Chamber and committees

The Review will consultwidely over the next year on a range of issues identified by the Review SteeringGroup. The Equal Opportunities Commission will be consulted.

This information is not heldcentrally.

The disclosure of staff costs and numbers in resource accounts is determined by the accounting guidance to be applied. This guidance is formulated by the Financial Reporting Advisory Board to HM Treasury and applied, as appropriate, to NHS Scotland. We are not aware of any plans to require this level of detailed analysis in future.

The cost book contains more detailed analysis of hospital costs that is not shown in the annual accounts and is broken down in a different way. The cost book information requirements are reviewed regularly but the information produced is not subject to audit.

None. Employment issues within further education colleges, which are autonomous bodies in terms of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, are solely for the colleges themselves to address.

Section 37 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 sets out the provisions by which all planning applications must be determined. Under the provisions of this legislation, it is not necessary for other consents to be in place before planning permission can be granted. Any grant of planning permission does not remove the need to seek other statutory consents nor does it imply that such consents will be forthcoming.

Crematoria are subject to the waste management regime set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and related legislation. The regulatory authority for this regime is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The disposal of waste, includingmercury filters, is governed by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and relatedlegislation, notably (in the case of hazardous waste such as mercury) the SpecialWaste Regulations 1996 (as amended). The main aim of this legislation is protectionof public health and the environment.

Application of environmentallegislation to new crematoria is a matter for the Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency. Any planning considerations when developing new crematoria are, of course,a matter for the planning authority.

There are no current plans tointroduce further “mystery shopping” initiatives in the NHS at national level. the Executive believes that it is important for the quality of health care servicesto be independently assessed and reported on. That is why we established NHS QualityImprovement Scotland in January 2003. In addition, we are establishing the ScottishHealth Council within NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to ensure that the startingpoint for improving quality is the experience of every patient who goes throughthe health care system.

The papers accompanying the planningapplication, as notified to the Scottish ministers by South Lanarkshire Council,include an assessment of demand for cremations in South Lanarkshire for the period2004 to 2018 having regard to death level and population projections for the sameperiod calculated by the Registrar General for Scotland. The Council also providedan assessment of a number of potential sites, including Sydes Brae, having regardto, amongst other things, the development plan designation, environmentaland amenity impact, ground conditions and availability of access. A report of apostal survey of the full South Lanarkshire Citizen’s Panel and the conclusionsof two focus groups were also submitted.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-8350 on 14 June 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The planning application hasbeen notified to the Scottish ministers and is currently being considered. Whilstall relevant issues will be considered, including the level of public concern, itwould be premature at this stage to indicate whether or not the Scottish ministerswill call the application in for their own determination.