Chamber and committees

The information is provided in Section 6 of the annual CIPFA Rating Review Actual of Income & Expenditure 2000-01 (Bib no. 19781) and section 4 of the CIPFA Rating Review Estimates of Income & Expenditure 2001-02 (Bib no. 17055) copies of which are available in the Parliament's resource centre.

We do not, as yet, have reliable data on the number of childcare places in Scotland. Our current monitoring arrangement (through the annual census of Children's Daycare and Pre-School Education Centres) provides data on numbers of children attending these services. However, the 2002 census data, which will be published on 10 September, will provide information on the number of places for the first time.Counting available places does not necessarily give a useful indication of whether needs are being met, for example breakfast club, after school and holiday provision will all be included as separate places, but each is satisfying a different requirement. Furthermore, one "place" may be used by more than one child, since many parents do not require formal childcare full-time. Our view is that although data on both numbers of children and places is required, we need to supplement that with updated research into parent's needs. From the 2001 Census of Children's Daycare and Pre-School Education Centres, we estimate that one-in-five of 0- to 14-year-olds in Scotland were attending pre-school or daycare provision in January 2001. This is broadly the same as the rate in England. We are also examining the scope for setting clearer targets for Childcare Partnerships. These might include specific increases in the level of provision across different types of childcare, which would help to identify the level and type of provision available and where the gaps are.Childcare provision is being expanded through Childcare Strategy funding. £16.75 million this year and next is being channelled through local authorities who, with their Childcare Partnerships, are expected to address and meet local childcare needs. In addition, the New Opportunities Fund current and third round childcare programmes (totalling £46.3 million) are designed to support both new and existing childcare projects.

Closing the opportunity gap for Scotland's children is a key policy for the Executive. Through Sure Start Scotland we provide resources to give every child the best possible start in life. This supports joint-agency integrated service provision, which is often provided through children's centres. The Changing Children's Services Fund is a further source of resources to act as a catalyst for better integration of health, education, social work and voluntary sector services to improve outcomes for vulnerable and deprived children. All these resources are weighted heavily by local authority area to reflect deprivation levels.

The Executive is currently considering the case for a national centre for women's enterprise. No final decision has yet been reached.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26763 on 27 June 2002.

The total provision for Learning Disability Change Fund is £8 million in 2001-02, and £12 million in 2002-03. The resources are being allocated through the general local government settlement distribution - separate allocations for each authority have not been published, but are included within the settlement total each authority receives.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27751 on 15 August 2002.

We will announce detailed spending plans for the three years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 in September.

The Scottish Executive is currently considering the recommendations arising from HM Treasury's cross-cutting review of the voluntary sector and how this will impact on the work being undertaken by the Executive.

The Construction Best Practice Programme is a key part of Rethinking Construction and works to find the most efficient ways of distributing the innovations and best practice captured by the Demonstration Projects Programme and Best Practice Clubs.The Scottish Executive supports the principles of Rethinking Construction as a means of delivering best practice and improvements in the construction industry. Scottish Enterprise has agreed to lead a Rethinking Construction initiative. In addition, the Executive supports and promotes best practice through the funding of Pulling Together Scotland.