Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answergiven to S2W-2216 today, which is available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Local Government inScotland Act 2003, Part 6, includes a duty on local authorities to prepareIntegrated Waste Management Plans. These plans will set out performance targetswhich the local authority shall, in performing its waste management functions,endeavour to meet.

The Executive will ensurethat these plans include measures to achieve national targets as outlined in APartnership for A Better Scotland, including that for local authorities torecycle or compost 25% of waste by 2006 and 55% by 2020 through increasing theuse of doorstep collection and through provision of recycling facilities inevery community.

A copyof the Interception of Communication Commissioner’s annual report for 2002 hasbeen laid before Parliament today in accordance with the Regulation ofInvestigatory Powers Act 2000. With the agreement of the Prime Minister, theconfidential annex to the report, which contains sensitive information, hasbeen excluded from the published report. Copies have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29093).

Interceptionof communications is one of the ways in which the police and other lawenforcement agencies prevent and detect serious and organised crime in Scotland. The commissioner’s reportmakes it clear that warrants authorised by the Scottish ministers are onlyissued where their use is absolutely necessary and proportionate to what issought to be achieved by the interception.

A range of Executive funded initiatives is in place to encourage more people to travel by bus. These initiatives include:

bus service operators grant;

free local off-peak bus travel for people aged 60 and over and those with disabilities;

provision for supported services;

expenditure through the Public Transport Fund on bus improvement and bus priority measures, and

expenditure through the Rural Public Passenger Transporton rural public transport services.

The term “domesticity licence” is not recognised in relation to housing matters. It is not used in either the consultation paper or the research on houses in multiple occupation.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-2240 today. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, thesearch facility for can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Scottish Executive undertook an overall review of the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing scheme, which took into account:

the findings of the research report, A review of the first year of the mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation in Scotland,commissioned by the Executive from Heriot Watt University;

the responses to the consultation paper on possible changes to exemptions from the scheme;

the report of the Social Justice Committee into HMO licensing, and

other correspondence and representations received by the Scottish Executive.

The outcome of this review was announced by the Minister for Social Justice on 19 March 2003, accompanied by an official letter to all local authorities, respondents to the consultation paper and other interested bodies and correspondents. The Scottish Executive provided its response to the report of the Social Justice Committee on 24 March. A summary of responses to the consultation paper is available on the Scottish Executive website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/H2/00016501/page634519723.pdf.

The Scottish Executive does not intend to report separately on the results of the consultationpaper. The recommendations of the research will be further taken into account bythe working group which is being convened to produce revised guidance for localauthorities, and to devise a self-certification scheme for publicly accountableHMO landlords.

A working group is currently being convened to consider a number of issues arising from the review of mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation(HMOs), including the development of a self-certification framework for publicly accountable HMO landlords. The group is expected to start work in September.

The£2 million which the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) have allocated for 2003-04 to encourage articulation between further education andhigher education has a number of aims. It will help institutions themselves to improve articulation arrangements, help to address problems that students faceduring transition between the sectors and will aim to enhance and develop linksbetween the sectors.Decisionsaround the actual allocation of resources will be informed by early results ofa study into mapping, tracking and bridging between further and highereducation. This is being undertaken on behalf of SHEFC by the Scottish AdvisoryCommittee on Credit and Access and the Wider Access Regional Forums.

The Scottish Executive will continue to work in partnership with individual local authorities, the COSLA and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency to implement the National Waste Plan.We have allocated £230 million over this and the next two financial years to the Strategic Waste Fund to assist local authorities in achieving the national recycling and composting target of 25 per cent of municipal solid waste by 2006.