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The evaluation of the Scottish Government self-directed support test sites will investigate the impact of direct payments on the lives of all client groups. Some of the test sites have a particular focus of people with learning disabilities.

The draft guidance proposes that there should be a national standard maximum waiting time for people assessed as being at critical or substantial risk of six weeks from confirmation of need to delivery of assessed personal and/or nursing care services. Where there are major risks to an individual''s independent living or health and well-being, services will be provided immediately or within approximately one to two weeks of their care needs assessment. Applying the six week target to personal and nursing care services only is intended to allow flexibility for other community care services. For example, major adaptations or specialist equipment may take longer than the six week timescale to deliver.

The draft guidance states that councils and their partners should consider whether the provision of services or equipment or other interventions might help prevent or reduce the risk of an individual''s needs becoming more intensive. It also asks councils to ensure that they have in place clear arrangements for meeting, managing or reviewing the need of individuals who are not assessed as being at critical or substantial risk, including provision of preventative or other support services appropriate to the clients'' needs.

NHS Health Scotland is continuing to monitor demand and ensure further distribution of this publication through NHS board Health Promotion Departments, Dementia Integrated Care Pathway Coordinators, the Alzheimer Scotland Helpline, the Dementia Services Development Centre and the Scottish Dementia Working Group. A report on the dissemination during 2008-09 is to be made to the Dementia Forum in spring 2010 and whilst there are no plans to publish formally it will be available on request.

There are three ways in which a person may be deprived of their liberty or subjected to compulsory measures of treatment under the civil regime in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (the 2003 Act), namely (a) emergency detention, (b) short-term detention and (c) long-term detention or compulsory measures under the authority of a compulsory treatment order. In addition, mentally disordered offenders may be made subject to compulsory measures of treatment by the courts under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (the 1995 Act).

The majority of compulsory measures of treatment for mental disorder are first approved by an independent and impartial tribunal, either by the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland under Part 7 of the 2003 Act (compulsory treatment orders) or by a court under the 1995 Act in relation to mentally disordered offenders. The two exceptions to this prior authority for treatment for mental disorder by a court or tribunal are: civil emergency detention under Part 5 of the 2003 Act and short-term detention under Part 6 of the 2003 Act.

In relation to emergency detention, the authorised period of detention is just 72 hours and the purpose of the detention is to determine what medical treatment requires to be provided to the patient. There is no general authority to give treatment for mental disorder under an emergency detention certificate, and this certificate therefore differs from other measures under the 2003 Act; urgent medical treatment only may be given under section 243 of the Act. Given the very short duration of the certificate and the emergency situation with which it is dealing, and by reference to the leading Strasburg case on lawfulness of detention (Winterwerp), the Scottish Government is satisfied that this measure is European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) compliant.

Short-term detention is governed by Part 6 of 2003 Act. The authorised period for detention is 28 days and the purpose of the detention is to determine what medical treatment should be given to the patient and/or to give that treatment to the patient. The detention certificate is granted by an approved medical practitioner provided that certain statutory conditions are satisfied, and treatment can be given for mental disorder in accordance with the rules set out in Part 16 of the Act. Protections are built in for the patient within the Act: the patient''s views should be taken into account, including where these are expressed in an advance statement; the patient''s responsible medical officer is under a duty to consider from time-to-time whether it continues to be necessary for the patient to be detained in hospital and to revoke the certificate where he or she is no longer satisfied that this is the case; and the patient and their named person has the right to apply to the Mental Health Tribunal for release. The provision within Part 6 for an appeal by a patient to the tribunal for revocation of a short-term detention certificate ensures access to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law for the purposes of article 6 ECHR.

Any act of the Scottish Parliament requires to be within legislative competence, which includes its provisions being compatible with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Both the Scottish ministers and the Scottish Parliament were satisfied during its passage through the Parliament that the 2003 Act, which authorises compulsory measures of treatment for mental disorder, was ECHR compatible.

To date, the Scottish Government has committed to invest over £13 million in the CashBack for Communities programme which includes diversionary and participatory projects for young people across Scotland.

£3 million of this investment was allocated to YouthLink Scotland. Funding distributed through the YouthLink Scotland local youth project grant scheme is recorded by local authority.

The following organisations in West Dunbartonshire received funding in rounds 1 and 2 after successful applications:

Round 1:
Community Links Scotland/Streetlinks	£ 8,118
The Tullochan Trust	£34,430
Round 2:
1st Glen Lusset Scout Group	£ 2,000
Knowetop Community Farm Project Ltd	£15,548
Clydebank Housing Association	£21,904

 

The following organisations in Argyll and Bute received funding in round 1 after successful applications:

Round 1:
Mid Argyll Youth Project (MAYP)	£10,000
SSC “ Youth of Scotland Club	£ 2,805
Cowall Youth Information Project	£ 1,770
Stramash Partnership “ Argyll and Bute Council	£25,425

 

This represents the full allocation to Argyll and Bute and so no awards were made in round 2.

A further £1 million has been allocated to YouthLink Scotland for a second grant programme which is currently open for applications.

In addition, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) used £8,800 and £7,500 of their CashBack grants in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute respectively to deliver Midnight Football and Street Football in 2008-2009.

Scottish Rugby are investing £19,082 of CashBack funding in a range of diversionary school and club rugby activities in West Dunbartonshire and £6,582 in Argyll and Bute.

Basketballscotland is working to promote basketball participation across Scotland through the deployment of four regional co-ordinators funded by CashBack.

The second culture strand of CashBack was announced in March 2009. The Creative Identities project is an 18-month programme of creative learning activities for young people targeting young carers in particular, but will be open to all young people. West Dunbartonshire is included in the West Central Programme Plan, which will be led by Glasgow-based partners Tramway and Glasgow Film Theatre. They have been allocated a total of £343,600 to deliver projects across the region. Argyll and Bute is included in the Highlands and Islands Programme Plan, which will be lead by Eden Court and has been allocated a total of £136,150.

I wrote to the Financial Services Authority on 13 May and 7 July to press them to introduce collection and publication of regional data on repossessions, including separate data for Scotland. In my second letter, I highlighted the Repossessions Group''s recommendation on this issue.

If we are unable to make progress with the Financial Services Authority, we will pursue the matter further with the UK Government.

Neither the legislation nor the guidance issued by the Scottish ministers prescribes what constitutes a priority need. It is a matter for local authorities to judge whether the amenity to be provided is essential to the needs of a disabled person and to determine what lawful factors they use in setting any criteria for this purpose. The guidance for local authorities on implementing the relevant provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 emphasises that local authorities should take a corporate approach to setting their criteria, since the provision of adaptations is affected by legal and financial frameworks relating to both social work and housing provision.

The budget allocated to Private Sector Housing Grant for 2009-10 is £67.335 million.

Funding for 2010-11 will be confirmed later in the autumn when final decisions have been taken by the Scottish Government on the impact of the UK Government''s decision to impose a cut in the Scottish Budget. From 2010-11 onwards, ring fencing of Private Sector Housing Grant ceases and it becomes rolled up into the overall local government settlement.

The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) report that there were 17 deaths in 2008 as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. No deaths in 2008 were due to gas explosions being mentioned on death certificates.

According to Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland, part of NHS National Services Scotland, there were 29 patient discharges from hospital during year ending 31 March 2008 where the main diagnosis was toxic effect of carbon monoxide. No information is available on hospital admission following a gas explosion.

The Health and Safety Executive publish information on incidents relating to the distribution or supply of flammable gas. This can be found using the link below:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/gs1.htm.