Chamber and committees

Excessive alcohol consumption is estimated to cost Scots £3.6 billion each year, which equates to £900 for every adult in Scotland. The estimate of £3.6 billion includes around £870 million in lost productivity, around £730 million in crime costs and around £270 million to the NHS including psychiatric health services.

The Scottish Government published the Mental Health Strategy for Scotland 2012-15 in August 2012. In it we recognise that there are strong links between depression and drinking above recommended guidelines, and make a commitment to work with NHS boards and partners to more effectively link the work on alcohol and depression and other common mental health problems to improve identification and treatment, with a particular focus on primary care.

The Scottish Government provides funding to NHS boards and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) in order that they can deliver the range of services required meeting the needs of their local population including alcohol misuse and psychiatric health services. The Scottish Government has made a record investment of £196 million to tackle alcohol use since 2008. The bulk of the funding - £173 million has been to ADPs for investment in local prevention, treatment and support services.

We believe that a minimum price per unit of alcohol is an effective and efficient way to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland.

However we recognise that no single action will bring about the change which is required, which is why we have outlined a package of over 40 measures in our Framework for Action document which seek to reduce consumption, to support families and communities, encourage more positive attitudes and positive choices and to improve treatment and support services.

The aim of the Reach Scotland project is to increase the proportion of students from the lowest 40% deprived neighbourhoods participating in the high demand subjects of medicine, veterinary medicine, law and dentistry. The project targets schools with a below national average progression rate to higher education and works with pupils in S4 – S6 who have the potential to progress.

The five partner universities who collaborate on the project: University of Aberdeen, University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow and University of St Andrews work with pupils in over 176 schools across Scotland.

The 5 institutions are due to provide an update report to the Scottish Funding Council by January 2013 on the progress made against targets for increasing the number of pupils from the lowest 40% deprived neighbourhoods who enter higher education in the target subjects as a result of the project.

Cheers for Credit Unions is one of a number of on-line financial education resources available from Education Scotland. While there are currently no plans to formally evaluate this resource, Education Scotland, through the Scottish Financial Education Forum, assesses the effectiveness of the support materials they provide for learners and teachers. Forum membership is drawn from local authorities and the financial services sector.

Responsibility for the provision and roll-out of teaching materials to support Curriculum for Excellence rests with local authorities. They are best placed to decide what should be made available in their own areas.

This information is not held centrally.

Responsibility for the provision and roll-out of teaching materials to support Curriculum for Excellence rests with local authorities. They are best placed to decide what should be made available in their own areas.

Details of all ministerial engagements are published on the Scottish Government website. The details from 1 May 2011 until 31 May 2012 can be accessed using the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements/MinisterialEngagements. Information from 1 June 2012 onwards is being collated and compiled with a view to being published mid December.

The database includes 35 references to ministerial engagements with representatives of retail and high street banks from 1 May 2011 until 31 May 2012.

Of 1,309 young people on an Activity Agreement, there were approximately 25 young people undertaking it for no more than two hours a week.

In these cases, this is an initial pattern of activity designed to engage those young people facing particularly severe barriers in learning. This approach is designed to quickly extend and build upon that initial engagement.

As of the 30 September 2012, there were 1,309 young people engaged in an Activity Agreement.

Activity Agreements are a post school option for young people requiring flexible tailored support to engage in learning. Therefore no school pupils would be engaged on them.

As part of schools offering a wide and varied range of support under Curriculum for Excellence, some local authorities offer similar type options for school pupils, in particular those young people who are able to leave school at Christmas. However, this is not classed as an Activity Agreement.

The Scottish Government has not made any representations to broadband service providers regarding speeds in either Bonnyrigg or Rosewell specifically.

Our understanding of BT’s commercial roll out plans is that residents of Bonnyrigg, served by Dalkeith exchange, may benefit from BT’s planned upgrade of Dalkeith exchange to provide next generation broadband services; and, that residents of Rosewell, served by Loanhead exchange, may benefit from BT’s planned upgrade of Loanhead exchange to provide broadband services of up to 20 Megabits per second (Mbps).

As set out in Scotland’s Digital Future: Infrastructure Action Plan, published on 31 January 2012, the Scottish Government is committed to delivering a world-class digital infrastructure for Scotland by 2020. We have also set an interim milestone of investing in infrastructure that will have the capacity to deliver broadband at a speed of 40-80 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 85-90% of premises by 2015. These commitments apply to all parts of Scotland, regardless of how urban or rural they may be, and include areas where there is currently no level of service at all.

Our 2015 targets will be achieved through two procurement programmes: one covering the Highlands and Islands, and a second covering the rest of Scotland. Midlothian falls within the scope of the latter procurement, which formally commenced at the end of September. We expect to award a contract in the first half of 2013.