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The Council confirmed in a letter to its tenants last week that November 2000 was the target date for the ballot.

The Scottish Executive endorses the position taken by successive Governments for many years, that complementary or alternative therapies may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions. Legislation allows practitioners of such therapies to offer their services, subject only to some general restrictions such as those on prescribing and supplying medicines and giving injections. Members of the public are free to use these services privately if they choose, and a GP or hospital clinician may refer a patient for alternative treatment. The GP or hospital clinician would require to be satisfied of the value of the treatment and the competence of the practitioner, and would remain responsible for the patient's medical care. It is also open to Health Boards to provide alternative therapies.Many forms of alternative therapy are already available as NHS treatment. The Scottish Office Department of Health's National Medical Advisory Committee produced, in November 1996, a report on the current activity levels in acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and chiropractic, which included guidelines for Health Boards on making purchasing arrangements for their provision. These guidelines, as the report made clear, might be applied to other forms of alternative therapy. Herbal medicine would come into that category. The guidelines do not, however, require Boards to purchase particular therapies, which is a matter for the Boards, based on assessment of need in their areas.

Sexual health, including the reduction of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, is a priority for the Scottish Executive. The White Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland emphasised the need for a comprehensive approach, which placed sexual values and relationships within a legal and ethical framework. The demonstration project "Healthy Respect", being funded by the Executive, will therefore develop best practice in the promotion of sexual health and the prevention of unwanted teenage pregnancies.An expert working group is reviewing the current HIV prevention strategy in the light of epidemiological trends. The Health Education Board for Scotland, too, has sexual health as a prominent aspect of its work.Schools have a crucial role to play, and tackle sex education within a comprehensive programme of health and social education. Funding is being provided by the Executive to enable the voluntary sector's expertise to be made available to many more schools in Scotland and so promote a more informed and responsible approach to sexual matters on the part of young people.

This would be a matter for decision by Ministers at the time, taking into account advice from the New Housing Partnerships Steering Group on the scope for re-allocating resources to other New Housing Partnerships projects.

Decisions on the disposal of school playing fields are matters for the education authority concerned, subject to the minimum area requirements for the provision of such playing fields set out in regulations. National Planning Policy Guideline 11 provides advice on the land use and planning implications of open space, including school playing fields. By Direction under the town and country planning legislation, the Scottish Ministers must be notified of any planning application which a planning authority is minded to approve which would involve the loss of a playing field where sportscotland, as a statutory consultee, has advised against the proposal.

We have no present plans to review the school starting age.

The information requested is not available in the format requested. Available data are shown in the following tables:

Proportion of Scottish secondary school pupils who were regular smokers by sex and age; 1994 to 1998

Age	1994	1996	1998
Boys
Aged 12	2	5	3
Aged 13	11	8	9
Aged 14	15	21	14
Aged15	20	30	25
Total	11	14	11
Girls
Aged 12	3	4	4
Aged 13	10	10	11
Aged 14	21	21	19
Aged 15	23	30	27
Total	13	14	13

Notes:

1. Regular smoking is defined as smoking at least one cigarette a week.

2. Percentages are rounded to nearest whole figure.Source: Smoking, drinking and drug use among young teenagers in 1998, conducted by the Office for National Statistics on behalf of the Scottish Executive Health Department.

In addition to the range of services provided by the Enterprise Networks, the Scottish Executive is investing over £16 million over this and the next two years in the establishment of the Scottish University for Industry. The Scottish UfI will be a broker, connecting people and businesses who want to improve their skills with the people who can offer them the learning they need, delivered how, where and when is most convenient to them.The Scottish UfI will pay particular attention to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. It will help in directing employers to existing courses and materials and, where there are gaps, commission new learning materials. The Scottish UfI, which we will launch next autumn, will give small businesses a cost-effective and convenient new way to build their skills base. It will make high quality flexible learning opportunities accessible to owner managers and employees at the times and places that suit them best.

The Executive is involved with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and private sector partners, in the development of an e-commerce strategy for Scotland. The strategy will aim to increase awareness of the importance of e-commerce; to support an infrastructure which is e-commerce friendly; to co-ordinate enterprise network activities in order to create a climate where e-commerce may flourish; and to help managers and the workforce to acquire the necessary skill set to undertake e-commerce.

The strategy is expected to be finalised, and an implementation plan drawn up, early next year.Scotland will also benefit from actions being considered by the UK Government as a result of the Ecommerce@its.best.uk report launched by the Prime Minister in September. The Executive will ensure that the Scottish e-commerce strategy takes account of relevant recommendations in the UK report.

It is not possible to estimate future savings if all drugs were written and dispensed generically as it cannot be known with certainty for which drugs a generic equivalent will be available and at what price. In addition in some cases a generic product may be inappropriate for clinical reasons. However, during financial year 1998-99, savings of about £5.8 million could have been made in the FHS drugs bill, if all prescribed items, where a generic form exists, had been dispensed as a generic.