Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the questionS2W-14837 answered on 17 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the questionS2W-14837 answered on 17 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

As I have said before in response to other parliamentary questions, I am delighted that this year's G8 summit will be held in Scotland. We want to take the opportunity to ensure that the education community in Scotland is aware of the G8 and its agenda and has a chance to debate the issues.

So far as our input to the European Council’s contribution to G8 is concerned, we continue to reflect Scottish views to UK and European colleagues on both reserved and devolved matters through the normal channels. The appropriate conduit for Scottish input here is the Joint Ministerial Committee on Europe whichis held in London each month and is chaired by the Foreign Secretary,Jack Straw. The Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe isthe Scottish representative at that meeting.

You will already have seen First Minister’s work to give schools the opportunity to combine learning with real support for development in Africa, through the Scottish Schools Africa Challenge. The winners of that competition, four to six young people and two teachers from a Scottish secondary school, will visit Malawi, meet young people of their own age in that country, see their schools and learn about their education system. Their involvement in this visit is an important opportunity to signal commitment by Scotland’s youth to communities in Malawi and Africa as a whole.

In addition, on Commonwealth Day, 14 March, Euan Robson, the Deputy Minister for Education and Young People hosted a showcase of primary school links with schools in Commonwealth countries.

In September 1999, the ScottishExecutive commissioned a detailed evaluation of the Empty Homes Initiative fromCaledonian Economics Ltd, in association with Arneil Johnston. The evaluationreport was published by the Scottish Executive in February 2001.

We are working to improve arrangementswith other public bodies and UK government departments for the disposal of surpluspublic sector land to make use of such land for housing where appropriate. Thiswork is being taken forward jointly with the Convention of Scottish LocalAuthorities.

A key focus is thedevelopment of new agreements for the identification and release by publicbodies of sites suitable for affordable housing. The Executive has alreadyagreed a land release policy with Forestry Commission Scotland. The commission nowprovides a preferential opportunity for registered social landlords, supportedby Communities Scotland, to acquire its surplus land for affordable housing.

The work required by Registers of Scotland in relation to the Land Register derives not only from the abolition of the feudal system of land tenure in Scotland which was abolished by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, but also from the related reform of title conditions resulting from the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.

The main type of work in the Land Register that arises as a consequence of this legislation is in relation to the Burdens Section of the title sheet. The title sheet is the entry in the Land Register for an individual property. The Burdens Section sets out the various conditions that affect the property. These frequently include conditions arising from the feudal system of land holding. The legislation affects existing conditions and feudal burdens that appear in the title sheets of most of the titles that are currently registered in the Land Register.

The work required will involve the updating of over a million title sheets that have become inaccurate after 28 November 2004, because the legislation has affected entries in the Burdens Section. Certain categories of title conditions included in registered titles have become extinct.

All existing registered titles will be examined and those title conditions that have been extinguished by the legislation, removed. The work will be undertaken on a phased and systematic basis. An outline timetable for delivery will be published during 2005-06. The updating work will be completed by 2014, as is anticipated in the legislation.

The following table shows the position for the last three years compared to the intake for that period.

Year	Rejections	Intake	% Rejected
2002-03	35,152	273,630	12.8%
2003-04	42,933	333,623	12.9%
2004-05	53,986	357,978	14.8%

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to reply. Her response is as follows.

Section 89 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 requires local authorities to undertake a comprehensive assessment of housing need in their area as part of their local housing strategies. Guidance on the preparation of local housing strategies covered approaches to assessing housing need and the need to develop a clear plan of action to tackle the housing problems identified in the strategy.

Communities Scotland assessed all local housing strategies against 107 detailed criteria. This included consideration of the need for additional affordable housing units and of the links between local housing strategies and regeneration outcome agreements.

The information collated by Registers of Scotland relates to the three different types of application that can be made to the Land Register. These are as follows:

an application for first registration of previously unregistered property,

an application for registration of a dealing with the whole of a registered interest in land, and

an application for registration of a transfer of part of a registered interest in land (a sub-division following a sale).

Once a property is registered in the Land Register any subsequent transaction involving that property (a transfer of title, a standard security, a discharge of a standard security) will be submitted as an application for registration of a dealing with whole.

The following table provides details of the number of applications for registration in the Land Register since the inception of land registration in 1981.

Year	First Registration	Transfer of Part	Dealing with Whole	Totals
1981	4,247	347	236	4,830
1982	7,187	1,136	1,176	9,499
1983	10,904	3,874	1,600	16,378
1984	18,110	2,700	6,815	27,625
1985	19,916	3,511	9,915	33,342
1986-87	30,417	5,215	20,812	56,444
1987-88	29,739	7,359	28,091	65,189
1988-89	31,172	9,786	36,676	77,634
1989-90	31,178	10,194	46,263	87,635
1990-91	25,392	9,013	53,753	88,158
1991-92	19,881	8,342	53,889	82,112
1992-93	18,014	7,517	48,950	74,481
1993-94	24,391	8,032	59,329	91,752
1994-95	26,132	9,442	58,253	93,827
1995-96	28,963	10,617	61,495	101,075
1996-97	36,709	12,163	68,792	117,664
1997-98	50,032	14,349	77,661	142,042
1998-99	46,387	15,588	92,024	153,999
1999-2000	55,466	16,833	101,213	173,512
2000-01	57,400	18,418	113,368	189,186
2001-02	76,693	22,211	144,130	243,034
2002-03	80,052	22,294	179,779	282,125
2003-04	76,094	26,169	240,145	342,408
2004-05 (to February 2005)	67,591	24,032	249,443	341,066

Registers of Scotland can also identify the total number of applications to register a dealing in the Land Register that relate to standard securities which includes mortgages and re-mortgages. This information is available from the year 2000 onwards:

Year	No. of Applications to Register a Standard Security
2000-01	25,327
2001-02	34,717
2002-03	48,829
2003-04	82,213
2004-05 (to February 2005)	92,401

Re-mortgage transactions will also have been recorded in the General Register of Sasines though the difference in classification of the different types of applications does not apply in that register.

The level and mix of services at any new health facility are determined by NHS managers and clinicians before and independent of a decision being taken on whether it should be built using public capital or private finance. The capacity of hospital services is based on a wider assessment of overall service delivery requirements, including treatment in community based settings. In the case of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, bed numbers have increased whereas in both Wishaw General and Hairmyres Hospitals, the bed numbers have decreased slightly, but have been complimented by more day care and out-patient treatment. Medical and technological advances and changes in the way health care professionals work means that more services are now delivered on a day case and in out-patient and community settings. This is due to normal development of the planning of health services and not as a result of the PFI process.