Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Executive maintains a strong interest in the development of new approaches to local service delivery, and expects Scottish local authorities to do the same. It is important for local authorities to consider all options for securing local services, on the grounds that what matters is what works.

I understand that Camden Borough Council has a street population strategy, which aims to minimise the impact of street activity in the borough. This includes reducing rough sleeping by at least two thirds, but also aims to reduce begging, street drinking and street trading. Our approach to rough sleeping in Scotland is to find solutions by involving those who have experience and knowledge of the problems. We are not targeting particular groups, such as beggars-we are addressing the underlying reasons for their situation.

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.

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

The Scottish Executive is committed to tackling smoking and will make funding available for this purpose to the end of the current Spending Review period i.e. 2003-04. Funding beyond that date will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

Details are as follows:

Health Board	£ million
Argyll & Clyde	1.636
Ayrshire & Arran	1.631
Borders	0.436
Dumfries & Galloway	0.622
Fife	1.318
Forth Valley	0.973
Grampian	1.819
Greater Glasgow	4.052
Highland	1.042
Lanarkshire	2.006
Lothian	2.871
Orkney	0.082
Shetland	0.096
Tayside	1.608
Western Isles	0.181
Health Education Board for Scotland	0.950
Common Services Agency	0.793
TOTAL	22.116

The remainder of the £26 million has been used to meet the costs of centrally commissioned services, including the extra costs arising from the enhanced flu vaccination programme.

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.

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.