Chamber and committees

The previous Scottish Executive did not hold a definitive list of proposed new school buildings because it is local authorities who are responsible for strategic and future school estate plans and funding methods for capital investment in school buildings.

For the record, the previous administration proposed to enable the building of schools with government financial support for Public Private Partnership and Non‘Profit Distributing projects for which the full baseline funding had not been identified. For example, forecast requirements of government funding for 2010‘11 for all 30 such projects whether or not they had reached financial close, exceeded the available baseline funding by more than £60 million. This government has had to address that baseline shortfall, while at the same time demonstrating its commitment to allow projects to proceed by signing off, since May 2007, another seven of the 30 projects, involving renewal of a further 45 schools. Over the four year parliamentary period we expect 250 schools to be built, funded or under construction through various funding mechanisms.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11720 on 9 May 2008, which sets out the position on Scottish Government financial support.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The previous Scottish Executive did not hold a definitive list of proposed new school buildings because it is local authorities who are responsible for strategic and future school estate plans and funding methods for capital investment in school buildings.

For the record, the previous administration proposed to enable the building of schools with government financial support for public private partnership and non‘profit distributing projects for which the full baseline funding had not been identified. For example, forecast requirements of government funding for 2010‘11 for all 30 such projects whether or not they had reached financial close, exceeded the available baseline funding by more than £60 million. This government has had to address that baseline shortfall, while at the same time demonstrating its commitment to allow projects to proceed by signing off, since May 2007, another seven of the 30 projects, involving renewal of a further 45 schools. Over the four year parliamentary period we expect 250 schools to be built, funded or under construction through various funding mechanisms.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11720 on 9 May 2008, which sets out the position on Scottish Government financial support.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Single Outcome Agreements will be based on the government''s national outcomes and councils'' local outcomes. One of the 15 national outcomes is to increase life chances for children, young people and families at risk and local authorities may choose to prioritise young care leavers in that context. Where a council does so, we would expect to see appropriate outcomes and indicators included within its single outcome agreement.

The introduction of single outcome agreements does not affect the existing statutory responsibilities placed on councils and their partners, including to providing support for young care leavers.

The Scottish Government has no plans to extend eligibility for on-going support for care leavers after the age of 18. Local authorities already have powers under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to support and assist care leavers up until the age of 21, or 25 if they remain in education or training.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his budget on 12 April this year plans to introduce tax relief for the remediation of brownfield land. Draft legislation will be published for consultation this summer, and the relief will take effect from April 2009.

The Scottish Government has been fully engaged in the development of these proposals and we recognise the incentives this will offer for development of brownfield land in Scotland. We have no plans to introduce additional subsidies for brownfield development in Scotland at present.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11815 on 23 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

In Firm Foundations the Scottish Government made it clear that it expects registered social landlords to continue to build the majority of social housing and to be the initial lead developers in a new approach to allocating funding. Over time, it might be appropriate for other bodies to take on the lead development role. The government continues to evaluate carefully the responses received to its proposals in Firm Foundations. The results of this evaluation will influence development of  detailed proposals for a more strategic and competitive approach to allocating funding on which the government will consult later this year.

The Scottish Government believes that recent increases in housing association grant (HAG) are unsustainable. As a consequence, it has put forward proposals for HAG which reflect the income that housing associations expect to receive from rents and which reflect the financial position of housing associations in general.

Our aim is for a viable, thriving and varied social housing sector which includes community based housing associations. In Firm Foundations: The Future of Housing in Scotland, the Scottish Government made clear its commitment to the future of social housing. It expects registered social landlords to continue to build the majority of social housing and to be the initial lead developer in a new approach to allocating funding.

There are no plans to move towards an optimum size for housing associations. The key is an organisation''s ability to meet need and deliver services effectively and efficiently, not its shape or size.