Chamber and committees

Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have a duty to assist employers to up-skill their workforce under the provisions of A Smart, Successful Scotland: Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks. Planned expenditure by the enterprise network on skills development in 2001-02 amounts to £173.2 million. For work-based training through programmes such as Skillseekers and Modern Apprenticeships, the enterprise network is planning to spend £69.2 million this financial year. The Scottish Executive is also making £0.5 million available to the employer-led National Training Organisations in the current financial year to assess skills needs and promote workforce development planning.

The strategy for assisting employers to up-skill their workforce and for ensuring the availability of appropriate training opportunities was set out in A Smart, Successful Scotland: Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks. Priorities include encouraging employers to invest in training; collaborating with learndirect scotland to achieve the target of 100,000 Individual Learning Accounts by 2002, ensuring the best possible start for all young people; creating 20,000 Modern Apprenticeships by 2003, and preparing people better for existing and future jobs. Planned expenditure by the enterprise network on skills development in 2001-02 amounts to £173.2 million.

National Training Organisations (NTOs) also have an important role in workforce development in liaison with employers in their sector. £1.5 million financial support is being allocated to NTOs over the next three years to encourage work-based training and skills development, for the production of workforce development plans, and to help ensure the relevance of education and training provision.

We are currently giving careful consideration to two Freight Facility Grant applications in connection with this project. I understand that my officials have recently written to the applicants seeking further information on their proposals.

The Scottish ministers issued an Intentions Letter on 12 July 2001 indicating their intention to grant permission for business development at Edinburgh Park subject to an appropriate planning agreement. Among other things, the agreement will require an area of land to be provided for Edinburgh Park Rail Station. In addition, the new rail station should be constructed and be fully operational prior to the occupancy of any floorspace above 209,000m² for the whole of Edinburgh Park.

No.

This is an operational matter for visitscotland which will make any payments from its Running Costs provision.

This is an operational matter for visitscotland. The three incoming senior directors have already been recruited.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Regulation 3 of the Education and Training (Scotland) Regulations 2000 stipulates that Individual Learning Accounts are available to all persons aged 18 and over who satisfy certain specific conditions. The person must be resident in Scotland on a temporary or permanent basis, and, where such residence is temporary, he must be ordinarily resident within the European Economic Area.The residence of a member of the armed forces is determined as being the establishment where he is for the time being serving. Where the establishment is outside the United Kingdom, his residence is deemed to be the establishment at which he most recently served disregarding any establishment at which he served for a period of less than a month.

The Education and Training (Scotland) Regulations 2000 determine the qualifying arrangements regarding eligibility for an Individual Learning Account (ILA). These regulations require that an individual must be resident in Scotland on a temporary or permanent basis, and, where such residence is temporary he is ordinarily resident within the European Economic Area.In the case of an asylum seeker, his residence in Scotland is dependent on the outcome of a petition for asylum. Until such times as the outcome is known, he cannot be regarded as being permanently resident in Scotland and he would not, therefore, be eligible for an Individual Learning Account. If he were later granted permission to remain in Scotland he would then be eligible for an ILA from that date.