Chamber and committees

A developer is carrying out a phased development at Anniesland Village Business Park which aims to create or safeguard up to 480 jobs by mid-2002.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14782.

The Scottish Executive encourages all local authorities to consider innovative forms of service delivery such as the development of "one-stop-shops". It has provided practical encouragement to this kind of innovation through the Modernising Government Fund (MGF). This has awarded £2 million towards the "Wired West Lothian" project, which is one of a series of MGF supported initiatives that promote inter-agency working and the use information and communications technology (ICT) to provide more joined up services to the public.MGF projects are scheduled to run until March 2002. All of the projects will be monitored, with regular updates and results published on the Scottish Executive's 21st Century Government website. This way all local authorities will benefit from the good practice that results from the projects.The Executive has also established the Central Local 21st Century Government Forum, which includes representatives of West Lothian Council. This has been set up to endorse and promote new models of service delivery across local authorities.In addition the Executive has also agreed to consider whether there are unnecessary barriers to the development of service solutions such as one-stop shops within constraints on local authority trading and, if so, how best to deal with them.

The Scottish Executive welcomes discounted fare initiatives such as the Fair Travel Scheme in Moray, which is a joint initiative between Stagecoach Bluebird and Moray Council. It is a matter for individual local authorities and public transport operators to consider whether similar schemes might be set up elsewhere in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of issues, including cross-channel rail freight services.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency already has indicative flood risk maps showing the main areas where flooding should be considered a possibility. The Executive has no plans to duplicate this work.The Executive is, however, considering ways in which the maps can be improved and the additional information that can be obtained from them.

The Scottish Executive supports and funds the Scottish Community Diet Project, which directly supports the establishment of community food co-operatives. In collaboration with other public and private sector partners, we are also setting up a new investment fund, Social Investment Scotland, to provide development advice and loan funding for social economy organisations. Food co-operatives are one of the types of social economy organisations which could benefit from the fund.

A range of funding support is available, in recognition of the valuable contribution that community health projects and initiatives can make. Each year, as part of the Section 16B Grant Award Scheme, some £4 million is provided to voluntary sector local initiatives by health boards (in addition to the funding provided at national level by the Scottish Executive). Health boards have also been advised that their allocations from the new Health Improvement Fund should be invested in projects and services that have been discussed with local partner organisations, including voluntary/community agencies, and that those allocations may be invested through such partner organisations. A further £34.5 million is being made available from the lottery-supported New Opportunities Fund, to facilitate the creation of a network of Healthy Living Centres in communities across Scotland: the first four were announced by Susan Deacon last November and further successes have brought the total to10.

Potential barriers to accessing mental health services by 16- to 21 year olds with mental health needs can exist in various forms and for various reasons. In making mental health a priority, the Executive is committed to working on a variety of fronts with partner care agencies to tackle these issues, where they occur.Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change sets the context within which mental health services in Scotland will operate for the immediate future. The plan emphasises the importance of various initiatives, including the investment of £4 million over three years specifically to promote positive mental health and well being; the development of a national suicide prevention framework, and implementation of the Framework for Mental Health Services, which as a blueprint for comprehensive mental health services, aims to ensure the provision of safe, responsive care and support services which meet individually assessed needs.

Capital allocations are designed to meet both routine expenditure (such as maintenance and the replacement of vehicles) and the cost of large projects.Strathclyde's allocation for 1999-2000 included £3.528 million for major work at the Saltcoats and Kirkintilloch stations as well as Phase 3 of the force's Traffic Complex. In addition, the force received £1.060 million to help with millennium compliance costs, leaving £5.144 million for routine expenditure.In 2000-01, £3 million was set aside for the completion of Phase 3 of the Traffic Complex, leaving £6.076 million for routine capital expenditure, an increase of over 18% on the previous year's figure for similar costs. The allocation of resources is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, in consultation with the Joint Police Board, to decide upon. Given the increase in resources for routine expenditure, however, any impact on operational performance is likely to have been beneficial.