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Combating drug misuse, and associated crime, is a police priority. Over the next three years, funding for the Scottish Police Service will increase significantly, with grant aided expenditure for Grampian Police up by £16.7 million (or 23%) to £89.1 million compared with 2002-03. And funding for the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, which has a base in the north east and which works closely with Scottish Police Forces and other UK Law enforcement agencies, has also increased. This has led to significant increases over the past few years in drug seizures. And we have set even tougher national targets for the future. The work of law enforcement agencies will be backed by a range of other measures. These include, for example, Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, which aim to reduce acquisitive crimes committed to fund drug misuse as well as the level of drug misuse itself. These orders have been available to courts in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire since December 2001.

At 31 December 1997, 38 fishing vessels regarded as being wholly or partly owned or controlled by foreign interests were based in Scotland. The combined tonnage of these vessels was 10,526 Gross Tonnes (GT) and engine power totalled 33,709 kWs.As at 31 December 2002, 33 such vessels were based in Scotland, with a total tonnage of 11,120 GT and engine power of 33,056 kWs.

I announced on 28 February that the current 20-day standstill will be reduced to 13 days as soon as the necessary legislative change can be effected.

The procurator fiscal has a duty to enquire into all sudden, suspicious, accidental, unexpected and unexplained deaths but there is no requirement to report or investigate every death where alcoholism or alcohol intoxication is a contributory cause. It is likely that many such deaths are not reported to the procurator fiscal.In relation to the deaths that are reported to the procurator fiscal, current Crown Office information systems do not record cause of death in a way that allows statistical information of the kind sought to be extracted.

These figures are not held centrally. Research from the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow estimates that between 40,000 and 60,000 children in Scotland are affected by parental drug misuse. These figures are contained in Getting Our Priorities Right - Good Practice Guidance for working with Children And Families affected by Substance Misuse, published by the Executive on 26 February 2003.

The care and treatment of persons with hepatitis C is primarily a matter for NHS boards, based on their assessment of local needs. The Executive has, however, set in train a range of measures to help address the implications of hepatitis C, including: making available some £8.1 million each year to boards in Scotland to assist their activities to prevent bloodborne viruses, including hepatitis C;providing funding of up to £70,000 in each of the next three years to the British Liver Trust and Mainliners to set up a Scottish Hepatitis C Resource Centre, which will act as a central source of information and advice for those affected by hepatitis C, andfacilitating the development of regional Managed Clinical Networks for the treatment of persons with hepatitis C.

The council tax levels of each local authority since 1997, showing year-on-year percentage increases to 2003 are shown in the following tables:Band D Council Tax, Scotland Average and by Local Authority

	Actual (£)
	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	783	827	849	886	929	971	1,009
Aberdeen City	712	794	824	873	934	981	1,020
Aberdeenshire	643	695	719	777	855	919	966
Angus	679	709	734	771	821	881	933
Argyll and Bute	801	881	881	938	984	1,009	1,034
Clackmannanshire	753	831	872	913	951	978	995
Dumfries and Galloway	714	731	766	817	857	899	931
Dundee City	920	990	1,034	1,056	1,046	1,079	1,089
East Ayrshire	779	819	849	878	922	967	1,014
East Dunbartonshire	771	790	830	830	872	915	966
East Lothian	724	760	789	858	909	955	993
East Renfrewshire	682	729	765	810	859	910	955
Edinburgh, City of	837	867	889	915	960	1,001	1,041
Eilean Siar	599	656	689	724	765	815	867
Falkirk	680	699	719	757	813	863	906
Fife	747	771	809	849	891	935	981
Glasgow City	982	1,074	1,074	1,094	1,120	1,141	1,163
Highland	719	776	799	839	889	939	989
Inverclyde	831	863	888	933	1,012	1,062	1,089
Midlothian	858	892	936	963	1,001	1,036	1,072
Moray	652	699	724	786	825	865	907
North Ayrshire	718	751	788	827	877	927	977
North Lanarkshire	787	812	844	876	907	939	972
Orkney Islands	515	595	624	690	754	824	900
Perth and Kinross	732	732	758	795	875	936	983
Renfrewshire	783	783	783	846	896	941	988
Scottish Borders	612	639	670	725	785	864	935
Shetland Islands	486	558	621	684	747	810	873
South Ayrshire	765	792	792	832	874	918	964
South Lanarkshire	793	859	880	901	924	947	971
Stirling	776	782	819	900	954	1,011	1,062
West Dunbartonshire	978	1,011	981	999	1,024	1,050	1,070
West Lothian	792	829	858	888	919	951	984

Source: As reported by local authorities in SE CTAS returns for 1996-97 to 2002-03, COSLA 2003-04.Band D Council Tax, Scotland Average and by Local AuthorityYear-on-Year Increase

	Percentage Increase from Previous Year						Cumulative Increase from 1997-98 to 2000-04
	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Scotland	5.5%	2.7%	4.4%	4.9%	4.5%	3.9%	28.8%
Aberdeen City	11.5%	3.7%	6.1%	6.9%	5.0%	4.0%	43.2%
Aberdeenshire	8.1%	3.5%	8.1%	10.0%	7.5%	5.1%	50.2%
Angus	4.4%	3.5%	5.0%	6.5%	7.3%	5.9%	37.4%
Argyll and Bute	10.0%	0.0%	6.5%	4.9%	2.5%	2.5%	29.1%
Clackmannanshire	10.4%	4.9%	4.7%	4.2%	2.8%	1.7%	32.1%
Dumfries and Galloway	2.4%	4.8%	6.7%	4.9%	4.9%	3.6%	30.4%
Dundee City	7.6%	4.4%	2.1%	-0.9%	3.2%	0.9%	18.4%
East Ayrshire	5.1%	3.6%	3.5%	4.9%	4.9%	4.9%	30.2%
East Dunbartonshire	2.5%	5.1%	0.0%	5.0%	5.0%	5.6%	25.3%
East Lothian	5.0%	3.8%	8.7%	6.0%	5.0%	4.0%	37.2%
East Renfrewshire	6.9%	4.9%	5.9%	6.0%	5.9%	4.9%	40.0%
Edinburgh, City of	3.6%	2.5%	2.9%	4.9%	4.3%	4.0%	24.4%
Eilean Siar	9.5%	5.0%	5.1%	5.7%	6.5%	6.4%	44.7%
Falkirk	2.8%	2.9%	5.3%	7.4%	6.2%	5.0%	33.2%
Fife	3.2%	4.9%	4.9%	4.9%	4.9%	4.9%	31.3%
Glasgow City	9.4%	0.0%	1.9%	2.4%	1.9%	1.9%	18.4%
Highland	8.0%	2.9%	5.0%	6.0%	5.6%	5.3%	37.6%
Inverclyde	3.9%	2.9%	5.1%	8.5%	4.9%	2.5%	31.0%
Midlothian	4.0%	4.9%	2.9%	3.9%	3.5%	3.5%	24.9%
Moray	7.2%	3.6%	8.6%	4.9%	4.9%	4.9%	39.2%
North Ayrshire	4.6%	4.9%	4.9%	6.0%	5.7%	5.4%	36.1%
North Lanarkshire	3.2%	3.9%	3.8%	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%	23.5%
Orkney Islands	15.5%	4.9%	10.6%	9.3%	9.3%	9.2%	74.8%
Perth and Kinross	0.0%	3.6%	4.9%	10.1%	7.0%	5.0%	34.3%
Renfrewshire	0.0%	0.0%	8.0%	5.9%	5.0%	5.0%	26.2%
Scottish Borders	4.4%	4.9%	8.2%	8.3%	10.1%	8.2%	52.8%
Shetland Islands	14.8%	11.3%	10.1%	9.2%	8.4%	7.8%	79.6%
South Ayrshire	3.5%	0.0%	5.1%	5.0%	5.0%	5.0%	26.0%
South Lanarkshire	8.3%	2.4%	2.4%	2.6%	2.5%	2.5%	22.4%
Stirling	0.8%	4.7%	9.9%	6.0%	6.0%	5.0%	36.9%
West Dunbartonshire	3.4%	-3.0%	1.8%	2.5%	2.5%	1.9%	9.4%
West Lothian	4.7%	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%	24.2%

Source: As reported by local authorities in SE CTAS returns for 1996-97 to 2002-03, COSLA 2003-04.

Local authority rent levels between 1997-98 and 2002-03 are shown in the table. Information regarding percentage increases were provided in the answer to question S1W-30547 on 8 November 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Aberdeen City Council	27.71	33.09	33.06	34.77	36.48	38.27
Aberdeenshire Council	29.65	30.73	31.80	32.62	34.45	36.43
Angus Council	25.12	27.22	28.70	30.58	33.60	35.07
Argyll and Bute Council	35.60	36.41	36.45	37.70	39.39	40.96
Clackmannanshire Council	29.54	30.74	31.56	32.16	34.71	37.36
Dumfries and Galloway Council	32.86	32.96	34.38	35.30	37.14	38.92
Dundee City Council	36.31	37.68	38.65	39.52	40.41	42.16
East Ayrshire Council	26.62	28.34	30.46	34.24	35.48	36.89
East Dunbartonshire Council	31.98	32.78	34.30	36.65	38.09	40.00
East Lothian Council	28.75	29.97	31.74	32.73	34.19	35.22
East Renfrewshire Council	28.32	31.02	32.61	34.84	35.83	38.68
Edinburgh Council, City of	44.19	45.65	45.69	46.02	45.91	47.09
Eilean Siar, Comhairle nan	36.33	37.31	38.28	39.27	41.38	43.02
Falkirk Council	29.47	30.92	32.08	35.40	37.01	39.65
Fife Council	30.09	31.13	32.84	34.04	34.93	37.09
Glasgow City Council	39.93	42.61	44.10	45.71	47.33	48.46
Highland Council	38.83	40.58	41.18	42.46	43.11	44.44
Inverclyde Council	34.55	38.67	40.08	42.22	44.51	46.81
Midlothian Council	25.22	27.44	27.23	28.62	31.29	31.38
Moray Council	28.05	28.70	29.50	30.19	31.12	32.00
North Ayrshire Council	30.42	31.21	31.10	32.79	33.26	34.99
North Lanarkshire Council	31.13	33.07	34.68	37.16	38.78	40.52
Orkney Islands Council	33.70	34.39	34.21	34.54	36.05	37.00
Perth and Kinross Council	28.85	29.97	30.80	31.90	33.27	33.59
Renfrewshire Council	32.28	34.43	35.94	38.60	38.66	42.12
Scottish Borders Council	29.49	30.92	31.71	33.53	34.87	N/A
Shetland Islands Council	36.12	38.99	42.88	45.95	45.97	48.30
South Ayrshire Council	32.80	34.58	34.42	34.70	36.16	37.47
South Lanarkshire Council	35.26	37.47	38.13	39.40	40.18	41.04
Stirling Council	33.47	33.44	34.86	36.42	37.34	38.25
West Dunbartonshire Council	33.23	34.28	34.07	35.74	37.44	38.53
West Lothian Council	31.67	34.18	34.32	37.32	38.62	43.47
Scotland	33.54	35.54	36.84	38.05	39.30	41.02

Figures detailing the number of hepatitis C diagnoses, by year across Scotland from 1991, are published on the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health website - www.show.scot.nhs.uk/scieh/.The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme Report, published in August 2000, estimated that 35,000 people in Scotland could be infected with the hepatitis C virus.

It is certainly the case that a number of white fish licences have been used, and more are expected to be used, to licence incoming pelagic vessels. This will have the effect of reducing licensed white fish capacity and could lead to reductions in white fish fishing effort.It is extremely difficult to track the effects of these and other licence transactions: an exercise to do so would take some time and resources and could only be undertaken at likely disproportionate cost. However, work done previously to inform discussions in the joint industry/Departmental Working Group on fishing vessel licensing suggested that over 1998 and 1999, in licence transactions involving over 10 metre vessels, the average increase in effort of vessels new to the fleet (measured in GT days) was 34%. This was offset to some extent by a 10% drop in the fishing effort of donor licence vessels, following re-licensing.The effects on fishing mortality of such transactions will also depend, amongst other things, on the efficiency of the vessels concerned, including as a result of technological gains. Overall, it seems unlikely that licence transactions have resulted in a real reduction in fishing effort in the white fish sector.