To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that funding will continue to be available for projects currently supported by the New Opportunities Fund when the fund closes in July 2007 and whether such decisions will be made know to organisations in a timely fashion to avoid uncertainty to the organisations and their employees. The Executive expects theBig Lottery Fund to announce its new programmes for Scotland inthe spring, which will bring a further £257 million to Scotlandbetween 2006–09.The continuation or closureof existing programmes of the New Opportunities Fund is a matter for the fund.Ministers set the strategic framework for lottery bodies, but operationalmatters and programme design are a matter for the lottery distributorsthemselves.