Chamber and committees

Apart from the Permanent Secretary, the assessment of performance for Senior Civil Servants, like all other staff in the Scottish Executive is carried out by their line managers. There is no formal role for ministers in this process. The First Minister does, however, have the opportunity to comment on the Permanent Secretary's performance as an input to the pay and performance management process of salary determination.

The Scottish Executive has not issued any guidance to NHS boards about implementing the Arbuthnott formula at sub-board level.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31129 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Executive wrote to all local authorities and NHS boards on 16 October 2002 with good practice guidance on local area co-ordination.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31129 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Information about the appointment of local area co-ordinators in each local authority area is available in Partnership in Practice Agreements, and in supplementary information provided to the Scottish Executive. All of this information will shortly be available on the learning disability review website at www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr.

Yes.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His reply is as follows:No. Historic Scotland has never knowingly discouraged suitable applications from being made under the Historic Buildings Repair Grant Scheme. Previously, general advice was given to applicants on when their projects might gain a place in Historic Scotland's forward programme in the light of the demand for these grants. This advice was intended to assist applicants to plan their fund raising and the preparation and submission of technical information. Such advice is now given on a case-by-case basis and updated as the application proceeds through various stages.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:The amount of grant awarded but unclaimed at the end of 2001-02 under the Historic Buildings Repair Grants Scheme was £2.9 million. This was due to projects failing to start on site on the date previously notified to Historic Scotland and to delays in the works programmes of projects already on site, all leading to a lower level of grant being claimed in the financial year.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Against a total commitment of £12.7 million for the current year grantees are currently indicating to Historic Scotland that they intend to draw down £11.7 million, (this is against a budget allocation of £11.1 million). In calculating this figure, Historic Scotland has used the information provided by grantees, or the relevant professional advisers, about the progress of work on site. However, from experience, Historic Scotland does not expect a full drawdown of this amount. The figure is updated monthly. The actual spend to 31 October 2002 expressed in cash terms is £4.45 million or 41.6% of the budget. In resource accounting terms, valuations amounting to £3.3 million (31%) have been received by the agency.