Chamber and committees

In 2001, the Scottish Executive established a £1,000 child care grant for lone parents in higher education and over 1,600 lone parents have already accessed this grant. The Executive provides a range of services, such as Sure Start Scotland, that meet the needs of disadvantaged families, including those headed by lone parents.

I have been concerned for some time about this issue. Yesterday Cabinet agreed to establish a Cabinet Sub-committee on flooding to be chaired by the Deputy First Minister.The committee will meet soon and will consider what additional steps can be taken to minimise disruption in both the short- and long-term.

The Best Value task force was set up to provide guidance for local authorities in the operation of their new statutory duties under the Local Government in Scotland Bill. It consists mainly of local authority representatives, but also representatives of the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the Scottish Consumer Council. The Scottish Executive has been careful to consult directly representatives of the voluntary sector and private sector about the provisions of the bill and will continue to consider their interests in its engagement with the task force.

Responsibility for the delivery of urban regeneration policy rests with Communities Scotland. The private sector benefits from information and guidance on urban regeneration provided by Communities Scotland including, for example, the provision of research, publications like the housing market context statement and information held on its website. Such support will continue to evolve and be updated to meet the needs of those involved in regenerating communities.However, in the main, urban regeneration projects involve public sector expenditure and a range of support is provided across the Executive, including Communities Scotland.

The Executive is tackling poverty through ensuring that opportunities are available for all to work where appropriate, to participate in society and to benefit from the provision of responsive public services. We are reducing the levels of poverty in Scotland through creating a fair and inclusive society, supported by the UK Government's commitment to make work pay through the minimum wage and tax credit system, and to raise the income of pensioners.The Executive is also tackling poverty through a range of programmes, such as Sure Start Scotland, New Futures Fund, and concessionary bus fares.

Improving the quality of the housing stock in Scotland is a key priority for the Scottish Executive. The Housing Improvement Task Force is giving consideration to possible ways in which the quality of the Scottish housing stock might be assessed and we will take account of this work when considering how best to measure progress in this area.

The voluntary sector has an important role in service delivery. It is already a major provider and innovator across many areas of activity. The voluntary sector is in close touch with many parts of Scottish society and well placed to identify and respond to changing needs.

The Scottish Executive understands the term community empowerment as meaning the extent to which people within communities (of place and interest) have power to influence change. Scottish Executive policy initiatives in this area aim to enhance the skills, resources, networks, opportunities, confidence and motivation of people, individually and collectively. An empowered community is one in which there are high levels of skills, resources etc, which can be mobilised to influence change.

The table shows the amount of grant approved in each year by local authorities for disability adaptations. Figures for 2001-02 are not yet available.Private Sector Improvements Grants: Approved Expenditure for Disability Grants

	1996-97(£000)	1997-98(£000)	1998-99(£000)	1999-2000(£000)	2000-01(£000)
All	5,576	5,861	7,282	7,828	9,382
Owner occupier	5,442	5,788	7,014	7,562	9,221
Private rented sector1	124	69	238	188	116

Note:1. May also include some grants for housing association properties.

Assistance to owners of private sector housing to make their houses suitable for the needs of disabled occupants is given by local authorities through housing improvement grants and from community care budgets. It is for local authorities to determine the priority given to expenditure on this type of assistance. The Scottish Executive is not aware of the detailed priorities which local authorities attach to relevant assistance in the owner-occupied and private rented sectors.