Chamber and committees

The consultant's final report on the Review of Funding for Black and Minority Ethnic Groups in the Voluntary Sector was published by the Executive on 26 March for consultation until 31 July. 5,000 copies of the report have been printed. Printing costs were £13,470 and £7,500 has been set aside for distribution costs.

This type of consultation is part of the normal workload of Scottish Executive staff as the Government is committed to, wherever practicable, pre-legislative consultation on draft bills. There were no publicity or printing costs as the consultation documents were issued by e-mail and also placed on the Scottish Executive website.

Copies of the consultation documents were sent to:Leaders of Scottish Local AuthoritiesChief Executives of Scottish Local AuthoritiesConvention of Scottish Local AuthoritiesSOLACESOLARMSPsLocal Government CommitteeScottish Parliament Information CentreScottish Labour PartyScottish Liberal DemocratsScottish Conservative and Unionist PartyScottish National PartyScottish Green PartyAccounts CommissionCommissioner for Local Administration in ScotlandScottish Local Government Information UnitFaculty of AdvocatesSignet LibraryOther Government DepartmentsThe distribution was completed by e-mail and the documents have also been placed on the Scottish Executive website.

The criteria are set out in section 39 of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. This will be supplemented by further guidance in due course.

The Executive is already taking actions to help local authorities improve their waste management. The National Waste Strategy: Scotland, which we adopted in 1999, outlines the ways in which we intend to change the way waste is dealt with in Scotland. 11 Waste Strategy Area Groups have been set up to establish the best practicable environmental option for dealing with waste in each area. These groups are preparing Area Waste Plans, which are planned to be ready by the end of this year.The Executive is committed to a more sustainable future for waste management in Scotland and, as Sarah Boyack explained in answer to question S1W-10588, has made available considerable resources for the implementation of Area Waste Plans by local authorities. This includes the Strategic Waste Fund which has £50.4 million over the three years 2001-02 to 2003-04. The Strategic Waste Fund also provided a £3 million grant to local authorities last year to "kick-start" recycling and composting plans.Sarah Boyack also announced in question S1W-10588 that we are contributing £2.1 million to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) over three years. WRAP will have a business focus and will concentrate initially on market facilitation, promoting investment in recycling, research and information management and the provision of guidance, advice and technical support. In addition, the Executive will continue to fund the Recycled Markets Development (ReMaDe) Scotland programme which takes a hands-on, local approach to identifying and developing markets for recycled materials.The Accounts Commission Overview identified low market prices as one reason why some local authorities had withdrawn separate collections of recyclable materials such as paper. By tackling the barriers to recycling through WRAP and ReMaDe we aim to lay a sound foundation upon which we can improve Scotland's poor recycling record.

Effective consultation is fundamental to good government. The Scottish Executive is committed to providing appropriate opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of policy change to do so in ways which will inform and enhance the policy-making process.

The tables detail the consultation exercises undertaken by the Executive on local government and housing since 1 July 1999. In addition to consultation exercises on discrete policy issues, ongoing consultation takes place with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on issues relevant to local government, in particular local government finance matters.(a) Local Government

Date	Consultation Paper
April 1999	Best Value in Local Government: Interim Conclusions of Best Value Task Force
September 1999	Report of the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament : the Scottish Executive's response
October 1999	Transitional Arrangements to phase in the effects of the 2000 revaluation of non-domestic property in Scotland
November 1999	Standards in Public Life - Consultation on the Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland) Bill
December 1999	Best Value in Local Government: Final Report of Best Value Task Force
June 2000	Best Value in Local Government - Next Steps
October 2000	Getting it Right - Performance Information
November 2000	A Power of Community Initiative, Community Planning, Political Restrictions on Council Employees
January 2001	Standards in Public Life: Consultation on the Codes of Conduct for Members of Public Bodies and Councillors
February 2001	Rate relief for small businesses
March 2001	Consultation on the Draft Local Government (Timing of Elections) (Scotland) Bill

(b) Housing

Date	Consultation Paper
November 1999	Draft Houses in Multiple Occupation Order
December 19999	Single Secure Tenancy and the Right to Buy
December 1999	Anti-Social Behaviour
February 2000	Supporting People - Quality and Monitoring
June 2000	Draft Houses in Multiple Occupation Guidance
June 2000	Supporting People - Towards 2003
June 2000	Supporting People - Managing the Changeover
July 2000	Better Homes for Scotland's Communities: The Executive's proposals for the Housing Bill
October 2000	Supporting People Decision Making Processes and Working Arrangements: Implementation 2000 - 2003
December 2000	Supporting People - Mapping Supply
December 2000	Proposals to phase out Section 54 (Tax) Grant paid to Housing Associations in Scotland
December 2000	Housing Standards in Scotland: the Index of Housing Quality
January 2001	Advisory Group on the Implementation of the Central Heating Programme - November 2000
February 2001	UK Fuel Poverty Strategy

The Scottish Executive is not aware of any plans to establish women-only residential alcohol rehabilitation centres in Scotland. Alcohol misuse services will be at the heart of the proposed national Plan for Action on alcohol misuse, and in developing that component of the plan the needs of specific groups such as women will require to be taken into account.

The costs of publishing The Scottish Budget: Annual Expenditure Report of the Scottish Executive summary document are shown in the table:

	£
Design*	8,742
Printing**	9,369
Internet connection of text	440
Distribution***	600

* includes £400 purchase of photograph used by both summary and detail publications.

** includes £135 for work to both summary and detail documents.

*** estimate of costs of distribution.

Costs of photocopying were met from within normal Scottish Executive running costs. There were no launch costs.

The committees asked for a large amount of additional information to be included in this year’s Annual Expenditure Report. Due to the resulting size of the detailed document we therefore also produced a summary, picking out the main points for spending in each area.

Developing corporate governance arrangements should be seen as an evolutionary process, both as councils develop their performance management systems under Best Value and policy development and decision-making structures following the McIntosh Report. The Leadership Advisory Panel has been working with councils as they have undertaken self-reviews of those structures. The key areas which have formed the basis of councils' reviews and the work of the panel have been openness, accountability and transparency. We look forward to seeing the panel's report.

The Scottish Executive will continue its partnership approach with the Accounts Commission, local authorities and others to further develop Best Value in local government. Best Value encourages the pursuit of continuous improvement and effective performance management. This includes a greater reliance on effective performance information.