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Yes. The Executive's Programme for Government highlighted our intention to legislate for a duty of Best Value on local authorities. I intend to make further announcements regarding our proposals in this area following the Easter recess.

No. Local authority powers to fund Area Tourist Boards are discretionary. It is for councils to decide the level of support that they provide to ATBs. We are, however, monitoring local authority funding decisions.

None. The powers of local authorities to fund Area Tourist Boards are discretionary. It is for these councils to decide whether or not to contribute to the funding of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board. Scottish Ministers have no powers to intervene.

No estimates are available of the additional tourist revenue generated directly by Scotland House.Scotland House is an inclusive body that involves a range of interests. Its principal components are the Scottish Executive EU Office (SEEUO) and Scotland Europa, which in turn houses a number of its subscribers. Scotland House does not have direct responsibility for generating additional tourist revenue. Most of the bodies located in Scotland House have the following functions in common:

• Maintaining close contact with key people in the EU institutions, including the Scottish MEPs
• Following the European legislative process and highlighting issues of relevance to Scotland
• Sharing information and resources between the Scotland House residents as appropriate
• Increasing the range and depth of information on EU affairs flowing back to Scottish bodies - including visitscotland
• Advising Scottish bodies about EU procedures and how to become more involved - including the highlighting of Scottish best practice in Europe.

Scotland House is also active in raising Scotland's profile in the EU. This has included some tourism aspects, namely:

• visitscotland promoted a travel offer between Scotland and the Benelux countries to coincide with the October 1999 Scotland Week organised by Scotland House
• Scotland House has supported a number of festivals/events celebrating links between the Low Countries and Scotland and also supported tourism to Scotland
• Scotland House recently organised a cultural tourism seminar examining other European approaches to cultural tourism with a view to developing further the Scottish approach
• Literature from visitscotland is prominently displayed in Scotland House for all visitors and enquiries.

In addition, visitscotland is a member of Scotland Europa and both it and the Tourism Cluster Group of Scottish Enterprise are alerted to all EU opportunities and developments by Scottish Enterprise International Operations.

To increase the male employment rate in Glasgow from 65.2% to 77.4%, an extra 24,000 men in Glasgow need to move into work. No forecasts for the number of male workers in Glasgow have been made by the Executive.

Scotland House has a critical role in representing and promoting Scotland in a wide range of interests. It is not in itself directly responsible for inward investment projects although it continues to offer support and assistance to Locate in Scotland in this regard. As of September 2000, Locate in Scotland has run its field operations for France and Benelux from an office in Scotland House.

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.

Potential barriers to accessing mental health services by 16- to 21 year olds with mental health needs can exist in various forms and for various reasons. In making mental health a priority, the Executive is committed to working on a variety of fronts with partner care agencies to tackle these issues, where they occur.Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change sets the context within which mental health services in Scotland will operate for the immediate future. The plan emphasises the importance of various initiatives, including the investment of £4 million over three years specifically to promote positive mental health and well being; the development of a national suicide prevention framework, and implementation of the Framework for Mental Health Services, which as a blueprint for comprehensive mental health services, aims to ensure the provision of safe, responsive care and support services which meet individually assessed needs.

The Scottish Executive supports and funds the Scottish Community Diet Project, which directly supports the establishment of community food co-operatives. In collaboration with other public and private sector partners, we are also setting up a new investment fund, Social Investment Scotland, to provide development advice and loan funding for social economy organisations. Food co-operatives are one of the types of social economy organisations which could benefit from the fund.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency already has indicative flood risk maps showing the main areas where flooding should be considered a possibility. The Executive has no plans to duplicate this work.The Executive is, however, considering ways in which the maps can be improved and the additional information that can be obtained from them.