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One way in which the service of general economic interest funding can be used is to develop loan guarantee schemes to protect credit unions when a loan is not repaid.
We have small funds, one of which is the seeing is believing fund, which helps local groups to do that—to look at models that other people have developed and to think about how they might use them in their environment for their own situations.
However, I undertake to consider the issue of travel costs in the context of the mature students bursary fund, as there is flexibility in the introduction of that fund.
Additional resources would allow us to effect the shift that is required from residential care to care in the community. The most important problems are funding, the way in which funding is set and how to make it more flexible, so that we can produce a more flexible service.
The money is coming from the Executive and there is good practice in the work that is being developed by the Executive, but how can we ensure that the funding and good practice get to the local level?
There are moves in that direction, but work on the number of plans, funding streams and accountability regimes, for example, could be developed further to make it easier to join up policy locally.
Bids for the funding will be considered in early 2005 when we see local authorities' delivery plans on how to achieve the new quality standard.Our policy of allowing local authorities to take on management of Communities Scotland's developmentfunding remains in place.
The Commission is sympathetic and ready to afford flexibility in the common agricultural policy and structural funds, as was clearly defined in a letter from President Prodi to my colleague Ian Hudghton MEP in October this year.