To ask the Scottish Executive how many pensioners in Renfrewshire have benefited from the (a) Warm Deal scheme and (b) central heating installation programme in each of the last five years and how many are expected to benefit in future years.

The Warm Deal was introduced on 1 July 1999 and the central heating programme was introduced on 1 April 2001.

The information at (a) cannot be provided because the Warm Deal is not exclusively for pensioners. However, over 4,700 households in all sectors of the stock in the Renfrewshire postcode area have benefited from the Warm Deal as administered by Eaga to date. Local authorities were also given cash resources to provide the Warm Deal package for their own tenants and 2,445 tenants of East Renfrewshire Council and Renfrewshire Council benefited from the scheme between 1999-2000 and 2001-02.

Two hundred and ninety-two householders aged 60 or over in the private sector in the Renfrewshire postcode area benefited from the central heating programme in 2001-02, and a further 203 have so far benefited this year. There is no age criterion for the programme in the social rented sector and so a breakdown of the number of pensioner tenants who benefited is not available. However, a total of 182 tenants of East Renfrewshire Council and Renfrewshire Council benefited in 2001-02. Over 580 council tenants and 40 tenants of housing associations in the area are set to benefit this year (2002-03). For the reasons given in the answer to S1W-31646 today, we cannot estimate the number who will benefit from either programme in future years. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.