SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Finance and Public Services and Communities
Common Good Funds
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that local authorities operate their common good funds in accordance with the law and that the community benefits from such funds. (S2O-10265)
Councils already have a duty to administer property held as part of the common good fund for the benefit of those in the area to which the common good relates. It is, of course, for councils themselves, as independent corporate bodies, to ensure that they act lawfully in their day-to-day business.
The minister is doubtless aware of the recent research that paints a horrifying picture of how some councils have been ignoring the legal restraints on the common good fund and have merely appropriated the fund into their ordinary accounts. Will he consider ways of making councils use the common good fund better, for the benefit of the community that the fund was set up to serve, rather than rolling it all into the council accounts?
As I have said, councils are obliged, as independent corporate bodies, to act lawfully in their business. They are also fairly well audited annually, and there is a considerable amount of scrutiny of the work that they do. In the final analysis, however, the real arbiters of how a council is conducting itself, in relation to common good or to other matters, are the electors who put the council there in the first place. It is obviously inappropriate for me to comment on individual aspects of a specific report, but I believe that most councils would be prepared to put forward an alternative view. Most councils operate on the basis that they are there to serve the best interests of their communities. If any do not do so, there is a variety of mechanisms for picking that up.
Moving away from sheer money to the other assets that councils have inherited from their predecessor bodies, such as chains of office from former royal burghs, how can we hope to monitor whether councils are actually following the law by keeping an inventory of all their property and looking after it properly? Does the minister accept that it is quite difficult for the electorate, who should be passing judgment on councils, to know whether or not such things are being done in accordance with the law?
The electorate clearly have their lives to live, and I do not think that too many people are obsessed with the minutiae of which chain is where. Although it is an important matter—it is something to which people in local communities attach importance—it must be kept in its proper perspective. We employ a number of highly paid professional officers, and it is their duty to ensure that councils act appropriately and preserve the heritage of local communities across Scotland.
I hope that the minister will be aware of the response of the communities that I represent to the proposal by the Conservative convener of Scottish Borders Council to take an element of the chains away from the honorary provosts. That should be a salutary lesson to anyone who wishes to touch the chains.
I was well aware that the Conservatives had a reputation for selling the family silver, but I was not aware that they are now selling the gold as well.
Question 2 has been withdrawn.
Affordable Housing (Edinburgh)
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support new affordable housing in Edinburgh. (S2O-10285)
Edinburgh is sharing in the substantial overall increase in the funding that we are making available for affordable housing investment across Scotland. In the current year we plan to invest £36 million to support affordable housing developments in the city. That represents a doubling of the budget compared with 2004-05. Working in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, we are committed to making substantial and lasting inroads into dealing with affordable housing issues in the city.
I welcome the commitment that the minister has made, but although we need 11,000 affordable houses over the next decade, the council has plans to provide 3,500 houses. Will the minister accept that that gap of 7,500 houses represents a huge problem in relation to social disadvantage and access to the housing market? Given that, on average, there are 50 applications for every house that becomes available through the council's letting system—in popular areas such as my own, there are up to 300 applications for vacant properties—will he acknowledge that there is a crisis? Will he address the issue through the strategic housing investment framework and ensure that it reflects the massive demand that exists in Edinburgh, which we must meet to enable people to live and work here?
There is no doubt that there are substantial supply shortages in social rented housing in Edinburgh. We will certainly take that into account when we come to make our conclusions on the strategic housing investment framework.
Question 4 was to be asked by Mr Andrew Arbuckle, but he is not in the chamber.
Funding Initiatives (Deprived Communities)
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to ensure that services currently funded through its temporary funding initiatives, and which are beginning to have a positive impact in the most deprived communities, continue to receive its financial support. (S2O-10298)
The impact of, and future support for, existing funding initiatives in the most deprived communities will be considered as part of the spending review process. The community regeneration fund is the principal funding programme for the most deprived communities. Funding from the community regeneration fund is provided to community planning partnerships for a three-year period to support their approved regeneration outcome agreements, but in many cases that involves the funding of good projects that were previously supported by other funding programmes.
Is the minister aware that, in Dundee, funding that amounts to more than £15 million for—among others—quality of life funding, community regeneration funding and the cities growth fund will all end on 31 March 2008? Does he recognise the need to move away from temporary funding of that nature? What assurances can the Scottish Executive give on the longer-term sustainability of crucial services that currently rely on temporary funding?
Some of the amounts are even more than Kate Maclean suggested. The figure for the community regeneration fund, which I referred to in my initial answer, is £17.3 million. In a sense, the situation is unavoidable because spending reviews are for three-year periods but, as I indicated in my initial answer, the community regeneration fund picks up many excellent projects that were funded in previous spending review periods. We have no reason to believe that there will not be a similar carryover this time round.
Is the minister aware that unmet needs funding for a number of projects, including the excellent Dundee mental health and well-being counselling service, is about to end next week? I am told that that is due to the Scottish Executive's priorities changing to prevention 2010. I am sure that, along with the Minister for Health and Community Care, the Minister for Communities has a great interest in tackling health inequalities. Will he therefore agree to review, along with the Minister for Health and Community Care, the decision to withdraw funding from the service? Surely what matters is what works in reducing health inequalities, which should not be dependent on the Scottish Executive constantly chopping and changing funding streams.
That is properly a question for the Minister for Health and Community Care, so I better not tread too far into the territory—although the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform and I have a great interest in the subject because of our previous involvement with the portfolio.
The minister must be aware of the Executive's habit of funding things for three years. Only one year of decent work ever comes out of that approach, so it is very poor value for money. It leaves the community worse off than it was before good activities started in a deprived area—just when everyone is getting up to speed, they are told that they have to stop and go away because there is no more money. Does the minister accept that the Executive must continue to fund such things? He argues that if the Executive continues to fund them, it would not be able to find money for new things, but it is much more important to keep good existing things going than to invent something new.
In my previous answers, I certainly supported keeping good existing things—as Donald Gorrie calls them—going. However, there is something unavoidable about spending review periods, and it is quite right that we should evaluate projects rather than keep them going automatically. The system of three-year funding is significant progress on the system that used to pertain. Indeed, the commitment to three-year funding was part of the strategic funding review that was done in partnership with the voluntary sector. We have made progress. Obviously, there is an issue about keeping good projects going. As I said, I certainly support doing so, but I do not think that there is any simple answer. At the end of the day, we have finite, albeit increasing, sums of money and we have to make decisions about continuing to fund the best strategic projects.
Free Personal Care (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the funding structure for local authorities to meet its commitment on free personal care, in light of the Health Committee's care inquiry report. (S2O-10245)
Funding for those services is in line with the recommendations of the joint Scottish local authorities management centre and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities report, which the Scottish Executive accepted and fully funded. A review is currently taking place of the mechanism for funding local authorities to support people who live in care homes and receive free personal and nursing care. In line with that, the examination of current expenditure practices will be extensive.
The minister will be aware of the Health Committee's disappointment that he did not appear before it, given the nature of the financial questions that were in front of the committee. Can he give us a commitment today that he will very much involve himself in the committee's recommendations? I refer in particular to the lack of inflationary increase—such an increase was not built into the legislation—which should be addressed and to the review of funding, which should take account of the collective and individual finance that is provided to local authorities for free personal care.
First of all, I am aware of the opinions expressed by some committee members, who ignored the practices that we employ to ensure that a single minister gives a comprehensive answer on behalf of the Scottish Executive within their own policy remit.
Local Government Finance Review Committee (Report)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive and publish the report of the independent local government finance review committee. (S2O-10304)
The local government finance review committee expects to report by the end of October 2006. We expect to receive the report shortly before it is published by the committee.
Does the minister welcome, as I do, the fact that the drive towards introducing a local income tax has been put into reverse gear by the Liberal Democrats? Has there been an updated assessment of the level at which local income tax would have to be levied by our local authorities if it were to be introduced?
My Liberal Democrat colleagues in the coalition update me on many matters but we have not yet found time to discuss this matter in great detail. I accept absolutely the point that, irrespective of where we are on the political spectrum, such matters need to be approached with considerable care. I am sure that no party—whether mine or any other—would want to put across the message that they are interested in increasing the tax burden on people in Scotland. Now, although I think that that applies to most parties, I have looked closely at some of the statements that the Scottish National Party has made, which cast a bit of doubt over my optimism, but I will try my best to remain an optimist.
Without wishing in any way to undermine the minister's optimism, I say to him that if the Liberal Democrat members do not take the opportunity to argue in favour of a local income tax today in Parliament, perhaps I will do so on their behalf—although they are welcome to make their contribution.
Mr Swinney has dented my optimism before and, sadly, he has done so again with his question; however, I think that I will manage to struggle on. How people should consider the council tax will be reflected in the outcome of the independent committee's work. It is important that we allow an independent committee to come to its own conclusions and that we allow its recommendations to shape the debate and policy options that different parties adopt thereafter.
As the Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman on local government, I will update the minister on our position: we are in favour of axing the unfair council tax and replacing it with a local income tax. Does the minister agree that it is important that political parties' views on these matters are not misrepresented in this Parliament?
That is important—it applies to everyone who speaks in this Parliament; however, perhaps that is a matter for my other colleagues in the coalition. Some people might have decided to pre-determine their views on local taxation in advance of being informed by the studious work of the independent committee. I would rather await the outcomes of that work and allow my future judgments to be guided by it.
Will the minister visit the Milngavie and Bearsden part of my constituency to ensure that the Liberal Democrat proposals are not misrepresented and that the Executive's position is depicted accurately, which does not always happen?
I would be delighted to visit that part of the member's constituency to address those matters and any others to convince people that there should be a reasonable way forward in local taxation and to allow them to form their own opinions about which party is most likely to deliver that.
Missives (Residential Property)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in reaching agreement with the Law Society of Scotland on the issue of standard missives in relation to the purchase of residential property. (S2O-10289)
In line with the recommendations of the housing improvement task force, the Law Society of Scotland convened a working party with the Scottish Consumer Council and Homes for Scotland to consider the preparation of a voluntary code of practice to address a range of issues around the purchase of new-build housing and to develop a standard missive for use in such purchases. I understand that talks are suspended while Homes for Scotland undertakes wider consultation with its members. Justice Department officials have asked the Law Society for a full report on progress to date. We will consider that carefully before deciding on next steps.
Is the minister aware that the issue has been on-going for some four years and yet each time that we seem to make progress, we find that it is only a false dawn. Is she further aware of the particular concern across Scotland that some purchasers of new-build homes are experiencing delays with entry dates, with delays lasting anything from one to 18 months? When entry dates are misrepresented by developers, people experience horrendous costs, which they have to bear. Does she agree that there has been nothing but prevarication, procrastination and delay on the part of the Law Society of Scotland and many of the developers and that further delay can be caused by the public utility companies?
First, I recognise the work that Helen Eadie has done in highlighting the issue over a long period of time, including during the passage of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. We need to reflect on the difficulties of the issue and the importance of getting it resolved correctly. I cannot therefore concur with the comments that she made that the delays relate to wilful procrastination or whatever. Difficult issues are involved and the Executive is keen to address them in a way that enables people to unite around the actions that are taken.
Education and Young People, <br />Tourism, Culture and Sport
Cultural Rights and Entitlements <br />(Young People)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to extend and promote cultural rights and to establish and deliver cultural entitlements for young people. (S2O-10313)
As I announced to Parliament in January, we are preparing legislation to promote planning for cultural provision across the local authority sector. Together with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, we have also established a working group that includes local authority bodies and cultural agencies. The group will consider the best ways for local cultural entitlements to be delivered, including, importantly, their delivery to young people.
I welcome the minister's answer and the commitment to cultural rights. How can young people learn about and participate in Scotland's traditional arts, including music, song, dance, storytelling and, indeed, the language?
Already, under proposals and projects that we are funding through the Scottish Arts Council, a number of initiatives allow young people to do that. The youth music initiative has an important traditional music role. It has been particularly important in the Highland Council area, where the Fèisean nan Gàidheal movement has been very much involved in delivering quality experiences of traditional music to young people. The traditional musicians in schools scheme has also given children all over Scotland the chance to join in with performances from some of Fèis Rois's best tutors. I understand that, in 2005 alone, its musicians delivered a staggering 210 traditional music workshops to more than 9,000 children. Projects and organisations such as those could play a key role in delivering our agenda for entitlements.
Will the new cultural entitlements legislation include a statutory duty on local authorities to deliver those entitlements? Can the minister confirm that the proposal will be cost neutral to local authorities?
There is already a statutory duty on local authorities to provide adequate provision for such matters in their area. We believe that these matters can best be dealt with by local authorities working with local community groups through cultural planning and the community planning process. We will not make the entitlements a statutory requirement for local government; we will instead issue authorities with what we believe and hope will be helpful guidelines and examples of projects that they may wish to pursue.
Homophobic Bullying
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to implement the recommendations contained in "Promoting Equal Opportunities in Education—Project Two: Guidance on Dealing with Homophobic Incidents". (S2O-10275)
Any form of bullying in schools is completely unacceptable. That includes bullying on the basis of a pupil's sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. We welcome the work of the research report to which Iain Smith referred. We will consult key stakeholders before deciding how to take matters forward.
All bullying is wrong, but I am sure that the minister agrees that bullying that is based on prejudice is particularly destructive. Homophobic bullying can take many forms. It can be verbal, psychological and physical and the phrase "That's so gay" can be used as a general insult. Homophobic bullying can blight the school environment and be terrifying for victims.
I give Iain Smith the strongest assurance that ministers take homophobic bullying seriously—and any form of bullying. As he says, such bullying can and does blight young people's quality of life and educational progress.
We seem to have reached a point at which most people in Scotland's public services think that doing homophobic things is not acceptable. However, there remains a widespread attitude that saying homophobic things—in schools or in public life—is just expressing an opinion. In light of that, I press the minister on the recommendation that anti-bullying policies should make specific reference to homophobic bullying. Does the Executive agree that it is unacceptable that, as the research found, the anti-bullying policies of 65 per cent of the schools—and all the denominational schools—that were surveyed made no reference to homophobia?
I accept Patrick Harvie's central point about the unacceptability of homophobic attitudes, whether they are expressed verbally or physically. We must tackle that central issue. Much good work is being doing in schools on bullying in general and on homophobic bullying but, as Patrick Harvie says, the report suggests that a distance remains to be travelled. We want to consult all interest groups—not least parents, who have an important part to play—on the way in which we will take the matter forward.
Swimming Pool (North-East Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is willing to provide financial support for any bid for a 50-metre swimming pool for the north-east. (S2O-10271)
The First Minister and I are on record as saying that the Executive will support proposals for a 50-metre swimming pool in Aberdeen. However, until sportscotland, as the national body for sport development, receives a formal costed proposal, we cannot be specific about the level or timing of financial support.
A yes would have been good.
In the past, the Executive has applied a clear formula to such facilities. Unfortunately, the facility to which the pool is intended to be an adjunct still has a £2 million funding gap, which Aberdeen City Council is trying to plug.
Question 4 has been withdrawn.
Tourism (Milngavie and Bearsden)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action local authorities and VisitScotland are taking to promote tourism in East Dunbartonshire and, in particular, Milngavie and Bearsden. (S2O-10307)
Local authorities know the benefits that a strong tourism industry brings to their areas. I understand that the council in East Dunbartonshire does not have a partnership agreement with VisitScotland this year, although it contributed funding last year to strengthen local tourism and it is working with VisitScotland on a tourism action plan for the area.
The minister was with me in Milngavie last year at the celebration of the anniversary of the west Highland way walk, so she will know that Milngavie is the jumping-off point for the west Highland way. This has been a record season for the west Highland way. Does she not agree that it is outrageous that East Dunbartonshire Council is not making resources available to support tourism development in that part of the world, which draws huge numbers of people to Scotland and contributes to the development of the tourism industry not just in East Dunbartonshire but right up the west coast?
That is for East Dunbartonshire Council to consider when it addresses its priorities. I am well aware of the promotional opportunities that exist in that area. In addition to visiting the west Highland way last year, on Tuesday I visited Bearsden to launch the bid for world heritage status for the Antonine wall. That is another great opportunity for that area to be marketed. Regardless of whether the local authority is willing to provide finance to VisitScotland, VisitScotland will continue to market the area as it has been doing. I understand that the west Highland way is included in several of the guides that it produces on where to stay in Scotland.
After-school Care (Dumfries and Galloway)
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been made available to Dumfries and Galloway Council this financial year for the provision of after-school care and when the council was made aware of its allocation. (S2O-10311)
Councils receive a block grant for core services including after-school care. Dumfries and Galloway Council's revenue grant for core services in 2006-07 is £251 million. That amount was confirmed in February, in the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2006, although the council was first given provisional notification of it in December 2004.
Does the minister share my concern that after-school clubs in my constituency were not made aware of their grant allocation until the middle of this month, which made it necessary for some to take out loans to pay their staff? Will the Executive encourage the council to ensure that those voluntary sector organisations, which provide a vital service for children and young people and their families, are not subjected to such financial insecurity in future years?
It goes without saying that it is regrettable that voluntary sector organisations, which do not generally have the security of funding that other organisations have, have had to resort to taking out loans to finance their activities, especially given the fact that councils nowadays are given three-year budget allocations. One of the specific reasons why ministers moved to that position was not just to give the councils certainty of funding, but to enable them to pass on that certainty of funding to the organisations that they routinely fund. I hope that all councils are paying attention to the needs of the voluntary sector in that regard. As Malcolm Chisholm said in an earlier answer, the strategic funding review of the voluntary sector addressed such issues and encouraged that kind of approach at the local level. I hope that Dumfries and Galloway Council will consider the benefits of that kind of approach.
T in the Park
To ask the Scottish Executive how it values the contribution of T in the park to Scotland and its economy. (S2O-10261)
Events such as T in the park make a strong contribution to Scotland's economy by not only boosting tourism revenues but helping to promote the appeal of this country to younger visitors at home and abroad. The sustained commercial success of T in the park is especially encouraging for its future.
The minister will be aware of the fact that T in the park brings £18 million a year to the country's economy. She should also be aware that the venue for T in the park—Balado activity centre at Kinross—is used throughout the year for other activities that generate income for the economy, and that the integrity of the site is essential to that. Given all that, will the minister explain why the Scottish Executive did not support Perth and Kinross councillors' unanimous view that the site at Balado should be exempted from the access rights provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 for the entire year and why the Scottish ministers are instead restricting the exemption to a mere 28 days? Does she appreciate that that decision will cause problems for the site's owners and may jeopardise future investment in it?
Such decisions have to be taken on balance. The right of access is warmly welcomed throughout Scotland by visitors and Scots. I appreciate the importance of an event such as T in the park but, as long as it is commercially successful—which it certainly is, as Mr Fraser has indicated—its success is assured. I am particularly looking forward to visiting the event in July. Perhaps I can pursue those issues more seriously on the ground.
As the minister has already acknowledged the importance of T in the park, will she also acknowledge the probable success of rock Ness, which will take place this Saturday and demonstrates that Scotland has a positive environment for music? Will she also acknowledge the recent report that demonstrates that the creative industries, including the music industry, are worth £6 billion to the United Kingdom economy and that 8 per cent of that belongs to the Scottish economy? In view of that, does the minister agree that it is important to have not only an events strategy but a music strategy to go along with it?
That was a very long question and it had nothing to do with T in the park.
It is important to say that T in the park and other such events are vital not only because of the revenue that they generate but because of how they allow Scotland to be portrayed. On that basis alone, they are valuable to us.
I have a particular interest in the T in the park site, as I was the council leader when the event was given permission and I was the councillor for the area when it was first set up. I hope that the minister accepts that, as far as I am concerned, the right of access in Scotland is primary and that we must ensure that people get access where they can. However, the site at Balado is about so much more than just T in the park; it is an all-year events site and has great potential for that part of the world. I heard the minister's answer to Murdo Fraser, but I ask her to consider reviewing the decision that has been made. The site has the potential to be an economic generator way beyond T in the park, but it needs space to be able to achieve that.
I congratulate Mr Crawford on his foresight in backing T in the park in those early days and I hope that he has many more such inspirational moments. Some of my colleagues in the Labour Party might dispute his chronology, but never mind.
Modern Studies
To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it attaches to the teaching of modern studies in secondary schools. (S2O-10246)
Modern studies has a positive contribution to make to the purposes of education, therefore it will continue to play an important part in the school curriculum.
The minister may recall that, in 2002, a group of secondary 2 modern studies students from Plockton high school were invited to the Parliament to celebrate the launch of the Parliament's educational video "Let's Do Democracy". I now understand that modern studies, which was hugely popular at Plockton, is to be axed at that school. Can the minister reconcile that with his earlier comments and tell us how the proposed move is likely to boost civic engagement and political awareness among the Plockton pupils?
I do recall the visit that Jim Mather mentioned. However, as I would say on all such matters, these are ultimately issues for the council and the school to decide. We give the council finance and it decides, with the school, how to deploy it in the light of its particular needs. However, it is difficult to understand why the decision is necessary. It might simply be a local recruitment matter, although I cannot imagine any better school to teach in than Plockton high school, which is a very good school. It is our national centre of excellence in traditional music and it is in a beautiful community and a lovely part of the world. Anyone who is thinking about applying should certainly do so.
Does the minister share my view that it is incumbent on the Scottish Executive to explore all avenues for supporting schools in providing the broadest range of subjects to stimulate the broad range of our children's aptitudes and interests? Does he agree that limiting the choice of subjects would limit schools' autonomy and therefore limit young people's scope to realise their full potential?
Unusually, perhaps, I broadly agree with Lord James. Our curriculum review, which is under way, is a huge piece of work that will change the way in which the curriculum is delivered in Scotland's schools. It is specifically designed to open up more choice for young people and to ensure that they have a breadth of education, particularly in their first three years at secondary school, as well as at primary school. Young people will gradually select more specialisms if they stay on at school. Alternatively, they will be able to choose the new skills for work courses that are being piloted and are proving to be a huge success, or they will have new choices to move to college earlier. We are opening up new vocational choices for young people.
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