Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive currently has no plans at a national level to engage the private sector in assisting pupils excluded from school.

The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 1990 require the Scottish water authorities to monitor levels of lead in drinking water. A summary of compliance with the lead standard set in the Regulations is published annually in the Executive's report Drinking Water Quality in Scotland. A copy of the latest report is available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 17148).In addition, a survey is currently being undertaken by the water authorities to determine the level of compliance across Scotland with the tighter lead standard being introduced in December 2003. The purpose of the survey is to identify areas where steps need to be taken to meet the new standard. The results of this survey will be published in a future edition of Drinking Water Quality in Scotland.

We have made no estimate or projection beyond the result of the 1991 Census that 69,510 people could speak, read or write Gaelic. The results of the 2001 Census are expected by March 2003.

The main results from the 2001 Census are due to be published by March 2003. This will include the number of Gaelic speakers.

The Scottish water authorities monitor compliance with the lead standard set in the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 1990. When non-compliance is detected as a result of domestic plumbing, the owners/occupiers of the building are notified of the failure and the steps that they can take to remedy the fault. The Scottish Executive does not hold records regarding the level of compliance with the lead standard in local authority housing stock.

The current standard for lead in drinking water in EU Member States is set in EC Directive (80/778/EEC). The new Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC), which sets a tighter standard for lead, comes into force in December 2003. The Scottish Executive does not hold information about the level of compliance in other member states with 80/778/EEC.The level of compliance with the lead standard, in regulatory samples taken by the water authorities in 2000, was: East of Scotland Water Authority - 98.27%; West of Scotland Water Authority - 99.36% and North of Scotland Water Authority - 99.36%.

To date, the Scottish Executive has not provided direct or explicit encouragement or assistance to small towns wishing to establish a development trust. However, initiatives such as Working for Communities have focused on exploring new ways to organise and deliver services. Early findings from a number of the Working for Communities pathfinders, are relevant to the role of community led organisations in service delivery, at both a strategic and operational level.Communities Scotland has a remit to improve the delivery of community regeneration and promote community empowerment, and part of this will be developing and testing new ways to deliver regeneration and ways to increase community participation in, and ownership of the regeneration process. Development Trusts are one vehicle for progressing this. Communities Scotland are aware of the work of Development Trusts in England and are taking an interest in the recently commissioned study into the potential for, and support needs of Development Trusts in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive is fully committed to meeting the direct cost of implementation of the agreement, A Teaching Profession for the 21^st Century. Appropriate measures are being taken to ensure sufficient funding is in place to meet the guarantee of a one year training contract for all eligible probationary teachers.

There will be approximately 2,400 eligible students leaving Scottish Higher Education Institutions with a Teaching Qualification in June 2002 and all of these have been guaranteed a one year training contract. The Scottish Executive is working with local authorities to ensure a quality induction experience for all of these probationary teachers.

I am not aware of any research undertaken or commissioned by the Executive or any of its agencies, or non-departmental public bodies since 1999 on the future of Lanark Racecourse.