Chamber and committees

It is the responsibility of local authorities to manage their common good assets and funds in accordance with current statutory and non statutory requirements as set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Local authorities are required to manage assets held for the common good according to sound asset management principles and in accordance with proper accounting practice.

Statutory guidance exists through the Local Government (Scotland) Acts of 1973 and 1994. There are also accounting guidelines set out in the Local Authorities Scotland Accounts Advisory Committee (LASAAC) document Accounting for the Common Good: A Guidance Note for Practitioners which was revised in December 2007. In addition, the Scottish Government wrote to all local authorities in 2007 to remind them of their responsibilities under accounting codes of practice, best value guidance grant conditions and statute in respect of their management of common good funds and assets.

Section 93 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 states that any sums payable or received which relate to the common good shall not be paid into the general fund. Specific guidance on the financial accounting of common goods assets has also been published by the Local Authorities (Scotland) Accounts Advisory Committee in 2007.

It is not inappropriate for a local authority to have an interest in a development, and also to make a decision on a planning application for that development. However, any conflict of interests that might arise from having this dual role must not influence the authority''s handling or planning decision. Further advice can be found in Planning Advice Note (PAN) 82: Local authority Interest Developments.

The Scottish Government through the Government Economic Strategy and Economic Recovery Plan is focused on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth.

The Scottish Government, working as part of the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership, has developed an action plan which contains a series of prioritised actions designed to broaden the area''s economy and mitigate the effects of decommissioning.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise has funded five full-time senior posts to assist in delivering these actions, including actively working with the Dounreay supply chain to explore diversification and spin out opportunities and working closely with a number of high growth local companies to ensure that opportunities to grow or sustain employment are realised. To date, it has committed an extra £5.2 million to counter the effects of the decommissioning at Dounreay with 246 new jobs announced in 2008 and 2009. HIE funding has supported the creation of a major new facility for NES Engineering, further broadening the capacity of the area to attract large engineering work. An alliance of seven local companies are now working to attract new engineering business to the area.

The partnership is also focused on realising the economic benefits available from renewable energy, specifically those from the emerging wave and tidal power industry. This is expected to offer medium and long term employment opportunities requiring skills similar to those held by individuals currently working at Dounreay or the wider Dounreay supply chain.

The Scottish Government remains focused on delivering our core purpose of increasing sustainable economic growth across Scotland including Caithness and Sutherland.

The Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership brings together, the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Highland Council and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to drive forward new initiatives to counteract the effects that the decommissioning of Dounreay will have on the area''s economy. The partnership has developed an action plan which contains a series of prioritised actions designed to broaden the area''s economy.

One area the partners are focused on is realising the economic benefits available from renewable energy, specifically those from the emerging wave and tidal power industry around the Pentland Firth and from the forthcoming offshore wind developments in the Moray Firth. The Crown Estate is expected to announce the results of its seabed leasing round for the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters in March 2010 and the partners will at this point publish a programme of activities to secure maximum economic benefit for the area. In addition, the Pentland Firth Coordination Committee, comprising the Crown Estate, Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Orkney Islands Council and Highland Council is also working to capture the economic benefits associated with delivering the target of 700 MW of installed marine energy capacity in the area by 2020.

The proposed per capita spend by each territorial NHS board in 2009-10 is shown in the following table.

NHS Board	Per Capita Spend £
Ayrshire and Arran	1,842
Borders	1,757
Dumfries and Galloway	1,900
Fife	1,621
Forth Valley	1,602
Grampian	1,536
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,903
Highland	1,881
Lanarkshire	1,673
Lothian	1,517
Orkney	2,204
Shetland	2,283
Tayside	1,806
Western Isles	2,790

 

The Early Years Framework demonstrates the Scottish Government''s commitment to early intervention to ensure that a child receives the support they need, as quickly as possible.

The programme of routine screening is set out in the Scottish Government guidance Health for all Children. The guidance is firmly rooted in the need for an integrated approach to the delivery of services and support for children and families, co-ordinated in the early years through health but working in partnership with other professionals, in childcare and education, supported by clear routes for liaison, consultation and referral to health professionals when there are clear concerns through the Getting it right for every child methodology.

Within the context of the concordat and the National Performance Framework, it is for NHS boards and local authorities to design and determine the level of services provided to meet the needs of children and young people with communication difficulties under the age of five, based on local priorities and clinical need.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, which places an important emphasis on multi-agency working, places duties on education authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all children, including those with communication difficulties, for whose education they are responsible. Appropriate agencies, including NHS boards, are required to assist an education authority in the exercise of any of its functions under the act.

The Scottish Government has just completed a consultation on Draft guidance on partnership working between allied health professionals (AHPs) and education. The final guidance and resources, which is intended to support school staff and AHPs to work more effectively as partners in supporting children and young people, will be published before June 2010.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guidance CG31 provides guidelines on NHS treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder. Full guidance can be found at http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG31.

Healthcare professionals in Scotland use NICE guidelines in considering clinical care.

NHS boards can make arrangements with optometrists to provide services on their behalf which are normally carried out in a hospital setting. Under these services accredited optometrists with appropriate training can provide a range of services on behalf of the board such as low vision aid services, Glasgow integrated eye service and Lothian optometry cataract initiative. £2.6 million of pump priming funding has been made available through NHS boards to further develop eye care services in the community.