Chamber and committees

The Charter for Grandchildrenwas introduced in May this year, as part of a range of non-legislative measuresdesigned to complement the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006. The Charter for Grandchildren aims to highlightthe important role grandparents and the wider family can play in supporting children,particularly through difficult times such as divorce or separation. It exists asa stand alone document. It also forms part of the Parenting Agreement for Scotland, whichis a pack aimed at parents who are separating. It allows parents to consider andrecord their agreement on key areas which affect their children, such as health,schooling, and contact with wider family members. The family law information materialshave been distributed widely across Scotland, including Citizens Advice Bureaux, public librariesand registrars. Further information is available from the website:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/familylaw.

Under Section 1(1) of the LocalGovernment (Scotland) Act 2003, local authorities are required to demonstrate“Best Value” in local government service provision by making the best use of publicresources, including land and property - keeping a considered and appropriate balancebetween cost, quality and price.

Any local authority wishing todispose of surplus asset(s) for a consideration less than the best that can reasonablybe obtained on the market, must also apply for ministerial consent under Section74(2) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as currently in force. Under currentguidance Section 74(2) guidance, consent will generally be given to a local authorityto sell surplus assets to local community organisations where one of more of thefollowing criteria have been met:

the intending buyer or lessee is performinga charitable or public service function to the benefit of the local community, andthe local authority can show that the organisation or activity thus supported isconsistent with public benefit and that the intending buyer or lessee is unableto afford the asset at its current valuation.

the intending buyeror lessee would be using the asset to promote economic development or regenerationwithin the council’s boundaries, such that the local authority can demonstrate abusiness case for the asset transfer at the discounted value.

the intending buyeror lessee is a public sector or voluntary body which intends to use the asset forpublic purpose, and the local authority can show that the activities thereby supportedare consistent with the authority’s published policy objectives.

the local authoritycan demonstrate that the overall cost to the authority of the transfer is outweighedby consequent savings to the council in pursuing a published policy objective.

thevalue of the asset is low, such that the income forfeited by the transfer is lessthan the cost of maintaining the asset, and transfer is to be at nominal value withthe purchaser paying the local authority’s legal expenses and costs of transfer.

Section11 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 has yet to be brought into force,but will amend section 74(2) of the 1973 act. Section 11 provides for local authoritiesto dispose of land for less than full value without seeking the prior consent ofScottish ministers, subject to a threshold amount being set in regulations.

The Executive has consulted ondraft regulations and is currently considering comments received.

Local alcohol and drug actionteams (ADATs) have responsibility for assessing, planning and delivering alcoholservices, including the collection of information about local need and servicecapacity. Each ADAT is required to submit a corporate action plan to the Executive which includes information on the number of people in contact withalcohol services in the local area.

At national level, the Executive is funding a study which will estimate the number of people drinkingat harmful levels and chart the availability of treatment services in theirlocal area.

The Executive does not givefinancial support to Local Councils on Alcohol, but provides core and project fundingto Alcohol Focus Scotland which supports the council network. The NationalAlcohol Information Resource provides advice to local agencies on informationcollection and analysis.

Aricept will continue to berecommended for treatment by the NHS of patients who have moderate tomoderately severe Alzheimer’s Disease.

As the Scottish figures on fireworksinjuries are collected as part of the Department of Trade and Industry FireworksInjuries Enquiry, and DTI have made the decision not to carry out this survey for2006, no figures will be collated for Scotland for 2006.

The Care Commission registersall independent health care services under the service type “Independent HealthCare Service” and does not register services based on the client group type.

However, we understand that (asat 2 October 2006), three (3) registered independent health care servicesprovide services for the client group, alcohol and drug misuse.

The Care Commission registerscare home services under the service type, Care Home Service and does not registerservices based on the client group type. However, we understand that (as at 2 October 2006), 25care home services provide services predominantly for the client group, alcoholand drug misuse.

Housing support services to vulnerablegroups are provided through the Supporting People programme. The latest availableinformation on numbers of clients supported through the programme, separately identifyingdrug and alcohol abusers, is given in table 2 of the statistical bulletin SupportingPeople Client Statistics 2004-05. This is available on the publications anddata part of the housing statistics section of the Scottish Executive websiteat:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

Information is not held centrallyon the accommodation occupied by the different client groups supported by the programme.

The main Scottish Executive supportfor local authority expenditure on education, including educational advocacy services,is provided through the core local government finance settlement. The settlementcontains grant aided expenditure (GAE) provision for education that amounts to £4.091billion in 2006-07. This funding is paid as a largely unhypothecated block grant.Expenditure on individual areas is a matter for each authority taking into accountlocal needs and priorities.

In addition, £402,513 projectfunding, has been awarded to voluntary organisations over the period 2005-07 specificallyto encourage the development of educational advocacy services for young people andparents of children with additional support needs.