Chamber and committees

The decisions on both the share of European Structural Funds to come to Scotland from the European Regional Aid budget, and the allocation between Priorities within each Scottish 2007 to 2013 programme were taken before the election of the current Scottish Government.

A number of stakeholders across a range of sectors and individual organisations have raised concerns about the level of the reduction “ almost halving the funds available. Most of these concerns have been around the reduction in ESF Priority 1 which has the objective of helping people progress into employment.

On 8 April 2008, I announced £158 million of funding for the first main round of Lowlands and Uplands Scotland ERDF and ESF programmes. In making the decision on the amount of funding to be made available at this stage of the programmes, the Programme Monitoring Committee and ministers took into account a number of ways to lessen the impact of the overall funding reduction on the ESF Priority 1 client group:

1. The amount of Priority 1 funding going into individual projects has been front loaded. In LUPS that amounts to £21.6 million in this round, in addition to £10 million announced in 2007 for a Shadow Round for Priority 1 projects dealing with vulnerable client groups, and

2. A further £42.1 million funding has been made available from ERDF Priority 3 and ESF Priority 1 for co-ordinated two year strategic plans from Community Planning Partnerships for employment and regeneration.

More help was offered by the government to address wider concerns raised by the Third Sector in the Scottish Budget which allocated a £93.6 million transformational package for the Sector in order to support the development of an innovative, sustainable and inclusive third sector. The Third Sector Development Programme is £63.3 million over three years, and the Scottish Investment Fund is £30 million over three years.

The reduction in European Social Fund money available to Scotland under the 2007 to 2013 Highland and Islands, and Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programmes was agreed prior to the election of the current Scottish Government.

Mindful of this overall reduction in funds, we have taken a number of measures to reduce the risk to projects which help previously unemployed people into employment and achieve their full potential.

The funding to be made available for the first main round of the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programme was announced on 8 April 2008. Priority 1 ESF has been front loaded with £21.6 million being offered to individual projects, and an additional £42.1 million being offered to 11 Community Planning Partnerships for joint ESF Priority 1 and ERDF Priority 3 employability and regeneration plans.

EventScotland works to secure and support major cultural and sport events in Scotland and provides funding through its international and regional programmes.

Music industry events with confirmed support through EventScotland''s regional programme for 2008 are:

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Callandar Jazz and Blues Festival, Creetown Country Music Festival, Dundee Jazz Festival, East Neuk Festival in Fife, Ullapool''s Loopallu, Nairn International Jazz Festival, Northern Nashville Caithness Country Music Festival, Schubertiad in Perth, Sound in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Orkney''s St Magnus Festival, and the World Ceilidh in Dumfries and Galloway.

The international programme will support Piping Live! in 2008 and 2009, and the World Pipe Band Championships in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In addition to these, EventScotland is in discussion with a number of event owners and organisers about supporting other music industry events as part of the international programme and further information will be made available as negotiations are concluded.

For 2009 EventScotland is developing the programme of events for the Homecoming Scotland celebrations and has received a number of funding applications from music industry event organisers. Information about which events will be included in the programme will be available when it is launched at the end of May.

EventScotland works to bring major events to Scotland that boost the economy and/or that raise Scotland''s profile around the world. The MTV Europe Music Awards delivered against both of these objectives and EventScotland is working to follow up on this success.

EventScotland does not categorise its funding in this way. Events are supported either through the international programme, if they attract visitors from outside Scotland or generate international media profile for the country, or through the regional programme if they help to drive domestic tourism. All events are funded according to their fit with the criteria set out in these programmes.

Scottish Government will be making funding available for third sector organisations through the £30 million Scottish Investment Fund and the related third sector development programme. Details of the criteria and process for organisations to access funding are currently being developed and will be publicised widely when available. These funds will be for organisations with financially sustainable business plans and not specifically related to previous funding sources.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10357 on 12 March 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10357 on 12 March 2008. 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.parliamnet.uk/webapp/wa.search.

No such discussions have taken place. However, we have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. Through the Scottish Financial Crime Group, which the SBCC are responsible for, Scotland continues to monitor the issue, particularly in relation to any migration/displacement of such crimes and any local and regional increases in Scotland. Prevention is very much the primary focus of its work.

The Minister for Police and Community Safety wrote to GMB Scotland on 7 February encouraging them to discuss their concerns through the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland Cash-in Transit Working Group.