To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail his department's plan to extend, or replace, the Executive Programme Fund, in particular the Executive Programme Fund for Children, due to end in March 2008.

The Draft Budget 2008-11 has been developed on the basis that programmes previously funded through central funds, such as Executive Programme Funds, should be considered by the relevant departments in the context of their overall Budget outcome. This approach seeks to ensure that such programmes, where of sufficient priority, will have more certainty regarding longer term funding. It will also address problems experienced with the previous approach, such as poor levels of spend as compared to budget.