Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Given normal lead-in times for major capital projects, it is not unexpected that planning and construction began on a number of the 251 schools prior to May 2007. This was the same situation faced by the first Scottish Executive administration. Of the school projects completed during the first administration''s term of office, over half were pre-devolution projects.

Responsibility for funding those projects fell largely upon the first Executive administration, just as responsibility for paying for most of the 260 projects has fallen on this government.

Transport Scotland recently received the report and this is currently being considered. It is expected to be published in March and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 50129).

Scottish Government staff are afforded opportunities to donate blood during working hours. In addition Scottish Government staff continue to be paid whilst donating blood at the mobile blood transfusion units visiting the Scottish Government buildings.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provide cold weather payments to those in receipt of income related benefits, including pension credit, when specified criteria are met. Payments of £25 are made when the area in which the person lives is, or is forecasted to be, zero degrees celsius or below for a period of seven consecutive days. Payments are made automatically to those who qualify. As with all DWP benefits the policy on cold weather payments is reserved to the UK Government.

As for local authority and health board funding for the delivery of key services during the severe weather, both are expected to deal with some rise and fall in expenditure demands within the money allocated to them by the Scottish Government.

Local authorities, health boards, voluntary organisations and private care providers are working hard to ensure that housebound people receive the help they need during the severe weather conditions, including assistance with purchasing groceries and other essential items. The Scottish Government, local authorities and voluntary organisations are publicising the help available as set out in my answer to question S3W-30510 on 18 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Local authority social work departments operate emergency helplines and when contacted will ensure that all vulnerable housebound people receive essential goods and services whenever possible. The Scottish Government, local authorities and voluntary organisations are publicising the help available as set out in the answer to the question S3W-30510 on 18 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government is working with local authorities and local radio to help individuals in communities find help for themselves and others. We are publicising “ through the Weather Wise section of the government''s website “ local authority helpline numbers for those experiencing difficulties. In addition, local authorities and voluntary organisations are involved in a range of activities to publicise the help available and how to access it.

Moray Council received £1.2 million subsidy from round one of the incentivising council house building fund to help build 48 new houses. In round two, Moray applied for £1.125 million to help build 45 new houses.

In round two, an expert group comprising COSLA, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO), a local government finance officer and the Scottish Government considered all applications against the agreed principles and criteria. The group provided an initial assessment of applications and their recommendations were shared and then discussed with COSLA''s Leadership Board. The board considered this advice and then formed an agreed position and recommendations which were considered by ministers before making a final decision.

Applications were assessed against criteria relating to six overarching principles, as Parliament was informed in response to parliamentary question S3W-20310 on 5 February 2009. A key principle in assessing proposals was deliverability, requiring evidence that the development would be on site within a year of funding allocations, including identified sites and the number of units to be built. Unfortunately, Moray Council''s ongoing tendering exercise with developers meant that evidence was not available. Given the high level of demand for the available funding, it was considered that it would be more appropriate to allocate subsidy to applications which had the required site details and that Moray Council''s application should not receive support at this time.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

An expert group comprising COSLA, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO), a local government finance officer and the Scottish Government considered all applications against the agreed principles and criteria. The group provided an initial assessment of applications and their recommendations were shared and then discussed with COSLA''s Shared Services Board (for round one) and the Leadership Board (for round two). These bodies considered the advice and then formed an agreed position and recommendations which were considered by Scottish ministers in making a final decision.

Applications were assessed against criteria relating to six overarching principles, as Parliament was informed in response to parliamentary question S3W-20310 on 5 February 2009. Due to the high demand for this fund from across the country, the expert group and the Shared Services/Leadership Boards had to ensure that applications met all the requirements set out in the criteria. One of the criteria is that the council has prudential borrowing or the capacity to use other sources of funding to fund the investment. The existing level of debt associated with Shetland Island Council''s housing revenue account is already very high, the council has the highest debt per unit of all councils in Scotland. Whilst Shetland''s proposed borrowing is from an internal source, it will still incur interest. Therefore, the fact that the borrowing will incur interest and will still need to be repaid meant that increasing the level of debt presented too high a risk to the sustainability of the housing revenue account.