Chamber and committees

In accordance with guidance issued in October 2008, Councils will, for one year only, provide an interim progress report on first phase SOAs in April 2009. A consolidated report based on the information received will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Councils will work towards producing an annual report in September 2009. The Scottish Government and our local government partners are presently considering the form which annual reporting, beginning in September 2009, should take including publication arrangements. I shall ensure that the product of this reporting is made available to Parliament.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides this data. Table 1 shows the number of people in receipt of pension credit by central heating status none. These figures are an estimate from a survey and so have an associated confidence interval. The table also includes the 95% confidence interval. The sample size (also shown), for pensioners with no central heating, is very small which makes the estimate unreliable.

Table 1: The estimated number of people in receipt of pension credit by central heating status none with associated confidence intervals and sample size “ SHCS 2007:

Central heating status	None
No of people	1,000
95% confidence interval	3,000
Upper limit	4,000
Lower limit	-
Sample size	3

 

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides this data. Table 1 shows the number of people in receipt of state pension by central heating status none. These figures are an estimate from a survey and so have an associated confidence interval. The table also includes the 95% confidence interval. The sample size, for those with no central heating (also shown), is very small, making the estimate unreliable.

Table 1: The estimated number of people in receipt of state retirement pension by central heating status with associated confidence intervals and sample size “ SHCS 2007:

Central heating status	None
No of people	11,000
95% confidence interval	8,000
Upper limit	3,000
Lower limit	19,000
Sample size	14

 

All P1 to P3 pupils in the five local authorities that participated in the free school lunch trial, including children from households below the poverty line in each authority, had access to free nutritious lunches during the trial. However, it is not possible to determine the actual number of children from households below the poverty line who have benefited from the trial because statistics on households below the average income level are not available at a local authority level.

The Annual Population Survey (APS) contains information about people who have been made redundant. Respondents to the survey are asked whether they had been made redundant in the three months prior to taking part in the survey. The most recent data available from the APS are for the year July 2007 - June 2008 and are given in table 1.

Table 1 People made Redundant in the Preceding Three Months, Scotland, July 2007 to June 2008

Male	6,400
Female	4,700
Total	11,100

Source: Annual Population Survey July 2007 to June 2008.

Note: Levels have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to administration of the state pension, and therefore does not hold such information.

The finance conference element of IslamFest will be held in June 2009. The Scottish Islamic Foundation is currently in discussion with local authorities and communities across Scotland regarding the delivery of further IslamFest events. Details of the dates and activities will be announced by the Scottish Islamic Foundation in due course.

This information is not held centrally.

No date has been set yet for the Race Equality Conference.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19742 on 22 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.