Chamber and committees

This will be an operationalmatter for Scottish Enterprise.

There is likely tobe some alteration in the budgets of local authorities to take account of the reformsbut no changes will be made until the next financial year.

Regional deliverywill allow Scottish Enterprise to deploy a greater proportion of its resources tofrontline delivery. The regional business advisory boards will ensure that the businesssector and other local stakeholders continue to have meaningful engagement and influencein the development of economic development activity. Under the reform proposals,there will be, as now, a Scottish Enterprise local office in Fife. In addition, as the Cabinet Secretary for Financeand Sustainable Growth made clear in his statement, where, in areas such as Fife,there are strong and effective local partnerships between the enterprise networks,local authorities, the business community and others, these should continue.

As the Cabinet Secretaryfor Finance and Sustainable Growth made clear in his statement to Parliament, businessengagement will continue to be a vital part of economic development activity throughthe regional and industry advisory boards. The regional advisory boards will beled by the business sector and ministers will expect them to be representative ofbusinesses across their regions. Where there are existing mechanisms or partnershipsthrough which businesses already engage, these will still be able to operate. Inaddition, the Fife office of Scottish Enterprise will continue to work closely withbusinesses in its area.

Under the reform proposals,there will be, as now, a Scottish Enterprise local office in Fife that will continue to provide appropriate business inputand expertise to local economic activity. In addition, as the Cabinet Secretaryfor Finance and Sustainable Growth made clear in his statement, where, in areas such as Fife, there are strong and effective local partnerships betweenthe enterprise networks, local authorities, the business community and others, theseshould continue.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows.

Communities Scotlandprovides Housing Association Grant to Registered Social Landlords (RSL) to provideaffordable housing. Over the past three financial years 17 RSLs which are constitutedas housing co-operatives have received funding from Communities Scotland (or fromCity of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council where the Transferof Management of Development Funding has occurred).

In 2004-05 grantstotalling £8.603 million were provided to housing co-operatives, in 2005-06 grantstotalling £19.080 million were provided, in 2006-07 grants totalling £12.380million were provided and in 2007-08 Communities Scotland has allocated grant fundingof £11.293 million to housing co-operatives for delivery of affordable housing.

The government hascommitted to a range of actions that will benefit town centres and support theirregeneration.

We are committed toreducing business rates for thousands of small businesses. We intend this measureto help kick-start the revival of town centres across Scotland.

We have also put inplace the legislative framework to allow local businesses in any area to work togetherwith their local authority and other local partners to establish Business ImprovementDistricts, which in turn can help create more vibrant and viable town 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.

I am aware of theregeneration activity being taken forward by the Kirkcaldy Renaissance partnership.I support the role of local partnerships in resolving local issues.

Any further measureswill have to be considered as part of or in light of the Spending Review.

Over the two years2006-08, the Scottish Government has provided significant support for the Business Improvements Districts (BID) pilot programme, allocating around £1.1million to support the six BID pilots; to fund the BID Scotland Project Director,and to provide marketing, publicity and guidance, including the BID Scotland website. This has allowed the six pilot areas to developtheir proposals in preparation for ballots in 2008 and to demonstrate the benefitsto be gained from BID projects.

The government has also put in place the legislative frameworknecessary to underpin local BID proposals. Now this framework is in place, localbusinesses in any area can work together with their local authority and other localpartners to establish a Business Improvement District.

Decisions on futuresupport for urban regeneration will be taken in the context of the current SpendingReview.

Scottish Ministersprovide a wide range of support to manufacturing companies. This includesfinancial support, innovation grants, help with trade overseas, practicalsupport for companies to improve productivity and efficiency and business andproduct planning services delivered through our enterprise agencies andScottish Development International. In addition, our Scottish ManufacturingAdvisory Service delivers specialist advice to manufacturing companies in Scotland.

We will also seekto gain their support for tax powers and the setting of a more competitive rateof Corporation Tax in line with our manifesto commitment.

We recognise thatthe provision of high-quality information is essential to our aim of making peopleliving with long-term conditions equal partners in their own care. NHS boards shouldhave information on the services that are available in their area, along with informationon the condition and the relevant services through national organisations such asNHS 24. The format of such information has to take account of legislation and thecommunication needs of people living with the condition, their carers and the public.There is also an essential role for voluntary sector organisations such as the BritishLung Foundation Scotland in the provision of information.

CHPs are ideally placedto provide up-to-date information to people with long-term conditions such as lungdisease and health care professionals regarding their condition and the servicesavailable in their localities.

Each Community HealthPartnership has a Public Partnership Forum and people from local groups such asthe British Lung Foundation’s “Breathe Easy” Groups can play an important role withinthese fora in relation to the organisation and development of services in theirlocality.

We have supportedthe development in different parts of the country of Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs)for respiratory conditions, and it is one of the core principles of MCN developmentthat people with the relevant condition, or representatives of the voluntary organisationswhich speak on their behalf, should be involved in the operation of thenetworks so that they can play a key role in the development of services.

NHS boards’ patientand public involvement fora are also a useful way of influencing strategy at NHSboard level.