Specific action by the Executive includes providing an additional £3 million to increase the number of money advisers in Scotland and £500,000 for increased central support for money advice including training, information and quality assurance. The Executive has also allocated £1.5 million over three years to help credit unions with capacity building, to extend their membership and the services they offer. The Executive is also working with parties in the financial sector and others to encourage the development of new and alternative means to deliver financial services as well as ensuring existing services are accessible to people at risk of financial exclusion.

The National Liaison Group for Credit Unions is an independent body set up by the credit union movement to discuss issues of common interest and to harmonise lobbying strategies on government policy that may impact credit unions. The Scottish Executive does not consider it appropriate for us to seek representation on such a group.

All members of the senior civil service have had the opportunity to participate in 360-degree feedback, the result of which are relevant to the development discussion which is part of the appraisal process.

An evaluation of the first year of the new Senior Civil Service Performance Management and Pay arrangements has been carried out by the Cabinet Office with support from consultants. As a major employer of senior civil servants, the Scottish Executive participated with in-depths interviews and an electronic survey. The Cabinet Office are currently considering the findings of this evaluation.

Judgements on the delivery of results required in the annual performance agreement are made by the reporting officers and discussed with the staff member being reported on as part of the open reporting process.

In the top tranche three people were awarded a bonus of 3% of salary. The total value of those bonus payments was £9,205. In the middle tranche 17 people were awarded a bonus of 3% of salary. The total value of those bonus payments was £40,817.

The delivery of results and continuous improvement are equally important and contribute to the assessment of relative performance.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including consumer protection.

The Plan for Action on alcohol problems, published in January last year, sets out a range of measures to reduce alcohol-related harm in Scotland. Action is grouped into the areas of culture change, prevention and education, providing support and treatment services, protection and controls for individuals and the wider community and delivery. The two key priorities of the plan are to reduce binge drinking and reduce harmful drinking by children and young people.In September last year we published an Alcohol Problems Support and Treatment Services Framework to provide guidance to those involved in planning, commissioning and managing services. This identified a range of ways in which services could respond to specific and more general needs.

Alcohol education forms part of health education in schools, specifically within drug education. Guidelines already exist in the form of 5-14 Health Education Guidelines which were published in October 2000, together with a Guide for Teachers and Managers. These offer a framework within which education authorities should develop their health education programmes including alcohol education.The 2001-02 drug education survey published in October 2002 indicted that 99% of Scottish schools provide alcohol education.