of the last four years. Some authorities are not able to provide a full tenure breakdown of their BTS dwelling estimate; the table below, therefore, also gives each authority's estimate of the total number of BTS dwellings in their area and the number for which the tenure was not known. Information on the total number of private sector dwellings in each local authority in these years is not held centrally.

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF DWELLINGS BELLOW THE TOLERABLE STANDARD:
(PRIVATE SECTOR) 1996 TO 1999
	1996			1997				1998			1999
Local	Private	Tenure	Total	Private	Tenure	Total		Private	Tenure	Total	Private	Tenure	Total
Authority	Sector	not known	BTS	Sector	not known	BTS		Sector	not known	BTS	Sector	not known	BTS
Scotland	40,797	25,381	84,048	57,469	4,552	78,264		50,351	7,328	73,575	52,816	2,478	69,792
Aberdeen City	2,118	-	2,348	2,018	-	2,237		2,005	-	2,220	1,764	-	1,971
Aberdeenshire	1,602	863	2,467	1,615	821	2,438		-	-	2,712	-	-	2,650
Angus	2,179	-	2,179	-	618	660		-	618	660	-	631	673
Argyll & Bute	6,401	-	7,142	6,285	-	6,887		6,221	-	6,699	6,124	-	6,552
Clackmannanshire	537	-	821	472	-	623		356	-	507	165	-	248
Dumfries & Galloway	880	-	880	880	-	880		-	458	458	443	-	443
Dundee City	475	-	475	445	-	445		414	-	414	365	-	365
East Ayrshire	497	-	629	393	-	393		360	-	360	336	-	336
East Dunbartonshire	30	-	30	31	-	31		21	-	21	17	-	17
East Lothian	1,126	-	1,134	1,081	-	1,084		1,081	-	1,081	-	1,076	1,076
East Renfrewshire	60	-	108	54	-	54		52	-	102	44	-	62
Edinburgh, City of	5,065	-	7,286	4,765	-	6,845		4,595	-	6,493	4,482	-	6,232
Eilean Siar	2,959	-	2,959	2,859	-	2,859		-	2,815	2,815	2,786	-	2,786
Falkirk	217	-	223	213	-	219		213	-	219	213	-	219
Fife	1,156	-	1,156	993	-	993		930	-	930	811	-	811
Glasgow City	-	15,303	25,428	14,513	-	23,642		14,513	-	23,642	13,791	-	21,913
Highland	2,011	3,088	5,392	4,954	-	5,222		3,704	1,395	5,337	4,953	-	5,174
Inverclyde	2,869	-	2,999	2,718	-	2,813		2,675	-	2,880	2,675	-	2,880
Midlothian	5	-	5	2	-	2		2	-	2	9	-	9
Moray	426	255	681	414	268	682		414	277	691	633	-	635
North Ayrshire	-	2,981	2,981	2,726	-	2,726		2,600	-	2,600	2,548	-	2,548
North Lanarkshire	665	-	665	634	-	655		763	-	795	706	-	730
Orkney	-	1,509	1,509	-	1,509	1,509		-	980	1,026	976	-	1,026
Perth & Kinross	2,015	-	2,038	1,870	-	1,888		1,854	-	1,854	1,784	-	1,784
Renfrewshire	2,850	-	6,306	2,850	-	6,306		1,009	-	1,051	951	-	980
Scottish Borders, The	2,432	-	2,518	2,295	-	2,361		4,178	-	4,528	3,878	-	4,203
Shetland	-	515	515	-	469	469		-	446	446	-	432	432
South Ayrshire	394	-	394	421	-	421		449	-	449	457	-	457
South Lanarkshire	1,244	320	1,645	1,405	320	1,806		1,152	320	1,553	1,146	320	1,547
Stirling	559	-	559	538	-	538		536	-	536	535	-	535
West Dunbartonshire	-	528	528	-	528	528		229	-	446	199	-	450
West Lothian	25	19	48	25	19	48		25	19	48	25	19	48

Comparisons of these estimates between local authorities and over time need to be made with considerable care. Councils use a wide range of data sources and methods to derive them. For most councils sample survey evidence is combined with information from administrative sources; the conduct and timing of the most recent surveys and the types of administrative sources used vary significantly between councils.

The Scottish Executive has commissioned independent research into the methods used locally (by authorities) and nationally (in the SHCS) to compile estimates of the number of BTS dwellings. The aim of the research is to identify key elements of a methodology which would provide reliable and comparable estimates at both local and national level. A report of this research will be published later in the year.

I have asked my officials to investigate the reasons for the apparent increase in unemployment among school leavers in Glasgow and I will write to you in due course.I can, however, reassure you that the Scottish Executive has a range of measures in place to assist young people who are unemployed in Glasgow.

Grant aided expenditure for school transport was allocated in 1999-00 on the basis of school age population adjusted by a secondary indicator of rural settlement pattern. For 2000-01 COSLA agreed the use of a new secondary indicator, population dispersion as a more plausible measure of councils' relative school transport costs, which has resulted in a different distribution. "Damping" arrangements have been introduced to give extra support to councils facing a reduction in GAE as a result of the change in indicator.

Indicators used for GAE distribution are set out in the Grant Aided Expenditure 2000-01 Green Book, copies of which are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

The GAE allowances for individual services are not spending targets or limits, but contribute towards the calculation of councils' total grant allocations. The factors determining that calculation in respect of school transport did not change between 1999-2000 and 2000-01. In 2000-01 Government Supported Expenditure will rise by 3.7% to £6,746 million. Within that, provision for education will increase by 4.3%. It is a matter for local authorities to determine their spending priorities and allocate resources accordingly.