Chamber and committees

In line with Scottish Compact good practice, Scottish Executive Departments should agree a review of performance during the second year of three-year core funding to ascertain if grant should be renewed and to provide feedback to funded organisations. In addition, departments should provide feedback on failed grant applications and should work with the voluntary sector on issues of concern to either party in the spirit of openness and partnership, including any issues regarding the utilisation of Scottish Executive grants.

The Health, Education and Environment Departments of the Scottish Executive are regularly in close contact with the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) to deal with the cross-cutting issues regarding the progress and development of NOF programmes.The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) maintains a database of lottery awards in Scotland based on the information provided by the lottery distributing bodies including NOF. Details of all funding packages made by NOF towards projects improving health, education and environment throughout Scotland are published on a regular basis.

Responsibility for distributing proceeds from the National Lottery rests with the Lottery Distributing Bodies, including the New Opportunities Fund. The New Opportunities Fund's New Opportunities for PE and Sport (NOPES) Initiative provides funding for the building or modernisation of indoor and outdoor sports and adventure facilities for school and community use, as well as for out of school hours sporting, cultural and outdoor education activities for children and young people, and for projects that use sport to divert children and young people from crime.After extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including the Scottish Executive, a provisional sum of funding was allocated to each local authority area and local authorities were asked to work with a wide range of organisations, including national youth organisations, to compile portfolios of suitable projects which reflected local needs and priorities, as well as relevant local strategies and plans (such as School Development Plans, Sports Developments Plans, Health Improvement Plans).The NOPES Initiative closed applications on 20 September 2002. One of the criteria that applications will be judged against is the mechanisms that will be put in place to enable partners in projects, including national youth organisations, to participate on an equal basis.

We already provide generous resources for volunteering activity in Scotland. This year we are spending more than £2 million on the Active Communities Initiative, a further £1 million on the funding of the volunteer centre network and £700,000 on the Millennium Volunteers programme.We have also provided core funding of more than £260,000 this year to Volunteer Development Scotland, the centre for excellence on volunteering. This organisation provides voluntary organisations and volunteer placement agencies with advice and support on the best way to recruit, train and retain volunteers. This advice reflects the need to strike a balance between ensuring that proper checks are made on individual volunteers and the procedures needed to properly undertake this process.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29301 today. All answers 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/search_wa Local authorities already have a duty to provide for informal further education in the areas of social, cultural and recreational activities. Informal youth work is covered by this existing duty.

Within the school curriculum there is the opportunity for education authorities and schools to adopt flexible approaches to delivering education within the framework provided by national priorities and curricular guidance. In August 2001 the Scottish Executive Education Department issued a circular which sets out the flexibility available within current curriculum guidelines and arrangements for national qualifications.I fully recognise the important role of youth work in the social, personal and educational development of young people and was pleased to note that many voluntary sector organisations took part in the National Debate on Education. We will continue to support the positive development of Scotland's young people through both formal and informal means and would encourage the statutory and voluntary sectors to work together.

I refer the member to answers given to questions S1W-27941, 27942 and 27943 on 22 August 2002. All answers 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/search_wa.

The boards of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are directly accountable to Scottish ministers. It is for ministers to decide what action to take if they are dissatisfied with the operation of a particular NDPB taking into account the specific circumstances.

The UK Pesticides Residues Committee carries out monitoring of both home-produced and imported food (including imported seed which is used as part of other food products e.g. bread) for pesticide residues. I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that it is represented on the committee and provides input to the design of the monitoring programme. Some 4,000 food samples are analysed each year for a wide range of pesticides. The full results of monitoring by the Pesticides Residues Committee, both quarterly and annual reports, are available on its website.Imported seed which is not intended for eating, but for sowing, may purposefully be treated with pesticides for plant protection reasons.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29118. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.