Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the health and wellbeing of communities in rural areas. (S3O-8309)

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing (Nicola Sturgeon): "Delivering for Remote and Rural Healthcare", published by the Scottish Government in November 2007, sets out a vision and provides a framework for a sustainable health system for remote and rural Scotland. That complements the implementation of "Equally Well: Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Equalities", which will see the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, local authorities and the third sector work together to tackle health inequalities across the country.

Aileen Campbell: Will the minister join me in acknowledging the excellent work of Healthy Valleys, which works to improve the health and wellbeing of communities that are affected by rural deprivation in the Clyde valley, and Clydesdale Community Initiatives, which supports young people at risk and adults with learning difficulties in rural South Lanarkshire? Both organisations are finalists in prestigious award ceremonies next week. Will she join me in wishing them and all the finalists the best of luck?

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): The cabinet secretary noted that there has been a 42 per cent increase in the uptake of ILAs compared with last year. Will she elaborate on the groups that are benefiting from that?

Fiona Hyslop: A number of groups are benefiting. Where people have been made redundant, we are encouraging employers to allow them to retrain while they are in work, so that they can be retrained before moving elsewhere. ILAs and the flexibility that they offer are another outcome. I know that Jeremy Purvis does not like outcomes from the skills strategy, but a 42 per cent increase in the number of those taking up ILAs is important.

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): How have authorities, police and partners reacted to the new powers that they have under the 2007 act? How have they responded to the fact that closer co-operation to address harm is expected of them?

Shona Robison: They have reacted very well. I hope to be able to share more information with the Parliament about that in the new year. We have informal information from local authorities about how the act is being taken forward. My message is that there is huge co-operation between the police and the adult protection committees. A lot of action is happening throughout Scotland. We are conducting a survey with COSLA in advance of the first biennial report next October. I am happy to share the results of that with the Parliament once we have them.

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): What are the principles behind supporting independent students, who are a group that has never previously had direct financial support?

Fiona Hyslop: As I mentioned, the UCAS figures show that the number of independent students going to university reduced in previous years but has now increased. Financial support can make a difference to whether they go to university in the first place and, more important, some of the feedback that we have on independent and older students at universities indicates that the issue puts pressure on the retention of such students once they have accepted a place and are at university. The problem can often be issues of income, family responsibilities and debt. The fact that independent and older students have up to £4,000 commercial debt, compared with several hundred pounds for younger students, shows that commercial debt is hitting independent students hard. An income of £1,227 more than they had previously will be welcomed by independent students throughout Scotland.