Chamber and committees

The Scotland-wide Free Bus Schemefor Older and Disabled People will provide free travel for companions where assistanceis required to travel. The eligibility criteria for companions is set out in TheNational Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled People (Eligible Personsand Eligible Services)(Scotland) Order 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/117).

The Scotland-wide Free Bus Schemefor Older and Disabled People will provide free travel for companions where assistanceis required to travel. The cost of concessionary travel for companions will be coveredby the £159 million capped budget for 2006-07.

The information requested isprovided in the following table.

The estimate of the number ofpeople eligible for the Scotland–wide Free Bus Scheme has been calculated by usingthe numbers of older people for each local authority obtained from the 2001 censusand increasing the total by 10% as an estimate of the number of eligible disabledpeople.

Estimated Number ofPeople Eligible for the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled Peoplefor Each Local Authority

Local Authority	Number Eligible
Aberdeen City	46,327
Aberdeenshire	48,064
Angus	28,231
Argyll and Bute	24,808
City of Edinburgh	97,859
Clackmannanshire	10,357
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	7,594
Dumfries and Galloway	41,350
Dundee City	36,795
East Ayrshire	28,490
East Dunbartonshire	25,180
East Lothian	22,401
East Renfrewshire	20,513
Falkirk	33,292
Fife	82,405
Glasgow	129,563
Highland	51,275
Inverclyde	20,373
Midlothian	17,982
Moray	20,621
North Ayrshire	32,520
North Lanarkshire	67,131
Orkney Islands	4,825
Perth and Kinross	35,900
Renfrewshire	39,392
Scottish Borders	29,059
Shetland Islands	4,559
South Ayrshire	30,820
South Lanarkshire	68,274
Stirling	19,863
West Dunbartonshire	21,288
West Lothian	28,479
Grand Total:	1,175,590

 

The Scottish Executive has noplans to commission an independent study into the determinants of child poverty.Extensive independent research already exists, such as the annual Joseph RowntreeFoundation/New Policy Institute report on Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusionin Scotland.

Poverty is a complex social issuethat has no simple remedy and the Executive considers research from many differentsources in determining how its policies can best tackle poverty in Scottish society.Our Closing the Opportunity Gap (CtOG) approach focuses the efforts of all Departmentson tackling poverty and is consistent with, and complementary to, the UK Government’starget for eradicating child poverty within a generation.

I am advisedby the Food Standards Agency that restrictions resulting from the Chernobyl incidentstill apply to sheep on a small number of restricted farms.

These farms are subject to statutorycontrols under the terms of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. In orderto ensure food safety, all sheep leaving restricted farms are live-monitored usingportable radiation monitors and any sheep exceeding the 1,000 Becquerel per kilogram(Bq/kg) control level is prohibited from entering the food chain.

I am advised by the Food StandardsAgency that affected farms are subject to statutory controls under the terms of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 and the current restrictions are specifiedin the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivity in Sheep) Order 1991(SI 1991/20), as amended.

In order to ensure food safety,a monitoring system known as “Mark and Release” is operated to ensure that sheepexceeding the 1,000 Becquerel per kilogram (Bq/kg) control level do not enter thefood chain. Sheep from restricted areas are live-monitored for radioactivity usingportable radiation monitors prior to being moved. Sheep exceeding the control levelmay either be kept on-farm and subsequently re-monitored; or marked with an indeliblepaint and moved under licence. Marked sheep are prohibited from slaughter forthree months and a set rotation of colours under “Mark and Release” allows sheepto be automatically released from slaughter controls three months after the useof a particular colour ceases.

Households should treat housing costs as they would any other relatively, fixed item of expenditure for budgeting purposes. The Scottish Executive publishes low income thresholds on both a “before housing costs” basis and an “after housing costs” basis. This is because some people choose to spend more of their income on housing costs. An after housing costs measure therefore, would understate the relative standard of living of those individuals who were actually benefiting from a better quality of life by paying more for better accommodation. Conversely, any income measure which does not deduct housing costs will overstate the living standards of individuals whose housing costs are high relative to the quality of their accommodation.

The Scottish Executive remainsin regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including theeradication of child poverty. As and when contact on any issue results in agreedproposals for amending the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament orthe executive competence of the Scottish ministers, these are put to the Scottishand UK Parliaments in the normal way (i.e. either through Orders in Council underthe Scotland Act 1998, or through Legislative Consent Motions in the Scottish Parliament associated with bills before the UK Parliament).

I am advised by the Food StandardsAgency that 10 farms in Scotland, comprising nine in East Ayrshire Council Area and onein Stirling Council Area, are still subject to restrictions as a result of the Chernobyl incident.The restricted areas are defined in the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions)(Radioactivity in Sheep) Order 1991 No. 20 (as amended) and sheep from these farmsare required to be monitored for radioactivity prior to being moved off farm.

No copies of the RegenerationPolicy Statement: People and Place and the Summary document are uncollected.Copies not posted out are being used by the Scottish Executive as part of itsprogramme of communication and discussion on regeneration in Scotland, asforeshadowed in the Statement itself.