Scottish Government

Enterprise and Lifelong Learning

To increase prosperity for all the people of Scotland by supporting business, encouraging enterprise, building on the excellence of our universities and colleges, and improving skills and employability

Objectives and Targets

Spending plans 2002-08

Table 5.01 Categories of spending (Level 2)

Notes:
1. The Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council were merged on 3rd October 2005 and became The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council. The budgets for each Council have been shown separately until the merger. Post merger the 2006-07 and 2007-08 budgets for colleges and HEIs continue to be shown separately in Table 5.04.
2. HMT has reclassified EC income as Negative DEL. The result of this reclassification is that we now report the expenditure net of expected EC income, which gives a net expenditure of zero. The level 3 budgets at tables 5.08 to 5.11, the "Support to Local Authorities" and "Central Government" budget lines are not reported for 2006-07 and 2007-08. Instead the European Regional Development Fund Programmes and the European Social Fund Programmes are reported.
3. Student Loans have been reclassified by HMT as AME from 2006-07 onwards.

Table 5.02 Categories of spending (Level 2 real terms)at 2006-07 prices

What the budget does

The work of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning ( ELL) portfolio is focused on helping to grow Scotland's economy. The largest part of the expenditure is on growing the long term capacity of our population through Further and Higher education and training. We provide significant amounts of direct assistance to those who want to start or grow a business. We develop policy and work with business to remove the barriers that exist to its growth. ELL's focus is not primarily spending resources, but acting to create a more business-friendly environment to enable business and the economy to grow.

Our objectives are also supported by the European Structural Funds programmes.

In everything that we do we are committed to ensuring that we work to promote equality, closing the opportunity gap, and to ensuring that our activities are sustainable.

Over the current Spending Review period (to 2008) we will focus our resources on making a significant investment in Further and Higher education, particularly in meeting the sector's capital requirements. We will maintain resources allocated to the Enterprise Networks. The other important work we do will be maintained with smaller budgets largely held flat, supporting increases in lifelong learning.

Statement of priorities

In 2007-08 we will focus our resources on:

• supporting growth and improving productivity throughout the economy;
• supporting an aspiring, ambitious and enterprising business and learning culture;
• making Scotland an attractive place in which to live, learn, work and do business;
• connecting Scotland at home and abroad;
• closing the opportunity gap; and
• delivering efficient and effective public services.

Growing the Economy

We will grow the economy by :

• The Executive's economic development strategy Framework for Economic Development in Scotland" recognises that sustained productivity increases are an essential determinant of long term sustainable economic growth. ELL supports a number of initiatives that influence key drivers of productivity, including skills, investment, innovation and enterprise.

Skills

• Increasing the skills and education of the workforce can have a significant impact on the economy's productivity and growth. Continued investment in higher and further education and the provision and support of training initiatives ensures that individuals have the opportunity to gain appropriate skills making sure that the workforce is equipped with the necessary skills to be as productive as possible. This necessitates action in several areas, reflecting the needs of different sections of the labour force; and
• Accordingly, ELL has several targets in this area, and funds a number of policies and initiatives designed to increase the number of people in employment undertaking training; to reduce the proportion of 16-19 year olds not in education, employment or training; to improve the number of students enrolled in higher education completing the programme of study; and to close the gap in unemployment rates across Scotland. These initiatives include support for Modern Apprenticeships; paying the tuition fees for eligible Scottish domiciled students at Scottish institutions; continued support for the Graduate Endowment to help fund future student support and the reintroduction of Individual Learning Accounts. The Executive also administers the Education Maintenance Allowances, which receives funding from HM Treasury through the Annually Managed Expenditure budget;

Investment

• The Regional Selective Assistance ( RSA) grant scheme helps raise the long term sustainable growth rate of the Scottish economy through encouraging investment projects, both by indigenous and overseas owned investors, which support and improve competitiveness and employment in the relatively underperforming parts of Scotland. The RSA scheme is a principal means by which the Executive can intervene to encourage employment creation and safeguard jobs. The key scheme target is to provide RSA offers linked to the planned creation and safeguarding of 6,000 jobs annually. In the 4 financial years to 31 March 2006, businesses in Scotland accepted 656 offers of RSA totalling £232m. These offers relate to projects with planned investment of £952m with the aim of creating or safeguarding some 32,500 jobs.

Enterprise

• Encouraging entrepreneurship and new business formation is an important aspect of the ELL portfolio, as higher levels of both increase productivity and the competitiveness of the economy. Accordingly, one of the department's key targets is to increase entrepreneurial activity in Scotland. ELL and the Enterprise Networks currently support a number of initiatives in this area, including the Business Start-up Grant, the £45m Scottish Co-investment Fund, Business Gateway and the Executive's enterprise in education strategy, "Determined to Succeed", that places enterprise and entrepreneurship at the heart of education in Scotland;
• The Executive's broadband strategy recognises that in remote rural areas the market is unlikely to meet the anticipated demand for high capacity bandwidth under current procurement practices. Therefore, the Executive has committed a total of £90m (commencing August 2004 and currently available for a period of up to 9 years from that date), to fund the Pathfinder project which aims, through aggregated public sector procurement, to encourage suppliers to invest in necessary infrastructure to provide scalable bandwidth to serve the needs of schools and local government in Highlands & Islands and the Borders.
• The Executive is committed to a secure, affordable, low carbon energy future for Scotland - as well as supporting the growth of energy industries in Scotland in a way that is balanced with the need to protect Scotland's environment. Delivering that energy future for Scotland will require significant new investment by energy supply companies across a range of sectors - including electrical generation; and the oil, gas and coal sectors. The Energy Study has helped inform the Executive's thinking on energy policy in a number of areas. The Executive expects to commission further research that would follow on from this work - and is also examining potential pilot projects that would support the above objectives.

Innovation

• ELL also provides support for innovation and for the science base, both of which have an important role to play on the economy's rate of growth by introducing new products, processes and ideas into the market. The portfolio has targeted increased expenditure on Research and Development by business in Scotland. With the Enterprise Networks, ELL has provided funding for a number of policies in place in this area, including £21.5m over the past 3 years for SMART and SPUR, SEEKIT (Scottish Executive Expertise, Knowledge and Innovation Transfer) and SCORE ( SME Collaborative Research) and over £40m over 6 years since 1999 for the Proof of Concept programme. Scottish Enterprise is investing £450m over 10 years for the three Intermediary Technology Institutes ( ITIs); and
• The Executive is committed to sustainable development, and has developed and is implementing a Green Jobs strategy to help Scotland benefit from the opportunities emerging in environmental industries. ELL is also committed to increasing the percentage of Scottish energy generated from renewable sources, and improving public and private sector energy efficiency. Accordingly, the Executive introduced the Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative in 2002-03 now worth over £16m over 5 years; is assisting in the development of the marine energy sector principally through the establishment of the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney (£6m); and is committed to producing an Energy Efficiency Strategy for Scotland, which may result in new measures and initiatives being developed.

Closing the Opportunity Gap/Promoting Equality

Closing the Opportunity Gap

We will close the opportunity gap by :

• ensuring that the mainstream work of the ELL portfolio contributes to closing the opportunity gap both by promoting enterprise (through the Enterprise Networks) which brings employment opportunities and the acquisitions of skills through lifelong learning, which increases employability;
• ensuring that specific targeted action includes tackling financial barriers to learning through paying university fees, Individual Learning Accounts and Education Maintenance Allowances;
• ensuring delivery of a high quality provision by funding Further and Higher Education and Modern Apprenticeships. The aim for Modern Apprenticeships will be to sustain the numbers in training above 30,000, while building on recent success in improving completion rates;
• targeting information, advice and guidance deficits by funding learndirect Scotland, Careers Scotland and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework;
• funding targeted support for disadvantaged or vulnerable groups through the implementation of Workforce Plus - An Employability Framework for Scotland and More Choices, More Chances, a strategy to reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training ( NEET), The aim is to stem the flow of young people who become NEET and to reduce levels of worklessness by supporting local partnerships to achieve higher levels of performance and create a coherent employability service; and
• targeting support to disadvantaged areas by using Regional Selective Assistance to help increase economic activity and to help close the gap in unemployment rates between these areas and the Scottish average. Also use of Local Regeneration Projects and European Structural Funds.

Promoting Equality

We will promote equality by:

• continuing our policy to support Modern Apprenticeships having already achieved the target of having 30,000 in employment and training by 2006, targeting under-represented groups;
• continuing to require all organisations receiving European Structural Funds to demonstrate a clear commitment to equal opportunities in their projects. In addition, applications for £1.2 million of European funding has been received this year for activity to promote gender equality in 2007 under the current European Social Fund Programme;
  providing additional funding to Scottish Enterprise so they may work with business to help them recognise and act on the benefits for business success of addressing equality and diversity in employment and in their markets.
  making available around £2.25m to continue providing the disabled students' allowance for the provision of specialist equipment, a non-medical personal helper or additional assistance to students, if required as a result of their disability, in order for them to attend or undertake a full or part-time higher education course; and
• working with SEn on implementation of the strategy on women's enterprise - Sharpening the Focus. The strategy identifies the issues and constraints faced by women and provides a clear focus for the Enterprise Networks in encouraging more women to start-up in business.

Sustainable Development

We will enhance sustainable development by the following inputs:

• The Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland, a high level Forum to promote renewable energy in Scotland, which brings together representatives from the renewables industry, the established energy industry, academia and other stakeholders. The group focuses on how to support the emerging renewable energy technologies;
• Working to encourage participation in renewable energy projects by communities and local authorities;
• The Executive's commitment to generate 40% of Scottish electricity from renewables by 2020 has been the driver behind successful developments such as the manufacturing facilities at Campbeltown and Lewis and the European Marine Energy Test Centre in Orkney;
• Going for green growth: a green jobs strategy for Scotland was published in June 2005 and sets out a robust framework within which we can deliver strong growth and associated employment while reducing our impact on the environment around us; and
• New linkages between RSA and sustainable development have been introduced, building on the direct support that RSA offers to eligible green projects and these linkages will be extended. All applicants for grants of £1m and over are now required to engage constructively with the Department or its agents on resource efficiency issues. In addition we also offer all companies applying for an RSA grant a free energy audit.

Student Awards Agency for Scotland ( SAAS)

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.03 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Notes:
1. This includes Graduate Endowment income budget of £23.972m for 2007/08 which has been used to fund student support of £23.972m in accordance with the Graduate Endowment Act. The net effect on the budget is zero.
2. Student Loans have been reclassified by HMT as AME from 2006-07 onwards.

What the budget does

This budget:

• provides financial support and advice to Scottish domiciled students undertaking courses of higher education in the UK and abroad;
• administers schemes covering undergraduate and postgraduate students and, on behalf of the NHS Management Executive, runs a bursary scheme for nursing and midwifery students; and
• administers the Graduate Endowment Scheme.

Levels of spending are demand-led, but capped by the overall control maintained on the numbers of students for which the Scottish Funding Council funds institutions.

SAAS also:

• distributes Hardship Funds and the Childcare Fund to higher education institutions and monitors payments; and
• processes applications for student loans and pays the Scottish share of spending by the Student Loans Company Limited (including the Company's running costs).

Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.04 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

What the budget does

The Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council were merged on 3rd October 2005 and become The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council. These budgets were shown separately until this time. Post merger the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 budgets for Colleges and HEIs will continue to be shown separately.

The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council will fund Scotland's Colleges and Higher education institutions ( HEIs). This budget line supports the further and higher education teaching and learning, research and wider knowledge transfer activities of 20 HEIs and Scotland's 43 Colleges. This includes the activities in Scotland of the Open University.

In 2007-08, public investment in Colleges and HEIs will:

• support continued provision of high quality, effective and relevant teaching and learning which is flexible and responsive to current demand and the future needs of Scotland;
• support initiatives to widen access to traditionally under-represented groups, foster equal opportunities and improve retention;
• develop the links between Colleges and HEIs colleges so that it is easier for students to move between different types of institution; and
• support the embedding of high quality management and leadership throughout HEIs.

This public investment in Scotland's Colleges will fund:

• continued provision of high quality, effective and relevant further and higher education to record numbers of students - participation in FE now stands at around one enrolment for every ten Scots;
• improvements to the sector's flexibility and responsiveness so that the range of learning opportunities on offer best matches current demand and the future skills needs of Scotland;
• increased and enhanced partnership activity between schools and colleges;
• a strategic approach to the development of the sector's estate and an increasing programme of modernisation of the colleges' fabric and facilities;
• increasing participation and retention of traditionally under-represented groups and students with special needs;
• continued quality improvement of provision and of College governance and management;
• support to ensure that the situation of Colleges in poor financial health is turned around;
• student support for living, study, childcare etc, targeted at those in greatest need, to make further education more accessible; and
• begin a sustained programme of significant new investment in Colleges teaching estate, to enhance the Colleges' modernisation programme to provide a modern, efficient and flexible infrastructure appropriate for supporting 21 ^st century teaching.

Funding for HEIs will :

• provide robust funding for research so that Scotland remains competitive with the rest of the UK and internationally, including on charity funded research; support the development of new or emerging areas of research activity; encourage collaboration between institutions, in particular on research pooling, with the aim of boosting quality in certain subject areas, and support increased knowledge transfer from higher education into the wider economy and society;
• support the sector on international educational and student exchanges and overseas recruitment. This work will support the delivery of the Executive's International Strategy; provide continued investment in information and communications technology ( ICT); and
• begin a sustained programme of significant new investment in HEI's teaching estate, to provide a modern, efficient and flexible infrastructure appropriate for supporting 21 ^st Century teaching. Following a £28m allocation to the sector in 2005-06 through the HE Learning & Teaching Infrastructure Fund, a further £45m was allocated in 2006-07 with an additional £75m to follow in 2007-08.

Scottish Enterprise

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.05 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Notes:
1. The budget for 2007-08 is provisional until the Scottish Executive has agreed Scottish Enterprise's Operating Plan. Budgets have been changed under each theme in 2007/08 to reflect SEn's spending on each area.
2. The non-cash element of the budget has been increased by transferring £10m from Growing Business. This will allow SEn to release up to an equivalent amount from reserves.
3. From 2003-04, the full estimated operating costs for Careers Scotland (including operational and support staff costs, project costs, ICT, cost of premises, etc) are included in Skills and Learning. These are £55.5m (2003-04), £51.3m (2004-05), £56.4m (2005-06), £55.9m (2006-07) and £54m (2007-08).

What the budget does

A Smart, Successful Scotland ( SSS) which provides the Executive's strategic direction to the Enterprise Networks (Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise), ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/enterprise/sss-00.asp) was 'refreshed' in November 2004. The purpose of the refresh was to reflect progress made since SSS was first published in 2001; to ensure challenges facing the economy which it addresses remain relevant; to reflect the Executive's commitment to sustainable development; and to make clearer the linkages between SSS and other cross-cutting policy areas (e.g. closing the opportunity gap).

A measurement framework has been established for A Smart Successful Scotland that sets medium to long-term outcome measures for the Scottish economy. Scottish Enterprise (and Highlands and Islands Enterprise) agree Corporate Plans with the Executive which set out the actions they will undertake to contribute to the desired outcomes.

The current Scottish Enterprise Operating Plan spans the three year period 2006-09, with detailed emphasis on 2006-07. Activity and budgets are set out against the SSS themes of Growing Businesses, Global Connections and Skills and Learning. Over the period of the Plan, Scottish Enterprise will spend between £60-£70m annually on Growing Businesses including on business start-ups (including survival and growth), developing high potential companies and the Co-investment Fund, which provides risk capital for early stage ambitious Scottish businesses. Under Skills and Learning, annual investments for Modern Apprenticeships for young people will be £38m, with £14m for Skillseekers and £19m for Get Ready for Work. The Global Connections theme includes the Competitive Place Strategic Investment Plan and, within this, Scottish Enterprise's contribution to the River Clyde regeneration projects (including Pacific Quay, Clydebank rebuilt and Glasgow Harbour), which will receive annual funding of between £85 to £95m.

Highlands & Islands Enterprise

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.06 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Notes:
1. The budget for 2007-08 is provisional until the Scottish Executive has agreed Highlands and Islands Enterprise's Operating Plan. Budgets have been changed under each theme in 2007/08 to reflect HIE's spending on each area.
2. From 2003-04, the full estimated operating costs for Careers Scotland (including operational and support staff costs, ICT, cost of premises, etc) are included in Skills and Learning. These are 3.9m (2003-04), £4.8m (2004-05), £5.6m (2005-06), £5.7m (2006-07) and £5.8m (2007-08).

What the budget does

Highlands and Islands Enterprise ( HIE) will continue to pursue the strategic direction set out in the refresh of A Smart, Successful Scotland. In addition to the themes of Growing Businesses, Global Connections and Skills and Learning, HIE has an additional remit to Strengthen Communities. HIE have applied these themes to the specific conditions of the Highlands and Islands, taking into account the distinct challenges facing the region, in A Smart, Successful Highlands and Islands. This document considers HIE's wider social remit and seeks to link the organisation's day-to-day operations to the strategic goals of SSS.

Over the period of their current Operating Plan, 2006-09, HIE will spend £14.5m (£6.6m in 2006-07) on the new Centre for Health Science at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. A £3m contribution will be made towards providing Broadband services to the most remote and rural communities. The HIE Community Energy Company will receive £4.3m over 3 years to provide support for community-developed and owned renewable energy projects. Business starts and encouraging business growth will be funded at £12.5m annually. Modern Apprenticeships, Skillseekers and Get Ready for Work will collectively have an annual budget averaging £9m.

Regional Selective Assistance

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.07 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Note:
1. Funding for 2006/07 and 2007/08 will cover both the present scheme and the new scheme which starts on the 31 ^st January 2007.

What the budget does

The Regional Selective Assistance ( RSA) scheme contributes directly to the Executive's aim of raising the long-term sustainable growth rate of the Scottish economy through encouraging investment projects which improve productivity, increase competitiveness and support employment in the assisted areas. In 2007-08 it is planned that accepted RSA offers will lead to the creation and safeguarding of 6,000 jobs in relatively underperforming parts of Scotland helping to improve business performance and close the opportunity gap in employment in these areas.

European Structural Funds

Spending Plans 2002-08

Tables 5.08 and 5.09 below provide budget information on 2000-06 programmes. Table 5.10 and 5.11 below provide budget information on 2007-13 programmes. Notes applicable to these tables can be found after table 5.11.

European Social Fund¹(2000-06 Programmes)

Table 5.08 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

European Regional Development Fund¹(2000-2006 Programmes)

Table 5.09 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

European Social Fund (2007-13 Programmes)^{1, 5}

Table 5.10 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

European Regional Development Fund (2007-13 Programmes)^{1, 5}

Table 5.11 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Notes :
1. HMT has reclassified this income as Negative DEL. The result is that we now report the expenditure net of EU grants.
2. This represents direct European Structural funding to Local Authorities.
3. The reduction in the 2007-08 budgets is a result of bringing forward part of the budget to that of earlier years in order to meet demand. The 2000-06 Scheme will end on 31 ^st December 2008 as a result of n+2 target funding.
4. This represents funding to all other bodies including the voluntary sector excluding direct funding to Local Authorities.
5. The actual level of the European Structural Funds budgets has not yet been determined. The figures shown are therefore indicative of the true budget and have been used at this stage to meet the requirements of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act, 2000 for approving parliamentary expenditure. The re-classification of Structural Funds income as Negative DEL has no budgetary effect.
6. As the 2007-13 Programmes are due to commence on 1 January 2007, these figures represent the estimated budget for only 3 months of the financial year. EU Funding of the 2007-13 Programmes is expected to be approximately 45% of the funding secured for the 2000-06 Programmes.

What the budget does

European Structural Funds support job creation and training across a wide range of sectors, especially in declining geographical areas.

We have devolved responsibility for implementing European Structural Funds programmes in Scotland. This includes spending on the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund which are issued to recipients from both the public and voluntary sectors for projects that have been approved by Scottish Ministers, following consideration by the partnership-based appraisal structures, under the supervision of the Programme Monitoring Committees, to make sure that they meet the criteria of the programmes.

Other Enterprise and Lifelong Learning

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.12 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Notes:
1. Learndirect Scotland became an NDPB on 1 ^st April 2005 therefore from this date their budget is broken down to show Grant in Aid and a non-cash resource adjustment.
2. Scottish Qualification Authority, Vocational Qualification and Skills was formerly entitled Scottish Qualifications Authority Accreditation Unit.
3. Skills for Business Network was formerly entitled "Sector Skills Councils".

What the budget does

The proposed expenditure for 2007-08 will deliver:

• Education Maintenance Allowances ( EMAs) contribute to closing the opportunity gap by encouraging more young people aged 16-19 from low income households to remain in full-time education, at school or FE college. From 2004-05, the provision is supporting the staged introduction of the programme across Scotland. The scheme will be fully rolled out by 2007-08. ( www.emascotland.com );
• learndirect Scotland (Scottish University for Industry) funding is to help individuals and small businesses across Scotland realise their potential through learning at a time, place, pace and style that suits their needs. SUfI does this by the promotion of lifelong learning, the provision of information and advice on learning opportunities via a helpline and websites for learners, businesses and partner organisations, supporting a network of learning centres, and fostering the use of new technologies to assist in developing learning ( http://www.learndirectscotland.com/home/) ( http://www.scottishufi.co.uk);
• The Executive's commitment to Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency is driven both by environmental imperatives and by the potential for new economic development. An increase in renewable electricity generation as a means of reducing carbon emissions forms an important part of Scotland's efforts to tackle climate change. More renewables can also provide greater diversity in our energy mix which will be vital to ensuring security and continuity of supply as fossils fuels continue to deplete. The following programmes take forward the Executive's commitment to improve Energy Efficiency and encourage the greater use of Renewable Energy:
  • The Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust in Scotland are directly funded by the Executive's Energy Efficiency budget to promote and support energy efficiency, and therefore carbon savings, across the domestic, business and public sectors;
  • An Energy Efficiency Strategy for Scotland is currently being developed by the Executive which will outline existing and consider future measures across the domestic, business and public sectors that will help deliver our commitment in the Scottish Climate Change Programme to reduce carbon emissions. As well as looking at energy efficiency, the strategy will consider the contribution that micro-generation can make to help cut energy-related emissions arising from the heating and lighting of buildings.
  • The promotion of renewable energy, through the Renewables Obligation Scotland and by funding renewable energy projects in Scotland. Renewable energy sources currently account for around 13% of Scottish electricity generation. The Scottish Executive targets are for 18% of Scotland's electricity to be generated from renewables sources by 2010, rising to 40% by 2020. The Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order obliges suppliers to produce increasing amounts of their electricity from renewable sources. The higher costs are borne by the privatised industry without financial assistance from the public sector, and are passed to consumers.
• The Scottish Renewables Obligation ( SRO), although now superseded by the Renewables Obligation Scotland, will remain in place until 2018. It involves raising a levy on electricity consumers to offset the additional costs to the two main Scottish electricity suppliers of purchasing renewable electricity produced by the SRO renewable energy projects generating in Scotland. Currently, 46 such projects are in operation, and we expect that more will be developed during the next 3 - 5 years;
• The Green Jobs, Marine Energy and Renewable Energy budgets will be used to support the delivery of a diverse range of renewable energy technologies in Scotland, with a particular focus on marine, biomass, hydrogen and micro-generation. It is anticipated that these actions will lead to the creation of new employment, particularly in the remoter areas;
• Innovation Support is delivered through a number of support mechanisms: these include;
  • the SMART/ SPUR grant scheme, which helps small and medium-sized businesses ( SMEs) to improve their competitiveness by supporting early stage research and development of innovative products/processes. The remainder of the budget assists with a variety of other innovation initiatives with a national dimension;
  • the SCORE ( SME Collaborative Research) grants to support R&D projects, jointly undertaken between SMEs and public sector research bodies;
  • the SEEKIT (Scottish Executive Expertise, Knowledge and Innovation Transfer) programme, for projects that improve the ability of Scotland's science base to work with business.additional support for DTI run, UK level schemes such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships ( KTP); and
  • the Intellectual Assets Centre.
• Research provision is used to support the development and evaluation of ELL portfolio policy and to assess the effectiveness of the delivery of relevant services;
• Grant aid for the Royal Society of Edinburgh enables that body to support the development of the Scottish science base by a range of measures. The Royal Society also enables Scotland to benefit from international links by supporting exchanges, visits and the exchange of information;
• "Scottish Qualification Authority, Vocational Qualifications and Skills" funding relates to grant-in-aid for the running costs of the Scottish Qualification Authority Accreditation Unit, including costs for annual audits of all SVQ awarding bodies ( ww.sqa.org.uk) as well as providing grant funding for a range of associated vocational qualification and sector skills initiatives;
• The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework ( SCQF) is Scotland's unified qualifications framework encompassing both vocational and academic qualifications. It underpins and supports many of the goals in the Scottish Executive's Lifelong Learning Strategy and receives widespread support from stakeholders in all sectors of education and training in Scotland. The grant funds the SCQF partnership and sectoral posts in health, social services and community learning, as well as promoting the SCQF more broadly;
• The Determined to Succeed (DtS - formerly titled Enterprise in Education) budget of £22m per year in 2007/08 is provided to drive forward a key strategy through which young people at school will increasingly enjoy an enterprising education. DtS allows us to place enterprise at the heart of education in Scotland, encouraging young people to be innovative, creative and entrepreneurial, and so better prepare them for the world of work;
• From 2003-04, the All Age Guidance budget was transferred to the Skills and Learning budget lines of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The budget is essentially for staff and is therefore best made available to the Enterprise networks through their respective Grant-in-Aid allocations;
• Beattie Inclusiveness funding is used to improve post-school transitions to further education, training and employment for young people with additional support needs, in particular the Not in Education, Employment or Training ( NEET) group (16-19 years). It is also funding the development of Post School Psychological Services;
• The Adult Literacy and Numeracy budget covered a number of smaller budgets that aimed to provide national support towards raising the literacy and numeracy levels of 150,000 adults by 2006. This budget was transferred to Communities Scotland from 2004-05;
• The Scottish Union Learning Fund distributes grant funding to support effective and sustainable activity by trade unions and their partners to encourage workplace learning; This funding enables the Skills for Business Network of Sector Skills Councils to carry out demand-side projects and collaborative activity with their partners aimed at meeting Scotland's distinctive learning and skills needs;
• Business Gateway International ( formerly titled Export Partnerships) is a Scottish wide network of business counsellors experienced in exporting, who deliver Scottish Development International (trade) services locally to clients within the Scottish Enterprise network and Highlands and Islands Enterprise Local Enterprise Company areas, and co-ordinate the exporting efforts of the Local Authorities and Chambers of Commerce;
• HQ and training grants support national voluntary sector adult education providers; The first phase of the ILA Scotland scheme was launched in December 2004. This provides targeted funding (up to £200 per annum) to adults in Scotland who earn less than £15,000 per annum, which they can use towards the fee costs of a wide range of courses offered by approved learning providers. The second phase of ILA Scotland was launched on 1 August 2005. This extends funding (up to £100 per annum) to all adults in Scotland, to be used towards the fee costs of Information and Communications technologies ( ICT) courses at basic skills level, offered by approved providers and which lead to qualifications or recognised certification;
• The Science Centres budget is aimed at improving science engagement and fostering a pro-science and innovation culture in Scotland. The budget encourages each of the four Centres (in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) to work collaboratively with each other, and other science initiatives, to an agreed joint strategy for improving their business operations and contribution to science education, aimed at people of all ages. In 2005-06, Scottish Executive funding levered an additional £2.2m to Scotland in ReDiscover IV funding from the Millennium Commission, Wolfson Foundation and Wellcome Trust, to support unique and ambitious capital projects that will enhance further the educational experience currently available at the Centres. Funding for future years will build on and expand upon this; and
• The miscellaneous budget comprises a total of 23 minor projects, each one of which is worth less than £500,000.

Other Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Related Local Authority Funding

Spending Plans 2002-08

Table 5.13 Local Authority Grant Aided Expenditure ( GAE) Provision for Core Services

The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Grant Aided Expenditure ( GAE) figures relate to the level of local authority net revenue expenditure on these services that the Executive is supporting through grant. GAEs are not budgets, but rather a basis for the distribution of grant through AEF. Local authorities are, however, free to allocate their available resources to each service, including Enterprise and Lifelong Learning-related services, on the basis of local needs and priorities. The figures in this table are included in the GAE summary table (table 7.04) contained within the Finance and Public Service Reform chapter of this document.