Chamber and committees

The judging of the awards is a matter for the wholly independent Saltire Society.

The formula used in the distribution of the Scottish Government’s local government funding settlement is needs based and, although the main factor is the different population age bands, it does take into account a number of other needs based factors including rurality, deprivation, road lengths and the additional cost of providing services to island communities.

The Scottish Government is already providing Argyll and Bute Council with its fair share of the total local government finance settlement which amounts to over £10.85 billion in 2015-16.

Argyll and Bute Council’s share of this total settlement amounts to almost £220 million this year. In addition, they will receive their fair share of the £36.6 million which is still to be distributed in respect of the balance of both the Discretionary housing payments (£9 million) and the Teachers’ Induction Scheme (£27.6 million).

Included within Argyll and Bute’s total settlement is additional funding of £1.970 million as a consequence of the Special Islands Needs allowance which recognises that it costs more to provide services to island communities. Argyll and Bute Council has also gained from the funding floor which protects council’s from a significant year-on-year reduction in funding which could be caused by a reduction in a councils needs based share of the total funding. The council gained almost £35 million from the floor over the three year period 2012-15 and this year they are in receipt of a further £15.556 million.

Overall, as a result of these adjustments to their needs-based assessment Argyll & Bute Council is ranked the highest for revenue funding (£2,317 per head) and receives the highest total funding (£2,495 per head) of all mainland councils in 2015-16.

Looking to the future, the Scottish Government currently does not have any budget allocation beyond 2015-16, with future allocations dependent upon the outcome of the UK Spending Review, which the Chancellor has confirmed will report on 25 November. We will then work with our local government partners to agree a local government finance settlement for 2016-17. Argyll and Bute Council will continue to receive its fair share of future local government settlement.

Although there are no current plans to review the Island local Authority Adjustment, it should be noted that Argyll and Bute Council already benefits from additional funding of £1.970 million as a result of the Special Islands Needs allowance adjustment to their annual local government finance settlement in recognition of some of the significant challenges on providing services to rural and island communities.

In addition, Argyll and Bute Council received an extra £34.780 million from the local government finance funding floor for the three year period 2012-15 and they are receiving a further £15.556 million this year over and above their calculated needs based allocation.

In 2000 the Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) was reviewed and extended to all local authorities with significant island communities instead of applying only to the three wholly islands authorities. It was at this point that Argyll and Bute Council was included within these calculations and, as a result, is currently in receipt of an additional £1.970 million in funding.

SINA has been reviewed on two further occasions (in both 2006 and 2009) and, although there are no current plans to reform or extend SINA, the local government finance distribution system is kept under constant review as part of the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Settlement and Distribution group.

I announced the Scottish Government's provisional outturn for 2014-15 in June 2015 and this position has not changed. The cash underspend for 2014-15 is being carried into the current financial year as planned to support the 2015-16 expenditure plans agreed by the Scottish Parliament in February 2015.

Our approach means we manage budgets across more than one year and carry forward some spending into the next year, where needed, so such underspends do not reflect a missed opportunity to spend more on public services.

This approach represents sensible budgeting reflecting fluctuations in cost and demand across the spending review period and ensures there is no loss of spending power in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28073 on 9 November 2015. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The source of steel is a commercial responsibility of the contracted shipbuilder, Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL).

FMEL is committed to evaluating local supply options as part of their sourcing strategy and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd will encourage FMEL to adhere to this strategy.

The result of this contracting exercise is unlikely to be known for a number of months.

Creative Scotland has provided the following information about support Freight Books and Cargo Publishing:

a) Freight Books

In 2011-12, Creative Scotland awarded £2,000 towards the cost of publishing the debut short story collection Furnace by award-winning writer and poet Wayne Price, who lectures in English Literature at the University of Aberdeen, and a further £2,000 towards the publication of the debut novel Ramshackle by Elizabeth Reeder who lives and works in Glasgow.

In 2012-13, Creative Scotland awarded £14,500 in support for Gutter magazine and key parts of Freight Book’s publishing programme, £1,300 for publication of the debut poetry collection Fabulous Beast by award-winning poet Patricia Ace and £20,000 towards the editing and publishing of high quality Scottish and international literary fiction and poetry.

In 2013-14, Creative Scotland awarded £12,000 for financial support for key parts of Freight Books’ publishing programme for the second part of 2013.

In 2014-15, Creative Scotland awarded £40,000 in support for key parts of Freight Books’ publishing programme for the second part of 2014.

In 2015-16, Creative Scotland has awarded £69,889 in support for key parts of Freight Books’ publishing programme for 2015.

b) Cargo Publishing

In 2012-13, Creative Scotland awarded £75,000 towards the 'Erebus' multimedia project, £9,000 towards Tales from the Mall by BAFTA award winning director Ewan Morrison, in paperback, Android and iPhone/iPad, and enhanced ebook, and £22,000 towards a four book collaboration with the Edinburgh International Book Festival and US publisher McSweeney's.

In 2013-14, Creative Scotland awarded £7,500 towards the publication of Some of Me & Others, the autobiography of Alasdair Gray.

In 2014-15, Creative Scotland awarded £40,000 towards support for Cargo's complete list of fiction and non-fiction for 2014, and £10,000 to support for an innovation trainee who had the opportunity to learn traditional publishing and digital publishing skills.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise provided advice and guidance historically to both companies, and Business Gateway met with Cargo Publishing in November 2014 to discuss the support available through their Growth Advisory Service.

The Scottish Government is committed to increasing sustainable economic activity and employment across all regions of Scotland, including in Dunoon and the Cowal area. Tackling economic challenges in Argyll and Bute is a key priority for the Scottish Government’s economic development agency in the area, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which does so by offering a wide range of support mechanisms to businesses and communities. In fact I visited Hunter’s Quay ferry terminal, Hunter’s Quay holiday village in Dunoon and Drimsynie Estate holiday village in Lochgoilhead on 8 June. As an example of this support, over the past three years HIE has invested around £4 million into the area, generating additional investment of approx. £15 million. This significant level of support includes £1.9 million into developing offices at the Sandbank Business Park, £0.9 million in the Portavadie Marina which leveraged a further £8 million investment into the area, a £300,000 contribution towards the £1.7 million redevelopment of the Dunoon Burgh Hall, and £250,000 investment into the Firstport Social Challenge Programme to enable social enterprise start-ups. These investments and improvements to business conditions have contributed to the unemployment rate in the Dunoon and Bute travel to work area falling from 3.3% in June 2014 to 2.3% in 2015. The Scottish Government also works close with local partners to further support local economic growth. Following a meeting with the Deputy First Minister on 29 October 2014, Argyll and Bute Council established an economic forum to consider specific local opportunities and challenges. Scottish Enterprise, HIE, and senior officials represent the Scottish Government on the forum. We will continue to engage with local stakeholders in driving forward initiatives aimed at increasing sustainable economic growth and tackling unemployment.