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We are working consistentlywith all of our arms’ length delivery bodies to ensure that they operate in a mannerwhich is as efficient and effective as possible.

In carrying out ourinvestigation of the possibilities for a merger of Historic Scotland and the RoyalCommission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, we have held discussions with the two bodiesand my officials have met with a range of relevant stakeholders. I also discussedthis merger with the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee at my appearancebefore the committee on 27 June 2007.

Statutory guidancefor licensing boards prepared under section 142 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 was approved by Parliament on 7 March 2007 and issued to boards on 4 April 2007. This will be revised later this year to takeaccount of the various regulations being made under the act.

The Scottish Governmentis currently developing further guidance in the form of an explanatory leaflet formembers of the public, the licensed trade and Licensing Boards on the procedurefor making objections and representations under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. This will apply both to applications for newlicences, and those existing licences being transferred over to the new system duringthe transition period. This will be made available for the transition period whichbegins on 1 February 2008.

The Scottish Parliamentapproved the first draft guidance for Licensing Boards prepared under section 142of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 on 7 March 2007. The guidance was issued to boards on 4 April 2007 and is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/175487/0049459.pdf.

Revised guidance willbe prepared later in the year to take account of the various regulations being madeunder the act.

The Scottish Executiveis currently developing secondary legislation setting out a range of proceduralmatters for boards relating to the administration of the application process forlicences under the act. These regulations will be laid before Parliament for approvalwhen Parliament resumes in September.

The Scottish Governmentis determined to build on the international development work that was begun by theprevious administration. We have confirmed that our commitment to Malawi will continueat the current level of £3 million a year, but we are also aware that there areother countries with links to Scotland that need assistance to secure a better,more sustainable future. This requires a significant increase to the existing levelof funding and full details will be set out as partof the spending review.

I met with the Chairand Chief Executive of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland at their premises on 17 July 2007 and discussed the widerange of activities it currently undertakes.

The Scottish governmentgave a number of wide-ranging commitments in its manifesto to support the developmentof Gaelic in Scotland. Gaelic-medium education has a crucial contributionto make to the revitalisation of the Gaelic language and culture and increasingthe number of Gaelic medium teachers in schools is a priority for the government.

A range of measuresare now in place to attract Gaelic teachers to the profession. In line with ourcommitments we will monitor these closely. We will consider the needs of the Gaelicmedium sector with officers at Bòrd na Gàidhlig and we will seek to make improvementswhere required.

The Scottish Governmentestablished the British Sign Language (BSL) and Linguistic Access Working Groupin 2000 and it has been working within a strategic plan since then to deliver improvedaccess for deaf people. There is chronic under capacity to deliver many of the requiredimprovements and the group have identified the long term targets necessary to achievethem. These targets include systematically increasing the pool of BSL teachers available,particularly at advanced levels of BSL and developing a coherent progression routefor BSL learners.

The Scottish Governmenthas funded in the past and continues to fund a number of initiatives to increasethe numbers of people learning BSL. A major project has been supported since 2004to build the numbers of teachers of BSL who can then train others to teach. the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters leads on this and the first everGraduate Certificate in the Training of the Trainers of BSL Tutors is being deliveredby Heriot-Watt University with the first graduates due to complete this year. Consideration is currentlybeing given to how the impact of this pioneering course can be best harnessed.We understand that the Scottish Qualifications Authority will have in placea Professional Development Award in tutoring British Sign Language by early nextyear.

Funding has been providedfor two voluntary organisations to enable them to have their BSL qualificationscredit rated onto the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) so thatBSL learners become part of the national framework. This was achieved by one organisationin June 2007 and the other continues to work towards it.

A number of smallerinitiatives have been supported, such as offering BSL tuition in schools, and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the BSL and the LinguisticWorking Group and with other partners to increase the learning of BSL at all educationallevels. Responsibility for increasing the numbers of BSL learners resides with anumber of partner agencies outside of the government, such as the Scottish QualificationsAuthority and the Scottish Funding Council. The government will work proactivelywith these agencies in addition to continuing to collaborate closely with the memberorganisations of the working group which already provide much of the current BSLtuition taking place in Scotland.

The Scottish Executiveunderstands that both the Youth Music Initiative and the Venezuelan music projecthave at their core the aim to widen access to musical opportunities for childrenand young people.

The Scottish Executiveaccepts the evaluation findings contained within the Scottish Arts Council Retuningreport, which was published in March 2007.