Chamber and committees

Following discussion with CoSLA, my department wrote on 17 May to all authorities advising them of how these resources which have been earmarked for schools will be allocated. A copy of the letter has been placed in SPICe. Announcements on the balance of resources will follow once decisions have been made on their allocations.

Local authorities have been allocated additional capital consents, totalling £5.2 million, to take forward work on the implementation of safer routes to school. It will be for individual authorities to take decisions on the specific measures to be implemented in their areas having regard to local needs and priorities. Measures could include capital expenditure to facilitate the provision of cycle proficiency training.

The Executive's current spending plans for 2001-02 and later years do not make specific provision for further expenditure by local authorities on safer routes to school. Local authorities will, however, continue to receive a block allocation for expenditure on a number of services including transport. This system gives authorities the flexibility to allocate resources in accordance with locally determined priorities.

The Social Justice report Social Justice: A Scotland Where Everyone Matters published in November 1999, sets out the 29 social justice milestones which will be reported upon annually, as the framework for assessing progress in tackling poverty and deprivation throughout Scotland. In addition, assessments of deprivation are carried out for specific purposes including the allocation of local authority grants. The indicators of deprivation used within the grant distribution system are described in detail in the annual Grant Aided Expenditure 2000 Green Book. Copies of both these documents are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

The Scottish Executive accepts the validity of the relevant Assignation Statement.The relevant statutory framework is set out in Part IIA of Schedule 1 to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Assignation Statement (Prescribed Information) (Scotland) Regulations 1991. All statutory requirements were satisfied.The validity of the Assignation Statement relating to the Skye Bridge has been considered by the Appeal Court of the High Court of the Justiciary. It was submitted that the Assignation Statement was not valid because it was unsigned, undated and should have been issued when the Skye Bridge Crossing Toll Order was made on 23 June 1992. It was also submitted that the Assignation Statement and a copy of that Toll Order should then have been made available for inspection. That court, in its decision dated 16 December 1999, rejected these submissions.

I refer to my answer to question S1W-7095.

My officials discussed the project with the Scottish Soft Fruit Growers on 23 May. As a result of these discussions SSFG have been invited to reconsider their original proposals and to put forward revised proposals for a pilot study.

I announced on 22 May that the Executive is establishing a working group, which will include representatives from local authorities and enterprise bodies, to pull together work done on rural disadvantage at a Scottish level. This will include both research and work which is emerging in individual rural areas.

This group, whose membership and remit will be announced shortly, will provide advice to Ministers on indicators of rural poverty and disadvantage, with a view to improving our understanding and assisting in the development and targeting of policies.

We are aware of studies currently being undertaken in England by both the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and the Countryside Agency, and in Wales by the National Assembly for Wales (NAW). I will be publishing shortly the results of a study commissioned by the Scottish Executive into Social Exclusion in Rural Areas. This study reviews current understanding of social exclusion in a rural context and explores how the operation and experience of social exclusion differs in rural compared to urban areas.

The terms of the National Parks (Scotland) Bill do not refer to any sea boundary. The boundaries of any individual marine national park would be considered on its merits and defined on a case-by-case basis.