Chamber and committees

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

In total, 6,400 new build startswill be approved for funding by Communities Scotland in 2005-06 and these will receivescheduled start and completion dates during the course of this financial year aseach individual project is legally approved. However, until projects are legallyapproved, no confirmed detail on scheduled start and completions dates is available.

Officials are due to presentadvice to ministers on the review in the coming weeks and an announcement aboutthe proposed way forward will be made shortly thereafter. We understand thatthe Home Office will not be responding to the Scottish report but we will beworking with them to ensure it meets the requirements of the GB Strategy.

The Fresh Talent: Working inScotland scheme is due to be launched by the end of June. Information relating toapplications will not be available until after the scheme is operational.

Fresh Talent is a long-term initiative.Therefore, evaluating its overall success will take time. We will, however, be carryingout some more immediate evaluations of strands of activity which will give us someuseful data. For example, we will know how many people successfully apply to liveand work in Scotland under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, and weare currently developing, in conjunction with the Home Office, a robust and workablearrangement for monitoring and evaluating the scheme. We also know the number ofpeople who are interested in living and working in Scotland, throughenquiries to the Relocation Advisory Service and visits to our website. An evaluationof the Relocation Advisory Service, which is now underway, will also provide uswith some useful information.

Centrally held information identifiesthe country of qualification for medical and dental staff working in theHospital, Community and Public Health Services (HCHS) of NHS Scotland. The latestavailable information is correct at 30 September 2004.

Sixty-six percent of “All HCHSMedical and Dental Staff” identified Scotland as their country of qualification.

A breakdown by each of the differentmedical and dental grades can be found in Table B5 on the Scottish Health Statisticswebsite under Workforce Statistics, at www.isdscotland.org/wf_medical.

This information isnot available for nursing staff.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows.

Glasgow Housing Association(GHA) is the only existing whole-stock transfer organisation with plans fornew-build housing.

A total of 6,000 newproperties are planned to be completed by 2012-13 for GHA tenants whose homeswill be demolished as part of GHA’s regeneration plans.  2,800 units will bedelivered directly by GHA with a further 3,000 properties built by other registeredsocial landlords and 200 units from programmes already agreed by Glasgow CityCouncil.

Last year the first phase of the new build programme totalling 600 homes to be delivered by other RegisteredSocial Landlords began. So far, 119 new homes have been approved with fundingof £2.23 million. Further funding of £2 million has been earmarked for thecurrent year with another 376 homes expected to be approved by the end of March2006.

GHA’s own contribution tothe programme was deferred during 2004-05 pending consideration of its widerassessment of future stock requirements.

In its statement of intent2005-06, GHA has set three targets:

by June 2005, to agree thefirst three year programme of its new build strategy within the context of a10-year outline programme;

by March 2006, to reachagreement with GCC on 100 GHA new build units within GCC Regeneration Projects,and

by March 2006, to achievesite start for 100 units.

Information on staff in postin NHS Scotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under WorkforceStatistics, at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Section E gives details of nursingand midwifery staff employed in NHS Scotland. In particular, table E18 shows thewhole-time equivalent (WTE) number and headcount of clinical nurse specialists,broken down by NHS board area. WTE adjusts headcount staff figures to take accountof part-time staff. Latest available figures are at 30 September 2004.

The Executive’s review of raceequality involved extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders fromacross Scotland and representing various minority ethnic groups. Theevidence gathered will form the basis of advice to ministers on how to proceed inorder to ensure effective and fair delivery of race equality and community cohesionin Scotland. Given the purpose and nature of the review, and thecomprehensive consultation process, there are no plans for any further assessment.

The provision of community benefit by a developer is not a matter for the Executive. It is not, therefore, for the Executive to define communities.

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

To date, none of the local authorities on the new Community Ownership Programme has had their receiving organisations’ business plans approved. However, Communities Scotland continues to provide practical support to councils and registered social landlords in working towards finalising plans for submission for approval.