Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to thequestion S3W-1978 answered on 24 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

We want to see access to,and participation in, cultural activities being as wide as possible and I amcurrently actively considering how best to deliver our manifesto commitments inrelation to widening access to cultural opportunities building on both goodpractice locally, the community planning process, and responses received inrelation to consultation on the draft Culture Bill.

Specifically in relation topublic library service provision, the Scottish Library and Information Councilcontinues to deliver the Public LibraryQuality Improvement Matrix and Fund, funded by the Executive. They arecurrently working with nine local authorities to evaluate their serviceprovision. Announcements will be made shortly on this year’s successful Fundapplicants.

Areas of possible duplicationbetween Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments ofScotland will be examined as part of our wider exploration of the possibilities forrationalisation of the work of public bodies. We will examine the role of both bodiesin relation to outreach and educational activities; the holding of collections;physical survey work, and the potential to remove any related duplication in administrativeand support services.

Glasgow City Council has been allocated £623,630 in grant for theimplementation of landlord registration. This covers the period February 2006 toMarch 2008.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-1605 on 2 July 2007. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

No decisions have been made yeton the timing of the review.

The Scottish government doesnot hold information on the number of landlords operating in Glasgow. Theconsultation paper on the implementation of private landlord registration estimatedthat, across Scotland, there were around 40,000 landlords. This was based oncensus data on the number of households living in the private rented sector andresearch on the average number of properties owned by each landlord. To date 93,837applications for registration have been received, but this includes landlords whoare required to apply in more than one local authority area. 11,696 applicationshave been made to Glasgow City Council.

One of the benefits of the landlordregistration scheme will be the provision of more accurate information about thenumber and profile of landlords in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-1605 on 2 July 2007. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Ministers in the current governmenthave not yet had any discussions with local authorities regarding the process oflandlord registration. Officials are in contact with local authority registrationteams on a daily basis and attend meetings of the National Networking Group on landlordregistration, which has members drawn from all 32 local authorities. Local authoritiesare also represented, under the auspices of COSLA, on the Implementation AdvisoryGroup for landlord registration convened by the Scottish Government.

None. But my previous answerto question S3W-880 on 21 June 2007, noted that a city-wide partnership involvingGlasgow City Council, the police and fire and rescue services and Scottish Wateris in place to help address the issue of vandalism to fire hydrants.