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School Books and Equipment
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the expenditure of Scottish schools on books and equipment for the latest year for which figures are available. [69417]
Mrs. Liddell
[holding answer 8 February 1999]: Total expenditure by education authorities in Scotland on text and library books, and educational tools, equipment and materials for nursery, primary, secondary and special schools was £52.2 million in 1996-97, the latest year for which information is available. Estimates are not available for such expenditure in future years, but future expenditure should reflect additional resources for education made available in the Budgets of 1997 and 1998 and the Comprehensive Spending Review. In particular, additional resources of £2.4 million are being allocated to local authorities this financial year for books for school libraries, in support of the National Year of Reading. From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
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Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the cost of a rebate of 50 per cent. on the council tax of second home owners in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [69497]
Mr. McLeish
[holding answer 8 February 1999]: Information is collected centrally only in respect of the total number of dwellings in receipt of the 50 per cent. council tax discount and we cannot identify how many of these are second homes. The percentage of all dwellings receiving a 50 per cent. discount is around 2 per cent. From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the spending on education in each of the current local government areas of (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97, (c) 1997-98, (d) 1998-99 and (e) 1999-2000. [69498]
Mrs. Liddell
[holding answer 8 February 1999]: The available information is given in the following table. The current local government areas were not responsible for education spending in 1995-96. From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for The Scottish Parliament.
Notes:
1. All figures are net current expenditure excluding loan & leasing charges as returned by the individual local authorities to The Scottish Office
2. The provisional outturn figures for 1998-99 and the budget estimates for 1999-2000 are not yet available
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Departmental Theft
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the items and their estimated value stolen from (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) associated public bodies during (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99 to date; and if he will make a statement. [69266]
Mr. Dewar
[holding answer 8 February 1999]: A variety of items are periodically reported missing. Security procedures remain under constant review and revised procedures are introduced as necessary. The following items have been formally recorded as losses due to theft from The Scottish Office, its agencies and associated Departments in 1997-98 and 1998-99 to date.
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From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his priorities for improving the (a) health service and (b) education system in Scotland. [69416]
Mr. Dewar
[holding answer 8 February 1999]: The Government's strategic aims and clinical priorities for the National Health Service in Scotland are set out in "Priorities and Planning Guidance for the NHS in Scotland 1999-2002". Our plans to reform the structure of the National Health Service in Scotland to replace the internal market were detailed in "Designed to Care: Renewing the National Health Service in Scotland" (Cm 3811). I intend to publish proposals related to the broader health agenda shortly, taking account of the responses to consultation on "Working Together for a Healthier Scotland" (Cm 3584). All these documents are in the Library.
The Government's priorities for improving school education are set out in our White Paper "Targeting Excellence: Modernising Scotland's Schools" (Cm 4247) which was published on 27 January. Our priorities for post-16 education and training are set out in our Green Paper "Opportunity Scotland" (Cm 4048) published in September 1998. I sent the hon. Member copies of these documents, and copies are also available in the Library of the House. For higher education, our priorities are set out in the Government's responses to the Dearing and Garrick reports, published in February 1998. I sent the hon. Member a copy of the Garrick report, and copies of both reports are available in the Library of the House.
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We expect shortly to publish our strategic framework for further education which will set out our challenge to colleges to widen participation, improve links with each other and other sectors, and to raise standards and quality.
Our priorities for health and education contribute to our overarching aims to promote social inclusion and excellence, and will be delivered within the enhanced resources allocated as a result of our Comprehensive Spending Review.
From 1 July 1999 these will be matters for the Scottish Parliament.
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