Seòmar agus comataidhean

Assistance to owners of private sector housing to make their houses suitable for the needs of disabled occupants is given by local authorities through housing improvement grants and from community care budgets. It is for local authorities to determine the priority given to expenditure on this type of assistance. The Scottish Executive is not aware of the detailed priorities which local authorities attach to relevant assistance in the owner-occupied and private rented sectors.

The Community Planning Task Force has 22 members covering a range of key community planning partners, including private sector and voluntary sector interests. Full membership of the task force is listed in the table. Further details of the work of the Task Force can be accessed at: www.communityplanning.org.uk.

Community Planning Task Force Membership
Willie Rae (Chair)	Chief Constable, Strathclyde Police
Samantha Barber	Chief Executive of Scottish Business in the Community
Dr Stuart Black	Director of Strengthening Communities, Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Ann Clark	Head of Policy, Highland Council
Tom Divers	Chief Executive, NHS Greater Glasgow
Leslie Evans	Head of Local Government Division, Scottish Executive
David Fletcher	Partnership Manager, Greater Easterhouse Partnership
Caroline Gardner	Deputy Auditor General, Audit Scotland
Jon Harris	Director of Corporate Strategy, COSLA
Professor Chris Huxham	Strathclyde University Graduate Business School
Lynne Main	Voluntary Worker, Wester Hailes Representative Council
Stephen Maxwell	Assistant Director of Development, Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations
Ros Micklem	Principal of Cardonald College
Stuart Nichol	Strategic Manager, Fife Council
Douglas Paterson	Chief Executive, Aberdeen City Council
David Pigott	Chief Executive, NHS Lanarkshire
Selma Rahman	Project Co-ordinator, Children in Scotland
Martyn Rendle	Business Director, Scottish Homes
Douglas Sinclair	Chief Executive, Fife Council
Bill Spiers	General Secretary, STUC
John Thomson	Director of Strategy, Scottish Natural Heritage
Charles Woods	Senior Director, Scottish Enterprise

The voluntary sector has an important role in service delivery. It is already a major provider and innovator across many areas of activity. The voluntary sector is in close touch with many parts of Scottish society and well placed to identify and respond to changing needs.

The Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive is funded by the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority. The Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority receives both revenue and capital support from both central and local government. The Scottish Executive does not hold information on the total financial support provided to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority.

I hope to do so shortly.

The Crown Office and Prosecutor Fiscal Service is the sole prosecution authority in Scotland. Prosecutions under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 are subject to the same criteria as any other alleged contravention of the criminal law. Procurators Fiscal must be satisfied that there is sufficient admissible and reliable evidence before raising proceedings. The maximum penalties for offences under the licensing laws are prescribed by statute. Sentencing within these parameters is solely a matter for the consideration and discretion of the Judiciary and the Executive cannot intervene.

Realising the benefits of stroke unit care will be a central element of the CHD/Stroke strategy which the Executive will publish in the autumn. The evidence for their effectiveness is also integral to the standards for stroke care currently being developed by the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland. Both the strategy and the standards will promote implementation of the recommendation in Adding Life to Years, the report of the Chief Medical Officer's Expert Group on the Healthcare of Older People which we published in January of this year, that stroke patients admitted to hospital should be managed in a stroke unit.

There is good evidence that care in specialised stroke units reduces the number of deaths, leads to fewer admissions to long-term care and increases the number of patients able to return home to independent living.

Significant amounts of Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) block grant funding to universities are being used to support teaching and research staff who are working in the field of nanotechnology. Most of Scotland's universities already have departments which are engaged in nanotechnology research - typically these include engineering and life sciences departments. In addition, since 1997, SHEFC has awarded nine Research Development Grants into nanotechnology related areas, totaling over £8 million. SHEFC has also funded three Joint Research Equipment Grants in nanotechnology related areas. In many cases this funding has underpinned additional support from the UK Research Councils, European Framework programmes and directly from industry.Our universities are also able to access existing support vehicles - such as the Proof of Concept Fund - to assist in the commercialisation of research in this area.

It is not possible to make this forecast. The nature of renewable developments, and their timings, are matters for industry to determine, both within Scotland and the EU. Our policy is to increase the overall proportion of electricity generated in Scotland from renewable sources through use of a range of technologies, not only wind. Our current target is 18% by 2010. On 23 August, I launched a consultation document that seeks views on whether we can achieve a position whereby as much as 40% of our electricity can be generated from renewable sources by 2020.