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As announced in the White Paper Smoking Kills, the Executive is providing £8 million over three years for smoking cessation and prevention activities. This supports a range of initiatives including health board cessation services. Other Executive initiatives prior to July 2001 included the launch of the Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places, a review by the Lord Advocate of guidance on the use of children in test purchasing exercises, and support of pilot youth card schemes in Glasgow and Angus. Delivery of health education and promotion activities through Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) includes mass media advertising - for example the successful Blue sticks and Stinx campaigns and Smokeline.We have also made NRT and Zyban available on prescription and targeted a proportion of the Health Improvement Fund to enable a stepping up of smoking cessation and prevention activities.1 August 2001 onwardsThe Executive will continue to provide funding support for smoking cessation services and to HEBS for health education and promotion activities. Specific measures include the recently launched anti-smoking advertising campaign (Alien) targeted at young people, and further development of Smokeline to provide services to pregnant smokers and ethnic minority groups. A smoking cessation resource pack for health professionals, the development of health education and smoking cessation services for school-age children and a campaign to raise awareness of the risks of passive smoking are also in preparation. We will also continue to look at ways to improve enforcement of underage sales of tobacco. We will continue to support the activities of ASH Scotland. The Executive will continue to press the UK Government for the early reintroduction of a UK Bill to ban tobacco advertising and promotion.

The Scottish Executive Accounts will provide this information. Audit Scotland are currently auditing the accounts and they will be laid before Parliament by January 2002.

As explained in the answer to question S1W-17479, actuarial predictions suggest that the Scottish birth rate will remain fairly constant over the next 20 years. Any changes that take place will be small and gradual and are therefore unlikely to have significant effects on economic and social structures.

The table shows the percentage of adults aged between 16-64 years who were regular cigarette smokers in 1995 and 1998. These data are from the Scottish Health Survey, which is carried out periodically and is used as the source for monitoring progress against the smoking reduction target set in Towards a Healthier Scotland. The next Scottish Health Survey is scheduled for 2002 and should be published in 2004.

Year	Males	Females	Total
1995	34%	36%	35%
1998	36%	33%	34%

The table shows the percentage of 12-15 year olds who were regular smokers.

Year	Males	Females	Total
1992	10%	13%	11%
1994	11%	13%	12%
1996	14%	14%	14%
1998	11%	13%	12%
2000	8%	13%	10%

The decision of whether to have a family and how large that family should be is a personal one which, in a free and democratic society, cannot and must not be dictated by the state.

The housing and employment working group report is being completed. The group intends to hold a seminar in the autumn at which the report will be considered.

The Executive will ban tobacco advertising in Scotland as soon as we can do so effectively and comprehensively. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16599.

Registered Social Landlords have a continuing obligation to meet Scottish Homes' Registration Criteria and Performance Standards, which are aimed at protecting their independence and ensuring that they can operate free from inappropriate influence.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17523 on 11 September 2001.