Chamber and committees

Six million pounds of New Housing Partnership (NHP) funding was earmarked in 1999 for Fife Council's housing regeneration projects in Abbeyview, Lochgelly, Dysart and Buckhaven and Methil. £104,580 NHP grant was paid in 1999-2000 and £433,331 in 2001-02. These resources have allowed the council to undertake a number of activities associated with the transfer process. These include extensive tenant consultation and the provision of independent advice to tenants; the production of a stock condition survey and other technical reports; commissioning an independent valuation and providing project management costs for the development consortia. We are currently discussing with the council the level of resources required to progress the projects in the current financial year.

The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to bring forward proposals to make the provision of an archaeological sites and monuments record a statutory requirement for local authorities.

Fife Council and the Executive are currently considering a number of issues with the independent valuer, relating to the initial valuation of the council's housing stock in Abbeyview, Lochgelly, Dysart, and Buckhaven and Methil. It is hoped that valuation might be finalised by end August.

I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Communities Scotland's programme allocations reflect ministerial priorities and link the national distribution of resources to area teams, based upon the measurement of social exclusion. The area programme allocation is then developed in close consultation with partners, reflecting a broad range of existing partnership arrangements and leading to locally devised programmes and decision making. Programmes are based upon local housing market and needs analysis to identify, consistent with our strategy, the demands, needs and opportunities for housing investment.Communities Scotland's allocation by local authority area since 1999 is as follows:

Communities Scotland Expenditure by Local Authority 1999-2000 to 2001-02 (Capital Programme only)
Unitary Authority	1999-2000(£ million)	2000-01(£ million)	2001-021(£ million)
Aberdeenshire	4.7	5.6	6.1
Angus	3.6	3.1	2.8
Argyll and Bute	5.7	4.5	5.8
City of Aberdeen	5.8	6.4	5.1
City of Dundee	7.2	8.1	6.6
City of Edinburgh	18.2	17.5	13.1
City of Glasgow	61.0	63.2	63.7
Clackmannanshire	1.5	0.9	2.2
Dumfries and Galloway	3.0	4.9	4.1
East Ayrshire	0.9	2.7	1.7
East Dunbartonshire	1.8	2.1	0.5
East Lothian	1.6	1.0	0.7
East Renfrewshire	1.5	3.2	2.2
Falkirk	1.5	2.0	2.3
Fife	9.0	8.5	8.2
Highland	6.1	7.2	8.8
Inverclyde	6.7	6.5	6.1
Midlothian	0.5	0.7	0.8
Moray	1.3	0.4	1.1
North Ayrshire	3.2	2.1	3.2
North Lanarkshire	10.7	12.6	10.4
Orkney	1.3	1.9	1.8
Perth and Kinross	5.6	5.4	6.1
Renfrewshire	9.7	9.5	10.0
Shetland	0.6	0.6	0.9
South Ayrshire	3.6	3.5	3.6
South Lanarkshire	7.4	6.5	7.9
Stirling	3.0	2.3	4.0
The Scottish Borders	3.4	3.2	3.2
West Dunbartonshire	5.4	6.8	7.7
Western Isles	1.5	0.6	1.2
West Lothian	3.7	3.6	3.1

Notes:1. Original Budget figure is used as 2001-02 accounts yet to be finalised - therefore these figures are subject to change.

The median waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with an orthopaedic consultant, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner, by NHS board of residence, for the years ending 31 March 1999, 2000 and 2001, and the nine months to 31 December 2001, are given in the table.NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment with an Orthopaedic Consultant, Following a General Medical Practitioner Referral, by NHS Board of Residence. Years Ended 31 March 1999, 2000, and 2001 and 9 Months To 31 December 2001^P.

	Year Ended	Year Ended	Year Ended	9 Months To
NHS BOARD	31 March 1999	31 March 2000	31 March 2001	31 December 2001p
Argyll and Clyde	84 days	78 days	73 days	84 days
Ayrshire and Arran	50 days	71 days	79 days	80 days
Borders	55 days	71 days	70 days	70 days
Dumfries and Galloway	81 days	69 days	91 days	80 days
Fife	81 days	72 days	76 days	79 days
Forth Valley	89 days	125 days	160 days	147 days
Grampian	61 days	58 days	75 days	91 days
Greater Glasgow	101 days	98 days	104 days	118 days
Highland	119 days	138 days	87 days	93 days
Lanarkshire	103 days	130 days	115 days	115 days
Lothian	82 days	85 days	88 days	97 days
Orkney	28 days	42 days	42 days	36 days
Shetland	52 days	48 days	60 days	41 days
Tayside	44 days	53 days	63 days	74 days
Western Isles	59 days	68 days	61 days	51 days
SCOTLAND	72 days	78 days	85 days	91 days

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.Notes:^PProvisional

The assessment of the Fife Structure Plan is nearing completion and we hope to announce a decision shortly.

The publication and printing of the consultation document Implementing the Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Act 1999 draft regulations and guidance for Scotland has to date cost a total of £857. The breakdown is as follows:

Print Costs	£417
Distribution	£24
Website Conversion	£416

The cost of publishing, printing and distributing each edition of the Active Communities newsletter is as follows. However, only estimated costs can be provided on the latest newsletter, as final invoices are yet to be received. Moreover, over 16,000 copies of the latest newsletter have been distributed, 4,000 more than the earlier editions.

Edition	Cost
Newsletter 1	£10,273
Newsletter 2	£9,792
Newsletter 3	£18,183 (estimated figure)

The total publication costs (including circulation) of the Pathfinders to the Parliament Progress Report were just under £3,000. This figure is based on 1,000 copies of the report.

The cost of the graphic design and printing of the group's report was £16,133. The distribution cost to date is £500.