Chamber and committees

GAE allocations arenot assessed or allocated on a school-by-school basis. They are a component of themore complex local government funding formula which is used to calculate a singlerevenue grant figure for each council. It is then a matter for each individual councilto decide how best to deploy the resources according to local needs and priorities.

GAE allocations arenot assessed or allocated on a school-by-school basis. They are a component of themore complex local government funding formula which is used to calculate a singlerevenue grant figure for each council. It is then a matter for each individual councilto decide how best to deploy the resources according to local needs and priorities.

GAE allocations arenot assessed or allocated on a school-by-school basis. They are a component of themore complex local government funding formula which is used to calculate a singlerevenue grant figure for each council. It is then a matter for each individual councilto decide how best to deploy the resources according to local needs and priorities.

Officials have engaged with the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers over a considerable period of time to discusssupport for recreational sea angling. These discussions continue, not least in connectionwith a study which the government is undertaking to seek to establish the economicvalue of recreational sea angling.

VisitScotland is representedon and has contributed funding to the Angling Development Tourism Group, which wasinstrumental in the development of the FishScotland website. VisitScotland alsohas a section on its own website dedicated to sea angling, along with two pagesabout the sport in its Fishing in Scotland brochure. In addition, VisitScotland has contributedsome funding to the Country Sports Tourism Group, which has looked at a number ofprojects to further develop angling of all kinds in Scotland.

£20,000 has been set aside inthe current financial year to fund local authorities to support, on a case-by-casebasis, adult victims of human trafficking.

Funds recovered using the Proceedsof Crime Act 2002 will be reinvested to create an exciting programme of activitiesfor young people throughout Scotland. Particular attention will be paid to those communitiesthat have suffered most from crime. The organisations charged with delivering theactivities, such as the Scottish Football Association, have committed to work withthe Police Service and Community Safety Partnerships to identify these communities. It will be for those agencies to make this assessmentbut it is likely to utilise a mixture of local and national statistics includingthose published as part of the Recorded Crime in Scotland 2006-07 statistical bulletin.

The current HEAT target, agreedwith NHS boards and local authorities, is to eliminate all inappropriate delaysoutwith the six week discharge planning period by April 2008. Following that weexpect that to be maintained as a standard, thereby ensuring no patient is inappropriatelydelayed in hospital for more than six weeks.

The consultation on the futurearrangements to introduce Independent examination of proposals for major change in NHS services, is due to close on 25 January 2008. I will make anannouncement about future arrangements once the responses to this have been analysed.http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/26111633/0.

The preferred option proposesthe involvement of an independent expert panel at beginning of the public engagementprocess when a board is beginning to gather evidence and develop options for consultation.The panel would assess the information and evidence available, and ensure that thefull range of safe and sustainable options were being identified and evaluated ina clear and transparent way.

The panel’s report would be publishedbefore the formal consultation stage, and the board would be required to reflectits conclusions in the final proposal for public consultation. The report wouldalso be available to ministers as an input to the final decision-making and approvalprocess.

We place great importance onpublic involvement in the design and delivery of NHS services and this is reflectedin our recently published Better Health Better Care Action Plan which puts the interests of those who use the services at the heart of allthat we do to improve health and health care in Scotland. The action plan is availableat:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/12/13102832/0.

The independent scrutiny panel which considered revised proposalsfor service change in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire was established after a period of extensive public consultation which clearlyidentified that the public’s view was that Accident and Emergency services should be retained at Ayr and Monklands Hospitals. Consequently, the priority for the panel was to deliverrobust scrutiny and engagement whilst minimising delays and uncertainty around theseservices.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8401 on 23 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.