Chamber and committees

The number of fireworks injuries dealt with by Edinburgh hospitals for the years 1997-2000 are shown in the following table:

Year	Total	Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh	Royal Hospital for Sick Children	Western General Hospital
1997	4	1	2	1
1998	4	-	3	1
1999	7	5	2	-
2000	3	-	3	-

Source: Fireworks Injuries Survey.

The available information shows that no persons were proceeded against, or convicted of, the sale of solvents to minors in Edinburgh sheriff court or district court between 1997 and 1999. Information for 2000 is not yet available.

Responsibility for security, on a day to day basis, is delegated to the Departmental Security Officer. The security measures in place at any one time are appropriate to the perceived threat. It would be inappropriate to detail the measures deployed. Security costs are met from the Scottish Executive Administration budget. The direct costs related to Security Branch for the current year is £1.6 million.

The Scottish Executive has not received a formal application from the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for signing for Hampden Park from the trunk road network.Following a preliminary enquiry, the SFA was advised on the procedure to follow in submitting their signing application for consideration in accordance with the Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signposting Policy.

The information is as follows:

First Minister	Flight	£746.20
Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning	Flight	£746.20
	Subsistence	£21.95
Principal Private Secretary to the First Minister	Flight	£746.20
Senior Press Officer	Flight	£746.20
Head of Digital Scotland Unit	Flight	£724.86
	Subsistence	£76.00
Policy Unit Adviser on Broadband	Flight	£746.20
	Subsistence	£75.90
Consultant on Broadband	Flight	£724.86
	Subsistence	£133.50

The costs were met from the relevant ministerial and travel and subsistence costs.

The visit to Finland met a number of purposes, including informing our approach to broadband. On the latter, Finnish ministers confirmed the importance they place on ensuring that teachers are equipped to make best use of information and communication technologies. This echoes our own policies which exist alongside those stimulating the supply of broadband. We also heard, through a presentation on the Helsinki Virtual Village, of the potential of broadband wireless technologies for facilitating interaction within a neighbourhood community.

Regardless of whether a bid is made to host the European Football Championship in 2008, we will continue to support the development of football at all levels including the provision of facilities.Since 1995, over £34 million of Lottery Sports Fund and Exchequer monies has been invested in football in Scotland. Sportscotland has allocated £7.6 million per annum to the schools/community strand of the sports facilities programme. Other programmes operated by sportscotland, including the Youth Sport, TOP and School Sports Co-ordinator programmes, also assist the development of football. Football is also a core sport in the Scottish Institute of Sport.There are questions about the financial viability of developing full-size indoor training facilities. However, the Scottish Football Academy strand of the Lottery Sports Fund has been allocated £6 million over three years to provide 60m x 40m indoor structures as an integral part of the individual training facilities eligible for support. The maximum award level has recently been increased to £1 million per project.

The Scottish Executive does not directly operate a grants programme for the development of sports facilities. Any proposals for the development of facilities adjacent to the National Stadium, the future of which was secured by the Scottish Executive, should be discussed with the appropriate bodies at local level in the first instance.

I hope to make an announcement about the Scottish Football Partnership Ltd in the near future.

The Minister for Lifelong Learning and I left Edinburgh to fly to Helsinki via Brussels, and returned to Edinburgh via Copenhagen.