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Lead Pipes
Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to reintroduce a local authority programme to enable more domestic water lead pipes to be replaced. [61536]
Mr. Macdonald: Under the repairs grant system local authorities may give assistance at up to 90 per cent. of the cost of works to home owners replacing lead plumbing. It is for authorities to set their own budgets for repairs grants and decide the priority they give to lead pipe replacement. As regards council housing, it is for local authorities as landlords to determine their priorities for works to their own stock.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent by each Scottish council in grants for the replacement of lead water pipes in domestic property in the most recent years for which figures are
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available; and how much was spent by the previous district and islands councils for the last full year before these grants ceased to be ring-fenced. [61556]
Mr. Macdonald:
This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to support open learning courses as an alternative to existing training schemes. [61540]
Mr. Dewar:
The Opportunity Scotland consultation paper, published in September set out the Government's commitment to the promotion of learning in all forms, throughout life, and detailed a number of initiatives which will be used for that purpose. Training courses are a particular form of learning and are complementary rather than alternative to any other forms.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to persuade professional bodies and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to co-operate in creating a single set of exams in each field which will satisfy both the professional body's and the universities' requirements. [61542]
Mrs. Liddell:
Many professional bodies already recognise university courses for the purposes of entry to the professions and the whole are of higher education qualifications has recently been the subject of many recommendations by the Dearing and Garrick Committees. These include recommendations on the development of programme specifications and an integrated credit and qualification framework. The implementation of these recommendations should improve articulation between professional qualifications and degrees.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total value of the water rates relief allowed to the various categories of properties entitled to it in the latest year for which figures are available. [61546]
Mr. Macdonald:
The exact information requested is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. However, the water authorities estimate that the total value of reliefs given on water and sewerage charges in 1997-98 in Scotland was some £14 million.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide assistance to the water boards to enable them to change from a system of charges to commercial properties based on rateable value to one based on volume. [61548]
Mr. Macdonald:
The water authorities are responsible for developing appropriate charging arrangements. Each of the authorities has recently completed consulting its non-domestic customers about proposals to alter the basis of charges to reflect more closely the level of services actually used rather than using rateable values as a proxy for use. Following this exercise the water authorities concluded that there is overall support in favour of a change to the charging basis. Each is now discussing the
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detailed implementation of changes for their area with Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers Council. Domestic properties are unaffected by this proposal.
Overall, the new arrangements will not alter the total income raised from the non-domestic sector, though its distribution amongst customers will be affected. The water authorities propose to phase in the changeover to ensure that individual chargepayers have sufficient time to adjust to the new arrangements.
Given that there will be no reduction in income to the water authorities and that the impact on chargepayers will be phased in, there is no case for giving financial assistance to the water authorities.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will extend the domestic sewerage transitional relief beyond the three years originally specified. [61557]
Mr. Macdonald:
The Government do not intend to extend domestic sewerage relief grant beyond the three year period initially envisaged.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what plans he has for an early review of Care in the Community funding levels; [61537]
Mr. Galbraith:
Following our Comprehensive Spending Review on 14 July we announced substantial additional resources for Scottish Councils over the next 3 years. These include significant extra provision for community care. However, it is for each council to decide how to allocate its funds.
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the expenditure on Care in the Community in each council area in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 1997-98; and what is budgeted for 1998-99. [61539]
Mr. Galbraith:
Net council expenditure on Social Work excluding that implicitly on services for children is set out in the table.
(2) if he will ensure that funding levels for Care in the Community meet the economic charge per room which housing associations and other providers have to charge to meet the registration standards set for staffing, food and buildings and their loan charges. [61538]
All figures are net of loan and leasing charges.
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Employment Creation
Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to assist councils, universities, colleges and development and training agencies in the North East of Scotland to invest in employment creation in order to offset the future decline in the North Sea oil and gas industry. [61541]
Mr. Dewar: Economic development assistance to the area is channelled through Grampian Enterprise and the local authorities. Grampian Enterprise and the local councils have been working with the further and higher education institutions in the area to promote the diversification of the local economy to counteract job losses in the oil and gas industry.
Learning Difficulties
Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will require councils to provide in-service training to train teachers to identify children with learning difficulties as quickly as possible and to adopt systems which achieve an early follow up in respect of each child identified. [61545]
Mrs. Liddell: The provision of in-service training for teachers is a matter for authorities to determine in the light of local needs and circumstances. We have no plans to change this arrangement.
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