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There are many Scottish Executive funding streams which are able to support play facilities, including funding allocated to local authorities through revenue support grant via the Grant Aided Expenditure mechanism.

More specific funding streams include: the Quality of Life funding which supports increased opportunities for children and young people including the development of play provision and play areas; Active Schools funding which includes support for active play; the Children, Young People and Families Unified Voluntary Sector Fund which core funds a number of organisations to take forward play in Scotland, and Health Department’s Physical Activity Strategy which supports play.

The Executive has no plans to implement the recommendations of Getting Serious About Play A Review of Childrens Play, which apply to England only.

The Executive currently has no plans to develop a national strategy specifically for play.

I issued a Report and Action Plan on Nationally Co-ordinated Nurse Bank Arrangements on 7 March. The report contains a number of recommendations to improve the efficiency of nurse banks and cut the cost of agency nursing which are being taken forward by NHSScotland, monitored by the Scottish  Executive Health Department. Funding of £500,000 has been released to NHS boards to assist in the delivery of the recommendations.

The report of the PFMR of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) was published by the Scottish Executive today. The report recognises the RBGE as a world class Scottish institution that holds a remarkable international reputation for its size. The RBGE is held in high esteem by the people of Scotland and is numbered amongst the most popular visitor attractions in Scotland.

The report recommends greater prioritisation of the RBGE’s activities, improved performance management, better communication between the Executive and the RBGE and a need for additional funding.

The recommendations have been accepted by the RBGE and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. A key component of their implementation will be the development of a sustainable corporate plan for the RBGE. To assist with that process the Executive has confirmed its priorities to the RBGE and is increasing the garden’s grant-in aid by £0.5 million to £7.088 million in 2005-06, by a further £0.6 million to £7.688 million in 2006-07 and by a further £0.6 million to £8.288 million in 2007-08 for the development of those priorities.

Copies of the report are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 35705).

The Executive commissions regular independent evaluations of the Do a Little Change a Lot Campaign. The third such evaluation was published in June 2004 and is available on the Executive’s website. I am also arranging that a copy of the report is placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. The campaign has been effective in both in raising public awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues and also in changing behaviour.  We have noted that the most recent research showed that there was more that we could achieve in changing behaviour and we have taken appropriate action in our most recent campaign which has concentrated on energy efficiency issues.

NHS boards,as part of their clinical governance arrangements, are required to put in place,or ensure access to, education and training to meet local needs. In areas whereophthalmic services are delivered, NHS boards make sure that appropriate educationand training for nurses is available which can be either work based learning oracademically accredited by local higher education institutions.

The survey of pre-school and child care workforce, published this month, shows that the numbers of staff with child care qualifications has increased from 67% in 2003 to 74% in 2004.

The increase of £60 million in provision for grant aided expenditure (GAE) in each of 2006-07 and 2007-08, to address the backlog of maintenance on local roads, reflects the Scottish Executive’s Partnership commitment to ensure sufficient resources are available for the non-trunk road network. We have welcomed the Audit Scotland report, and are working closely with local authoritiesand the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation Scotland to take forward therecommendations in it.

The allocation of additional provision for road maintenance for 2006-7 and 2007-08 will have no impact on the Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) or the Aggregate External Finance (AEF) for 2004-5 or 2005-6.

In 2006-07 and 2007-08 an extra £60 million has been added to the Roads and Transport GAE provision. The £60 million figure was allocated across three different areas of GAE; road maintenance, winter maintenance and road lighting.

It should be noted that GAE is not funding but it is an increase in the provision for local authority expenditure funded from a combination of central government funding through Aggregate External Finance (AEF) and funding raised locally by local authorities through the council tax.

It is of course the responsibility of local authorities to set their own local priorities but, local government having made the case for increased resources, the Scottish Executive looks to local authorities to play their part in ensuring that local roads are properly maintained.