- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29466 by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 October 2002, how much of the #36 million for the modernisation and improvement of general practitioner and dental services was allocated to dental services and for what purposes this allocation was made.
Answer
£4,281,000has been allocated in the third tranche of funding to the following premises modernisation projects under this initiative, which wholly or in part involve dental services.
| Board | Project | Value | Description |
| Borders | Eyemouth | £39,300 | Upgrade of dental facilities at Community School |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Stewartry | £105,000 | Upgrade of 3 GDP practices to accommodate community dental service |
| Grampian | Buckie/Keith | £12,200 | Upgrade of dental facilities in schools |
| Greater Glasgow | Easterhouse Health Centre | £3,125,000 | Reconfiguration of Health Centre including Dental Outreach Facility |
| Highland | Culloden | £81,000 | Extension to medical centre to provide dental clinic and accommodation |
| | Dunbar Hospital | £43,300 | Dental surgery to be provided within hospital at Thurso |
| | Lawson Memorial hospital | £42,200 | Dental surgery to be provided within hospital at Golspie |
| Lothian | Lauriston Walk in Dental Centre | £558,000 | Introduction of a service to meet immediate and medium dental treatment needs |
| Orkney | Stromness | £200,000 | New build community dental facility |
| Tayside | Perth/Dundee | £75,000 | Improvement to emergency dental premises |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources and guidelines it has given to local authorities in respect of the provision of support for any service provider subject to a complaint investigation by the Care Commission.
Answer
No such resources or guidelines have been provided to local authorities.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 August 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 27 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to intervene following any critical inspection report by the Care Commission.
Answer
There is no power in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 relating to a service registered under part 1 of that act which would enable Scottish ministers to intervene in the running of that service.Where a service is registered under part 2 of the act, section 42(1) empowersScottish ministers to take action on receipt of a report by the Care Commission.However, section 6 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 empowers Scottish ministers to carry out inspections of places, facilities and records relating to services provided by virtue of the 1968 act.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to intervene on health grounds should Scottish Borders Housing Association fail to carry out a health risk assessment following the flooding at the Bannerfield Estate, Selkirk.
Answer
I understand that the Department of Public Health at NHS Borders has already undertaken a health risk assessment in consultation with Scottish Borders Housing Association.NHS Borders has also been involved in public meetings on this issue and discussions with the local authority and other relevant agencies have taken place.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to intervene if there is insufficient accommodation to house decanted housing association tenants.
Answer
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Scottish ministers with various powers in relation to housing associations and these powers have been delegated to Communities Scotland. However, Communities Scotland has no landlord function and no specific power to offer housing accommodation. The responsibility for finding suitable decant accommodation for tenants lies with the housing association. If approached by a housing association where there is insufficient accommodation to house decanted housing association tenants, Communities Scotland would support and assist the housing association by liasing with strategic partners and other housing providers in the area concerned to establish if additional accommodation could be made available by another social landlord.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to intervene should a housing association fail in its obligations to its tenants.
Answer
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Scottish ministers with powers to intervene to address poor performance by housing associations. These powers have been delegated to Communities Scotland. Where a housing association's performance is poor and it is failing to meet its obligations to tenants, Communities Scotland, on behalf of Scottish ministers, may:Remove members of the governing body of the housing association where their failure to act impedes the proper management of the organisation;Appoint persons to the governing body of the housing association for the purpose of improving the management of the organisation;Appoint a manager to the housing association, to ensure that the management of its affairs is of an appropriate standard, andInstruct a statutory inquiry into the affairs of the housing association, and (if required) a related Extraordinary Audit of its finances. If ministers conclude that there has been mismanagement or misconduct by the housing association, they have a further range of powers including directing the housing association to transfer its land to another registered landlord, following consultation with tenants.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Bellwin Scheme can be applied to meet costs incurred by Scottish Borders Housing Association as a consequence of flood damage to its properties.
Answer
The Bellwin Scheme would not be applied in these circumstances as it provides emergency payments to local authorities. Damage to Scottish Borders Housing Association property is recognised as an insurable cost, which Scottish Borders Housing Association should seek to claim from its insurers.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether housing associations are required to have emergency and contingency plans in place for events such as flooding.
Answer
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Scottish ministers with the power to set standards for the performance of housing associations and other Registered Social Landlords. Performance Standards are developed and published jointly by Communities Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and COSLA.The current published performance standards set out the performance expectation that housing associations will identify and appraise the most important risks they face, and take a prudent approach to managing them. In meeting this standard, housing associations are expected to carry out regular risk appraisals, to identify key risks and have in place an appropriate risk management strategy. This should include contingency plans to respond to emergency events such as flooding.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any powers to provide resources to Scottish Borders Housing Association to assist with remedial action required to flood-damaged properties at the Bannerfield Estate, Selkirk.
Answer
I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Through the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, Communities Scotland has powers to provide resources through the Housing Association Grant (HAG) scheme to Registered Social Landlords to support them in the provision of new or improved housing for social rent and for low-cost home ownership. Registered Social Landlords are, however, responsible for the on-going maintenance and repair of their housing, including any remedial works.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2003
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 20 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what European structural funding has been allocated to (a) each local enterprise company, (b) local authority and (c) area tourist board in the south of Scotland in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02, (iv) 2002-03 and (v) 2003-04 to date, expressed also as a percentage of the economic development budget of each body.
Answer
I have arranged for the information, in table form, to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 28235). No structural funding was allocated under the current Objective 2 Programme in 1999-2000 as the programme was not agreed until March 2001. The table will show European allocated in 2000-01 and thereafter it is shown on a yearly basis. The economic development budget of each body is not readily available.
