Chamber and committees

No money has been set aside for the North Sea capital allocation fund as there is no fund nor are there any plans to introduce such a fund.

I can confirm that the Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a North Sea capital allocation fund.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0910-01.htm

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24927 on 25 August 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Expenditure on the National Conversation will be at the level required to ensure that the people of Scotland are in a position to make an informed choice about their future in a referendum.

Scotland''s Future: Join the Debate leaflets are an important contribution to informing the public debate successfully generated by the National Conversation. Over 4,500 people have attended public events, there have been over 500,000 hits on the National Conversation web pages and the voluntary sector, businesses, universities, the media, faith groups, ethnic minorities, and Scotland''s young people are all taking part.

The cost for design, printing, translation and web publication was £20,927. The cost of distribution to almost 600 libraries across Scotland was £3,452. Copies of the leaflets will be available at National Conversation events and on request.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23202 on 1 July 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Further to that answer, a further £24,379 has been spent on the design, publication, print, distribution and translation of Scotland''s Future: Join the Debate leaflets.

Expenditure on the National Conversation includes the cost of supporting a successful programme of public engagement, which has resulted in over 4,500 people attending events across the country to debate Scotland''s future. Expenditure also includes the cost of engaging with the UK Government, and others, on related initiatives such as the Governance of Britain programme, the All Wales Convention, the Independent Commission on Funding and Finance for Wales and the Commission on Scottish Devolution “ which involved over 20 officials in the preparation of a Scottish Government response to requests for factual information.

Scottish ministers are unable to provide the requested information as outline planning permission was granted by Glasgow City Council. In reaching a decision, on 9 October 2008, to clear the application back to the city council to deal with, Scottish ministers did not specifically consider the advantages to bus users. Their focus was on the broader issue of whether there were matters of genuine national interest that would warrant their intervention. Scottish ministers are aware that there are conditions attached to the outline planning consent which require that the final design of the bus station is acceptable to Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), as bus station operator, and meets current and future operator and passenger requirements.

This application was notified to Scottish ministers on 30 March 2009 and, after careful consideration, was cleared back to Glasgow City Council on 28 April. I understand that Glasgow City Council has not yet granted planning permission but will do so on conclusion of a legal agreement covering the developer''s contribution to the Clyde Fastlink project.

During this year the Scottish Government has received bids for funding from the Gaelic School capital fund from Highland Council, Glasgow City Council and Argyll and Bute Council. On 3 August the First Minister announced that an additional £800,000 would be committed to the fund, increasing the amount available this year to £2.15 million. I am currently considering how awards from the fund should be allocated, and all applicants will be formally notified of my decision later this summer.