Chamber and committees

East Renfrewshire Council applied on 4 May 2005 for the Eastwood part of its area. The council provided supplementary information on 8 July 2005. On 7 October 2005 the Scottish ministers designated the areas covered by the application.

Highland Council applied on 1 June 2005 for a number of localities within its area. The council provided supplementary information on 15 August. On  15 November 2005 the Scottish ministers designated the areas covered by the application.

South Ayrshire Council applied on 16 July 2004. It submitted revised versions of its application on 14 October 2004 and 7 July 2005. The council provided supplementary information on 8 August 2005. Its final application is currently being assessed.

Communities Scotland, as regulator, is responsible for determining the specific conditions to be attached to the registration of any registered social landlord (RSL). Communities Scotland set the following registration conditions for Glasgow Housing Association (GHA):

GHA must demonstrate how it will, over an appropriate period of time, fulfil all promises and commitments made to tenants in Stage 1 and Stage 2 Notices and contained in the transfer agreement;

GHA must advise Communities Scotland of any inability to meet promises or commitments made to tenants, failure to meet terms of the Transfer Agreement, or material changes required to its business plan or funding arrangements;

GHA will produce an interim Management Agreement by 17 April 2003 and thereafter, within 18 to 24 months of transfer, a final management agreement which maximises the opportunity for LHO involvement and allows decentralisation of decision-making;

GHA establishes mechanisms for allocating resources to LHOs for management, investment and operating costs by 31 March 2003;

GHA actively promotes and supports establishing a registered LHO network within six months of the date of transfer including producing an accommodation strategy and an ICT strategy;

GHA delivers a permanent staffing strategy by 31 March 2003 that allows LHOs to demonstrate independence from GHA and achieve registration, and

The regulator agreed a regulation workplan with GHA to monitor progress in meeting these conditions and has agreed changes to the timescales where appropriate.

GHA received legal advice that EU procurement rules made the current arrangements with LHOs for service delivery untenable. Scottish ministers have decided that one way to tackle this is to introduce an amendment to the Housing Bill which was discussed in Parliament on 24 November. This amendment will allow ministers to direct GHA to devolve its housing management functions to another RSL. It will also allow ministers to set out the terms of the agreement between the two organisations.

If it is not possible for GHA to meet the conditions attached to its registration, then the regulator has a range of actions available. These actions may range from requiring new agreements to be put in place which fulfil the registration conditions, to making use of statutory intervention powers if necessary. We are confident, however, that the amendment to the bill, if passed, will ensure that tenant commitments and control are delivered.

Number of Children Aged 16 and Under Registered with an NHS Dentist, 31 March 2005

Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

Number of People Aged 60 and Over Registered with an NHS Dentist, 31 March 2005

Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

Number of NHS Patients WhoseRegistration Status Shows “Withdrawn”¹; by NHS Board; Year EndingMarch

Source: MIDAS (ManagementInformation and Dental Accounting System).

Note:1. Based on patientswhose registration status indicates “withdrawn” between the dates in question.This occurs when there is a request for the registration record to be withdrawn(made usually by the dentist, and subsequently approved by the NHS board). Thenumbers also include withdrawals carried out where more than one activeregistration exists for the same patient, as part of data cleansing. Somepatients whose registration has been withdrawn may register with another NHSdentist elsewhere. There may also be retrospective additions to these data.

The Survey of Mortgage Lenders is a monthly survey carried out by the ODPM in partnership with the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which collects house price information from about 50 mortgage lenders for properties that reached completion during the month and for which they provided the mortgage.

Scottish Planning Policy 3 (SPP 3) requires planning authorities to take a long-term view of where needs for housing can best be met and provide in full the housing land requirement for each housing market area. In addition, Planning Advice Note 74 on Affordable Housing established a benchmark figure of 25% of all new housing developments to be affordable homes where justified by a housing needs assessment.

Measures are also in place to release publicly owned land for affordable housing. Scottish Executive land that is deemed surplus to requirements is notified internally to Executive Departments. Communities Scotland is notified through this process, and given the opportunity to register an interest in the land on behalf of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) who may wish to purchase the land for affordable housing. In addition, an agreement is in place with Forestry Commission Scotland who, in handling sales of surplus land, now provide a preferential opportunity for RSLs to acquire the land for affordable housing. We have also announced a willingness to release land for affordable housing from the Scottish ministers’ estate, almost all of which is crofting land.