Chamber and committees

The Action Plan for the Social Services Workforce, launched in April 2002, is underpinned by five strategic aims, one of which is "to raise investment and learning and support for all front-line staff in local authorities and the independent sector".To this end a sum of £3.5 million additional funding to local authorities was announced to support investment in training and opportunities for career development. We are writing to local authorities to ask them how they will be using this money and we will also be looking at what opportunities for training they intend to make available to all staff in the independent sector.We are also working closely with the Association of Directors of Social Work which is developing proposals to improve the support for all front-line staff.

Under the Standards in Scotland's Schools Act (2000) from 1 April this year local authorities were placed under a duty to secure a free part-time pre-school education place for all three- and four-year-olds whose parents wish one.To assist them in meeting their new duty, resources amounting to £137 million were re-integrated into the local government settlement from financial year 2002-03. Authorities are now able to use the range of resources including pre-school grant, nursery education funding, Sure Start and the Childcare Strategy in an integrated way in order to purchase or provide the required range of services for children.

A statutory Code of Conduct for Councillors will come into effect later this year. The code sets out the financial and non-financial interests which must be registered and declared by councillors. The code was prepared by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, at the request of Scottish ministers, as part of the framework introduced by the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 and was approved by the Scottish Parliament in December last year together with a model Code of Conduct for members of devolved public bodies.

On 24 January I launched the genealogy tourism website www.ancestralscotland.com and took the opportunity during the Tartan Week celebrations to promote the website to potential visitors from America. This website assists users from around the world to research their ancestry and also encourage them to visit those parts of Scotland where their ancestors lived. VisitScotland will continue to develop and market genealogy tourism and are currently researching the product/service expectations of actual and prospective genealogy tourists.

This is an operational matter for VisitScotland and the Area Tourist Boards.

I understand that family history society links were added to ancestralscotland.com as part of its most recent update.

The Scottish Executive has issued 9,319 press releases and media invitations since July 1999. The cost of distributing these releases to up to 100 media outlets was £276,034. All individual press releases are available on the Scottish Executive website. We do not hold central records on the level of media coverage received, which can vary from significant national coverage in print and broadcast media to coverage in local and specialist media.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues.

The meeting held with Angus, Fife and Perth and Kinross Councils on 29 April, discussed a range of matters relating to the Cities Review, including the role of Dundee as a metropolitan centre, current and future patterns of development in the area of the Tay estuary, Dundee City Council's boundaries and joint working across the city-region. The purpose of the meeting was to explore the issues, rather than reach conclusions.

It is for the planning authority to formulate the development plan for its area within the context of national planning policy guidelines set down by the Scottish Executive. As an updated structure plan for Dundee and Angus has recently been submitted to the Scottish ministers for consideration, it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this stage on any proposals relating to urban expansion towards the east of Dundee. However, if the Scottish ministers consider that modifications should be made to the plan as submitted, they will advertise their proposed modifications and provide an opportunity for interested parties to make further representations.