Chamber and committees

In line with the interim guidanceon Informing, Engaging and ConsultingPatients, Carers and Members of the Public in Developing Health and Community CarePolicies and Services issued to the NHS in March 2004, Pennie Taylor was askedto take part in evaluating the consultation process on the redrawing of NHS boundaries in Argyll and Clyde. Her comments,and those drawn from the experience of NHS boards in using the interim guidanceto engage with their local communities, are currently being used to update the interimguidance.

The Executive andCommunities Scotland are engaged in discussion with a number of public bodies andagencies about the use of surplus public sector land across Scotland foraffordable housing. A national agreement is in place with Forestry CommissionScotland and we are currently pursuing discussions that seek to extend to Scotland anagreement that exists between English Partnerships and Defence Estates. Localagreements are also proving successful in some areas in delivering suitable land,such as the arrangement I announced on 13 March which sees former Ministry ofDefence properties in Elgin being acquired for affordable housing. We intend to buildon such arrangements and extend them to other areas wherever possible. We are,for instance, looking at ways to facilitate local agreements between localauthorities and health boards. Our Regeneration Statement published earlierthis month commits us to maximise the regeneration potential of public sectorland and we will continue to examine all opportunities to secure more land foraffordable housing in our most pressured areas. We are also streamlining thesystem that identifies surplus public sector sites and encouraging its use by awider range of public bodies.

No public bodies havedeclined to conclude framework agreements.

The Scottish Executive has heldgeneral discussions with HM Treasury about the implications of the Barker Report,including the possible introduction of a Planning Gain Supplement (PGS). We wereaware that the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report. would include an announcement ofa consultation on PGS.

Discussions are on-going withHM Treasury on a number of aspects of the proposals, including the re-distributionof revenues raised. We will consider the outcome of these discussions, as well asthe views of Scottish stakeholders expressed in the consultation. Once there arefurther details on the likely level and proposed treatment of the revenues raised,we will consider the mechanisms that might be applied to their distribution in Scotland. Thisconsideration will necessarily cover the powers needed to implement them. At thisstage, however, it is too early to assess the availability of appropriate powers.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of houses approvedwith funding from Scottish Homes or Communities Scotland in each year since 1997-98for (a) all forms of shared ownership, (b) private rented housing and (c) owner-occupiedhousing where the houses came under our definition of affordable housing is as follows:

Year	Shared Ownership	Private Rented	Owner Occupation
1997-98	668	35	1,436
1998-99	549	112	1,602
1999-2000	301	82	1,867
2000-01	193	109	941
2001-02	318	104	56
2002-03	76	93	539
2003-04	360	75	865
2004-05	273	41	471
2005-06*	579	36	378

Note: *Figures for 2005/06 arenot yet available. Table includes agreed targets.

The Electricity Act is a reserved matter and powers in respect of consents have been executively devolved to the Scottish ministers. The arrangements for consideration of applications for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 are separate from those for the planning system. The Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill does not therefore amend any of the provisions in the Electricity Act 1989.

A number of options exist to ensure that affordable units which are built for low-cost home ownership remain affordable in the future. In order to control subsequent sales, conditions can be placed in sale missives, or public bodies may consider transferring land to Rural Housing Bodies which can then attach Rural Housing Burdens to properties. In the case of Homestake, the scheme includes provision for a “golden share”, which can be retained by the RSL upon sale. Forestry Commission Scotland, for instance, ensures that its sites sold for low-cost home ownership are covered by either the Homestake golden share or a Rural Housing Burden.

Planning Advice Note 74 “Affordable Housing” contains general advice on planning conditions and planning agreements to safeguard land identified for affordable housing and to retain affordable units. The PAN includes a case example outlining City of Edinburgh Council’s use of planning agreements to regulate the sale of discounted dwellings for affordable housing.

In order to ensure that housing for social rent stays in the affordable sector, and is not sold to a sitting tenant through the Right to Buy (RtB), a public body would need to transfer its land to a charitable housing association as defined in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990) or the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Registered Social Landlords) Order 2002. Transfers of land to housing associations which do not comply with the above criteria, may mean that rented units could in future be subject to the RtB. Future RtB sales could be prevented by a RtB pressured area designation, for tenancies which commenced on or after 30 September 2002. It is for local authorities to apply to Scottish ministers for pressured area designations.

The actual mechanisms for re-distributing the revenue raised by planning gain supplement have still to be developed between HM Treasury and the Executive. They will take account of the recent consultation exercise. The consultation paper states that “PGS revenues will be dedicated to financing additional investment in the local and strategic infrastructure necessary to support growth” and that “The Government anticipates that an overwhelming majority of PGS funds will be recycled within the region from which they derived”. It is our objective that Scotland’s share of the revenues raised is fair and transparent.

Enterprise, Transport and LifelongLearning Department

 Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whetherTransport Scotland will publish the full report, commissioned by the Executive,on the proposed A737 Dalry bypass.

(S2W-22436)

TavishScott A draft report on the A737 Dalry STAG study is currentlybeing reviewed. Once the report is finalised, I would expect it to be made publiclyavailable.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.

There is currently little information available on these issues in addition to that contained in the consultation paper Planning Gain Supplement: a consultation, issued by HM Treasury in December. These are issues on which views can be expressed on the consultation and we will discuss them further with HM Treasury. I can however confirm that, since HM Treasury has no direct funding relationship with Scottish local authorities, the money returned to Scotland, however, it may be assessed, will be distributed through the Executive.

While important, the five core business areas identified by English Partnerships represent only some of the aspects required for successful regeneration. In Scotland, responsibility for these areas is shared between individual Scottish Executive departments, Communities Scotland and the Enterprise Networks.

Our forthcoming policy statement on regeneration will articulate our vision for regeneration and define the role of the Scottish Executive and our agencies in supporting regeneration initiatives.