The Scottish Government has commissionedan update of Integrated Care for Drug Users, first published by the EffectiveInterventions Unit in 2002. The new document will cover planning and delivery oftreatment for both drug and alcohol misuse.

Allocations to NHS boards from2000-01 to 2007-08 for alcohol and drug treatment services is in document NHSBoard alcohol and drug treatment allocations 2000-2001 to 2007-2008, a copyof which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 43149).

The Scottish Government doesnot specify how these allocations should be spent and it is for Alcohol and DrugAction Teams and partner bodies to make these decisions locally.

A national waiting times informationframework was implemented in April 2004, to enable Alcohol and Drug Action Teams(ADATs) and local services to monitor waiting times for drug treatment and carein their local areas. Information on waiting times for alcohol rehabilitation programmesis not held centrally.

Document drug treatment waitingtimes January to March 2007 by Alcohol and Drug Action Team has been placedin the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43147).

Table 1 presents information,by ADAT, on the number of clients by length of time waited for drug treatment, for(a) clients which have been offered an appointment date for any intervention and(b) clients who are still waiting for an appointment date for any intervention forthe period January to March 2007.

Table 2 presents information,by ADAT, on the number of clients by length of time waited, for (a) clients whohave been offered an appointment date for residential detoxification and rehabilitationand (b) clients who are still waiting for an appointment date for residential detoxificationand rehabilitation, for the period January to March 2007.

Information specifically on theaverage waiting time of clients for particular treatment interventions, by healthboard is not held centrally.

A national waiting times informationframework was implemented in April 2004, to enable Alcohol and Drug Action Teams(ADATs) and local services to monitor waiting times for drug treatment and carein their local areas. Information on waiting times for alcohol rehabilitation programmesis not held centrally.

Document longest waiting timesfor drug treatment services January to March 2007 by Alcohol and Drug Action Teamhas been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43148).

Table 1 presents information,by ADAT, on the longest wait for drug treatment and number of clients who have waitedthis length of time for any intervention, for (a) clients who have been offeredan appointment date for any intervention and (b) clients who are still waiting foran appointment date for any intervention, for the period January to March 2007.

Table 2 presents information,by ADAT, on the longest wait and number of clients who have waited this length oftime for residential detoxification and rehabilitation for (a) clients who havebeen offered an appointment date for residential detoxification and rehabilitationand (b) clients who are still waiting for an appointment date for residential detoxificationand rehabilitation, for the period January to march 2007.

MMR is the safest, most effectiveway to protect all children against the risks of Measles, Mumps and Rubella. Theuptake of the MMR vaccination remains at a higher level than in recent times, butwe will continue to monitor the level of immunisation. We would encourage all parentsto consider immunisation in early childhood. It is still the safest and most effectiveway of protecting all children, and the wider community, against the risks of infectiousdiseases.

Local authorities are not requiredto seek disclosure checks on applicants to the landlord registration scheme. However,authorities may wish to apply for standard disclosures in relation to applicantsand registered persons in some cases. It is for the local authority to decide whetherthey or the applicant should bear the cost of making the application.

The Scottish government has incurredexpenditure relating to implementing landlord registration as follows:

Production of consultation paper, guidance to local authorities, and shell leaflets for landlords and tenants, for local authorities’ use:	£10,654.82
Development and maintenance of online registration system:	£566,189.30
IT training events for local authority staff:	£3741.34
Banking charges, for processing fees paid online and distributing to local authorities:	£24,386.19

 

£5.2 million has also been allocatedfor grant to support local authorities’ implementation of the scheme. Of this, £3,225,000has been paid so far and £1,975,000 is due to be paid in the current financial year.This is in addition to local authorities’ income from fees.

Landlord registration has beena substantial new initiative for local authorities to handle. Procedures and staffhave had to be put in place for:

confirming application detailswith landlords and agents;

invoicing those landlords oragents who have not paid online;

compiling a list with other localauthority services of landlords or agents whose applications they wish to review;

approving and rejecting applications,and

enforcement activity, in particularfinding and chasing up landlords who have not yet applied for registration.

Authorities have adopted differentapproaches to the task, depending on their internal governance and accountabilitystructures, the department in which landlord registration is based, the extent ofprovision already in place for liaising with private landlords and the type of internalIT system in place. For example, some authorities require committee approval fordecisions on registration of individual landlords, whereas in others most of thedecision-making has been delegated to officials.

All local authorities have madeuse of the central IT system for receiving applications and changes in landlords’details, and use this data in issuing letters to landlords and agents. This is enablingthe large number of applications (more than 93,000) to be handled, but as will beclear from the list above it does not entirely automate the process of grantingapprovals. There have been some difficulties with the system, for example in producingconfirmation letters to send to landlords. Differences in local authorities’ ownIT systems meant that they could not all use the application data in the same format.The Scottish Government has worked with the authorities and the system developersto bring forward solutions.

A further factor in progresshas been the sheer volume of applications. One of the benefits of registration willbe to provide better data on the size and structure of the private rented sector.Prior to implementation, some 40,000 applications were expected on the basis ofcensus data and research on the typical size of rented housing portfolios. In theevent, more than twice this number of applications has been made, in part becauseof landlords holding property in more than one local authority and because somerented properties are jointly owned by two or more people, but in the main, it seems,because the number of landlords is much larger than estimated.

A number of factors have thereforeaffected the rate at which applications for registration have been approved. Overall,however, we are disappointed with the rate of progress and wish to see it accelerate.We will continue to work closely with local authorities to support those which areexperiencing difficulties.

The police are not required togive information in relation to the suitability of landlords applying to register.It is a matter for the local authority to determine whether an applicant (landlordor agent) is a fit and proper person. In assessing whether an applicant is fit andproper, the local authority may take account of information provided by the police.Local authorities work with the police as required on a range of issues and manyhave specific arrangements in place for sharing information in relation to concernslinked to private rented housing.

There are currently three membersof staff whose duties include supporting the implementation of landlord registration.In addition, an external IT contractor provides support to local authorities inrelation to use of the online registration system.