Chamber and committees

There are currently 40 people who hold two non-executive appointments and three people who hold three non-executive appointments on the boards of Scotland’s regulated public bodies.

This information was not held centrally in the form requested before the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland came into effect on 1 September 2011.

Information about the personal pension arrangements of people who hold non-executive appointments on the boards of Scotland’s regulated public bodies is not held centrally.

There are currently 43 people who hold two or more non-executive appointments on the boards of Scotland’s regulated public bodies.

<>Public appointments are not paid by way of a pay scale but receive a daily fee. The Chair and Members Daily Fee Framework is set out in the Technical Guide to the Pay Policy for Senior Appointments and is available on the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk/publicsectorpay. The framework for 2012-13 freezes, for the third consecutive year, the levels of daily fee that apply. Further details of actual remuneration rates are also available on the Scottish Government website at www.appointed-for-scotland.org/About-public-bodies/NDPB-Directory/.

ScotRail advise that it is continuing to re-brief its station and on-train staff on this change and to ensure that 50 Journey Flexipass retailers are aware of this. The information shown on ScotRail’s 50 Journey Flexipass ticket will be amended at the next opportunity to show additional boarding/alighting stations.

ScotRail’s 50 Journey Flexipass tickets are available for Standard or First Class travel on all routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow including via Bathgate. ScotRail advise that, following a recent change, it allows customers holding a 50 Journey Flexipass ticket to board/alight at Coatbridge Sunnyside and stations to the east of that station for travel to/from Edinburgh.

Previously, ScotRail’s 50 Journey Flexipass was a corporate travel option for travel between Glasgow and Edinburgh and vice versa and did not permit boarding and alighting at intermediate stations except Croy on the Edinburgh – Glasgow Queen Street route and Motherwell on the Edinburgh – Glasgow Central route. ScotRail advise that, following a recent change, it allows customers holding the Glasgow to Edinburgh 50 Journey Flexipass ticket to board/alight at Coatbridge Sunnyside and stations to the east of that station.

The draft Energy Bill, published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change on 22 May 2012, contains a set of legislative proposals aimed at taking forward the Electricity Market Reform (EMR).

The EMR provisions are crucial to Scotland’s future energy mix, maintaining investor confidence in Scotland’s electricity sector and ensuring continued investment in baseload plant while developing renewables and Carbon Capture and Storage in Scotland. The Scottish Government agrees with the principles underpinning the EMR which, if done correctly, will provide regulatory and price certainty for low-carbon technologies, support the wider decarbonisation of electricity generation, while maintaining security of supply at minimum cost to consumers.

To achieve these aims, it is essential that Scottish and UK Governments work together to deliver a consistent set of reforms capable of maximising Scotland’s considerable renewable energy resources. It is also important that these reforms build on the successes we have achieved to date through the effective use of our existing powers and an increasingly productive, pro-active and valuable alignment of political and policy will with industry and investor effort. The Scottish Government, for its part, is committed to joint working with our UK counterparts to ensure this momentum is maintained in Scotland, and to deliver ever-closer integration of the Scottish and UK electricity markets in the years ahead.

A detailed response to each of the provisions set out in the Bill is available on the Scottish Government website at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Infrastructure/Grid-Connections/EMR-consultation-UK/StatementUKEnergyBill.

All NHS boards that are responsible for patient care must operate a formal complaints procedure which is consistent with the relevant legislation and national guidance.

Revised national guidance on ‘Handling and Learning from Feedback, Comments, Concerns and Complaints about NHS Health Care Services’ was issued on
28 March 2012 under CEL 8 (2012). The revised guidance reflects the provisions within the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 and the supporting Secondary Legislation. The guidance can be accessed via the following link:

www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2012_08.pdf

Part 4 of the Guidance contains paragraphs on Confidentiality of Patient Information (4.3), Obtaining Express Consent to Use Information in Health Records (4.4) and Consent (4.5). Paragraph 4.5.1 states:

“Where someone (including MPs, MSPs and local Councillors) other than the patient or their authorised agent wishes to make a complaint on behalf of the patient, it will be for the relevant NHS body or health service provider (as the case may be) to ensure that any such complaint is handled in accordance with their obligations under the ECHR, confidentiality laws and any other law to which they are subject, such as the Data Protection Act 1998. In such circumstances it will, for example, be relevant for the body to check whether consent has been received from the patient for the complaint to be made on their behalf.”

NHS Lanarkshire have confirmed that, consistent with national guidance and relevant legislation, their consent form policy has been in place since 2005.