Chamber and committees

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.

Her response is as follows:

The replacement of inefficientcentral heating systems, including warm air ducted systems, is already includedin the central heating programme for householders who are over 80 and have a partialor inefficient system. From January 2007, the programme will be widened to includethe replacement of partial and inefficient systems of householders who are over60 and in receipt of the guaranteed element of Pension Credit.

Eligible householders with warmair ducted systems can choose to replace their system with one of the systems currentlyavailable under the programme.

We anticipatethat decommissioning activities in nuclear power stations will be a growth activitywhich will create demand for skilled employees for some decades to come. Officials in the Lifelong Learning Group are continuingto liaise with the NDA about how colleges in Scotland, that provide trainingfor decommissioning skills, will benefit from the NDA Skills Strategy. Currently, a number of Scotland’s Collegesoffer courses specialising in nuclear decommissioning. Funding for Scotland’s collegeswill increase to almost £620 million by 2007-08.

All student support for furthereducation (below the higher national level) is discretionary and is administeredby individual colleges. Information relating to the potential funding of an individual’sparticipation in a higher level course can be sought direct from the Student AwardsAgency for Scotland.

It is our intention to introduceregulations on the welfare of racing greyhounds under the Animal Health and Welfare(Scotland) Act 2006. These regulations will deal with the responsibility of the ownerof the dogs for making acceptable arrangements for their welfare when they retirefrom racing. Draft regulations will be issued for consultation before they are presentedto Parliament.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows:

The allocation of funds for thenational programme was announced by ministers on 8 May 2006. The specific allocationof £11.267 million funding to the Dumfries and Galloway Council area, which includesLoreburn Housing Association, was finalised and announced on 29 May 2006. Inadvance of the announcement, Communities Scotland staff had been in discussionswith senior staff of Loreburn Housing Association to discuss its potentialforward programme and gave a commitment to provide funding for 2006-07 tosupport disabled aids and adaptations. Between April and June the Housing Associationrequested and received funding of almost £15,000 for aids and adaptations. Thesediscussions culminated in a formal programme agreement being issued to LoreburnHousing Association on 26 June 2006 following the conclusion of exchanges with the Associationon other aspects of their programme and this included formal notification of thefunding committed for aids and adaptations within the overall allocation to theHousing Association.

Parents of children withthis benign condition are given advice on diagnosis as well as furtherinformation about the condition. Thecurrent advice and treatment include supervised‘tummy time’ while the child is awake and, reinforcing the Back to Sleepmessage, positioning the child’s head on different sides each night.

The Scottish Executive iscurrently in discussion with NHS Health Scotland to develop an information leaflet on this condition.The leaflet will be made available to parents and NHS staff.

The Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signposting Policy andGuidance will be published in July. It isalso intention to publish the results of the consultation at the same time.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more informationif required.

Yes.

The Antisocial Behaviour (NoiseControl) Regulations 2005 do not specify the noise source other than it must beemitted from a domestic dwelling; therefore, it can include the noise caused byanimals.

There are also other legislativeprovisions and tools to tackle noise nuisance from animals and birds, for examplethe Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Civic Government Act 1982.

Action may be taken by the relevantlocal authority in these circumstances. If it is a right of way, local authoritieshave the duty and powers under the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967, section 46,to keep any right of way free of obstruction. The authority may institute legalproceedings and generally take such steps as it deems expedient.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act2003, section 13, provides access authorities with the duty and powers to keep openand free from obstruction any routes by which access rights may reasonably be exercised,and section 14 of the act sets out the powers and procedures for dealing with obstructions.

It is anticipated by both usand bus operators that there will be growth in the usage of long distance servicesas a result of the new Scheme. It is ultimately a commercial issue for the bus industryto decide how best to meet demand. However, Transport Scotland willbe particularly monitoring longer distance services to ensure that older and disabledpeople are able to use them, without encountering any significant problems withcapacity or being treated less favourably than fare paying passengers.

A decision on the future of the Arrest Referral schemes will be made once I have had a chance to considerthe independent evaluation.