Chamber and committees

(a) The Scottish Executive welcomes the Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals' (SCCT's) Special Report on Education Appeal Committees in Scotland, which it refers to in its 16th Annual Report 2000-2001. The Scottish Executive will consider the findings of the SCCT's work in a review of education appeal committees before formalising a response to the SCCT's recommendations. (b) The Scottish Executive is committed to undertaking a review of education appeal committees in light of the SCCT's report, but the timescale for that review has yet to be identified.

(a) The Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals has informed the Scottish Executive that it has sent a copy of its Special Report on Education Appeal Committees to each Director of Education and Head of Legal Services in Scotland.(b) The Scottish Executive has committed to undertaking a review of Education Appeal Committees which will consider the recommendations of the Committee of the Council on Tribunals' Special Report on Education Appeal Committees and identify an appropriate course of action.

There was strong competition for Special Educational Needs Innovation grant funding. The ISEA's application was considered alongside all others received and evaluated by a team of assessors, the majority of which were drawn from outside the Executive. ISEA's application was not considered to adequately meet all of the criteria.

The recruitment and deployment of police officers to particular tasks such as uniformed patrol is an operational matter for chief constables.The number of police officers recruited in each police force area in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, the latest year for which figures are available, are shown in the following table:

No. of Officers Recruited	1999-2000	2000-01
Central	26	39
Dumfries and Galloway	11	46
Fife	40	50
Grampian	24	115
Lothian and Borders	62	189
Northern	23	45
Strathclyde	250	503
Tayside	38	66
Total	474	1,053

Information on the numbers of officers recruited in a given year is included in HM Inspectorate's Annual Statistical Returns from forces. The returns for 2001-02 will not be available until the end of May.

The information requested is not held centrally. The deployment of police officers to particular tasks such as uniformed patrol is an operational matter for chief constables.The number of officers in each force in 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 are shown in the following table. The latest figures available are at 31 March 2002.

	No. of Officers at 31 March
Force	2000	2001	2002
Central	721	733	719
Dumfries and Galloway	451	478	482
Fife	837	852	912
Grampian	1,215	1,273	1,258
Lothian and Borders	2,584	2,670	2,700
Northern	653	668	683
Strathclyde	7,101	7,318	7,327
Tayside	1,137	1,157	1,170
Total	14,699	15,149	15,251

The Scottish Executive consulted last year on Assessing our children's educational needs - The Way Forward?. As a result, outline proposals for change were published on 19 February 2002. This document includes the Executive's proposals to establish an independent Tribunal in Scotland to hear appeals relating to children with additional support needs. Copies of the proposals are available in the Scottish Executive response to the consultation (Bib. number 19469).

The median waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant in oral surgery, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner or General Dental Practitioner, by NHS board of residence, in the years ended 30 September 1999 and 30 September 2000, are given in the following table.The target waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner or General Dental Practitioner, was nine weeks.NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for a First Out-Patient Appointment with a Consultant in Oral Surgery¹, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner/General Dental Practitioner, by NHS Board of Residence. Years Ended 30 September 1999 and 30 September 2000.

NHS Board	30 September 1999	30 September 2000
Argyll and Clyde2	-	-
Ayrshire and Arran	35 days	38 days
Borders	17 days	15 days
Dumfries and Galloway	69 days	69 days
Fife	69 days	51 days
Forth Valley	77 days	44 days
Grampian	49 days	69 days
Greater Glasgow2	-	-
Highland	29 days	33 days
Lanarkshire2	-	-
Lothian	89 days	106 days
Orkney	44 days	37 days
Shetland	25 days	29 days
Tayside	65 days	50 days
Western Isles	32 days	10 days
Scotland2	56 days	51 days

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.Notes:1. Includes most maxillofacial surgery.2. Information for residents of Argyll and Clyde, Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire NHS boards is not available due to recording difficulties at Glasgow Dental Hospital.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The land is owned by the Scottish ministers. Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited has leasehold rights to it.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23406 on 24 April 2002.

Our position on contract specification remains as Peter Peacock indicated. Policy and legislation on vehicle standards, including fitting of seatbelts, is reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Executive does not collect information about local authority school transport contracts.