Chamber and committees

No such representations have been made.

The Scottish Executive has not been in discussion with UEFA or any other international sporting body about the World Athletics Championships. I am aware, however, that the Scottish Football Association, as the body responsible for any bid which may be made for the European Championships, has raised the matter with UEFA.

It is for NHS Boards to determine how best to spend the increased resources allocated to them, to meet national priorities and address the health needs of their resident populations.

We recognise that raising Scotland's performance on research and development is central to achieving a smart, successful Scotland. The Enterprise Networks are taking this forward, and one of the progress measures which we plan to use to guide their priorities is business investment in research and development as a proportion of GDP.Following publication in February 2001 of the Scottish Executive Report on the Knowledge Economy Cross-Cutting Initiative £7.5 million was allocated over three years for the expansion of existing innovation schemes (SMART/ SPUR, TCS and Faraday Partnerships). Greater commercialisation of research is being encouraged through a variety of initiatives including: the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council's (SHEFC) £6 million Knowledge Transfer Grant; Royal Society of Edinburgh/Scottish Enterprise Enterprise Fellowships, and the Proof of Concept Fund to which the Executive has allocated an additional £19 million bringing that total to £30 million. Further proposals to support commercialisation will arise from SHEFC's Review of Research Funding.In addition, earlier this year, I commissioned a review of the RSA scheme, partly to consider what more we could do to support high technology projects and encourage growth in our knowledge based businesses. I expect to receive the report of the review in the course of next month and thereafter to announce some further related initiatives.

The Scottish Executive does not issue guidelines on how computers should be deployed in schools or on the associated support arrangements. These are matters for local decision by schools and education authorities in the light of teaching and learning policies and available resources. In 1998, to help support information and communications technology (ICT) planning, all schools and authorities were issued with Scottish Schools: Using the Superhighways, a guide to ICT and development planning.Information about best practice in the use of ICT is available from a wide range of sources, including The Use of ICT in Learning and Teaching, published by HM Inspectorate of Education in 2000 and available on the internet at http://www.ngflscotland.gov.uk/teachers/ICTLT.

The National Qualifications Task Group includes representatives from the schools sector, the further education sector, education authorities, Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.Members are:Colin MacLean, National Exam Co-Ordinator (Chair)Margaret Clarke, Learning and Teaching ScotlandAnton Colella, Scottish Qualifications AuthorityJohn Young, Scottish Qualifications AuthorityKen Cunningham, Hillhead High SchoolMargaret Doran, Stirling CouncilTom Kelly, Association of Scottish CollegesJohn Laird, Scottish Further Education UnitGeorge MacBride, Govan HighKen Muir, HM Inspectorate of EducationIan Ovens, Dundee CollegeGordon Keir, SEELLDGillian Crosier, SEELLDFrancesca Osowska, SEEDMembers were chosen because they represented the range of organisations responsible for delivery of National Qualifications.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-18493.

The Scottish Executive has accepted all the recommendations by the Advisory Group on Youth Crime and work has begun on implementing them. This includes the allocation of £20 million over three years, from April 2001, to local authorities for the development of community-based programmes to reduce offending by persistent young offenders. We will produce our proposals for a national framework for tackling youth crime by the end of 2001.

Proposals for a national schools' intranet, currently known as the Scottish Schools Digital Network (SSDN), will be discussed at a conference planned for December. Following the conference, it is hoped to begin the procurement process for the SSDN early in the New Year.

As stated in my answer on 26 October, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) has jurisdiction over professional boxing in Great Britain. To obtain the requested information, I therefore suggest you contact either the BBBC direct or the two main promoters of boxing in Scotland (ie Alex Morrison at Morrison's Gym, 197 Swanston Street, Glasgow and Tommy Gilmour at the St Andrew's Sporting Club, Holiday Inn Glasgow City, Bothwell Street, Glasgow).