Seòmar agus comataidhean

We will shortly publishupdated data on the social justice milestones. It will cover the period fromthe relevant baseline years to the most up-to-date data available.

Detailed guidelines for theoperation of the vacant and derelict land fund are currently being developedthrough a local stakeholders group involving representatives from the localpartnerships (i.e. the local council, Communities Scotland and the localenterprise company) for the three areas covered by the fund. Each of the local partnerships will be invited tosubmit proposals under those guidelines and allocations will be made on thebasis of the appraisal of the proposals.

Retail impact assessmentswere carried out on behalf of the applicants for the redevelopment of theRavenscraig site and North Lanarkshire Council.

Representations received,and the Scottish ministers’ comments thereon, are summarised in the Annex tothe Scottish Executive’s letter of 24 November 2003, which announced the Scottish ministers’ decision to approve theAlteration to the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan relating toRavenscraig. A copy of that letter has been placed in the Parliament’s ReferenceCentre.

The Scottish ministersconsidered whether a public local inquiry would be appropriate to assess theproposals for the redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig Steelworks site, butconcluded that this was not necessary in this instance.

Accordingly, an Alterationto the Glasgow and the Clyde ValleyStructure Plan, which sets the strategic planning policy context for retaildevelopment within a new town centre at Ravenscraig, was approved by the Scottish ministers on 24 November.

The Scottish ministers also advisedNorth Lanarkshire Council, on 26 November, that they were free to deal with theplanning application for redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig steelworks siteas they saw fit. It is now for North Lanarkshire Council to decide whether togrant planning permission.

The Executive has not yetbeen consulted by the Home Secretary regarding the siting of an accommodationcentre on Scotland.

No projections have beenissued for individual authorities. The new funding for respite under the homecare initiative is designed to achieve the equivalent of 22,000 extra weeksnationally. But that is not the only funding available to local authorities forthe provision of respite care. Individual authorities will assess projectedneeds locally as part of their service planning and development. Authoritieshave been required to set out in a Local Outcome Agreement the outcomes to bedelivered for their share of the home care initiative resources. We arecurrently reviewing draft agreements and information from these will not beavailable until next year.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3856. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa

Improved information onrespite is an issue which both local authorities and the Executive are seekingto address. A sub-group of the Social Work Services Statistical Liaison Grouphas been set up to recommend an agreed terminology that embraces respite, andother services to support carers, and to look at standardised ways ofcollecting information on service provision in these areas for use by theExecutive, local authorities and the voluntary sector. The group, involvingrepresentatives from the Executive, local authorities and carers’organisations, has met twice and we expect it to make recommendations earlynext year.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3856. All answers to written parlimentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa