Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive inputs to the European Council’s contribution to G8 summit through our participation in the Joint Ministerial Committee on Europe (JMC(E)) meetings, which are held in London and chaired by the Foreign Secretary.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14872 on 14 March 2005. 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/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14872 on 14 March 2005. 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/wa.search.

The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Court Service does not have information which identifies the number of repossessions either for Scotland as a whole or by sheriff court district.

The guidance on procurement strategies will be published as part of a construction procurement manual which substantially amends and supersedes the existing construction client pack. It is expected that this will be available by May 2005.

There are 13% of staff compliment in the building division of the Scottish Procurement Directorate (SPD) and 13% of staff compliment in the Procurement Operations branch of SPD advising on major capital projects. This represents a total of nine projects; sevem IT-enabled business change projects, one building project for Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency and one estate development project at Jordanhill School.

The majority of all other major capital projects being handled by the core Executive are dealt with by roads division.

The fees set in respect of the services provided by Registers of Scotland distinguish between the fees for registration in the registers and the fees for inspecting the information contained in those registers. There is no cross-subsidisation of costs and fees between the registration of property in the property registers and the inspection of information from those registers. The overall costs of registration are met from the overall fee income for registration. Similarly the fees charged for inspection of the registers are intended to meet the overall costs associated with making the registers available for public inspection. The scales upon which fees are calculated for registration of titles and standard securities differ, to reflect generally the different levels of work required. Registers of Scotland is currently undertaking a review of fees relating to the provision of information from the registers, and plans to undertake a review of registration fees in 2006.

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

All 32 local authorities have submitted a local housing strategy to Communities Scotland for assessment. All have been assessed and Communities Scotland has provided feedback to each local authority.

Scottish ministers set an annual target for Registers of Scotland in respect of the accuracy of land certificates that are issued when an application for registration is complete.

The target for the current financial year, 2004-05, requires the Land Register to achieve a registration accuracy rate of at least 98% for land certificates despatched during the previous 12 months. In the 12 months up to 31 December 2004, the Land Register achieved an accuracy rate of 98.60%. 321,918 land certificates were issued from the Land Register during that period, of which 4,503 have required subsequent amendment.

Though most are minor and readily remedied, the occurrence of inaccuracies in land certificates is a matter that the Keeper of the Registers and his staff treat very seriously. In order to deliver and maintain improvements in accuracy, a number of measures have been put in place, including the creation of a Data and Information Unit and a Quality Steering Group in Registers of Scotland.

Where a Land Certificate contains an inaccuracy, a party affected may apply to the Keeper to have this rectified in the register. The Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 provides for the payment of indemnity to those who have suffered loss as a result of such inaccuracies. Last year, payments were necessary in less than 0.05% of applications.

No guidance has currently been issued to NHS staff. Draft guidance has however been prepared by NHS Education Scotland (NES) on the education and trainingstandards for violence and aggression for those in the mental health setting andit has been to place a copy of the guidance in the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre when finalised. That guidance will be adapted to apply to NHSScotland ingeneral.