Seòmar agus comataidhean

No estimates of thetime frame to deliver class size reduction in primary 1 to primary 3 to amaximum of 18 have been received from local authorities.

The Director of Educationand Cultural Services for West Lothian Council has indicated that the additionalteachers in his authority would cost £4.165 million and that capital costs wouldbe £27.75 million. No other estimates have been received from local authorities.

The contribution tothe Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust for the purchase of DumfriesHouse will be allocated to the grants line in the accounts of Historic Scotland.

We will determinefuture funding priorities in the context of the Scottish Government’s Spending Reviewand Historic Scotland’s forthcoming Corporate Plan for 2008-11.

Decisions about theCommunity Regeneration Fund will be taken by ministers in the context of the imminentStrategic Spending Review. An announcement about the Spending Review will be madein due course.

As the CabinetSecretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth announced in the statement toParliament, the enterprise networks will focus on supporting regionally andnationally significant sectors and businesses with growth potential.

Further to thisthe Scottish Government is collectively considering how to best support thecreative industries in Scotland, and we will make an announcement on thismatter in due course. the Scottish Government is determined to play its role in creating the conditionsfor the sector to continue to flourish.

Contrary torecent press reports, the Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem ofErosion (SCAPE) Trust’s report has not yet been published. Indeed, it has yetto be submitted in final form to Historic Scotland, who commissioned it andwill be paying for it. As I said in my response to Hugh Henry’s oral questionon 4 October 2007, we recognise the importance of the issueof coastal erosion of historic sites, we already protect several importantsites and we will take action to ensure that key sites which cannot be savedare properly recorded. We are working with other interested parties to achievethis and Historic Scotland looks forward to receiving the SCAPE report, whichwill assist in setting priorities.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3698 on 13 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Gaelic-medium educationhas a vital role to play in the future of Gaelic in Scotland. In the answer to questionS3W-2898 on 24 August 2007, I acknowledged that a range of measures arein place to attract Gaelic teachers into the profession. We will build on, strengthenand extend these measures over the life of this parliament and we will do this,working closely with Bòrd na Gàidhlig and relevant institutions and public bodies.All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Scottish Governmentis committed to creating a sustainable future for Gaelic in Scotland and we recognise the valuable contributions made to thisagenda by a number of authorities, bodies and organisations. We continue to workto build on this progress. Our commitments are wide ranging in relation to Gaelicdevelopment and over the life of this parliament we will build on and strengthenthe measures that have been put in place. Already this process has commenced andgood progress has been made in relation to Gaelic broadcasting, developments withBòrd na Gàidhlig, in the development of public authority Gaelic language plans andin connection with the education and support of Gaelic teachers. I will continueto engage with Bòrd na Gàidhlig and other relevant bodies to ensure that this excellentprogress continues.