Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive has received no specific approach from Crew 2000 for assistance. I visited them on 21 March and no mention was made of their present difficulties.

The Scottish Executive wrote to Crew 2000 on 1 March confirming its continuing financial support of £26,136 under section 10(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, and this has been accepted and welcomed by the organisation. Crew 2000 has also applied for funding under section 16b of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 and this is presently receiving consideration. We expect to announce our decisions soon.

I understand that the local Drugs Action Team (DAT) approached Crew 2000 in April suggesting a way forward. The DAT decided on 20 April to offer funding assistance of £30,000 and this has been welcomed by Crew 2000.

The remit of the Part V Voluntary Issues Review Group is:

"To consider the impact of the introduction of criminal record checks under Part V of the Police Act 1997 on voluntary organisations. To review charging issues and policies as they apply to the voluntary sector."

There is currently no timetable for publication of the report, but the review group appreciates the need for conclusions to be reached as quickly as possible.

The review group has met on three occasions so far and further meetings are planned.

The review group which is chaired by Jackie Baillie, Deputy Minister for Communities, is meeting regularly. Under the agreed remit the group is considering the impact of the introduction of criminal record checks under Part V on voluntary organisations and is reviewing charging issues and policies as they apply to the voluntary sector. Progress is being made and it is hoped that the group will report later this year.

Poverty is not only about income, but also about health, environment, and opportunity in its widest sense. As a result, there is no single measure of poverty. In 'Social Justice: a Scotland where everyone matters' we set out a wide range of indicators for measuring the impact of action tackling poverty and social exclusion - the current data in relation to these measures is set out in the companion document on sources and definitions. We will report on progress later this year in our first Annual Social Justice Report.

S1W-03658 explained the base formula used from 1997-98. With the full agreement of CoSLA the formula was adjusted from 1999-2000 to account for anticipated capital receipts as the Scottish Executive had abolished the requirement to use 50% of such receipts for debt redemption. The new approach increased Argyll and Bute's base allocation from 3.9% to 4.3% of the total.Copies of the detailed calculations are available to councils on request.

The Equality and Voluntary Issues Group is the administrative group within the Scottish Executive which deals with the Executive's responsibilities for the promotion of equality and support of the voluntary sector. It is staffed by civil servants and is located within the Executive Secretariat.

I refer Mr Quinan to my answer to his question S1W-4936.

I refer Mr Quinan to my answer to his question S1W-4936.