The reduction in European Social Fund money available to Scotland under the 2007 to 2013 Highland and Islands, and Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programmes was agreed prior to the election of the current Scottish Government.

Mindful of this overall reduction in funds, we have taken a number of measures to reduce the risk to projects which help previously unemployed people into employment and achieve their full potential.

The funding to be made available for the first main round of the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programme was announced on 8 April 2008. Priority 1 ESF has been front loaded with £21.6 million being offered to individual projects, and an additional £42.1 million being offered to 11 Community Planning Partnerships for joint ESF Priority 1 and ERDF Priority 3 employability and regeneration plans.

The decisions on both the share of European Structural Funds to come to Scotland from the European Regional Aid budget, and the allocation between Priorities within each Scottish 2007 to 2013 programme were taken before the election of the current Scottish Government.

A number of stakeholders across a range of sectors and individual organisations have raised concerns about the level of the reduction “ almost halving the funds available. Most of these concerns have been around the reduction in ESF Priority 1 which has the objective of helping people progress into employment.

On 8 April 2008, I announced £158 million of funding for the first main round of Lowlands and Uplands Scotland ERDF and ESF programmes. In making the decision on the amount of funding to be made available at this stage of the programmes, the Programme Monitoring Committee and ministers took into account a number of ways to lessen the impact of the overall funding reduction on the ESF Priority 1 client group:

1. The amount of Priority 1 funding going into individual projects has been front loaded. In LUPS that amounts to £21.6 million in this round, in addition to £10 million announced in 2007 for a Shadow Round for Priority 1 projects dealing with vulnerable client groups, and

2. A further £42.1 million funding has been made available from ERDF Priority 3 and ESF Priority 1 for co-ordinated two year strategic plans from Community Planning Partnerships for employment and regeneration.

More help was offered by the government to address wider concerns raised by the Third Sector in the Scottish Budget which allocated a £93.6 million transformational package for the Sector in order to support the development of an innovative, sustainable and inclusive third sector. The Third Sector Development Programme is £63.3 million over three years, and the Scottish Investment Fund is £30 million over three years.

EventScotland does not categorise its funding in this way. Events are supported either through the international programme, if they attract visitors from outside Scotland or generate international media profile for the country, or through the regional programme if they help to drive domestic tourism. All events are funded according to their fit with the criteria set out in these programmes.

Scottish Government will be making funding available for third sector organisations through the £30 million Scottish Investment Fund and the related third sector development programme. Details of the criteria and process for organisations to access funding are currently being developed and will be publicised widely when available. These funds will be for organisations with financially sustainable business plans and not specifically related to previous funding sources.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10357 on 12 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliamnet.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10357 on 12 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

No such discussions have taken place. However, we have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. Through the Scottish Financial Crime Group, which the SBCC are responsible for, Scotland continues to monitor the issue, particularly in relation to any migration/displacement of such crimes and any local and regional increases in Scotland. Prevention is very much the primary focus of its work.

No such discussions with local authorities have taken place. However, we have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. The SBCC deals with Cash in Transit (CIT) issues through the Scottish Financial Crime Group (SFCG) and Scottish Commercial Crime Group (SCCG). While no direct discussions have taken place with local authorities, member police forces deal with local authorities on CIT issues, together with wider aspects of crime prevention, through work carried out by architectural liaison officers (ALOs). Engagement at local and regional levels has led to Crime Prevention through Environmental Design being incorporated as a central strand of City Plans, for example, Glasgow City Plan 2.

We have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. Through two groups managed by the SBCC (the Scottish Financial Crime Group and the Scottish Commercial Crime Group) the Scottish Banking Industry liaises with the Scottish Police Service and the Cash in Transit (CIT) Industry. The CIT industry is represented by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), which is also a member of the SBCC.Prevention is very much the primary focus of the work of the SBCC.

No discussions with the banking industry have taken place. However, we have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. Through two groups managed by the SBCC (the Scottish Financial Crime Group and the Scottish Commercial Crime Group) the Scottish Banking Industry liaises with the Scottish Police Service and the Cash in Transit (CIT) Industry. The CIT industry is represented by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), which is also a member of the SBCC. CIT access issues discussed at SFCG can then be fed into local policing procedures where appropriate. In addition, in March 2007, the Scottish Financial Crime Group ran Exercise Fecund, a table top exercise examining a tiger kidnap scenario within the financial sector. The seminar involved over 300 delegates from law enforcement, banks and the CIT industry.