Chamber and committees

The prudential code requires local authorities to determine three indicators for borrowing. The first requires them to determine an Authorised Limit which is an upper limit placed upon external debt. The second is to determine an Operational Boundary which is the limit placed upon external debt based upon the most likely borrowing requirement. The operational boundary therefore links directly with the local authority''s plans for capital expenditure, and is the key management tool of in year monitoring. At the end of each year a local authority will calculate its actual external debt. The Scottish Government collects data on these prudential indicators from local authorities.

The measurement of debt to fixed assets is not one of the prudential indicators.

In most cases those requiring access to mental health services already receive treatment well within 18 weeks. However, for those areas where delays occur, we have been considering a new waiting time target and work is already underway towards establishing a target for referral to treatment for specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for 2010-11. Access to psychological therapies will also be receiving similar attention over the coming months.

NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (QIS) has worked with stakeholders to develop integrated care pathways to improve how schizophrenia and other mental health conditions are managed by health and other care systems over time. The first stage of accreditation for these pathways is by September this year.

The Scottish Recovery Network undertakes work across Scotland that promotes the evidence that people can and do recover from mental illness and that those who continue to have symptoms of illness can live meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Comprehensive information on the risks and benefits of HRT can be found on the MHRA''s website www.mhra.gov.uk.

We have provided Action for ME with funding to develop a Scottish Good Practice Statement for GPs on CFS/ME. This is intended to ensure better and more consistent standards of care for patients, including quicker and more reliable diagnosis of the illness and agreed clinical/diagnostic criteria for CFS/ME. The advice is due to be published in the near future. It is expected to include information about the specialists to whom GPs might make a referral.

Other initiatives which will contribute to consistency of services are the Scottish Good Practice Statement on CFS/ME being developed for GPs by Action for ME, and the needs assessment being carried out by the Scottish Public Health Network. A Managed Clinical Network approach would also help to promote consistency of services.

GPs are supported in this by NHS boards, for example through the Protected Learning Time initiatives which allows supported time for training.

The Scottish Good Practice Statement for GPs on CFS/ME will, amongst other things, help lay the foundations for a basic training package for health professionals. Development of the advice has involved the assessment of a wide range of material, including international work, in order to produce a document suited to Scottish circumstances. The advice is due to be published in the near future.

Before the proposed HMP Highland opens, the Scottish Prison Service needs to select and acquire a suitable site, obtain planning permission for the proposed development, conduct a procurement process for the design and construction of the prison and then prepare the prison for operation. These steps will take a number of years, with the date of opening being largely dependent on the time required to acquire a site and secure planning permission. A target date for HMP Highland opening will be set following completion of these key stages.

Source ISD.