Chamber and committees

The Site Restoration Plan is a living document which will evolve over time to reflect the views and requirements of stakeholders. It is essentially a programme for the decommissioning of Dounreay. As such it is an operational matter, responsibility for which lies with the site operators, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as the sponsor department which provides funding.

Scottish Executive officials, however, attended a presentation by UKAEA on the proposed Dounreay restoration programme and participated in follow up discussions with UKAEA, DTI and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency about the Site Plan.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

Figures to end-October show that 5,050 young people had entered the voluntary sector option, 5,590 had entered the environmental task force option and 9,530 had entered the full-time education and training option.

Comprehensive information on whether young people left their options having completed them or before having done so is not collected in that form. The New Deal aims to help unemployed people to move as quickly as possible from welfare into unsubsidised employment. Many young people will leave their New Deal options before completing them because they have found jobs in the regular labour market and are no longer unemployed. Young people do not therefore need to complete their New Deal options in order to succeed in the programme.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

The expenditure on the New Deal 18-24 programme in Scotland to November 2000 was £75.5 million This represents 8.72% of the GB New Deal 18-24 programme spend.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

Figures to end-October show that 14,300 (66%) of the 21,800 sustained jobs secured through the New Deal for Young People were through the Gateway stage of the programme.

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

The average cost per participant in the New Deal for Young People is around £2,000.

Information about the total cost to the NHS of treating patients with hepatitis C infection is not collected centrally.

Combination antiviral therapy using interferon alpha and ribavirin is proving a successful treatment in certain cases of hepatitis C infection. However, treatment has unpleasant side effects, is expensive and there is currently a clinical debate about its effectiveness. The cost of such therapy for six months is approximately £5,000.

There is no national screening programme in Scotland for hepatitis C. Information about the cost of preventive health education and treatment provided by individual NHS Trusts and health boards is not collected centrally.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-10980.

The New Deal for Schools capital grant was introduced in financial year 1997-98 and provides additional capital resources of £115.7 million over five years for repairs to school buildings and to improve facilities for information and communications technology. The grant is distributed to all authorities in Scotland on a formula basis, with the detailed decisions concerning spending needs at particular schools being matters for the authorities. These additional resources are allowing many schools across Scotland to benefit from improvements to their fabric, ranging from capital minor works to work of a more extensive nature and including improved ICT facilities.

These transfers and other changes are prior to the devolution settlement and are therefore set out in House of Commons papers Main Supply Estimates 1997-98 number 335, Summer Supply Estimates 1997-98 number 65, Spring Supply Estimates 1997-98 number 511, Winter Supply Estimates number 278, Main Supply Estimates 1998-99 number 635, Summer Supply Estimates number 783, Spring Supply Estimates 1998-99 number 237 and Winter Supply Estimates 1998-99 number 857.