Chamber and committees

The Executive's vision for maternity services, set out in the report of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services, is of a woman and baby centred service, with a range of provision for care in childbirth including midwife-led care in local community maternity units and consultant-led units. The EGAMS report recommended that consultant-led units dealing with low- to medium-risk pregnancies and labour should have onsite paediatric facilities. It further recommended that tertiary referral centres dealing with more than 3,000 deliveries per annum should have access to onsite neonatal intensive care and access to neonatal surgery, and onsite adult intensive care facilities to ensure effective management of risk for both mother and baby.

The Transport Act 1985 gives local transport authorities wide powers to secure the provision of subsidised public transport services.

An announcement will be made shortly.

There are no statutory obligations on bus operators to plan bus routes to serve key public services. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 provides a framework, which allows local transport authorities to enhance the provision of bus services. The act provides a "toolkit" of options including Quality Partnerships and Quality Contracts. Transport authorities also have powers under the Transport Act 1985 to provide socially necessary services.

The Consultation Paper on the proposed Tenements (Scotland) Bill is published today. The bill is based upon the recommendations of the Scottish Law Commission in their 1998 Report on the Law of the Tenement (Scot Law Com No 162). The draft bill included in the paper is an updated version of the commission's draft bill. It has been revised to take account of the provisions of the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and the Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill which passed Stage 3 on 26 February. I would like to thank the Scottish Law Commission for all their exhaustive and meticulous work in reviewing the current law of tenements and in proposing modernising reforms.The bill will modernise and re-state the law of the tenement in modern statutory language. It sets out a framework for the management and maintenance of tenements which should make it easier for owners in a tenement to reach agreement on matters of mutual interest and concern and to ensure that their homes are well maintained. Any decision on the introduction of the Tenements Bill will be for the incoming administration after the election.Copies of the Consultation Paper will be sent to the relevant Parliamentary Committees and will be available in the Parliament's Reference Centre. Further copies will be available from Deirdre Duffy, Scottish Executive Justice Department, 2nd floor West Rear, St Andrews House, Regent Road, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG.A 12-week consultation period will follow, with the closing date for responses being Friday, 13 June 2003.

I can today announce the publication of the outcome of the second phase of the review of higher education in Scotland: A Framework for Higher Education in Scotland. Higher Education Review: Phase 2. This paper brings together the conclusions of an 18-month programme of wide-ranging consultation and discussion on the future of higher education in Scotland. This paper sets out: a framework for the relationships between government and higher education; the Executive's priorities for teaching and learning, research and knowledge transfer, and governance and management over the next decade, and actions to be taken to address these. Its publication follows that of Life Through Learning - Learning Through Life: The Lifelong Learning Strategy for Scotland on 11 February 2003. The Executive will work with the funding councils, higher education institutions and others with an interest in higher education to take forward this work. Copies of the paper have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

I have met with Charles Clarke MP, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and agreed to regular meetings at ministerial level to ensure that Scottish interests are taken into account as DfES Ministers take forward their proposals for England. I have also had two constructive meetings with representative bodies of further and higher education in Scotland.Today I am publishing the outcome of the 18-month review of higher education in Scotland, A Framework for Higher Education in Scotland. Higher Education Review: Phase 2, which sets out how we believe the HE sector in Scotland needs to develop over the next 10 years. Part of the context for taking this forward are the long-term implications for Scotland of the proposed changes in the funding regime in England and other issues. It has been agreed a further phase of review will be undertaken to address these. The next stage will be for the Executive, working closely with representative bodies, to consider the remit for this work.

The Active Communities Initiative is our strategy for supporting voluntary and community action within local communities across Scotland. It has four key objectives: to bring about positive attitudes to volunteering;to locate volunteering at the heart of policy and practice;to broaden the range of people involved, andto increase the number of people involved.Any voluntary organisation with proposals that advance and support these overall objectives can seek financial assistance from the Scottish Executive.The provision of outdoor play facilities for children with disabilities is a matter for local agencies, for example, local authorities.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34447 today. 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/search_wa.

Under the Childcare Strategy, the Scottish Executive allocated £16.5 million to local authorities in the financial year 2002-03 to allow them to expand, develop and sustain accessible, affordable, quality child care, including outdoor play provision in child care settings. Over the period of the Scottish Budget 2003-06, funding for the Childcare Strategy will increase and will reach £40.65 million for the year 2005-06. Local allocations of these resources are the responsibility of local authorities. As part of the Local Government Settlement, £180 million of Quality of Life funding has been allocated to local authorities over the next three years. The broad policy theme of Increasing Opportunities for Children & Young People allows scope for a wide range of local initiatives that will respond to local needs and priorities, including the development of outdoor play facilities for children with disabilities.This is in addition to the extra £95 million allocated to local authorities this year to encourage children and young people to make healthy lifestyle choices and to improve the local environment. As part of this initiative, £7.75 million was allocated to the improvement of organised play and play areas and to the promotion of outdoor recreation.Councils' budgeted spend on Special Education this year from Scottish Executive grant and council tax is £260 million, an increase of 5.5% over last year. Local authorities have discretion to allocate money to support outdoor play facilities for children with disabilities. The Executive has also allocated £600,000 to sportscotland to set up a dowry for Scottish Disability Sport. This dowry will allow Scottish Disability Sport to provide specialist support to ensure that the needs of children and young people with special needs are addressed as the Active Primary Schools Programme is rolled out. One of the four areas covered by the programme is children's play (as well as active travel, PE and sport).