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Yes. The PVG scheme strikes a balance between proportionate protection and robust regulation and makes it easier for individual employers to determine who they might safely employ.

Statistics on average or maximum length of time between the Care Inspectorate issuing an improvement notice and carrying out a follow-up inspection are not collected as each notice is unique to the service it is served on.

Each improvement has a time specified within the notice that should be a reasonable time to allow the improvement to be made. The Care Inspectorate inspects at the earliest date possible after the time period specified in the Improvement Notice has passed. There may be a number of inspections arising from an Improvement Notice and public reports made available following these. The Care inspectorate would expect an action plan in response to the Improvement Notice and this would be taken into account when planning any inspection to validate compliance.

The Care Inspectorate can also make application to the sheriff for cancellation of the registration of a care service on the basis that unless the order is made “there will be a serious risk to the life, health or wellbeing of persons”. The sheriff has the power to make an interim order, which may include an order suspending registration pending a full hearing. If necessary, the Care Inspectorate can also impose an emergency condition of registration, which becomes effective immediately and remains in place until removed or successfully challenged on appeal.

The Care Inspectorate does not collect data on emergency hospital admissions from care homes.

The Care Inspectorate can cancel registration of a care service in a number of scenarios. It has the power to withdraw registration from care homes where it has served an Improvement Notice and this has not been complied with within the period specified in the notice. It can also cancel registration of a service where the person providing the registered care service ceases to provide the service.

The Care Inspectorate also has expedited powers, to apply to the sheriff (under s65 of the Public Sector Reform (Scotland) Act 2010) for cancellation of the registration of a care service (including care homes) on the basis that unless the order is made “there will be a serious risk to the life, health or wellbeing of persons”. The sheriff has the power to make an interim order, which may include an order suspending registration pending a full hearing.

If necessary, the Care Inspectorate can also impose an emergency condition of registration, which becomes effective immediately and remains in place until removed or successfully challenged on appeal.

There are no plans at this time.

We estimate that approximately 94,100 households of working age in the social rented sector will receive a reduction in housing benefit, specifically as a result of the under occupation penalties contained within the Welfare Reform Bill.

It is not possible to say definitively what the average reduction will be. The bill proposes that the reduction will be applied as a rate applied to the eligible rent of the household. The amount of the reduction will depend on the actual rates set by the Department for Work and Pensions. The bill proposes that these will be set by Order. The impact assessment for this measure published by the Department for Work and Pensions gave an illustrative average reduction of £11 per week in 2013-14 for all social tenants in Great Britain as a whole. However the impact assessment does not state the actual penalty rates used to arrive at this estimate. The Scottish average reduction is likely to be a little lower than for Great Britain as a whole as social rents in Scotland are lower than in Great Britain as a whole.

The Scottish Government has published a range of information on the impacts of housing benefit reforms including a Scottish Impact Assessment. This work can be found on the following section of the Scottish Government website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/chma/Benefitchanges.

We estimate that a total of 59,000 single person households of working age in the social rented sector in receipt of housing benefit under-occupy their property. Of these (a) 24,000 live in a housing association property and (b) 35,000 live in a local authority property.

It is not possible to estimate the number of one-bedroom properties required as a result of the proposed changes to housing benefit in the UK Government’s Welfare Reform Bill.

We estimate that of around 111,000 single person households of working age in the social rented sector in Scotland receiving housing benefit around 52,000 are currently occupying one bedroom properties. A further 59,000 are in two or more bedroom properties and will therefore be subject to under occupation penalties as proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill.

As a result of the changes, some of these households may decide to remain in their existing property and absorb the penalty. Others may decide to move into smaller or shared property in the private rented sector. Some may try to transfer to a smaller property in the social rented sector. However, there is very little scope for under occupying households to transfer to smaller properties as only around 3,000 households in one bedroom properties require larger accommodation.

Further analysis is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/chma/Benefitchanges

Data from Information Services Division Scotland confirms that in 2009, 40,392 people in Scotland were diagnosed with cancer. Of this population group, 8,371 (20.7%) received radiotherapy as a primary (first) treatment.

This data relates only to primary therapy which is started for newly diagnosed patients before their cancer registration record is completed. It does not include radiotherapy given after their cancer registration record is completed, for example, palliative radiotherapy for later recurrence or patients who receive radiotherapy as a secondary treatment following surgery or chemotherapy.