Chamber and committees

Note: Figures havebeen rounded to the nearest thousand.

As part of the recentannouncement of the Scottish Budget, provision has been made for a new fund forCommunity Planning Partnerships to regenerate communities; tackle individual poverty,and overcome barriers to work. The new fund features within the local governmentsettlement, and totals £145 million in each year between 2008-11.

The new fund replacesseven existing funding streams, including the Community Regeneration Fund.

On the basis of the proposed reforms, the Scottish Government expects that the increased budgetfor affordable housing of £1.5 billion in 2008-11 will deliver more newaffordable homes – including social rented houses and houses for low cost homeownership – than planned for 2005-08. Were it to persist with the unreformedmethods of the previous administration, and to allocate the budget on the samebasis, it estimates that the increased budget would deliver of the order of18,500 such homes in 2008-11.

In addition tothe allocations in 2005-06 local authorities were given a further

£12 million inpipeline funds unspent in 2004-05.

Allocations tolocal authorities in 2007-08 were above the baseline at £401 million.

Under the Concordat agreed between Scottish Ministersand COSLA, the ring-fence around Supporting People will be removed from 1 April 2008, with the funding being absorbed into the main localgovernment settlement.

The ScottishGovernment will be providing local government in Scotland with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spendingreview 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the funding forimplementation of Supporting People will be provided by means of a block grant.It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the totalfinancial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and prioritieshaving first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set ofnational and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategicobjectives and manifesto commitments.

This representsthe estimated additional cost of the Small Business Bonus scheme at thepercentage levels set out in the table included on page 12 of the ScottishBudget: Spending Review 2007 compared with the assumed annual cost of theexisting Small Business Rate Relief scheme, which amounts to approximately £24 millionin 2007-08.

Notes:

1.TheNon-Domestic Rate income estimates included in the table in Chapter 27: LocalGovernment of the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 (page 142) are statednet of all rate reliefs, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

2.The ScottishBudget: Spending Review 2007 is available at: