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The Adoption Policy Review Group was set up in 2001 to look at adoption practice and law in Scotland. The first report was published in 2003 and looked at practice issues; the second report was published in 2005 and dealt with the legal framework. The Review Group identified a number of issues which needed to be addressed to ensure that the adoption process was timely and efficient in order to meet the needs of the children involved.

The recommendations of the second report by the Adoption Policy Review Group led to the development of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act). The 2007 Act, and associated regulations, makes provision for the process of assessing and approving prospective adopters and assessing children as suitable for adoption. It creates new court rules governing the processes for adoption and the new Permanence Order. The new legislation is designed to minimise any delays in the process and ensure that safe, stable and secure placements are found for children who can no longer live with their natural parents. The 2007 Act will come into force on 28 September 2009.

Alongside the 2007 Act the Scottish Government is supporting the implementation with guidance and training which has been delivered by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network to almost 1,000 practitioners and others, such as Children''s Hearing members and local government solicitors. The guidance will provide all those working with the new legislation the necessary tools and good practice to ensure that the system works effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of children.

The following table shows (for charges reported in each financial year) the number of charges which resulted in a conviction. A number of charges are still subject of on-going court proceedings and these are included in the table.

Charges: Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005^1,2

Charge Outcome	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	Total
Total Charges Prosecuted	20	23	25	21	89
Proceedings still on-going	0	0	0	4	4
Convicted	14	19	22	15	70

Notes:

1. The information for this question has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The table shows the position recorded as at 10 September 2009.

We do not hold information centrally on the timescales involved in the issuing of adoption orders.

The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act), which will come into force on 28 September 2009, requires a child, placed by an adoption agency, to live with a prospective adopter for 13 weeks prior to an adoption order being granted. New court rules have been developed as part of the implementation of the 2007 Act which govern the processes in court for the hearing and disposal of applications for adoption or the new Permanence Order. These court rules will give a framework for the timescales involved from the time a petition for an adoption order is lodged with the court to the point the application is disposed.

The Scottish Government has not made such an assessment. However, we are aware of a resurgence of interest worldwide in developing the Stirling engine for a diverse range of energy applications. The Scottish Government and the enterprise agencies would welcome investigation of the potential role of the Stirling engine in technologies which could help achieve our vision for a sustainable, low carbon society.

The Scottish Government has made no formal assessment of the potential use of light emitting diode (LED) lighting as an alternative to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), although current industry reports indicate that compared with CFLs, LEDs are a very energy efficient lighting technology, even if the quality of light can be poorer. We have however ensured that a minimum standard for the energy efficiency of lighting will be met whenever building owners elect to do new building work through Scottish building regulations. Both LED and compact fluorescents can be used to achieve compliance.

We will continue to work closely with our colleagues at Westminster over the implementation in the UK of the European Ecodesign of Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) which has already seen the phasing out of inefficient incandescent lighting.

We are also keenly awaiting the results of the LED field trials being carried out by the Energy Saving Trust and funded by DEFRA''s Environmental Transformation Fund.

Competition policy is a reserved matter. Scottish Government officials have been in discussion with officials of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about this matter. The UK Government has made several representations to the European Commission about the importance of an open and competitive after-sales and repair market for motor vehicles and specifically has expressed concerns about access to information, particularly technical information, and parts for the independent aftermarket. The UK and other EU member states therefore expect that the European Commission will retain key elements from the existing Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation.

A person with moderate deuteranomalous trichromacy would be classified as having anomalous trichromacy under the eyesight standards determined by the Scottish ministers, in accordance with section 9 of the Police (Scotland) Regulations 2004. They would, therefore, be eligible for consideration of appointment to a police force and may be subject to an acceptable coping strategy.

The Scottish Government takes advice on the health effects of pollutants from the relevant agencies and the independent expert committees which have been established by the UK Governments for this purpose.

For these concerns, the relevant advisory committees include the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment and the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP).

The results of their various considerations of the health effects of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can be found on their respective websites. This includes a COMEAP report from 2004, Guidance on the Effects on Health of Indoor Air Pollutants.

The World Health Organization expects to publish guidelines for indoor air quality by the end of 2009 (http://www.euro.who.int/air/activities/20070510_2) and the Scottish Government will consider how to address its recommendations.

The Scottish Government does not issue specific guidance to NHS boards on the issue. Advice for agencies providing services for people with respiratory problems would depend on specific circumstances.

Social security benefits are a reserved matter for which the Department of Work and Pensions has responsibility. I understand that for claims between which there is a gap of less than 12 weeks there is a process called rapid reclaim in place which minimises the delays associated with a return to jobseeker''s allowance. Given the foregoing, there are no current plans to make the representations suggested.