Chamber and committees

No. Local authority powers to fund Area Tourist Boards are discretionary. It is for councils to decide the level of support that they provide to ATBs. We are, however, monitoring local authority funding decisions.

None. The powers of local authorities to fund Area Tourist Boards are discretionary. It is for these councils to decide whether or not to contribute to the funding of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board. Scottish Ministers have no powers to intervene.

Scotland House has a critical role in representing and promoting Scotland in a wide range of interests. It is not in itself directly responsible for inward investment projects although it continues to offer support and assistance to Locate in Scotland in this regard. As of September 2000, Locate in Scotland has run its field operations for France and Benelux from an office in Scotland House.

Yes. The Executive's Programme for Government highlighted our intention to legislate for a duty of Best Value on local authorities. I intend to make further announcements regarding our proposals in this area following the Easter recess.

No estimates are available of the additional tourist revenue generated directly by Scotland House.Scotland House is an inclusive body that involves a range of interests. Its principal components are the Scottish Executive EU Office (SEEUO) and Scotland Europa, which in turn houses a number of its subscribers. Scotland House does not have direct responsibility for generating additional tourist revenue. Most of the bodies located in Scotland House have the following functions in common:

• Maintaining close contact with key people in the EU institutions, including the Scottish MEPs
• Following the European legislative process and highlighting issues of relevance to Scotland
• Sharing information and resources between the Scotland House residents as appropriate
• Increasing the range and depth of information on EU affairs flowing back to Scottish bodies - including visitscotland
• Advising Scottish bodies about EU procedures and how to become more involved - including the highlighting of Scottish best practice in Europe.

Scotland House is also active in raising Scotland's profile in the EU. This has included some tourism aspects, namely:

• visitscotland promoted a travel offer between Scotland and the Benelux countries to coincide with the October 1999 Scotland Week organised by Scotland House
• Scotland House has supported a number of festivals/events celebrating links between the Low Countries and Scotland and also supported tourism to Scotland
• Scotland House recently organised a cultural tourism seminar examining other European approaches to cultural tourism with a view to developing further the Scottish approach
• Literature from visitscotland is prominently displayed in Scotland House for all visitors and enquiries.

In addition, visitscotland is a member of Scotland Europa and both it and the Tourism Cluster Group of Scottish Enterprise are alerted to all EU opportunities and developments by Scottish Enterprise International Operations.

To increase the male employment rate in Glasgow from 65.2% to 77.4%, an extra 24,000 men in Glasgow need to move into work. No forecasts for the number of male workers in Glasgow have been made by the Executive.

As indicated in footnote 2 to the table provided in the answer given to question S1W-13289, part of the apparent change may be due to incomplete returns. It may also be due to a wide variety of factors including population structure, health condition of older people, availability of alternative forms of accommodation and other factors affecting demand for and availability of places.

That is likely to have been the result of a wide variety of factors, including population structure, health condition of older people, availability of alternative forms of accommodation and other factors affecting demand for and availability of places.

We will ask the Sociable Neighbourhood Champion, supported by the Executive and CoSLA, to examine the lessons that can be learned from the specialist team in Manchester, as well as similar approaches elsewhere in Scotland and the UK.

The Executive has made progress in locating public sector jobs outwith Edinburgh by establishing the Food Standards Agency in Aberdeen, by establishing the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department in its entirety in Glasgow and setting up the new Public Guardian's Office in Falkirk.Subject to Parliament approving the principles of the Regulation of Care Bill, it is proposed to co-locate the Scottish Social Services Council and the headquarters of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in Dundee. The headquarters building will also serve as the commission's regional office for that region. Decisions regarding the locations of the other regional offices of the commission are expected soon. We are also undertaking detailed reviews of the Edinburgh operations of six public bodies based on lease breaks and other operational factors.We expect to be in a position to make a decision on the location of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency shortly and on the Health Education Board for Scotland by mid-2001.