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The information requested is as follows:

1996-97	88
1997-98	103
1998-99	80

In determining its future training requirements the Scottish Ambulance Service continues to have regard to its objective of having a paramedic on every front-line accident and emergency ambulance.

All aspects of training for complementary therapies such as herbal medicine, including the provision of premises and the remuneration of trainers and support staff, are matters for the professional bodies concerned and are generally expected to be self-financing from the fees paid by trainees. The Executive would not be likely to undertake direct sponsorship of a particular therapy.

The cost of installing full central heating in three-apartment local authority flats would be determined by a number of factors including floor space, type of central heating to be installed and the extent to which full or partial central heating already exists in the stock. This information is not held centrally and so no estimate can be made.

None.

The Champions for Change have made themselves available for consultation by councils on an entirely voluntary basis, for which we are very grateful. We leave it to councils themselves to make their own contacts with the Champions, and to determine the role they can play in sharing discussion on how to manage change.

Each council's expenditure guideline figure is calculated on the basis of its increase in Grant-Aided Expenditure and loan charge support. The distribution of GAE, as stated in my reply to Mr Gibson's earlier question (S1W-3398), is based on a formula assessment of councils' relative expenditure needs agreed with CoSLA. Although Glasgow City Council's increase in loan charges support for 2000-01 was above average, its increase in GAE was below average, largely because of the continuing phasing in of revised Social work GAE indicators and the normal redistributive effects on a number of other service assessments within the agreed formula approach. As Glasgow's GAE increase was the most significant component in the calculation of its guideline, this resulted in Glasgow having a correspondingly lower than average guideline increase.

We received the report It Pays to Pay, a joint CoSLA/Scottish Executive paper, on 22 December 1999 and are currently considering its recommendations, including those which refer to community charge debt.

Information on the number of assaults is not held centrally. As part of the recently published Occupational Health and Safety Service strategy for NHSiS staff, employers are required to implement policies based on risk assessment aimed at reducing violent incidents in the workplace. Linked to this Strategy, £0.5 million has been made available to NHSiS employers to introduce new measures to support this initiative. To assist employers to develop policies, Guideline Development Groups have been set up under the NHS in Scotland Partnership Forum to provide guidelines and model policies for use across Scotland on personal safety and harassment.

I would refer Mr Gibson to the reply given to Mr Harding on 13 January in response to question S1W-3488.

The report, It Pays to Pay, is a joint CoSLA/Scottish Executive paper. It was published on 22 December 1999, and we are considering these and other recommendations.