Chamber and committees

In terms of the specificindependent scrutiny arrangements for the revised service proposals in Ayrshireand Lanarkshire, there are no plans to consult the Health and Sport Committee.

I will look to theIndependent Scrutiny Panel to assess the safety, sustainability, evidence-base andvalue for money of the revised proposals from NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Lanarkshire, and to be satisfied that local viewshave been taken into account. I have agreed with NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Ayrshireand Arran that their revised proposals – having beenscrutinised and evaluated by the independent panel – should be with me for a finaldecision by the turn of the year. In setting this demanding timescale I recognisedthe importance of not setting back or slowing down the boards’ service plans – whichinclude much-needed primary care and community-based developments - any more thanis absolutely necessary to fulfil the commitment on accident and emergency services.

That said, I haveannounced that the Scottish Government will soon consult on arrangements to embedindependent scrutiny in the significant service change process and we would welcomethe committee’s views on this in due course.

The revised proposalswill be considered and agreed by NHS Lanarkshire at a meeting of their board. Theproposals will then be submitted for independent scrutiny.

Health board meetingsare held in public and the agreed, revised proposals will be available from NHSLanarkshire following the relevant board meeting.

The membership of the Independent Scrutiny Panel will be announced soon.

I can confirm thatthere will be no decisions on the future of sportscotland without a full appreciationof the facts and that the future of sportscotland will be considered within thecontext of the wider review of public bodies announced by the Cabinet Secretaryfor Finance and Sustainable Growth on 24 May 2007. Until these conclusions are reached,sportscotland will continue to play a significant role in the implementation ofReaching Higher.

The revisedproposals will be considered and agreed by NHS Ayrshire and Arran at a meeting of their board. The proposals will thenbe submitted for independent scrutiny.

Health boardmeetings are held in public and the agreed, revised proposals will be availablefrom NHS Ayrshire and Arran following the relevant board meeting.

I intend to convenea meeting with stakeholders as soon as possible to discuss issues around Scotland’s representation on the world sporting stage. As partof this discussion we will consider the feasibility of a Scottish Olympic team.Once these discussions have taken place, I will be in a better position to estimatethe costs of transferring athletes on UK programmes into aScottish Olympic team. Scots already contribute to the funding that the UK Governmentprovides to cover many of the costs of Olympic athletes through the tax system.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-608 on 21 June 2007. Allanswers 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/webapp/wa.search.

I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-608 on 21 June 2007. Allanswers 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/webapp/wa.search.

The government willannounce today a number of proposals for tackling Scotland’s housing problems. Ihave spoken to Shelter today and will meet them tomorrow to discuss how to takeforward these proposals.

The government willannounce today a number of proposals for tackling Scotland’s housing problems. I have spoken to the Scottish Federation of HousingAssociations today and in the coming weeks will discuss with them, and others withan interest in the future of Scotland’s housing, how to take forward these proposals.