Chamber and committees

Source: Drawn from local authority staffing surveys compiled jointly by the Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Figures for full time equivalent staff exclude staff in fire services, police services, Bridge Joint Boards and Valuation Joint Boards.

2. The data for 1996 is taken from December as earlier figures for that year are considered less reliable due to classification problems encountered by some local authorities in the period immediately following local government reorganisation.

This includes £4.7 million additional funding for community placements through the Children's Services Development Fund; improving national standards in foster care; work on a Scottish Code of Practice for local authorities on recruitment, selection and assessment of foster carers; reviewing the regulation of payment of foster carers and commissioning advice on salaried payments for foster carers. We are also funding a research evaluation of the National Children's Homes Action for Children project on Community Alternative Placement Schemes which provide foster placements for young people aged 12-16 years who are at imminent or long-term risk of entry to secure accommodation. The final report should be available by the end of this year and will provide an opportunity to share good practice with local authorities, many of whom are developing their own specialist fostering services.

Sources:

a). Scottish Executive Courts Group CJ&ID.

b). Scottish Executive, Education Statistics Division (A2 statistical return completed by Sheriff Courts).

Notes:

1. Figures for 1999 are as yet unpublished and should therefore be regarded as provisional.

Information on the number of couples currently on the waiting list to adopt and on the average age of adoptive parents is not held centrally.

We aim to improve and standardise adoption procedure through the establishment of a Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care. The Commission will be responsible for regulating all care services, including local authority adoption services, which are not currently open to independent scrutiny. Voluntary adoption agencies are currently approved by Scottish Ministers but will be regulated by the Commission in the future.

We will also be watching closely the adoption review currently being undertaken in England and Wales for any lessons which may be learned.

Modern Apprenticeships are delivered through the wider Skillseekers programme by the Enterprise Network. Scottish Enterprise Glasgow is responsible for assessing the skills requirements of the local economy and providing a contribution to funding of Modern Apprentices, including those in construction.

*Excludes allocations from £42 million undistributed Excellence Fund.

The figures quoted are not directly comparable due to agreed transfers to programmes outwith the main local government finance settlement (e.g. £106 million for rail services transferred to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority from 1997-98).

Education, training and skills development represent the top priority of The Scottish Executive and considerable efforts are being made, in partnership with National Training Organisations and other employer representatives, to ensure that education and training provision is relevant to the current and projected needs of employers.