Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive provided grant funding of £37,000 in 1997-98 and £29,000 in 1998-99 to the Association of Scottish Community Councils.

The Advisory Panel for the Review of Management and Decision-Making is intended to act as a high level reference group which will inform the overall strategic direction of the review. Its membership is not intended to be representative, and members have been invited to serve in a personal capacity for their individual expertise and particular experience, much of which brings a perspective from outside NHSScotland. Since the provisional announcement on 3 April, an additional member has accepted my invitation to participate. She is an experienced carer and user of health services.The review itself will be conducted throughout in an open and inclusive manner. A central objective will be to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including patients' groups. The only costs directly associated with the advisory panel will be reimbursement of reasonable travel and subsistence expenses incurred in connection with attendance at quarterly meetings.

In addition to the marked copy of the register showing the issue of ballot papers to voters at polling stations, marked copies are kept of the list of proxies, postal voters and postal proxies to whom ballot papers are issued.

There are no plans at present to remove remaining rent controls on houses let by private sector landlords. However, we will consider any recommendations that the task force may make on this issue.

The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to re-introduce a "ring-fence" for local authority non-housing revenue account expenditure on housing grants. We will, however, consider carefully any recommendations that the task force choose to make on this matter.

In announcing the publication of the Housing Improvement Task Force's first report, I also announced an additional £10 million as an initial allocation of resources for the implementation of its recommendations. We will make final decisions on the way these resources are used and any additional resources that may be needed in the light of the task force's recommendations and the outcome of the spending review.

The Scottish Executive gave a commitment at the time the licensing scheme for HMOs was introduced to conduct a review of implementation in the light of the first year of operation of the scheme. Research to support this review is currently in progress and we expect to publish the results later in the summer. We will be consulting shortly on the specific issue of exemptions from the requirement to be licensed, and whether the current range of exemptions should be extended. We will take a view on the merits of reviewing the size threshold for licensing in the light of the outcome of our review including the results of the research, the consultation and discussions with relevant organisations and individuals.

The remit of the Housing Improvement Task Force does not extend to issues of increasing supply; it is looking at the quality of the existing stock in the private rented sector. However, we are of the view that a strong private rented sector is important in providing choice and flexibility in the housing market and we will expect the task force to pay particular attention to the impact that any of its recommendations aimed at improving quality may have on the supply of privately rented housing.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25291.

The overall annual financial impact of the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions for the public sector in Scotland as a whole is estimated to be no more than £80 million. For any individual organisation such as the enterprise bodies, the impact will be roughly equivalent to 1% of the pay bill. Details of how much individual public sector organisations spend on pay is already made available through a wide range of published documents, including for example bodies' annual reports and accounts.