Chamber and committees

The issue of island NHS boards incurring costs associated with staff attending national meetings on the mainland was raised in the consultation with NHS boards carried out as part of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation’s (TAGRA) report into the impact of the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee formula on remote and rural areas. Following discussion with the remote, rural, and island boards, this issue has not been included on the work plan of TAGRA’s remote and rural subgroup, but may be considered in the future.

To address the range of needs in Scotland we retain a mix of national programmes (such as the Energy Assistance Package) local programmes (such as local authority-led Universal Home Insulation Scheme projects) which enable focussed action and economies of scale reflecting local priorities. Furthermore, action to tackle energy efficiency is taking place at UK, Scotland-wide, local and community level and is led by a range of agencies including Westminster the Scottish Government, local authorities and community groups. The Scottish Government has therefore taken steps to ensure that access to all energy efficiency schemes in Scotland is available through the Home Energy Scotland helpline. This means that Scottish households still have a “one-stop shop” for access to these various schemes.

Notes:

(a) Source: Energy Saving Trust. The latest figures are to beginning May 2011 and are provisional figures subject to change.

(b) Source: Scottish Gas. This refers to installations being progressed or planned or at technical survey stage.

Notes:

*This is a provisional figure for installations and will be subject to revision.

**This figure is for measures funded from the 2009/10 budget.

***These figures are to December 2010. End year figures are being reconciled, but this has been delayed owing to IT problems at Scottish Gas, Stage 4 managing agent.

In addition, the Energy Saving Scotland advice network has provided the following support:

1. Unique Households who were Given Advice or Completed Home Energy Checks

2. Referrals (Non-EAP and Non-HIS)

EU procurement legislation requires the public sector to maintain fair and open competition and transparency. It therefore does not allow any presumption in favour of the employment of locally based surveyors and contractors.

Note: *These schemes are in an early stage of development and consequently, much of the fine detail has yet to be determined.

In addition, the Scottish Government promotes household energy efficiency through the work of the Energy Saving Scotland advice network. This scheme was launched in 2008 and for 2011-12 will receive £4.27 million in core funding.

The majority of funds in Scottish Government programmes are spent on direct services to benefit households. Funds spent on centrally based staff and IT are assessed as admin costs.

Note: *These programmes promote energy efficiency in housing through advice and information. Therefore, all of the funding is used for resource and administration, rather than installations.

EU procurement legislation requires the public sector to maintain fair and open competition and transparency. The Scottish Government, in adhering to these requirements, is keen to ensure best value for customers, tax payers and suppliers, but will consider the contribution that the contract can make through community benefits, such as training and apprenticeships.

The Universal Home Insulation Scheme is run by local authorities and they are responsible for ensuring that their procurement polices comply with all relevant legislation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-558 on 14 June 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government is currently taking forward three separate initiatives which could allow local authorities to retain a proportion of additional business rate income resulting from economic growth.

The first of these initiatives is Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2010 enable up to six local authorities to capture incremental non-domestic rates (NDR) as a result of TIF enabling public sector infrastructure works.

In addition to this the Scottish Government and COSLA are finalising details of a Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme (BRIS). The aim of the BRIS is two fold; to incentivise local authorities to maximise their existing business rate income and also to grow their potential business rate tax base by allowing them to retain locally a proportion of any additional NDR income they can generate. Along with final details of the operation of the BRIS, the implementation date will be discussed and agreed with COSLA.

The Scottish Government is also committed to the creation of four new enterprise zones, designed to attract further inward investment where any additional NDR income could be retained locally.