Chamber and committees

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-4077 on 18 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Housing SupplyTask Force is continuing to develop its agenda and will make public its findingsat the appropriate time.

The domesticabuse campaign spend for the period 1 August 2006 to 31 December 2006 was £56,039 gross.

However, valid comparisonscannot be made over quarterly periods as expenditure is based upon bursts of activity,the invoice date and when the payment is released.

There has been noexpenditure on the domestic abuse campaign for the period 1 May 2007 to 31 July 2007 as it is currentlyin the planning and development stage.

However, valid comparisonscannot be made over quarterly periods as expenditure is based upon bursts of activity,the invoice date and when the payment is released.

The cost of producingand translating the document is around £35,000 (including the web version, the design,printing and the summary in eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distributionof the document cost a further £5,000, and the cost of the launch event was £8,000.The total cost of launching the national conversation to date is therefore £48,000.

The costs of carryingout the conversation will depend on how its structure develops, in light of responsesfrom the people of Scotland as to how they wish to be involved. The workis being carried out within existing resources from the government’s constitutionalpolicy and communications teams.

We are currently inthe planning and development stage for the domestic abuse campaign. It is not possibleat this stage of the process to give an indication of proposed spend.

However, valid comparisonscannot be made over quarterly periods as expenditure is based upon bursts of activity,the invoice date and when the payment is released.

The cost of producingand translating the document is around £35,000 (including the web version, the design,printing and the summary in eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distributionof the document cost a further £5,000, and the cost of the launch event was £8,000.The total cost of launching the national conversation to date is therefore £48,000.

The costs of carryingout the conversation will depend on how its structure develops, in light of responsesfrom the people of Scotland as to how they wish to be involved. The workis being carried out within existing resources from the government’s constitutionalpolicy and communications teams.

The primary purposeof the Housing Supply Task Force is to tackle blockages that are preventing theconstruction of housing across Scotland. The focus will be on action to address theseimpediments and at this stage it is not envisaged that specially-commissioned researchwill be a feature of the task force’s activities. Task force members will be contributingtheir in-depth understandings of the issues to the meetings and are best placedto inform discussion on these issues.

There is an expectation,however, that all research commissioned by the Scottish Government is publishedon the Scottish Government website as soon as a final report can be made available.Should any research be commissioned to support the task force, this would be publishedin the normal way.

The Scottish Government’sSkills Strategy, launched on 10 September, confirms our commitment to providingopportunities for everyone to contribute to Scotland’s prosperity, to encouraging the integration of employment and skills services,and to addressing the skills needs of people furthest from the labour market. Weare continuing to support Workforce Plus implementation plans in seven priorityareas and in other local authority areas implementing the strategy voluntarily.I will be reviewing longer term plans for the employability strategy in the comingmonths.

I recently met membersof the former Adult Entertainment Working Group, including the former Chair, LindaCostelloe Baker, to discuss its report and options for taking its recommendationsforward. I plan to set out soon how we will take the recommendations forward.