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The Scottish Executive employs:(a) 74 persons (0.5% of staff) with a self-declared hearing disability,(b) 90 persons (0.6% of staff) with a self-declared visual disability and(c) No figures are available on the number of deafblind staff employed.

The research and development (R&D) funding programme for renewable energy is reserved; the budget is held by DTI and has been increased recently. Over this and the next two years there is £55 million available for renewable R&D projects across the UK. Scottish developers and Scottish projects have received around £10 million in funding from this source over the last 10 years. We work to ensure that Scottish projects continue to benefit from the increased funding available.

The recent teacher recruitment advertising campaign had the twin objectives of improving the perception of teaching as a worthwhile and rewarding career and increasing the numbers of talented people entering the teaching profession.All of the Scottish Executive's teacher recruitment activity is designed to appeal to the widest possible range of potential teachers including mature new entrants. It should be noted that 70% of callers responding to the most recent campaign in October this year were in the 25 to 44 age group.The success of the campaign in meeting its objectives will be judged, firstly by monitoring the numbers of applicants for the 2002-03 academic session and secondly by monitoring changes in public perception, through a System 3 survey completed in November 2001 and currently under analysis.

The recent teacher recruitment advertising campaign had the twin objectives of improving the perception of teaching as a worthwhile and rewarding career and increasing the numbers of talented people entering the teaching profession.All of the Scottish Executive's teacher recruitment activity is designed to appeal to the widest possible range of potential teachers and this includes former teachers whose return to the profession would be welcomed.

The Scottish Executive is currently involved in the development and implementation of improved ethnicity monitoring of staff. A comprehensive survey of ethnicity information for all staff has recently been undertaken, and information from that will be available within the next few months.

The Scottish Executive core departments employ 2,187 women, which represents 50% of the core workforce.The Scottish Executive as a whole, including agencies and associated departments, employs 6,168 women. This represents 41% of the total workforce.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. The following information has been supplied by the British Transport Police in respect of crimes and offences occurring on or near railway lines.Crimes and Offences occurring on or near railway lines reported and recorded by the British Transport Police

Crime/Offence	1997-98		1998-99		1999-2000		2000-01
	Reported	Detected	Reported	Detected	Reported	Detected	Reported	Detected
Endangering Safety	21	14	21	12	28	10	42	8
Obstruction	84	10	82	4	67	3	63	4
Throwing Missile	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Vandalism1	797	48	736	56	316	32	278	39
Trespass	2,165	657	1,796	505	1,769	333	1,927	368
Stone throwing 2	591	30	516	25	556	22	650	28

Source: British Transport Police.Notes:1. Vandalism covers a wide range of offences and includes all forms of damage to trains. The decreases which are evidenced have been caused by changes in recording practice adopted by the British Transport Police.2. Stone throwing is a generic term and relates to any minor item thrown at rolling stock and the railway infrastructure which does not cause any damage.

The Scottish Executive, its Agencies and Associated Departments currently employ 24 young people under the 18-24 element of the New Deal programme. A further 31 individuals are currently employed under the 25+, 50+ and Lone Parent elements of the programme.

The time taken to process motorways and strategic roads schemes from inception to delivery depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of the proposals, the number of objections received, the time taken at any public local inquiry and the need for any subsequent discussion, for example with landowners. Information on the time taken in all such cases is not held centrally.

The Executive actively seeks the views of business, local enterprise companies and other interests as part of the on-going process of consulting on major road projects. Recently there were public exhibitions of proposals for the Eastern Relief Road at Kincardine and the Fochabers- Mosstodloch Bypass on the A96. Business, industry, local enterprise companies and community interests are also closely involved in the transport corridor studies on the A8/M8, A80/M80 and the M74.