Chamber and committees

I can today announce the publication of the outcome of the second phase of the review of higher education in Scotland: A Framework for Higher Education in Scotland. Higher Education Review: Phase 2. This paper brings together the conclusions of an 18-month programme of wide-ranging consultation and discussion on the future of higher education in Scotland. This paper sets out: a framework for the relationships between government and higher education; the Executive's priorities for teaching and learning, research and knowledge transfer, and governance and management over the next decade, and actions to be taken to address these. Its publication follows that of Life Through Learning - Learning Through Life: The Lifelong Learning Strategy for Scotland on 11 February 2003. The Executive will work with the funding councils, higher education institutions and others with an interest in higher education to take forward this work. Copies of the paper have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

The Active Communities Initiative is our strategy for supporting voluntary and community action within local communities across Scotland. It has four key objectives: to bring about positive attitudes to volunteering;to locate volunteering at the heart of policy and practice;to broaden the range of people involved, andto increase the number of people involved.Any voluntary organisation with proposals that advance and support these overall objectives can seek financial assistance from the Scottish Executive.The provision of outdoor play facilities for children with disabilities is a matter for local agencies, for example, local authorities.

Under the new student support arrangements, introduced in 2001-02, students from the lowest income families will have up to £2,050 each year in the form of a non-repayable bursary. This will mean that these students will graduate from a four-year course with up to approximately £4,000 less debt than they would have had under the previous system.We are also providing more additional support to those students who need it most, such as students who have dependent children, particularly students who are lone parents, and young students for low income families who study elsewhere in the UK.

The Physical Activity Task Force (PATF) recommended that all children, including those with disabilities, should have the opportunity to be physically active in their home, educational establishments and community. The task force formulated their recommendations having reviewed research and identified good practice on a worldwide basis. The PATF recognised play as an important element of physical activity, accounting for the greatest proportion of children and young people's physical activity pursuits. Membership of the PATF reflected a wide range of expertise and among those represented were play organisations, disabled groups, child health specialists and local authorities.The PATF proposed the development of policies and resources to support four broad strategic objectives, one of which involves providing supportive physical environments to enable inactive people to become active. All of these objectives will be taken into account in the development of the four implementation plans, Active Homes, Active Schools, Active Communities and Active Workplaces.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34447 today. 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/search_wa.

Under the Childcare Strategy, the Scottish Executive allocated £16.5 million to local authorities in the financial year 2002-03 to allow them to expand, develop and sustain accessible, affordable, quality child care, including outdoor play provision in child care settings. Over the period of the Scottish Budget 2003-06, funding for the Childcare Strategy will increase and will reach £40.65 million for the year 2005-06. Local allocations of these resources are the responsibility of local authorities. As part of the Local Government Settlement, £180 million of Quality of Life funding has been allocated to local authorities over the next three years. The broad policy theme of Increasing Opportunities for Children & Young People allows scope for a wide range of local initiatives that will respond to local needs and priorities, including the development of outdoor play facilities for children with disabilities.This is in addition to the extra £95 million allocated to local authorities this year to encourage children and young people to make healthy lifestyle choices and to improve the local environment. As part of this initiative, £7.75 million was allocated to the improvement of organised play and play areas and to the promotion of outdoor recreation.Councils' budgeted spend on Special Education this year from Scottish Executive grant and council tax is £260 million, an increase of 5.5% over last year. Local authorities have discretion to allocate money to support outdoor play facilities for children with disabilities. The Executive has also allocated £600,000 to sportscotland to set up a dowry for Scottish Disability Sport. This dowry will allow Scottish Disability Sport to provide specialist support to ensure that the needs of children and young people with special needs are addressed as the Active Primary Schools Programme is rolled out. One of the four areas covered by the programme is children's play (as well as active travel, PE and sport).

I am very grateful to Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson and his committee for the considerable commitment they have shown in completing their deliberations in this complex area of public policy, law and procedure within the 18-month timescale suggested by the Executive. The committee's consultation paper attracted over 200 replies and the committee also devoted eight days to taking oral evidence in addition to its own programme of meetings. The text of the report is undergoing final editing at present, but it will not be possible to publish the report before Parliament dissolves.

Alongside the work of Scottish Development International in promoting Scotland as a location for such activity, and the support provided directly to such enterprises through the Regional Selective Assistance scheme, the Executive is contributing to a study by Philip Taylor, University of Stirling, and Peter Bain, University of Strathclyde into outsourcing competition from India, which should help inform our consideration of this issue.

The funding offered to individual institutions is a matter for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC). Legislation precludes ministers from directing funds to particular institutions.In 2002-03, Glasgow School of Art received just over £8 million from SHEFC - an increase of 13.4% on the £7 million it received in 2001-02.

Improving Scotland's health is our most important challenge. Diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD) are increasingly preventable by improvements in physical activity and diet and reductions in smoking. We are taking a comprehensive approach to health improvement that draws together activity across the whole range of the Executive's activity. Prevention is an integral part of our CHD and Stroke Strategy, and local cardiac services Managed Clinical Networks will be expected to develop prevention strategies which are in line with our health promotion framework.