Chamber and committees

Nationality, immigration and asylum are matters for the Home Office. The terms of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 apply to the children of asylum seekers except where disapplied by UK legislation.

Nationality, immigration and asylum are matters for the Home Office. In certain circumstances some provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 are disapplied by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

The Executive has made no representations to Her Majesty’s Government following the case of the Ay children.

Providing short breaks for people with learning disabilities is a matter for local authorities and NHS boards. The same as you? recommended a range of flexible short breaks that meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and their carers.Information about the provision of community short breaks will be provided in the statistical return referred to in the answer to question S2W-1890 on 1 September 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliaments website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa

The resources allocated by the Executive to local authorities to support carers, including resources to develop respite services, will have risen from £5 million in 1999-2000 to £21 million in the period 2003-04. We are monitoring through local agreements the outcomes achieved by individual councils for the significant resources we are providing specifically to develop additional respite services.

Provision of such homes is a matter for local decision, to meet the needs of people living in the area concerned.

In addition, Supporting People came into effect on 1 April 2003 with £200 million of funding during the first year of the programme, a proportion of which will go towards learning disability clients.

Ministers have written to the Home Office about practical issues relating to the dispersal of asylum seekers into Scotland’s communities.

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

The working party that was set up made recommendations abouthow to mitigate the financial effect on small housing associations of thewithdrawal of section 54 tax relief grant. We are considering the introductionof a viability test. A small working group is looking at the detail of theviability test and it is expected that decisions will be based on an registeredsocial landlords (RSLs) financial position rather than constitution.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:The consultation paper ModernisingScotland’s Social Housing makes clear ministerial commitment to communityownership. The housing co-operative model is one of a range of constitutionalframeworks that can achieve this objective.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:A working group wasestablished to examine the financial impact on the housing association sectorof the withdrawal of section 54. The working party was not requiredspecifically to consider the particular circumstances of non-fully-mutualhousing co-operatives, instead they were required to consider the financialimpact on all organisations who retained non charitable rules.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:A working group wasestablished to examine the financial impact on the housing association sectorof the withdrawal of section 54. The working party was asked to considerarrangements to mitigate the financial effect on any organisations (includinghousing co-operatives) that remain subject to an assessment for corporationtax.