Chamber and committees

The expenditure is being closely monitored and managed so that there will be a very small underspend by the end of the financial year, in line with recent performance. HM Treasury has advised that it has abolished the existing end year flexibility arrangements. This means that we will not be allowed to carry forward any underspend from 2010-11 to a future financial year.

This will be after our budget for 2010-11 has been reduced by the sum we are planning to carry forward to 2011-12 to support the capital programme in that year.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is a statutory consultee in relation to all developments which are subject to environmental impact assessment and in relation to all strategic environmental assessments. In addition, SNH may offer comments or advice to local planning authorities on other smaller scale developments where there are significant natural heritage issues. In formulating its advice in all these cases, SNH will consider the likely impacts on flora, fauna, landscape, visual amenity, recreation and access.

NHSScotland does not gather data on the numbers of days lost due to sickness absence, but does monitor the number of hours lost, as this is a more accurate measure of the impact of sickness absence on the service.

For the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, NHSScotland had an absence rate for the year of 4.75% of the total available contracted hours.

This rate represents a 0.2% reduction in sickness absence over the 2008-09 rate of 5.95% and a 0.8% reduction compared with the 2006-07 rate of 5.55%.

Percentage rates for each NHS board are published yearly by the Information Services Division (ISD). Further information on sickness absence rates in NHSScotland can be found at the ISD website.

The classifications of organisations as public under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and for the UK National Accounts are determined separately.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides a definition of a Scottish public authority as:

(a) any body which, any other person who, or the holder of any office which “

(i) is listed in schedule 1, or

(ii) is designated by order under section 5(1), or

(b) a publicly-owned company, as defined by section 6.

The United Kingdom National Accounts adopts the broad framework and principles for deciding classifications determined by the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). It is a legal requirement of European Union countries to compile statistical returns on the basis of ESA95. The UK National Accounts are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on this basis. The ONS is the final arbiter of National Accounts classification decisions in the UK.

Scottish Water''s level of borrowing is published in its annual report and accounts for each year. The Bib. numbers for each year are:

2002-03: 28754

2003-04: 33541

2004-05: 36848

2005-06: 39906

2006-07: 43566

2007-08: 46506

2008-09: 48596

2009-10: 51154

 I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34268 on 16 June 2010. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34266 on 21 June 2010. 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.

All staff in the directorates and agencies which comprise the Scottish Government main bargaining unit and all senior civil servants in the core Scottish Government whose performance is appraised for pay purposes, are potentially eligible to receive a non-consolidated, taxable and non-pensionable performance payment. Only those staff whose performance throughout the performance year - which runs from 1 April to 31 March - and who meet the required high standards, receive a performance payment. During the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, some 7,755 staff had their performance assessed and were, therefore, potentially eligible for a performance payment in the 2009-10 financial year.

Staff can also receive non-consolidated, taxable and non-pensionable performance payments in recognition of special one-off contributions. During 2009-10 approximately 8,300 staff were potentially eligible for such a payment.

Performance payments which reward continuous high performance over the course of the year were made to 711 staff in the Directorates and Agencies which comprise the Scottish Government Main bargaining unit and to staff in the core Scottish Government Senior Civil Service during the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010. 447 payments were made to staff during the same period in recognition of special one-off contributions.

The Scottish Government has put in place a number of support measures to assist businesses and individuals under the Scottish Economic Recovery Plan. The Scottish Government has always been clear about the importance of creating a supportive business environment and this includes the extension of our successful Small Business Bonus Scheme, which is already helping companies through the economic downturn by allowing them to make vital savings and re-invest in the business. In Scotland, new businesses can access advice on a range of issues from Business Gateway, which is now delivered across the whole of Scotland by local authorities. In addition, the Scottish Government Determined to Succeed strategy aims to develop enterprise and employability skills of all young people, giving them a can do, will do attitude. Through Determined to Succeed we are changing the culture in our schools, embedding enterprise and entrepreneurship into young people - building for the future.

This information is not available. All staff in the Scottish Government have a range of objectives which are agreed on an individual basis and against which their performance is assessed. Any performance payment which may be due will depend on an individual''s performance across all of their objectives.