Chamber and committees

The National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 provide the framework for local authorities to charge for care that they provide or arrange in residential care homes, including for people with learning disabilities.

Under Section 87 (1A) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 a local authority may charge for certain adult non-personal domiciliary services it provides. In keeping with local accountability, it is for local authorities to decide their charging policies for these non-personal care services. The legislation requires that any charges levied should not be more than appears to be reasonably practicable for the recipient to pay, taking account of his or her other financial commitments.

Guidance issued to local authorities by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in January 2006 recommends a consistent framework for charging and encourages councils to demonstrate that they are following best practice. The guidance is currently under review by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

Scotland''s Seas: Towards Understanding their State, published in April 2008, contains an analysis of economic activity in the marine environment. Table 5.3 in Chapter 5 (page 117) (Bib. number 45262), on Productive Seas, contains the first overall assessment of the economic value and associated employment of Scotland''s seas and summarises the economic value and employment for a range of marine-related industry. The report highlights that the seas generate around £2.2 billion of marine-industry activity (excluding offshore oil and gas extraction activity) and provide approximately 50,000 jobs in Scotland. The Scottish Government does not have readily available separate figures on leisure, commercial and defence work.

From an alternative source, the number of enterprises in Scotland, following the same categories as table 5.3 in Scotland''s Seas are in the following table:

Number of Enterprises¹ in the Marine-Related Industries in Scotland

Source: Scottish Government, Office of National Statistics (Inter Departmental Business Register) published October 2008.

Notes:

Totals may not equal the sum of the constituent parts due to rounding.

1. Excludes central and local government.

Government support, in terms of finance and in providing a framework in which industry can develop, is varied. For example:

1. The Wave and Tidal Energy Scheme (WATES) comprises of £13 million in capital support for the development of marine renewable technologies. Scotland is establishing the precedent of offering higher revenue support for marine renewable technologies through its Renewables Obligation. The £10 million Saltire Prize aims to accelerate the commercial deployment of wave and tidal devices. The Scottish Government has created one of the world''s largest ever innovation prizes to stimulate global innovation in these technologies. Scottish Government is also supporting the growth of the marine renewable industry through FREDS Marine Energy Group (MEG) and the Marine Energy Spatial Planning Group.

2. The principal financial support mechanism for the fishing, processing and aquaculture sectors is provided through the European Fisheries Fund. The current programme allocation administered by Scottish Government between 2007 and 2013 is worth approximately £50 million in capital support. This fund underpins Government support for specific industry strategy and policy initiatives such as the Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture and the strategic direction given to the fishing sector by the Scottish Fisheries Council.

3. Support has been provided by RSA Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and its former Local Enterprise Companies to both naval and civil shipbuilders. Over £8 million worth of grants have been awarded for a variety of initiatives to create and safeguard jobs, to improve the various businesses and to up-skill the workforces. The Scottish Government and its agencies are working actively with the shipbuilding and boat building industry to consolidate and to further develop Scotland''s position in this area. Scottish Enterprise is developing an industry strategy for Aerospace, Defence and Marine which is being led and informed by a newly-formed industry advisory group.

4. This government''s overarching Purpose is to increase sustainable economic growth in Scotland and, through our Government Economic Strategy, we have identified Scotland''s fisheries as a major component of our food and drink sector and as an area where government is focused on creating the right environment for increased competitiveness and growth.