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It is the responsibility of each local authority to determine what collection systems are put in place. Food waste trials in Scotland have been supported by the Scottish Government in seven local authority areas. The Scottish Government is supporting councils who wish to introduce food waste collections with assistance from Remade Scotland, Waste Aware Scotland and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Twenty-nine of the 32 local authorities offer an organic waste collection from the kerbside. In addition, 13 local authorities collect food waste either with other organic waste or collected separately.

Preventing food waste, where possible, is the most environmentally sustainable approach. Prevention saves householders money and helps to reduce greenhouse gases associated with the production, transportation, storage and disposal of food.

Some food waste, however, is unavoidable, for example tea bags, fruit skins and vegetable peelings. Where possible, householders should compost these types of material at home. For households that cannot compost at home, or for the types of waste that it is recommended not to compost at home, such as chicken carcasses and cooked food waste, householders should utilise the food waste collection services where they are provided by local authorities.

Seven employers in the three Ayrshire local authority areas have registered through the Adopt an Apprentice scheme. Across the scheme the majority of employers are in the construction sector and hundreds of redundant apprentices have now been placed with new employers.

Local Authority	No. of Employers
East Ayrshire	4
North Ayrshire	1
South Ayrshire	2
Total	7

 

Since the launch of Adopt an Apprentice scheme on 10 June 2009 information about the scheme has been made available through a number of newspaper articles at both national and local level. Information is also available on websites such as Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government .

The Scottish Government continues to work with key partners to build on their communications mechanisms to promote the Adopt an Apprentice scheme to employers. We are working closely with sector skills councils, in particular ConstructionSkills, to promote this new scheme to employers and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils will shortly be circulating details of the Adopt an Apprentice scheme to their employers.

The Countryside Survey 2007, the most recent country-wide assessment of habitat extent, estimates the area of blanket bog in Scotland as 1.1m ha. This survey does not attempt to distinguish on a quantitative basis between areas in favourable and unfavourable condition.

Scottish Natural Heritage assesses the condition of features on designated sites on a cyclical basis. Recent monitoring indicated that the blanket bog on 64% of sites was in favourable or recovering condition, with the feature on 36% of sites being in unfavourable condition. However, continuing changes in management, including those supported through the Scottish Rural Development Programme should have improved that position.

Funding for peatland restoration is provided through the Scottish Rural Development Programme, with measures covering Rural Priority Options and their associated capital items like drainblocking. In addition Scottish Natural Heritage funds moorland projects through their Natural Care scheme.

HM Treasury advises the Scottish Government from time to time of changes “ both up and down “ in the overall Scottish Block budget consequent on changes in Departmental spending totals in England and Wales affecting programmes that are included in the Barnett arrangements as comparable to Scotland. The source of these changes is a matter for the relevant Whitehall Departments and their ministers. Barnett consequentials accrue to the Scottish Block as a whole. Consequently, decisions about how the changes in overall budgets should be reflected in Scottish spending totals are matters for Scottish ministers. Scotland has received no Barnett consequentials in respect of funding for flood risk management in England and Wales since May 2007.

The Scottish Flood Forum (SFF) is an independent body funded by the Scottish Government. It was set up in October 2008 and has been working closely with SEPA to encourage people and communities at risk of flooding to take action for themselves and prepare for future flood events. During its first year it has been working mainly with communities in Broxburn, Freuchie, Dumfries and Hawick to help residents set up community flood groups.

The SFF has also responded to recent flood events in Cupar and Milnathort and has provided advice and support through personal visits and drop in flood surgeries for victims of the July floods. It has been praised by local councillors in Fife for providing an invaluable service to those who have been unfortunate to have suffered in those flood events.

The SFF has met East Ayrshire Council to discuss how it can support people and local businesses at risk from flooding in the area. In Kilmarnock the SFF is working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Kilmarnock Business Gateway to build resilience and offer training to help businesses prepare for flooding.

The SFF has not been active in Loudoun to-date but would be happy to offer support to communities there if required.

The Adoption Policy Review Group was set up in 2001 to look at adoption practice and law in Scotland. The first report was published in 2003 and looked at practice issues; the second report was published in 2005 and dealt with the legal framework. The Review Group identified a number of issues which needed to be addressed to ensure that the adoption process was timely and efficient in order to meet the needs of the children involved.

The recommendations of the second report by the Adoption Policy Review Group led to the development of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act). The 2007 Act, and associated regulations, makes provision for the process of assessing and approving prospective adopters and assessing children as suitable for adoption. It creates new court rules governing the processes for adoption and the new Permanence Order. The new legislation is designed to minimise any delays in the process and ensure that safe, stable and secure placements are found for children who can no longer live with their natural parents. The 2007 Act will come into force on 28 September 2009.

Alongside the 2007 Act the Scottish Government is supporting the implementation with guidance and training which has been delivered by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network to almost 1,000 practitioners and others, such as Children''s Hearing members and local government solicitors. The guidance will provide all those working with the new legislation the necessary tools and good practice to ensure that the system works effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of children.

The following table shows (for charges reported in each financial year) the number of charges which resulted in a conviction. A number of charges are still subject of on-going court proceedings and these are included in the table.

Charges: Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005^1,2

Charge Outcome	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	Total
Total Charges Prosecuted	20	23	25	21	89
Proceedings still on-going	0	0	0	4	4
Convicted	14	19	22	15	70

Notes:

1. The information for this question has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The table shows the position recorded as at 10 September 2009.

We do not hold information centrally on the timescales involved in the issuing of adoption orders.

The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act), which will come into force on 28 September 2009, requires a child, placed by an adoption agency, to live with a prospective adopter for 13 weeks prior to an adoption order being granted. New court rules have been developed as part of the implementation of the 2007 Act which govern the processes in court for the hearing and disposal of applications for adoption or the new Permanence Order. These court rules will give a framework for the timescales involved from the time a petition for an adoption order is lodged with the court to the point the application is disposed.