Chamber and committees

The number of recommendationsand requirements put on care homes by the Care Commission is an operational matterfor the commission. The commission can be contacted at:

The Care Commission

Compass House

11 Riverside Drive

Dundee

DD1 4NY

0845 603 0890

www.carecommission.com.

Childhood obesity figures forNHS Greater Glasgow are only available for pre-school children. The following tableshows the body mass index distribution inchildren receiving a 39 to 42 month review, up to 2001.

Year of Birth	Number of 39-42 Month Reviews	% Obese (>=95th Centile)
1999	6,738	8.3
2000	6,416	7.9
2001	6,172	8.3

Source: ISD Child Health SurveillanceProgramme (Pre-School).

For the purposes of this analysis,those children who are ³ 95th centile,based on the 1990 UK reference standard, are defined as obese. The 1990 UKreference standard is based on data collected between 1978 and 1990. Using thesestandards it is expected that 5% of children would be obese.

Local authorities are not requiredunder the Environment Act 1995 to review arsenic levels in ambient air.

However, Council Directive 2004/107/ECsets target values for concentrations in ambient air for a number of pollutantsincluding arsenic. On the basis of information gathered from measurements and modellingrequired by the Directive, there are no exceedances of the arsenic target valuesin Glasgow.

Under the Environment Act 1995all local authorities are required to regularly review and assess air quality intheir areas against objectives for a number of air pollutants, including particulates.If a review indicates that any objective is unlikely to be achieved by the requireddate, the authority concerned must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)and produce an action plan indicating how it intends to tackle the issues identified.

Glasgow City Council has declaredan AQMA for particulates covering the city centre. We do not hold details on theactual number of households in the AQMA but further information, as well as a mapof the streets and households covered by the AQMA, can be found on the Council’swebsite at:

www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Environment/Pollution/Air/LocalAirQualityManagement.htm.

Local authorities are not requiredunder the Environment Act 1995 to review cadmium levels in ambient air.

However, Council Directive 2004/107/ECsets target values for concentrations in ambient air for a number of pollutantsincluding cadmium. On the basis of information gathered from measurements and modellingrequired by the Directive, there are no exceedances of the cadmium target valuesin Glasgow.

Under the Environment Act 1995all local authorities are required to regularly review and assess air quality intheir areas against objectives for a number of air pollutants, including sulphurdioxide. If a review indicates that any objective is unlikely to be achieved bythe required date, the authority concerned must declare an Air Quality ManagementArea (AQMA) and produce an action plan outlining how it intends to tackle the issuesidentified.

Glasgow City Council has notto date declared any AQMAs for sulphur dioxide.

We have no plansto do so. Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 gives local authoritiespowers to identify contaminated land within their areas and to secure its remediation.In practice most contaminated land is remediated as a result of conditions attachedto planning consents for redevelopment proposals. Glasgow City Council is thereforewell placed in its dual role of contaminated land regulator and local planning authorityto assess the scale of remediation work and any impact it may have on local employmentopportunities.

The Scottish Executive does nothave direct responsibility for cleaning up contaminated land but provides financialassistance to local authorities who have a duty under Part IIA of the EnvironmentalProtection Act 1990 to identify contaminated land and secure its remediation. Thiscan be done through voluntary agreement, the serving of notices on the appropriatepersons, as defined in the legislation, or the local authority carrying out thework at its own hand. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has similar powersto bring about the remediation of special sites, defined in the legislation as thoselikely to cause serious harm or serious pollution of the water environment.

The Scottish Executive does nothold centrally information on the amount of contaminated land within local authorityareas. Under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 local authoritieshave a statutory duty to inspect their areas to identify land that is contaminatedland as defined in the legislation. Details of the results of individual site inspectionsshould therefore be available from the local authority.

We have no plans to do so. Asprimary regulators for the contaminated land regime it is a matter for local authoritiesto identity and investigate suspected contaminated sites and to determine whethercontamination is causing, or is likely to cause, significant risk of harm to theenvironment assessed in the context of the current use and circumstances of theland. Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provides local authoritieswith powers to secure remediation as appropriate.