Chamber and committees

In September 2011, 42.1 per cent of S4 school leavers from the 2010-11 academic year were in further education, 0.5 per cent in higher education, 16 per cent in training and 19.1 per cent in employment.

We do not collect information on school leavers who enter apprenticeship schemes separately as part of the school leaver destination surveys. Leavers who enter apprenticeship schemes will be included within the ‘employment’ category.

The initial and follow-up school leaver destination surveys do not separately identify school leavers who enter apprenticeship schemes. However, leavers on apprenticeship schemes will be included within the employment category.

Of the 8,164 S4 school leavers from the 2010-11 academic year included in the follow-up survey, 24.7 per cent were in employment and 11.1 per cent were in training in March 2012.

The loan includes an amount to cover students during the summer holidays as they are generally not eligible for state benefits.

The final year loan is currently reduced as, on completion of their course, students are in a position to seek full-time employment or, if they do not find suitable employment, become eligible to claim state benefits.

We are currently reviewing the final year loan arrangements as part of our work to simplify student support in higher education through the post-16 reform programme.

The Scottish Government is of the view that consequentials should arise from the UK Government’s investment in the High Speed 2 link between London and Birmingham, and from its subsequent stages of development.

However, I am aware there is no committed budget allocated for the construction of HS2; construction is planned to commence from 2017. Proposals for the inclusion of funding for the scheme in future Comprehensive Spending Reviews will be a matter for the UK Government.

I expect that any additional funding secured for the scheme will carry consequentials for Scotland.

The Scottish Government announced in March 2011 that bus pass applications under the Scotland-wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People from seriously injured HM service personnel and veterans would be fast tracked from 1 April 2011. This followed discussions with the Department for Transport and the Welsh Assembly Government over a number of months. Negotiations with them on this matter were concluded in summer 2011 when similar arrangements were introduced in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

It may be helpful to note that conduct complaints against solicitors are referred to the Law Society of Scotland. The Law Society of Scotland’s Professional Conduct Committee investigates. If it considers that the complaint is upheld, one option is an unsatisfactory conduct censure and compensation. Another option for the Committee is to refer the matter for prosecution by the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal and information would be required on how many of these referrals are upheld by the Tribunal.

Street lighting is the responsibility of local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally within the Scottish Government.

Around 28% of Scottish housing stock is in public ownership.

Energy performance is measured using the Scottish House Condition Survey by approximating energy efficiency ratings (EER) as used in the production of Energy Performance Certificates. The EER grade properties from extremely good ratings of A to poor ratings of G.

Of the homes in public ownership:

2% of homes have an energy efficiency rating of B,

47% have an energy efficiency rating of C

36% have an energy efficiency rating of D

13% have an energy efficiency rating of E

1% have an energy efficiency rating of F.

No homes in the sample had an energy efficiency rating of A or G and 2% of homes in the sample were unable to be classified.

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings for new construction are collected and held by each local authority. There is no legal requirement to provide an EPC for a building which has been retrofitted. Information on existing dwellings is recorded centrally on the Home Energy Efficiency Database. Data for existing non-domestic buildings is not currently collected. The database will be extended to record the lodgement of EPCs for existing non-domestic buildings in late 2012, with new-build EPCs following in 2013.

EPC ratings for existing dwellings are shown in the following table. This represents approximately one quarter of the housing stock, however, due to the triggers for producing EPCs, the totals should not be extrapolated to present a national picture.