Chamber and committees

The recruitment and deployment of police officers is a matter for chief constables to control from within their GAE provision. For the current year police authorities and joint police boards have set budgets totalling £711.9m, which represents an increase of 4% over last year's figure. This should be sufficient to allow police numbers to be maintained at adequate levels.An effective and well resourced police service is only part of the answer to tackling crime. As Partnership for Scotland made clear, we are committed to taking action against crime on a broad front, through crime prevention to wider social policies.

Initiatives such as "Overground", based upon co-operation and partnership, are key to the delivery of better bus services. We shall bringing forward, later this session, legislation to encourage development of more Quality Partnerships. We want local authorities to pursue these against the background of their local transport strategies so that bus service provision can be properly integrated within overall transport policies. Better infrastructure and better quality buses can lead to more frequent services and increased patronage. I expect that our forthcoming decisions on authorities' bids for public transport fund support will encourage bus operators across Scotland to deliver similar improvements.

The recruitment, direction and monitoring of civilian support staff in Scottish police forces is a matter for chief constables. There are presently 4725 civilian support staff employed by the eight forces. This is a 36% increase since 1992 and support staff now represent 24% of police service personnel. The Scottish Executive supports all initiatives which enable police officers to be released for front line policing duties.

The Scottish Executive are proposing to fund a bid by the charity Epilepsy Bereaved to extend the national sentinel audit they are undertaking into epilepsy deaths in England, to cover cases of epilepsy-related deaths in Scotland.

The Scottish Transport White Paper gave a commitment to ensure that our transport policies fit with our priorities in combating social exclusion. A number of public transport operators already offer discounted travel for participants in the New Deal programme. We shall explore with operators whether these principles can be applied more widely to other low income and unemployed people. We shall legislate to encourage the introduction of simpler fare structures and better through ticketing arrangements, so as to improve the overall effectiveness of bus services. The Government will also be seeking to ensure there are affordable air and sea links to Scotland's islands communities.At present, under legislation concerning concessionary fares schemes, each Scottish local authority can decide the discount offered to the different eligible groups set out in statute. We will, however, encourage the improvement and integration of concessionary fares schemes for pensioners and those with special needs.

The Government's Preliminary Guidance on Local Transport Strategies encouraged local authorities to set out their plans for park and ride in their interim strategies which were due to be submitted in July 1999. The Scottish Executive's Public Transport Fund encourages local authorities to develop projects promoting the use of public transport such as the establishment of park and ride sites and associated bus priority measures. In the first round of the Fund, 3 projects involving new park and ride sites were successful in securing additional capital allocations. Applications to the second round of the Fund are currently being considered.

The Scottish Executive will bring forward to the Scottish Parliament, later this session, a Transport Bill proposing changes to the way bus services are organised. We wish to provide local authorities with powers and duties to ensure that proper timetable information is available in their areas for the benefit of bus passengers.In addition we are committed to working with transport operators, local authorities and user groups to develop a practical and effective Scottish National Public Transport Timetable. We envisage that this will include all internal Scottish bus, coach, rail, air and ferry services and will help promote the better integration of public transport services.

The participation of young people on 1 July was the responsibility of Unique Events, working under contract to the Scottish Office. The request for an escort of young people to the civic procession was made late in the day. The Scottish School of Music and Drama was approached because it offered a group of young people drawn from all over Scotland. Additional young people were required and the organisers approached the Secretary to the Modern Studies Association. It is recognised that the outcome of these approaches, adopted under pressure of time, had shortcomings.In relation to the children's parade, all 32 local authorities were approached in order to select schools from their areas to participate in the parade on 1July. Each local authority undertook its own selection process and accordingly the information sought is not available centrally.

The participation of young people on 1 July was the responsibility of Unique Events, working under contract to the Scottish Office. The request for an escort of young people to the civic procession was made late in the day. The Scottish School of Music and Drama was approached because it offered a group of young people drawn from all over Scotland. Additional young people were required and the organisers approached the Secretary to the Modern Studies Association. It is recognised that the outcome of these approaches, adopted under pressure of time, had shortcomings.In relation to the children's parade, all 32 local authorities were approached in order to select schools from their areas to participate in the parade on 1July. Each local authority undertook its own selection process and accordingly the information sought is not available centrally.

The participation of young people on 1 July was the responsibility of Unique Events, working under contract to the Scottish Office. The request for an escort of young people to the civic procession was made late in the day. The Scottish School of Music and Drama was approached because it offered a group of young people drawn from all over Scotland. Additional young people were required and the organisers approached the Secretary to the Modern Studies Association. It is recognised that the outcome of these approaches, adopted under pressure of time, had shortcomings.In relation to the children's parade, all 32 local authorities were approached in order to select schools from their areas to participate in the parade on 1July. Each local authority undertook its own selection process and accordingly the information sought is not available centrally.