Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-34023

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking with North Lanarkshire Council to improve collaboration between the NHS and the voluntary sector.

We are keen to support the development of relationships at a local level between the third sector, local authorities, community planning partnerships (of which NHS boards are a statutory member) and other local partnerships so that the sector may play a significant role in the delivery of local services and the single outcome agreements.

To this end we are supporting the development of third sector interfaces for each local authority area, such as Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL). The Chair of VANL sits on the North Lanarkshire Community Health Partnership and VANL is represented on the NHS Lanarkshire Public Partnership Forum. The interface is also currently participating in discussions with NHS Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire Council regarding efficiencies and potential cost savings so as to minimise any potential impact within the voluntary and community sector.

In addition, NHS Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire Council work closely with the third sector on a number of other issues, including:

Joint funding for the delivery of frontline services and services that underpin national and local priorities;

Joint Partnership Agreements, and

Promotion of the local voluntary sector.

Question reference: S3W-33933

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what publications have been issued by the Scottish Housing Regulator since it came into existence, broken down by publication date.

I have asked Michael Cameron, Acting Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Housing Regulator came into operation on 1 April 2008. Since this date, we have published Regulation Plans for 52 Registered Social Landlords, 29 Inspection Reports and twenty-four Corporate and Financial Documents. We have published all of these on our website and some in hard copy.

Full details of the individual Regulation Plans that we have issued are available on our website: http://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_plansbyyear.hcsp#TopOfPage.

The publications that we have issued since 1 April 2008, broken down by publication date, are detailed in the following table:

Date of Publication	Publication Name
4 June 2010	ACS Online User Guide 2009-10
4 June 2010	Weslo Housing Management Inspection Report
13 May 2010	Corporate Plan 2010-11
4 May 2010	Regulation Plans 2010 (52 separate plans)
30 April 2010	Data Matters
13 April 2010	SHR 28 Guidance Note
8 April 2010	West Dunbartonshire Council Inspection Report
1 April 2010	Number Crunching
1 April 2010	Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS)
1 April 2010	Summary Facts and Figures 2008-09
18 March 2010	Stirling Council Inspection Report
3 March 2010	Annual Performance and Statistical Return (APSR) 2009-10 Forms & Guidance
8 February 2010	Argyll & Bute Council Inspection Report
26 January 2010	Orkney Islands Council Inspection Report
22 January 2010	Argyll Community Housing Association Inspection Report
7 January 2010	Annual Performance and Statistical Return (APSR) 2009-10 “ Summary of changes
27 November 2009	RSLs and Homelessness: Thematic Report
8 October 2009	2008-09 Performance Statistics
30 September 2009	SHR Annual Report
11 September 2009	Equalities Statement & Action Plan
22 July 2009	Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement Report
14 July 2009	Castle Rock Edinvar Inspection Report
8 July 2009	Glasgow City Council Inspection Report
2 July 2009	Berwickshire Housing Association Inspection Report
30 June 2009	2009 Regulation Plans
26 June 2009	Glasgow Housing Association Progress Audit Report
19 June 2009	Bridgewater Housing Association Inspection Report
9 June 2009	Financial Information Release -audited accounts of RSLs for the year ended 31 March 2008
5 May 2009	Loan Portfolio Return 2009
30 April 2009	New Guide to how we intervene
21 April 2009	Five Year Financial Projections 2008-09
23 March 2009	Hebridean Housing Partnership Inspection Report
09 March 2009	Dundee City Council Inspection Report
21 January 2009	Aberdeenshire Council Inspection Report
7 January 2009	Moray Council Inspection Report
26 November 2008	Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar Inspection Report
7 November 2008	Renfrewshire Council Inspection Report
27 October 2008	Margaret Blackwood Inspection Report
30 September 2008	Scottish Housing Regulator - Corporate Plan 2008-10
15 September 2008	Whiteinch & Scotstoun inspection report
29 August 2008	Governance Matters Report
15 August 2008	Inverclyde Council inspection report
13 August 2008	North Ayrshire Council inspection report
8 August 2008	Tenants First Housing Co-operative inspection report
30 July 2008	Govan Housing Association inspection report
25 July 2008	Glen Oaks inspection report
21 July 2008	Spire View inspection report
24 June 2008	East Lothian Council inspection report
9 May 2008	Midlothian Council inspection report
28 April 2008	Financial digest 2006-07
15 April 2008	Langstane HA inspection report
11 April 2008	Knowes HA inspection report
11 April 2008	East Ayrshire Council inspection report

Question reference: S3W-33934

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of each publication produced by the Scottish Housing Regulator since its inception.

I have asked Michael Cameron, Acting Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Housing Regulator came into operation on 1 April 2008. Since this date, we have published Regulation Plans for 52 Registered Social Landlords on our website as well as statistical information. SHR does not incur any cost for the publication of this information.

We have incurred a cost for the publications detailed in the following table:

Publication Name	Cost
ACHA Inspection Report	£168
Argyll and Bute Inspection Report	£128
Glasgow City Council Homelessness Inspection Report	£120
Cairn Housing Association Inspection Report	£135
Castle Rock Edinvar Inspection Report	£133
Bridgewater inspection report	£119
Berwickshire inspection report	£123
Hebridean Housing Partnership Inspection report	£119
Dundee City Council Inspection Report	£164
Aberdeenshire inspection report	£165
West Dunbartonshire Council	£143
Moray Council Inspection Report	£143
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar Inspection Report	£106
West Dunbartonshire Council inspection report	£142
Margaret Blackwood Housing Association Inspection Report	£144
Renfrewshire Council Inspection Report	£210
Whiteinch & Scotstoun Housing Association inspection report	£106
North Ayrshire Council Inspection Report	£119
Tenants First Housing Co-operative Inspection Report	£86
Inverclyde Inspection Report	£68
Glen Oaks Housing Association inspection report	£98
Spire View Housing Association inspection report	£74
East Lothian Council re-inspection report	£91
Langstane Housing Association inspection report	£75
Knowes Housing Association Inspection Report	£56
East Ayrshire Council Inspection Report	£219
SHR 08-09 Annual Report	£9,933
Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement	£627
A guide to how we intervene	£147
RSLs in Scotland - Summary Facts and Figures 2007/08	£981
SHR Corporate Plan 2008-10 and A Guide to How we Regulate	£4,752
Governance Matters	£1,063
Factsheet Whistle blowing & Complaints Form	£643
Midlothian Council Inspection Report	£93
Printing of Treasury Management - The Use of Derivatives & Scottish Housing Regulator Leaflet	£425
SHR Corporate Plan 2010 - 2011	£30
Total	£21,947

Question reference: S3W-33936

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many local councillors have been appointed to quangos since 2006, broken down by (a) title, (b) date, (c) political affiliation and (d) local authority.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Information relating to board membership details of the public bodies which are regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland is detailed in the Directory of Public Appointments on the Scottish Government''s public appointments website http://www.appointed-for-scotland.org/About-public-bodies/NDPB-Directory/. The directory does not hold details of any past appointments.

Question reference: S3W-34024

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to increase efficiency savings identified in NHS Lanarkshire’s prescription budget.

NHS Lanarkshire implemented its most recent prescribing action in February 2010 with the explicit aim of generating £2.2 million of annual savings on prescribing costs within financial year 2010-11. This was informed by the recent work of the West of Scotland prescribing efficiencies group where approximately 25 different actions were identified that could lead to improved prescribing efficiency and cost savings. The plan is subject to regular review and future attention will focus on the reduction of medicines waste and the improved effectiveness of repeat prescribing and dispensing systems “ activity that is common to all NHS boards.

Question reference: S3W-33937

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many local councillors have been represented on Scottish Government working groups since 2006, broken down by (a) date, (b) title, (c) political affiliation and (d) working group.

Question reference: S3W-33797

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to assist in the consultation process relating to proposed housing stock transfer ballots in each year since 2006.

The information requested is not available in the precise form requested. In 2006, the then Scottish Executive set limits on the maximum amount of financial assistance payable in relation to the stock transfer set-up costs of councils and the potential receiving landlords. These funding limits were published in a document entitled Community Ownership Programme Guidance and varied according the scale of the stock transfer as follows:

Units transferring	Total (seller plus purchaser) Unit Cost	Seller Cost Per Unit (Council)	Purchaser (receiving RSL) Cost Per Unit Recoverable
3,000 units +	£665	£397	£268
4,000 units +	£548	£322	£226
5,000 units +	£478	£277	£201
6,000 units +	£431	£247	£184
7,000 units +	£397	£225	£172
8,000 units +	£372	£209	£163

No specific funding limits were set for individual elements of the consultation process relating to individual stock transfer ballots and, as a result, councils and registered social landlords (RSLs) were not asked to keep a detailed financial breakdown of the individual cost elements of the stock transfer process.

Question reference: S3W-33935

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 4 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many evictions by social landlords have taken place in each local authority area in each year since 2006.

The number of eviction actions against council house tenants is published annually by local authority area on the Scottish Government website.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/Evictions.

The Scottish Housing Regulator publish the number of eviction actions against registered social landlords tenants annually by local authority area.

http://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_statisticstables2008-09.hcsp#TopOfPage.

These figures are collected and published for financial years only.

Question reference: S3W-33932

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority will save in terms of efficiency savings in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-33798

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many properties have been transferred through housing stock transfer in each year since 2006.

Chamber and committees