Chamber and committees

This information isnot held centrally. The management of sickness absence within local authoritiesis a matter for individual local authorities as employers.Local authoritiesare required by law to provide Audit Scotland with informationon sickness absence levels among local government staff on an annual basis. However,the information required relates to days lost due to sickness absence rather thanthe cost of sickness absence. This information can be accessed on the Audit Scotland website www.audit-scotland.gov.uk.

The monthly installation rateover the last two years is shown in the following table:

Period	Installations Undertaken
January 2006	1,047
February 2006	1,147
March 2006	1,621
April 2006	679
May 2006	1,220
June 2006	1,035
July 2006	931
August 2006	996
September 2006	834
October 2006	28*
November 2006	28*
December 2006	29*
January 2007	1,486*
February 2007	1,486*
March 2007	1,486*
April 2007	869
May 2007	870
June 2007	1,194
July 2007	1,101
August 2007	1,209
September 2007	1,014
October 2007	996
November 2007	1,005
December 2007	876

Notes:

1. The figures provided are forcompleted installations. The increased activity following the Cabinet Secretary’sannouncement in November 2007, of additional installations, has yet to flow throughinto the statistics of installations undertaken.

2. Where the figures are markedwith an asterisk, the current managing agent (Scottish Gas) has indicated that theseare average figures for the start-up period covering its involvement on the programme.

The information is only availablefrom October 2006 when Scottish Gas was appointed as the managing agent. ScottishGas has provided the following details:

Period	Applications Received	Eligible Applicants (Subject to Survey)
October 2006	3,825	2,674
November 2006	5,031	3,569
December 2006	2,328	1,667
January 2007	2,514	1,983
February 2007	2,721	2,106
March 2007	2,605	2,047
April 2007	2,838	2,058
May 2007	2,951	2,167
June 2007	2,755	2,164
July 2007	2,362	1,837
August 2007	2,292	1,895
September 2007	1,910	1,674
October 2007	2,584	2,256
November 2007	2,554	2,074
December 2007	1,340	1,088

Notes:

1. The number of applicants recordedduring autumn and early winter 2006 includes applications collected over the summerperiod by the previous managing agent and recorded by Scottish Gas as they assessedeligibility from October 2006.

2. An initial assessment on eligibilityis made at the application stage (normally by telephone) and those applicants arerecorded as eligible. Eligibility is then confirmed during the survey stage in theapplicant’s home.

The information is only availablefrom November 2006 when Scottish Gas was appointed as the managing agent. ScottishGas has provided the following details:

Period	Average Waiting Time in Days
November 2006	180
December 2006	129
January 2007	143
February 2007	136
March 2007	116
April 2007	113
May 2007	114
June 2007	153
July 2007	140
August 2007	163
September 2007	191
October 2007	227
November 2007	251
December 2007	229

Note: The “Average Waiting Time”is the average time a householder has waited between application and the month inwhich their system was installed.

I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response isas follows:

Further to the responseto S1W-15069 on 26 April 2001, a further survey was carried out in October2007. Each prisoner’s religion is among routine information collected on admission.The breakdown of prison population’s declared religious beliefs was as follows:

Religion	No of Prisoners	Percentage
Buddhist	15	<1.0
Christian	201	2.7
Church Of England	82	1.0
Church Of Scotland	2,482	34.3
Muslim	137	1.5
None	2,496	34.3
Other	86	1.0
Roman Catholic	1,776	24.4
Total	7,275

 

No. A GP should,however, liaise with their NHS board about the appropriateness of such areferral.

The general rulecovering the diagnosis and treatment of patients under the NHS in the UK is that services are either provided by, orcommissioned by, a NHS body in whose area the patient lives. If an NHSAuthority in England were to receive a referral from a GPbased in Scotland, it would reach a decision whether or notto accept it. Any such referrals would be considered individually, on theirmerits, before a decision was reached. I would expect clinical considerationsto be the key factors in making a decision. Any costs associated with acceptingthe referral would fall to be met by the relevant NHS board in Scotland.

The arrangementsfor contracts between NHS boards and general practitioners are set out inregulations. These provide that a board may seek an explanation from a generalpractitioner about any referral.

No. A GP should,however, liaise with their NHS authority about the appropriateness of such areferral.

The general rulecovering the diagnosis and treatment of patients under the NHS in the UK is that services are either provided by, orcommissioned by, a NHS body in whose area the patient lives. If an NHS board inScotland were to receive a referral from a GP based in England, the board wouldreach a decision whether or not to accept it. Any such referrals would beconsidered individually, on their merits, before a decision was reached. Iwould expect clinical considerations to be the key factors in making adecision. Any costs associated with accepting the referral would fall to be metby the relevant NHS body in England.

The Scottish Governmentplaces great importance on ensuring that the functions and policies for which itsdirectorates are responsible are subject to equality impact assessment. Thegovernment’s equality impact assessment tool and process not only enables us toimpact assess those areas currently covered by legislation, but also includes ourvoluntary commitment to impact assess for sexual orientation, religion/belief andage. All government directorates, including health directorates, are working toequality impact assess their new and developing policies. Equality impact assessmentis an on-going process and all assessments will be published on the Scottish Governmentwebsite once they are complete.

No. We are currently working tothe following timetable:

Publish draft roadorders and compulsory purchase orders:

Autumn 2007

Award contract – 2009-10

Scheme open – 2012-13.

There is a duty oneach NHS board to complete and publish equality and diversity impact assessmentsof the policies and services for which they are responsible. We are remindingboards of our commitment to this as part of the 2007 Annual Review cycle processwhich is currently in progress.