| Allan Wilson:
We are a bit
demob-happy this afternoon. However, I am delighted to be opening this
debate on a motion that acknowledges that new opportunities funding has
significant implications for devolved policy areas in Scotland. Furthermore,
as the Scotland Act 1998 and the setting of policy directions recognise,
Scottish ministers have a significant role to play in such funding.
Our primary
purpose in initiating the debate is to raise awareness of the work of the
fund in the Parliament and more widely in Scotland, and to call attention
to the important consultation exercise that is currently under way on the
third round of new opportunities fund initiatives.
The UK national
lottery is the most successful in the world, raising more than £9.5
billion for good causes. The new opportunities fund was established in
1998 to provide lottery funding for education, health and environment projects,
which will create lasting improvements to the quality of life across the
UK.
The fund is
allocated about a third of the moneys accruing to the national lottery
fund, and through the good offices of my former colleague Sam Galbraith,
Scotland receives 11.5 per cent of the available funding. That amounts
to £167 million across 11 current grant programmes.
As with the
other lottery distributing bodies, the fund operates its programmes to
ensure that it funds only projects that are additional to current and planned
expenditure. It seeks to complement funding that is available from other
sources and to support strategies, plans and partnerships that are developed
both nationally and locally. In common with the practice for other lottery
distribution bodies, ministers determine the amount of funding that is
available to the fund and give it policy directions. However, decisions
on the detail of the policy directions and programmes or individual applications
are a matter for the fund itself.
Robin Harper
(Lothians) (Green): Does the minister regret
the fact that the lottery fund will be £5 billion less than was originally
estimated when Camelot bid?
Allan Wilson:
We would all regret any diminution in the
amount of money that was available to the Scottish Executive or the UK
Parliament, which could be spent on good causes. We would all want the
maximum income to be secured from the national lottery to go to those causes.
Phil Gallie
(South of Scotland) (Con): We note the fact
that there is thought to be a reduction in the amount of money that is
coming in. Does the minister recall that, during parliamentary debates
on the national lottery, Labour members in particular insisted that funding
from the lottery should not go into what were perceived as Government-funded
projects? Does he feel that the new opportunities fund does that, in many
ways? Does he agree that perhaps that is one reason why people are now
shying away from the lottery?
Allan Wilson:
No, I do not believe that to be the case.
The new opportunities fund and its spending priorities are popular with
the people, who want their lottery money to be spent on good causes such
as health, education, sport, the environment and combating drug abuse.
That policy is demonstrably popular among the Scottish people, and it is
complementary to direct Executive spending in those areas.
For example,
the new opportunities fund has committed £23 million over three years
to a programme that is aimed at bringing all school teachers and school
librarians in publicly funded schools up to a published standard of expertise
in information and communications technology.
A further £23
million is available for the development of new or extended study support
activities that are held outside school hours. The target has been set
to allocate 50 per cent of those funds to the most deprived 15 per cent
of primary schools and the most deprived 25 per cent of secondary schools.
The fund is
also making £23 million available to start-up projects that provide
accessible and good-quality child care outside school hours. We recently
made changes to the out-of-school care programme, to encourage uptake in
those disadvantaged areas and to ensure that revenue funding is available
over three years to maintain the projects once the capital investment has
been secured.
In health and
other areas too, the new opportunities fund has already made a significant
impact. Health is worst in deprived communities, and the new opportunities
fund's healthy living centre initiative has the potential to make a major
contribution towards improving Scotland's health and reducing health inequalities.
That initiative is aimed at raising the level of health of the 20 per cent
of the population who live in the most disadvantaged communities to the
level of health of the rest of the Scottish population.
In that context,
partnerships are essential in identifying needs and developing relevant
and successful centres. To date, 12 successful Scottish healthy living
centres have been created through the initiative and, from discussions
with those who run the new opportunities fund last week, I understand that
the rest of the programme will be oversubscribed.
The second round
of funding for health saw the development of the living with cancer programme.
Cancer is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and bereavement among the
Scottish population. I suspect that all of us have lost somebody through
that disease. Four out of 10 people develop cancer, which is why cancer
is one of the top priorities for the Scottish Executive and for the national
health service in Scotland.
The Scottish
cancer group has, for the past three years, worked with the new opportunities
fund to develop a cancer strategy for Scotland. That will be published
next month and will set out the Executive's strategy to ensure better awareness
and prevention of the disease as well as earlier diagnosis and better,
faster treatment of cancer. I say to Phil Gallie that that is what the
people of Scotland want their lottery money to be used for.
One of the primary
objectives that I have set myself in my new post in the short time that
I have been in it is to ensure that the benefits of lottery money are felt
throughout the country. Some areas that have suffered the worst effects
of economic and social deprivation have seen all too few of those benefits.
I intend to ensure that those areas are prioritised in the directions that
we give.
It is important
to stress that the focus on selected areas will not mean that other areas
are now relegated and that targeting money at specific areas under the
new initiative will not mean simply throwing money at them and lowering
standards. However, if the medium amount from all lottery distributors
is £77 a head, it cannot be right that certain areas receive only
£28 a head.
Tricia Marwick
(Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): I cannot agree
more with what the minister says about the fact that disadvantaged areas
are losing out on new opportunities fund money and money from other sources.
However, there is a lack of support given to projects when applications
for funding are being made. What does the Executive intend to do to support
the organisations in developing programmes to enable them to get grants?
Allan Wilson:
Yesterday, I issued a statement on the new directions that have been given
to the community fund to ensure that money is targeted on those areas that
need it most. Those policies will be followed across the UK and, importantly,
will ensure that we can build the capacity in deprived communities that
will enable those communities to apply for funds so that they can compete
with institutions such as private schools that benefited from the Conservative
party's years in power.
The UK Government,
in conjunction with the devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland, consulted widely last year on the priorities of the third
round of new opportunities fund initiatives. Within a common set of overall
initiatives, the proposals set out in that consultation paper took account
of differing priorities of each of the four Administrations. This country's
priorities were: physical education and sport in schools; reducing the
burden of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer care; palliative care;
child care; transforming communities; and community drugs rehabilitation.
I am pleased to say that the new opportunities fund will be joining the
existing awards for all scheme in Scotland.
Members will
forgive me if I concentrate on PE and sport in schools, as it is my primary
responsibility. There has been a warm welcome for the proposal to give
high priority to developing facilities for sports in schools that can be
used by young people and the community more generally.
I submit that
that is wholly in tune with the Scottish Executive's policy of encouraging
community use of school-based facilities and the building of closer links
between schools and their local communities, including local sports clubs.
That is central to putting in place the pathways that will encourage young
people to remain actively involved in sport as they leave school and progress
through adulthood. We are committed to providing young people with attractive
alternatives to criminal and other anti-social behaviour. Some of the funding
will be used to support sports-based projects aimed at diverting young
people away from such activity as well as for out-of-hours sporting and
cultural activity.
The other third-round
initiatives build on the significant impact that the new opportunities
fund has made. I welcome the £10 million that the fund has made available
to provide new kinds of community-based rehabilitation for people who have
misused drugs, the £32 million that has been given to projects that
aim to reduce the burden of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer care
and the £5.25 million that has been invested in projects that aim
to expand community sector waste reuse, recycling and composting.
As I mentioned
earlier, those involved in the new opportunities fund are consulting widely
on the detailed arrangements—I hope that all members have a copy of the
consultation document. I encourage every organisation, MSP and individual
with an interest to respond positively to the consultation paper before
the closing date of 3 September.
I move,
That the Parliament
welcomes the New Opportunities Fund's commitment to social inclusion, equality
and diversity and to working in partnership with other agencies and organisations
at a national and local level; endorses the priorities identified by the
Scottish Executive for the third round of initiatives; welcomes the Fund's
intention to join the small-scale grants Awards for All scheme in Scotland;
further welcomes the contribution which New Opportunities Fund funding
will make to reinvigorating sport in schools, increasing community use
of school based sports facilities and providing attractive alternatives
for young people to criminal and anti-social behaviour, and notes with
approval that the Fund is currently consulting widely on the detailed arrangements
for delivering these initiatives.
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