Chamber and committees

The Executive will carry outa public consultation by the end of Octoberthis year on the criteria that should beapplied to designate Scottish public authorities under section 5 of the act.

There is no evidence that PPP/PFIhas had an impact on the capital costs of the NHS. PPP/PFI contributes substantiallyto capital investment in NHSScotland and is an additional source of funding.There are currently 27 projects with a capital value of £864 million under development.PPP/PFI does not replace public funding which has seen substantial annual increases,rising from £136 million in 1996-97 to £420million in   2005-06.

Sections 35 and 36 of theLocal Government in Scotland 2003 were fully commenced on 1 April 2004. The commencementof the other sections referred to depend on regulations being laid and approvedby the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Executive has undertakento consult local authority associations and others before laying regulations underthe Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 to ensure that they - and any subsequentguidance - are clear, unambiguous, and take practical issues into account. The consultationand feedback processes have been paced to ensure that overload and confusion isavoided.

Regulations to be laid undersection 11 will be published in draft within the next month for consultation.

Consultation on the content ofregulations to be laid under section 40 was undertaken earlier this year and regulationsare currently in development.

Consultation on the content ofregulations to be laid under sections 8 and 9 is planned to commence this summer.

The Executive remains fully committedto retaining water supply in the public sector. The Water Services Bill will prohibitthird parties from using the public water and sewerage networks, ensuring that ScottishWater remains the sole physical supplier of water and sewerage services to all premisesconnected to the public networks. This prohibition, together with the prohibitionon retail competition to domestic customers and provisions to license retail competitionfor non-domestic customers will reinforce our commitment to retain Scottish Waterin the public sector.

Article 2 (a) provides a definitionof “plans and programmes” for the purposes of the Directive. Work on the preciseimplementation of the Directive is currently being taken forward by Executive officials.

The Scottish Executive’s supportfor all forms of renewable energy recognises the contribution that they can maketowards reducing harmful emissions, thus helping to protect and preserve Scotland’s environment.The local environmental impacts of each proposed development will vary, and areassessed against existing and robust planning guidelines as part of a consultativeprocess involving all key stakeholders.

Only two specialist reportingagencies provide electronic reports to Procurators Fiscal: the Vehicle and OperatorServices Agency and South Ayrshire Council. The Crown Office and Procurator FiscalService is establishing a secure web site that will allow all other specialist reportingagencies to provide reports on-line to Procurators Fiscal by the end of 2004.

The power to advance well-beingis designed as an enabling measure, giving local authorities the freedom to workin a more innovative and creative way in responding to the needs of their communities.

 The overall intention of the act is to offer trust withina framework: it is for the local authorityto decide whether any particular action would be likely to promote or improve thewell-being of its area and/or persons in it. Accordingly, local authorities arenot required to report to the Scottish Executive on how they have used, or intend to use, the power, andno records will be maintained centrally.

Guidance on the useof the power was issued by Scottish ministers in April 2004 (The Local Governmentin Scotland Act 2003: Power to Advance Well-Being Guidance). It may be foundon the Executive’s internet site at the followingaddress:

www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/pawbg-00.asp.

The Executive has no plans toremove local road maintenance functions from local government.

Matters relating to the regulationof international trade, including responsibility for GATS negotiations, are reservedto the UK Government. The Scottish Executive has ensured that the UK Government’s representationsto the European Union on GATS reflect the Executive’s commitment to retain Scotland’spublic water services in the public sector, and the UK Government has confirmed that it has no intentionof pressing for water services to be included in future GATS commitments. Nothingin the GATS process affects the Scottish Executive’s right to determine policy onhow water services are provided in Scotland.  The forthcoming Water Services Bill will not affectScottish Water's status as a public corporation.