Chamber and committees

The legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in relation to "access to information", as set out in The Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedules 4 and 5) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1749), does not extend to information held by UK Government Departments or public authorities, including those UK bodies operating in Scotland. Such bodies will be subject to UK Freedom of Information legislation. This is explained in further detail in the Executive's consultation document An Open Scotland (SE/1999/51), a copy of which is available in SPICe.

Information held by UK public bodies, such as Customs and Excise, operating in Scotland will be subject to UK Freedom of Information legislation. Information held by Scottish public bodies, except information supplied by a Minister of the Crown or government department and held in confidence, will be subject to Scottish Freedom of Information legislation.

This is explained in further detail in the Executive's consultation document An Open Scotland (SE/1999/51), a copy of which is available in SPICe.

The Scottish Arts Council awarded £600,000 to Scottish Opera/Scottish Ballet under its National Lottery Advancement Programme in 1998-99: £400,000 was paid in 1998-99 and £200,000 in 1999-2000. In addition, in 1998-99 SAC paid the companies £75,000 specifically towards consultancy/legal costs on technical, legal and financial aspects.

This is a matter for the Scottish Arts Council. The information requested is not held centrally.

This is a matter for the Scottish Arts Council. The information requested is not held centrally.

The number of initial nurse training places in Scotland is determined according to the forecast requirements of the NHS and other health sector employers. Information is not held centrally gauging the level of demand from potential students.

The majority of pre-registration training of nurses and midwives in Scotland is provided by higher education institutions under contract to the Scottish Executive. The Scottish Executive Health Department also funds bursaries for students on these courses.

Total Health Department spend in the last three years was as follows:

	1997-98 £ million	1998-99 £ million	1999-2000 £ million
Contracts	£31.3	£33.5	£34.2
Student bursaries	£29.2	£31.9	£34.5
Total	£60.5	£65.4	£68.8

This information cannot be disaggregated by health board area.

In 2000-01, these contracts will provide places for 2,820 new students on initial nursing and midwifery training courses, and for a further 215 on enrolled nurse conversion courses. The 2,820 initial training intake places are broken down as follows:

Glasgow Caledonian University	365
Paisley University	395
Bell College, Hamilton	310
Stirling University	350
Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen	385
Dundee University	465
Napier University, Edinburgh	550

In addition to the contracted places, other initial training in the university sector is funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.

Since these applications were recorded, the Executive has established the Homelessness Task Force, which I chair, to consider the causes of homelessness and to make recommendations on improving legislation and services. We have already accepted the interim recommendations of the task force for changes to the homelessness legislation to increase the duties of local authorities and registered social landlords towards homeless people, and to increase the rights of homeless people under the legislation. These amendments will be taken forward in the forthcoming Housing Bill.

We have also increased funding for the Rough Sleepers Initiative to £40 million in the period 1997 to 2002, and have provided additional funding this year to stop the inappropriate use of bed and breakfast as temporary accommodation.

As the information relating to this PQ is lengthy, I will write to the member with the full details. A copy of the list has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

The costs for the launch of the National Cultural Strategy were as follows:

Metro Ecosse (all design, lighting and set up costs) £7,800

There were no costs incurred for either the actual hire of the hall or of the musicians, however travel costs of £84 were incurred by the musicians.