Chamber and committees

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

The SBSA works closely with theOffice of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive (OSSE) on all matters concerningScottish building legislation.

Proposals for the descriptionand characterisation of “public building” will appear in the forthcoming publicconsultation on Articles 7, 8 and 9. This consultation is proposed for May 2006,will have a duration of 12 weeks and will be accessible from the SBSA website www.sbsa.gov.uk.

Officials meet regularly todiscuss the future of the post office network. I have recently metrepresentatives from Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd, on 14 February 2006,to hear about their trials of innovative methods for postal service provision:and Barry Gardiner MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Departmentof Trade and Industry, on 6 March 2006 to discuss a range of issues relating topost offices. No decision has yet been reached across Government on thefuture of the post office network.

The future of the postoffice network beyond 2008 is the subject of on-going consideration acrossGovernment. No decisions have yet been taken and it would be premature tospeculate about what might be done.

None. It is for local authoritiesand schools to consider how and by whom careers advice should be offered to pupils.

The Executive does not hold informationon armed forces recruiting activity by community which would be required in orderto provide the analysis requested.

The following table presentsresults from the Family Resources Survey on the number of pensioner householdswhich have paid more than 10 per cent of their gross income on council taxbetween 1999-2000 to 2004-05.

Table: Estimates of the numberof pensioner households which have paid more than 10 per cent of their grossincome on council tax between 1999-2000 to 2004-05

Thousands

Years	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Number of pensioner households	80	80	70	120	110	110

Source: Family ResourcesSurvey.

Data is not available at localauthority level.

Council tax benefit isdeducted from council tax in calculating the 10 per cent threshold, and is notincluded in gross income.

A pensioner household isdefined as either one pensioner living alone or a couple where at least one isa pensioner and the household does not contain any children.

The figures are estimatesbased on a sample survey and are therefore subject to sampling variation.Identification of trends should be based on several years of data.

The information requested isnot available. This data is available only at Great Britain level.

Latest estimates of thenumber of pensioners in Great Britain who are entitled to Council Tax Benefit, along withPension Credit, Minimum Income Guarantee and Housing Benefit can be found inthe DWP report entitled Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in2003/2004. The publication can be found at:-

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/income_analysis/final0304.pdf.

The Scottish Executiveissues a wide range of policy, strategy, consultation and other documentselectronically, in print and in other formats. No central record is kept of thecosts of issuing these documents for each ministerial portfolio.

Links to strategy, policy,consultation and other documents issued by the Scottish Executive in each yearsince 1999 are available on the Scottish Executive website. Each document isidentified against a policy heading (which may cover the interests of more thanone ministerial portfolio). Details of the Scottish Executive PublicationScheme are also available on the Scottish Executive website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/19260/18084.

The information requested,where available, is shown in the following table:

CouncilTax Benefit Recipients Aged 60 and Over (Thousands)

Local Authority Area	May 1999	May 2000	May 2001	May 2002	May 2003	May 2004	May 2005
Scotland	299.0	275.0	281.0	284.0	275.0	275.4	278.0
Aberdeen						8.3	8.4
Aberdeenshire						7.2	7.5
Angus						5.2	5.4
Argyll and Bute						4.5	4.5
Clackmannanshire						2.3	2.4
Dumfries and Galloway						7.6	7.5
Dundee						9.9	9.6
East Ayrshire						7.9	8.0
East Dunbartonshire						3.4	3.5
East Lothian						4.5	4.6
East Renfrewshire						2.7	2.8
Edinburgh						18.1	18.5
Eilean Siar						2.1	2.2
Falkirk						7.7	7.9
Fife						16.1	15.8
Glasgow						51.3	50.1
Highland						9.7	10.1
Inverclyde						5.8	5.9
Midlothian						3.7	3.7
Moray						3.5	3.7
North Ayrshire						8.0	8.3
North Lanarkshire						20.7	21.1
Orkney						0.8	0.8
Perth and Kinross						5.3	5.5
Renfrewshire						10.3	10.5
Scottish Borders						5.4	5.5
Shetland						0.7	0.8
South Ayrshire						5.9	6.1
South Lanarkshire						18.3	18.8
Stirling						3.4	3.5
West Dunbartonshire						7.4	6.9
West Lothian						7.8	8.0

Notes:

1. 1999-2003figures are based on a 1% sample and are therefore subject to a degree ofsampling variation.

2. The datarefers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.

3. Data below Scotland level is not available prior to May 2004.

4. 2004-05figures for non-responding authorities have been estimated.

5. Council TaxBenefit totals exclude any Second Adult Rebate cases.

6. “Aged 60 andover” is defined as benefit units where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60and over therefore figures will contain some claimants under 60 where there isa partner aged over 60 years.