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The National Guidelines on English Language 5-14 recommend that schools should provide structured and stimulating opportunities to use language with increasing precision in contexts appropriate to the needs of individuals and the world in which they live.

In the later stages of secondary education, arrangements documents for National Qualifications courses in English emphasise the need to develop oral communication skills through, for example, presenting information and opinions and discussion of issues and texts.

Debating is one of a number of ways of providing such opportunities. Ultimately, it is for local authorities and schools to decide on how to best meet the needs of their pupils.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:

Working in close partnership with its key stakeholders, including local authorities, RSLs and other agencies, Communities Scotland bases its investment decisions on a combination of assessments in respect of the need for new housing supply, replacing poor quality housing stock and making provision for housing for particular needs.  There is no single measure which encompasses the demand from these separate pressures.

The following table sets out the total number of housing approvals issued by Communities Scotland since 2001-02 until 2003-04, although it should be noted that Communities Scotland came into being in November 2001.

	Approvals 2001-02 to 2003-04
Aberdeen City	457
Aberdeenshire	723
Angus	299
Argyll and Bute	238
Clackmannanshire	105
Dumfries and Galloway	348
Dundee City	759
East Ayrshire	76
East Dunbartonshire	27
East Lothian	197
East Renfrewshire	79
City Of Edinburgh	1,112
Falkirk	82
Fife	698
Glasgow City	4,600
Highland	696
Inverclyde	447
Midlothian	60
Moray	106
North Ayrshire	276
North Lanarkshire	941
Orkney Islands	195
Perth and Kinross	482
Renfrewshire	898
Scottish Borders	198
Shetland Islands	85
South Ayrshire	235
South Lanarkshire	956
Stirling	208
West Dunbartonshire	442
West Lothian	260
Western Isles	102
Scotland	16,387

The following table presents the number and proportions of persons living in low income in Scotland in each of the last five years. Estimates are available at Scotland level only, not by local authority area.

Proportion and Number of Individuals in Low Income Households, below 60% of GB Median Income, Scotland Thousands

Year	Absolute	Relative
Before Housing Costs	After Housing Costs	Before Housing Costs	After Housing Costs
%	Numbers	%	Numbers	%	Numbers	%	Numbers
1998-99	17	870	21	1,070	19	940	23	1,150
1999-2000	15	770	19	950	18	920	22	1,110
2000-01	15	740	18	880	19	960	24	1,190
2001-02	11	540	13	650	18	890	21	1,070
2002-03	12	580	14	690	19	960	22	1,100

The key low-income results, above, are for 60% of both the relative and absolute median thresholds. Estimates on the full range of income thresholds and explanation of how these estimates are calculated are published in Households Below Average Income, 1994-95 – 2002-03, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 32212).

The relative low income measure compares against the median in the same year. The absolute measure compares against the median in the baseline year of 1996-97. Both areas are uprated to remove the effects of inflation.

The figures are estimates based on a sample survey and are therefore subject to sampling variation. As such, small percentage changes are not significant when considered on a year-on-year basis; identification of trends should be based on several years of data.

Statistics on the number of people employed in agriculture in each of the last five years are published in the Abstract of Scottish Agricultural Statistics 1982 to 2003. This report is available on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00317-00.asp.

Information on the prevalence of adult information in Scotland by NHS board for the last five years is not centrally available. The latest source of this information is from the 1998 Scottish Health Survey and is shown in the following table.

Percentage and Number of Persons Aged 16-64 Years who are Obese

Health Board	% who are Obese, 1998	Estimated Population who are Obese, 1998	Percentage Difference 1998 to 19951
Scotland	19.8	653,277	17.8
Argyll and Clyde	22.8	62,452	42.1
Ayrshire and Arran	21.7	51,252	30.1
Borders	17.7	11,642	-5.5
Dumfries and Galloway	19.5	17,979	22.0
Fife	20.2	44,756	24.4
Forth Valley	17.5	31,547	3.0
Grampian	18.6	64,690	6.6
Greater Glasgow	18.6	104,856	18.4
Highland and Islands	21.1	37,292	9.6
Lanarkshire	22.3	81,025	10.7
Lothian	19.0	97,044	35.2
Tayside	19.4	48,466	7.7

Note: 1. The percentage difference was determined by calculating the change in the percentage obese between 1995 and 1998.

Information for all NHS boards in Scotland is currently not available.

The minimum amount of physical activity required for health in children is one hour a day of moderate activity on five or more days a week. In Scotland, 73% of boys and 60% of girls meet this minimum requirement.

The minimum amount of physical activity required for health is 30 minutes a day of moderate activity on five or more days a week. In Scotland, 41% of men and 28% of women meet this minimum requirement.

This information comes from the International Passenger Survey, but statistics on the number of visitors to Scotland from the European Union’s accession states in each of the last two years is not available. From the latest information that is available from the Survey, the number of visitors from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in 2002 totalled 4,369, 4,487 and 14,601 respectively. Visitors from the Czech Republic and Hungary both represented 0.3% of the total number of overseas tourists to Scotland in 2002, while visitors from Poland represented 0.9% of the total.

The following tables show the number of permanent full time equivalent staff employed in the fisheries section of the Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by pay band and area of responsibility.

Table A

Permanent Staff by Band as at 1 April 2002

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Fisheries Group	52.4	13.0	27.4	9.0	3.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Freshwater	19.9	3.5	11.4	4.0	1.0
Sea Fisheries	30.5	8.5	16.0	5.0	1.0

 

Table B

Permanent staff by band as at 1 April 2003

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Fisheries Group	50.8	13.5	26.3	8.0	3.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Freshwater	22.3	5.0	12.3	4.0	1.0
Sea Fisheries	26.5	7.5	14.0	4.0	1.0

 

Table C

Permanent Staff by Band as at 1 April 2004

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Fisheries Group	55.1	15.0	28.1	10.0	2.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Freshwater	21.6	5.5	11.1	5.0	0
Sea Fisheries	31.5	8.5	17.0	5.0	1.0