---

Pupil Exclusions

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children with statements of special educational needs were permanently excluded from schools in Scotland in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95; and what each figure was as a proportion of the total number of children permanently excluded from schools. [8724]

Mr. Wilson [holding answer 21 July 1997]: Information on the number of pupils with statements of special educational needs who were permanently excluded from school is not held centrally.

Information on the total number of pupils permanently excluded from school is available for 1994-95 but was not collected in prior years. The information for 1994-95, consistent with that set out in the report on attendance and absence in Scottish schools, 1994-95 published by the audit unit of HM inspectors of schools, is set out in the table.

	Number of pupils permanently excluded from schools in 1994-95
Primary pupils	47
Secondary pupils	296

Debt Payment

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the policy of his Department on the timely payment of debts; and what is his Department's record on the payment of debts in the current financial year. [9525]

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 538

Mr. Chisolm [holding answer Friday 18 July 1997]: All Departments are required to pay all their bills within agreed contract terms, or 30 days from receipt of the goods or service or a valid invoice, whichever is later, where no such terms exist. Information on payment performance for the current financial year could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Government will publish a league table of departmental payment performance for 1996-97 in the autumn.

HIV-AIDS

Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many new HIV infections there have been among (a) intravenous drug users, (b) heterosexuals and (c) homosexuals in the age groups (1) 16 to 25, (2) 26 to 35, (3) 36 to 45, (4) 46 to 55 and (5) over 55s by health authority (i) each year since 1985 and (ii) in total; if he will list the year on year change in each group in percentage terms; and if he will make a statement about the Government's targeting of HIV-AIDS prevention materials. [9221]

Mr. Galbraith [holding answer Monday 21 July 1997]: Information about diagnosed HIV infections in Scotland is held in the transmission categories and age groups shown in table 1. Individuals often do not seek testing unless they believe themselves to be at risk or develop symptoms and hence reported HIV infections underestimate the true number of cases. In addition, these figures may be subject to under-reporting.

The figures are given on an all-Scotland basis because presenting data by health boards may threaten confidentiality in low prevalence areas. Table 2 shows the year on year change in each group in percentage terms.

The Government's targeting of HIV-AIDS prevention materials is in line with the UK health Departments' Strategy, "HIV and AIDS Health Promotion: An Evolving Strategy", November 1995. This emphasised the need for better targeting of vulnerable groups such as gay men, as well as the need to inform the general population about the continuing potential risks from HIV.

In Scotland, recent data indicate that new infections among gay men remain the highest of all transmission categories. In line with the strategy, The Scottish Office Department of Health is funding a project involving prevention work for gay men in Scotland. In addition to work aimed at the general population, The Health Education Authority carry out a limited amount of prevention work UK-wide targeted at gay and bisexual men. HIV-AIDS is one of the priority areas for the Health Education Board for Scotland; and its work at national level is complemented by the local activities of health boards.

Table 1: HIV reports, Scotland by transmission category, age group at report, and year of report--1985 to 1996

Transmission category	Age group	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Injecting drug use	0-4	0	0	0	0	0	0
	15-24	88	143	106	31	32	18
	25-34	60	80	57	30	14	13
	35-44	8	12	8	5	4	4
	45-54	0	0	0	0	0	0
	55+	0	0	1	0	0	0
	Not known	5	6	3	1	0	0
	Total	161	241	175	67	50	35
Sexual intercourse between men and women	0-14	0	0	0	0	0	0
	15-24	1	4	8	5	9	15
	25-34	0	15	10	18	10	14
	35-44	0	0	5	7	5	7
	45-54	0	0	0	0	2	2
	55+	0	0	0	1	0	2
	Not Known	0	1	1	0	0	0
	Total	1	20	24	31	26	40
Sexual intercourse between men	0-14	0	0	0	0	0	0
	15-24	19	23	19	14	7	7
	25-34	33	31	26	22	24	26
	35-44	14	11	16	8	10	20
	45-54	6	6	4	3	5	3
	55+	1	1	1	0	2	1
	Not known	1	2	1	0	0	0
	Total	74	74	67	47	48	57
Other (e.g. blood transfusion, mother to child, undetermined)	0-14	15	3	7	0	3	3
	15-24	5	4	1	2	2	0
	25-34	4	4	2	3	2	5
	35-44	5	1	1	1	2	0
	45-54	1	1	1	0	0	0
	55+	1	1	1	0	1	0
	Not known	1	1	1	0	0	0
	Total	32	15	14	6	10	8
Total	0-14	15	3	7	0	3	3
	15-24	113	174	134	52	50	40
	25-34	97	130	95	73	50	58
	35-44	27	24	30	21	21	31
	45-54	7	7	5	3	7	5
	55+	2	2	3	1	3	3
	Not known	7	10	6	1	0	0
	Total	268	350	280	151	134	140

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 539

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 539

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 540

Transmission category	Age group	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Totals 1985-96
Injecting drug use	0-14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	15-24	12	14	16	2	3	1	466
	25-34	31	19	34	14	18	21	391
	35-44	6	6	5	9	6	5	78
	45-54	1	0	1	1	0	3	6
	55+	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	15
	Total	30	39	56	26	27	307	957
Sexual intercourse between men and women	0-14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	15-24	8	13	7	7	0	8	85
	25-34	19	23	24	25	22	21	201
	35-44	8	4	6	2	25	14	83
	45-54	4	4	3	2	7	4	28
	55+	3	2	1	3	3	1	16
	Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
	Total	42	46	41	39	57	48	415
Sexual intercourse between men	0-14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	15-24	10	3	10	8	5	12	137
	25-34	23	29	38	37	40	31	360
	35-44	19	18	20	25	28	26	215
	45-54	9	7	5	8	6	12	74
	55+	3	4	1	3	1	3	21
	Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
	Total	64	61	74	81	80	84	811
Other (e.g. blood transfusion, mother to child, undermined)	0-14	6	0	3	2	4	0	46
	15-24	0	1	0	1	2	0	18
	25-34	0	2	0	1	3	5	31
	35-44	1	1	2	0	2	2	18
	45-54	2	0	1	2	2	1	11
	55+	0	0	0	1	0	1	6
	Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
	Total	9	4	6	7	13	9	133
Total	0-14	6	0	3	2	4	0	46
	15-24	30	31	33	18	10	21	706
	25-34	73	73	96	77	83	78	983
	35-44	34	29	33	36	61	47	394
	45-54	16	11	10	13	15	20	119
	55+	6	6	2	7	4	5	44
	Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	24
	Total	165	150	177	153	177	171	2,316

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 541

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 541

Table 2: Percentage change from previous year

Transmission category	Age group	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Injecting drug use	0-14	--	--	--	--	--	--
	15-24	5	63	-26	-71	3	-44
	25-34	107	33	-29	-47	-53	-7
	35-44	60	50	-33	-38	-20	0
	45-54	--	--	--	--	--	--
	55+	--	--	--	-100	--	--
	Not known	67	20	--50	-67	-100	--
	Total	33	50	-27	-62	-25	-30
Sexual intercourse between men and women	0-14	--	--	--	--	--	--
	15-24	-50	300	100	-38	80	67
	25-34	-100	--	--33	80	-44	40
	35-44	--	--	--	40	-29	40
	45-54	--	--	--	--	--	0
	55+	--	--	--	--	-100	--
	Not known	--	--	0	100	--	--
	Total	-67	1,900	20	29	-16	54
Sexual intercourse between men	0-14	--	--	--	--	--	--
	15-24	533	21	-17	-26	-50	0
	25-34	560	-6	-16	-15	9	8
	35-44	1,300	-21	45	-50	25	100
	45-54	500	0	-33	-25	67	-40
	55+	--	0	0	-100	--	-50
	Not known	--	100	-50	-100	--	--
	Total	640	0	-9	-30	2	19
Other (e.g. blood transfusion, mother to child, undetermined)	0-14	400	-80	133	-100	--	0
	15-24	67	-20	-75	100	0	-100
	25-34	-43	0	-50	50	-33	150
	35-44	-58	-80	0	0	100	-100
	45-54	-67	0	0	-100	--	--
	55+	--	0	0	-100	--	-100
	Not known	--	0	0	-100	--	--
	Total	14	-53	-7	-57	67	-20
Total	0-14	400	-80	133	-100	--	0
	15-24	23	54	-23	-61	-4	-20
	25-34	131	34	-27	-23	-32	16
	35-44	50	-11	25	-30	0	48
	45-54	75	0	-29	-40	133	-29
	55+	--	0	50	-67	200	0
	Nor known	133	43	-40	-83	-100	--
	Total	65	31	-28	-46	-11	4

Note:

A dash denotes that there were no cases reported during the previous year.

Source:

Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (as at 30 June 1997).

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 543

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 543

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 544

Transmission category	Age group	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Injecting drug use	0-14	--	--	--	--	--	--
	15-24	-33	17	14	-88	50	-67
	25-34	138	-39	-79	-59	29	17
	34-44	50	0	-17	80	-33	-17
	45-54	--	-100	--	0	-100	--
	55+	--	--	--	--	--	--
	Not known	--	--	--	--	--	--
	Total	43	-22	44	-54	4	11
Sexual intercourse between men and women	0-14	--	--	--	--	--	--
	15-24	-47	63	-48	0	-100	--
	25-34	36	21	4	4	-12	-5
	35-44	14	-50	50	-67	1,150	-44
	45-54	100	0	-25	-33	250	-43
	55+	50	-33	-50	200	0	-67
	Not known	--	--	--	--	--	--
	Total	5	10	-11	-5	46	-16
Sexual intercourse between men	0-14	--	--	--	--	--	--
	15-24	43	-70	233	-20	-38	140
	25-34	-12	26	31	-3	8	-23
	35-44	-5	-5	11	25	12	-7
	45-54	200	-22	-29	60	-25	100
	55+	200	33	-75	200	-67	200
	Not known	--	--	--	--	--	--
	Total	12	-5	21	9	-1	5
Other (e.g. blood transfusion, mother to child, undetermined)	0-14	100	-100	--	-33	100	-100
	15-24	--	--	-100	--	100	-100
	25-34	-100	--	-100	--	200	67
	35-44	--	0	100	-100	--	0
	45-54	--	-100	--	100	0	-50
	55+	--	--	--	--	-100	--
	Not known	--	--	--	--	--	--
	Total	13	-56	50	17	86	-31
Total	0-14	100	-100	--	-33	100	-100
	15-24	-25	3	6	-45	-44	110
	25-34	20	0	32	-20	8	-6
	35-44	10	-15	14	9	69	-23
	45-54	220	-31	-9	30	15	33
	55+	100	0	-67	250	-43	25
	Not known	--	--	--	--	--	--
	Total	18	-9	18	-14	16	-3

Note:

A dash denotes that there were no cases reported during the previous year.

Source:

Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (as at 30 June 1997).

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 543

22 Jul 1997 : Column: 545

---