Chamber and committees

Football is likely to be one of the main beneficiaries of the national and regional indoor sports facilities strategy. An outline specification for these facilities together with indicative costings and levels of funding will be issued to relevant organisations by the end of August. In the interim, information on the process, timescales, key facility issues to be addressed and the expected approach - i.e. multi-sport and partnership working - will be issued to potential applicants at the beginning of July. The Executive's investment of nearly £30 million to help implement the sports facilities strategy is in addition to previously planned levels of funding for sportscotland. This money will be available over the three-year period up to and including 2005-06.

Communications regulation is reserved to the UK Government. There is currently a Scottish member on OFCOM's Content Board. Later this year, a Scottish representative will be appointed to the new regulator's Consumer Panel. In addition, a Scottish committee will be established within the OFCOM structure, providing another important mechanism for ensuring Scottish interests are addressed by the regulator. OFCOM will also be obliged to maintain an office within Scotland.

The Major Events Strategy, launched by the First Minister in November 2002, sets out sixteen basic criteria that are adhered to when evaluating potential events for EventScotland support. These criteria include a commitment to prioritise events that highlight and promote the unique appeal and proposition of individual locations throughout Scotland, events that focus on quiet times of the year and events, which are available, achievable and affordable.EventScotland has funded or approved funding for the following events:

Event	Date	Funding
Balmoral Road Races Women's Mile	May 2003	£35,000
International Festival of the Sea	May 2003	£100,000
Fort William Mountain Bike World Cup	May 2003	£30,000
Tiree Wave Classic, Final of the Triple Crown Windsurfing Championships	October 2003	£25,000
MTV Europe Music Awards	November 2003	£125,000

Roads authorities have general duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the "expeditious, convenient and safe movement" of all traffic. This general duty is met by the road authority making traffic regulation orders which can be introduced for a variety of reasons, including the allocation of road space for specific purposes.Enforcement is a matter for the police, except in areas where decriminalised parking enforcement has been introduced where it is a matter for the local authority.

The Pathfinder projects are subject to Government Procurement Procedures under which the Executive, together with its public sector partners, has responsibility for the tendering process. Government Procurement Procedures ensure clarity and that the tendering process is open to scrutiny. In accordance with relevant EU Directives, contract notices were placed in the Official Journal of the European Community for both the Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland Pathfinder projects on 22 November 2002 under reference numbers 2002/S 227-180984 and 2002/S 227-180986 respectively. Following evaluation of pre-qualification questionnaires, seven companies were invited to submit outline proposals for the Highlands and Islands project and six companies were invited to do likewise for the South of Scotland project. The outline proposals received are currently being evaluated. It is our view that for reasons of commercial confidentiality it would not be appropriate to give out the names of the tenderers at this stage.

Matters relating to capacity usage and/or associated infrastructure enhancements on the east coast main line are for the Strategic Rail Authority to consider.

The Transport Act 1985 gives local authorities the power to establish a travel concession scheme for the provision of travel concessions on journeys on any form of public passenger transport.

With the exception of the administration in Scotland by the Scottish Executive of the Freight Facilities Grants and Track Access Grant schemes, rail freight is a reserved matter and as such is the responsibility of the Strategic Rail Authority

The terms of the Scottish Executive's contract with Aviasolutions, which ended on 31 March 2003, are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 27924). £41,479 has been paid out up to that date. Aviasolutions' on-going work, and other consultancy contracts, on the Interim Route Development Fund (IRDF) are a matter for Scottish Enterprise which is administering the fund on behalf of the Scottish ministers.No monies have been paid out from the IRDF. Investment offers have been accepted for five routes which have commenced and monies will be paid out shortly. Any spend on consultancy works regarding the start-up of new air services from Scotland is aimed at underpinning investment decisions and ensuring that the routes meet our evaluation criteria.

Grant assistance of £8.075 million has been awarded to Fife Council for capital costs incurred in increasing capacity at Ferrytoll, as set out in South East Scotland Transport Partnership's (SESTRAN) bid in August 2002 to the Scottish Executive's Public Transport Fund. The funding is available over a period of three years from 2003-04.