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The information requested is set out in the following table. Although there are 13 pools over 75 years old, some such as Portobello Swimming Pool have been extensively refurbished. In any event, the owners and operators of swimmingpools have a duty of care over users of the facility.

Local Authority	No. of pools
City of Edinburgh	5
Dundee City	1
Glasgow City	5
Inverclyde	1
Renfrewshire	1
	13

 

Scotland has national physical activity targets for adults andchildren and swimming can make a contribution to daily activity.

As part of the National PhysicalActivity Strategy for Scotland, the Scottish Executive has committed £24 million fundingto sportscotland to develop Active Schools in Scotland. Activeschool co-ordinators will build opportunities for school pupils to engage in physicalactivity including swimming.

Scottish Swimming features inthe Active Schools Training Guide offering a range of courses for potential activityleaders.

The Scottish Executive is working in partnership with Scottish Swimming, to develop a new resourcesupporting active lifestyles. The resource, for use at poolside, is directed attarget groups that may not be reached by commercial products already on the market.The first phase of the programme targets adults aged 25 to 40.

Building on the First Minister’s speech on St Andrew’s Day 2003, the Executive is committed to providing access to cultural excellence in pursuit of its wider objective to build a better Scotland. We have therefore set ourselves targets, within the Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008, both for increasing access and maintaining the excellence of our cultural offering. Asregards access, our target is to increase by 3% the numbers of people takingpart in cultural activities funded by the Executive, by March 2008, maintainingthe balance of participation across the population. As regards excellence, ourtarget sets out to increase the number of cultural successes by 3%, by March2008. Our agencies are committed to playing their full part in delivering thesetargets, and delivery will be monitored. The spending proposals also specify the funding that has been committed in order to meet ourobjectives.

The Cultural Commission has been asked explicitly, in the remit for its on-going review, to take into account our top priority for “both access and excellence to be a constant throughout cultural provision in Scotland”. This imperative is also central to the ongoing cross-portfolio agenda which I am pursuing with cabinet colleagues further to the First Minister’s statement that every ministerial portfolio would make a contribution, recognising its role and responsibilities in helping to strengthen and support the development of cultural activity in this country. Ways to celebrate and promote Scotland’s cultural output, here and overseas, also feature in this broad agenda.

A wide range of strategic policies are being deployed to this end across the Executive and its cultural and enterprise agencies. In addition, the Cultural Commission has creativity as a central concern and will make its recommendations to Scottish ministers in summer 2005. However, improving the climate for creativity is an activity that is not time limited but rather needs to be continuously addressed in the light of changing social, cultural, technological and economic circumstances.

From April 2005, Architecture and Design Scotland will become the nation’s champion for good architecture and design in the built environment, taking over and expanding the present activities of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland. The aim of Architecture and Design Scotland will be to inspire higher design quality across the public and private sectors, so as to improve the overall quality of our built environment.

Historic Scotland is responsible for safeguarding the nation’s historic built environment, and the Executive’s investment in Historic Scotland will increase from £39.6 million in 2004-05 to £47.7 million in 2007-08. Part of this increased funding will be used to boost Historic Scotland’s spending on Historic Building Repair Grants, which support the repair of Scotland’s most important historic buildings and areas, and the enhancement of the quality of Scotland’s historic city centres.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including the current review of the newspaper and magazine supply chain. Representations between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government are conducted on a confidential basis.

I have asked Dr Paul Stollard, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency, to answer. His response is as follows:

There are no regulations, at present, which cover the mandatory installation of thermostatic mixing valves.

The department sent the Executive an advance copy of the panel’s report and conveyed the views which have now been published on its website (http://www.culture.gov.uk Press Notice 155/04 of 24 November 2004).

The Festival City Theatre’s Trust has both met and corresponded with the Executive at ministerial and official level in connection with the King’s Theatre. While the Executive recognises the important part that the King’s Theatre plays in the cultural life of the city, it is for the City of EdinburghCouncil to consider the Theatre within the context of its own strategic needs.

Ministers are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate in cultural activities. The Scottish Arts Council currently provides annual support for five organisations which work primarily with arts and disability. (Table illustrates a breakdown of funding over the last five years). The European Year of Disabled People 2003 also saw the Executive’s cultural agencies and national institutions invest in arts and disability projectsthroughout the year.

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	Total
Theatre Workshop	135,092	215,749	139,745	149,560	529,430	1,169,572
Project Ability	37,225	46,950	168,692	186,838	86,735	529,440
Artlink Edinburgh	36,500	60,020	105,427	35,680	106,447	344,074
Artlink Central	12,640	10,864	53,632	17,133	48,824	143,096
Lung Ha’s	24,000	67,120	33,000	37,526	123,600	285,246

Source: Arts and Disability 2000-2004, a review, 2004, Scottish Arts Council.