You Said
Many of you thought that children (78%) and young people (81%) do not get enough physical exercise. You would like to see more free time activities for children and young people. Three out of four of you said that lower cost sports and leisure centres would be the most effective approaches to encouraging greater activity.

Our Reply
A number of initiatives (some of which are funded by the Scottish Government) are in place to foster physical exercise and include the following:

• The Health Promoting Schools Programme for all Moray school pupils focuses on health in general and includes education/participation in developing healthy lifestyles, including taking exercise.
• The Active Schools programme benefits all pupils in Primary schools through 'Stay and Play' sessions.
• The Sports Development Programme, led by the Community Learning and Development Sports Development Team, focuses on promoting participation and skill development in a range of sporting activity. This takes place all year round, including the school holidays. In addition, the Moray Council is a major partner in the Girls' and Young Women's Football Development project which covers Moray and Aberdeenshire. This project has attracted Big Lottery funding. Healthy living and the place of physical exercise continues to be a priority.

Healthy and nurtured

You Said
Four in five of you said that the top priorities are preventing children and young people drinking on the streets and tackling drug supply and use. 71% identified the importance of drug and alcohol education in schools.

Our Reply
A range of initiatives is in place and continues to be developed, for example:

• the work of the Drug and Alcohol Action Team.
• the activities of the Mobile Information bus which is run in partnership between The Moray Council and Grampian NHS.
• the Healthy Eating programme and the Free Fruit initiative which impact on the eating habits of all pupils in Moray schools.

The need for continued activity in this area is already noted and the views expressed in the survey will be considered for future development.

Achieving

You Said
Behavioral standards in schools and extra curricular activities were not rated highly in terms of Moray schools and colleges. Nine out of 10 of you mentioned more and better employment and education and training opportunities outwith Moray as the reason for the perceived trend in young people leaving Moray.

Our Reply
Raising education attainment and the promotion of positive pupil behaviour continue to be major features of the work of the Moray Council and its partners. Educational Services' Service Improvement Plan contains details of current priorities in this area and can be viewed on the Moray Council website. In addition, the work of the local authority and its schools and the Moray College are inspected regularly and recent reports have, for the most part, been very positive. Details of reports can be found on the HMIe website.

Respected, responsible and included

You Said
In terms of behavioural issues, nine in 10 of you thought that alcohol misuse was the main problem, as well as drinking in public. Young people hanging around (86%) and graffiti and vandalism (86%) were also mentioned. Lack of parental control and lack of values at home were seen as contributory factors. Seven in 10 of you thought that children and young people need more information about their lives and should be more involved in decisions affecting the community.

Our Reply
The points raised by the Panel are in the main addressed by the Community Safety Partnership which is currently reviewing its priorities. The main points raised are currently in the Partnership action plan and are likely to feature in the future. Comments will be considered by the Community Planning Partnership as part of the review process.