Chamber and committees

The funding to promote volunteeringrecently announcement by the UK Government Cabinet Office was allocated from existingresources and does not therefore result in any consequentials for Scotland.

We work with partners, includingVolunteer Development Scotland (VDS) to implement our volunteering strategy andattract people from socially diverse backgrounds to volunteering. VDS, togetherwith a number of volunteer centres, takes forward a range of training and providestargeted resources to promote best practice across volunteer engaging agencies,including the promotion of volunteering opportunities to harder to reach groups.In addition, the Scottish Executive funds MV Awards (previously Millennium VolunteerAwards) which, through a national network of youth development workers located inlocal volunteer centres, aims to promote volunteering to all young people whileprioritising harder to reach groups.

Project Scotland, whichalso receives Scottish Executive funding, offers full time volunteering placementsto young people aged between16 to 25. Project Scotland’s range of support, whichincludes a subsistence allowance, allows many young people, who would perhaps nototherwise be able to do so, to take advantage of these opportunities.

The Executive’s advertising campaignfor volunteering specifically targeted harder to reach groups.

Executive Departments also supporta number of voluntary community projects for hard to reach groups in pursuit oftheir policy objectives, many of which may include a volunteering element.

The Executive has had no suchdirect correspondence.

The Executive believes that parenta lconsent is an essential pre‑requisite.

The Scottish Executive is inregular contact with the UK Government and the UK Information Commissioner on arange of issues, including the use of fingerprint systems in schools.

Such decisions are matters forindividual education authorities and schools.

The Executive does not providefunding specifically for the installation of such systems.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-28047 on 19 September 2006. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28047 on 19 September 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Sir David Henshaw’s report waspublished in July 2006 together with the UK Government’s response, A fresh start:child support redesign-the Government’s response to Sir David Henshaw. The responsetakes the form of a consultation document, seeking views on the wide range of issuesraised. It acknowledges that any proposed legislative changes within devolved competencewould be for the Scottish Parliament. A white paper will be published in the autumn.

Scottish ministers welcome thefocus in the consultation paper on child welfare and on reducing child poverty.Executive officials are discussing with the Department for Work and Pensions thepossible implications of the redesign of the child support agency for devolved responsibilities,in areas such as child poverty, birth registration policy, the role of the courts,and provision of family support services.