Chamber and committees

I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. His response isas follows.

Communities Scotland does not record information on projects approved forHousing Association Grant (HAG) in this way. We therefore cannot provide a detailedbreakdown of the condition of buildings approved for HAG.

The overarching objectiveof the Scottish Government is to promote economic growth across the whole of Scotland and for the benefit of all. There are no plans to introducea specific funding stream for seaside towns. We have committed to a range of actionsthat will benefit all towns across Scotland and supporttheir regeneration.

As part of the SpendingReview, we published proposals to remove or reduce the burden of business ratesfor a significant number of small businesses across Scotland. Reducing direct costs will give businesses a competitive advantage anda greater opportunity to grow and to invest in their future, which in turn willhelp kick-start the revival of our town and city centres.

In addition, Scottishplanning policy reinforces the role of town centres as locations for retailing anda wide mix of community and social activities, indicating that town centres shouldbe the first choice for shopping and related developments.

We have also committedsupport of £435 million over the next three years to regenerate communities acrossScotland.

VisitScotland promotesScotland to potential visitors using a range of examplesof our wonderful landscape, scenery, and rich mix of rural and urban attractions.One valuable asset that is used in the promotion of Scotland as a visitor attraction is our legacy of attractive seaside towns, whichhave important roles to play.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-7524 on 13 December 2007. Allanswers 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.

The ComprehensiveSpending Review allocation to the Scottish Government is calculated on thebasis of allocations to Whitehall Departments. It is for those Departments tothen decide how they wish to allocate the settlement between spendingprogrammes, in the same way as it is for Scottish Ministers to decide how the Scottish Government’s allocation should be distributed.

An interimresponse to the member’s letter dated 6 September 2007 was issued on 6December, and the member should now be in receipt of a full response.

The overarching objectiveof the Scottish Government is to promote economic growth across the whole of Scotland and for the benefit of all. We have committed supportof £435 million over the next three years to regenerate communities across Scotland. There is no specific funding available for the regenerationof seaside towns as tourism destinations. However, the government is working closelywith the tourism industry in implementing the Tourism Framework for Change strategyand its ambition to increase tourism revenues by 50% in the decade to 2015.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-7524 on 13 December 2007. Allanswers 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.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-5475 on 1 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Six local authorityareas are specifically funded by the Scottish Government under section 27(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to provide groupwork perpetratorprogrammes for people convicted of domestic abuse crimes:

Angus Council

City of Glasgow Council

City of Edinburgh Council

Midlothian Council

North LanarkshireCouncil

South LanarkshireCouncil.

Other local authoritiesundertake work with those convicted of domestic abuse related crimes as part oftheir overall section 27 grant settlement.