Chamber and committees

The Executive through sportscotland provides financial and other support to athletes and governing bodies of sport as part of our commitment to achieving target 7 of Sport 21, which aims to have over 250 Scots as medallists on the world stage by 2007.

The Scottish Executive is encouraged that over 40 public authorities have participated in the framework which is helping achieve the overall aim of increasing home computer ownership in Scotland.

The three framework suppliers compete on price for preferred supplier status on a four-monthly basis. BT won the first e-auction and as such were the main supplier in the pre-Christmas period. BT have told us that it was due to the unexpected high demand, along with supplier and courier problems, that they were unable to meet some pre-Christmas deliveries.

The Scottish Executive monitors the overall performance of the Home Computer Initiative Framework with each of the suppliers. Participating public authorities enter into individual contractual arrangements with their chosen supplier and performance of a contract is ordinarily a matter for the relevant public authority. However, following delays in pre-Christmas deliveries from BT, the Scottish Executive has been working with BT to address the problem. As a result, performance has significantly improved and we are continuing to work with BT to resolve outstanding issues.

Local authorities are expected to provide for the cost of improving their services from their budget each year. There is a wide range of work aimed at improving services carried out by local authorities.

The only Executive funding specified for improvement services, however, is the budget allocated to the Local Government Improvement Service. The Improvement Service was officially launched in April 2005 and its funding levels over the next three years have been set as:

£1,700,000 in 2005-06;

£1,655,000 in 2006-07, and

£1,256,000 in 2007-08.

The Improvement Service Grant Agreement requires the service to provide an updated Business Plan on an annual basis in order to receive funding.

It is open to the Improvement Service to commission consultants to undertake work to support their work with local authorities.

Local authorities are expected to provide for the cost of improving their services from their budget each year. There is a wide range of work aimed at improving services carried out by local authorities.

The only Executive funding specified for improvement services, however, is the budget allocated to the Local Government Improvement Service. The Improvement Service was officially launched in April 2005 and its funding levels over the next three years have been set as:

£1,700,000 in 2005-06;

£1,655,000 in 2006-07, and

£1,256,000 in 2007-08.

The Improvement Service Grant Agreement requires the service to provide an updated Business Plan on an annual basis in order to receive funding.

Sportscotland had undergone significant organisational restructuring in recent years to provide a more responsive service to client and partner groups. Sportscotland commissioned a report by KPMG with the specific objectives of identifying how it could deliver much stronger partnerships with its key partners with less bureaucracy. This led to sportscotland amalgamating their separate funding streams and consolidating their operations into their headquarters building at South Gyle.

As set out in the answer to question S2W-21248, under the Efficient Government initiative, sportscotland has been asked to deliver further efficiency savings of £200,000 by 2007-08.

The awards announced on 20 December were funded from sportscotland’s Building for Sport programme, which is a combination of Exchequer and Lottery funds. The awards made are set out in the following table. Recipients must be in a position to start the relevant project within one year of the offer of award date and complete the work within two years of the offer of award date. Further information on specific awards can be obtained from sportscotland direct.

Project	Location	Award (£)
Spartans Community Football Academy	Edinburgh	400,000
Greenfield Football Centre	Glasgow	200,000
Aulton Pavilion and Pitch Developments	Aberdeen	450,000
Bayhead Pitch Development Programme	Stornoway	115,920
Point Sport and Recreation Association	Nr Stornoway	139,000
Additional Changing Rooms and Referees Room	Livingston	153,455
Transition Extreme Sports Centre	Aberdeen	150,000
New Clubhouse Facilities	Edinburgh	125,000
East Lothian Yacht Club Equipment Project	North Berwick	33,500
Tennis Court Floodlighting	Nairn	11,000
Whinhill Junior Golf Practice Area	Greenock	29,400
Compendium Park	Glasgow	195,427
		£2,002,702

Note: Those projects in italics received Exchequer funds.

No.

The Minister for Sport at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport convened a meeting, under the auspices of the UK Presidency, to discuss corporate and social governance in football with a view to agreeing terms of reference for a review of corporate and social governance in football. I understand that agreement was reached at the meeting that UEFA will conduct a review and that it will consult its members (which include the SFA) and others in that process.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The information requested is not held by local authority area, but by main postcode area. The details are shown in the following table:

Area	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
AB Aberdeenshire	659	625	350
DD Tayside	425	267	212
DG - Dumfries and Galloway	379	377	285
EH Lothian	1,095	671	379
FK Stirlingshire	173	239	147
G Glasgow	1,986	1,417	1,263
HS Western Isles	216	291	191
IV Highland	344	488	271
KA - Ayrshire	319	413	401
KW Orkney and Caithness	203	258	160
KY Fife	233	283	266
ML Lanarkshire	203	285	276
PA Renfrewshire and Argyll	707	559	489
PH Perthshire	257	211	152
TD Borders	219	241	140
ZE Shetland	65	105	61