Chamber and committees

Any person who becomes permanently and lawfully resident in Scotland and can show proof that he or she has done so will be entitled to NHS care on the same basis as other residents.

It is possible for people from other parts of the United Kingdom to travel to Scotland in order to receive treatment, and vice versa. The costs will be met by the health authorities where such individuals reside, and the Scottish Government Health Directorate has issued guidance to NHS boards on the procedures to be followed.

Overseas nationals must under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Scotland) Regulations 1989, as amended, be charged for NHS services unless they meet one of a number of categories for exemption from charges or are receiving a service which is exempt from charges. There is some evidence that a relatively small number of overseas nationals seek to obtain NHS care to which they are not entitled in terms of the Regulations. My officials have recently issued updated guidance to the NHS in Scotland to help them to distinguish between those welcome guests who are entitled to NHS care while they are in Scotland and those who are attempting to abuse our hospitality.

The number of official journeys taken by ministers since their appointment in May 2007, in ministerial cars, private hire cars, and taxis is shown in the following table:

Ministerial Car	Private Hire Car	Taxi	Total
6,095	527	115	6,737

Notes:

i. The table covers the period 16 May 2007 to 31 January 2008.

ii. Ministerial car journeys are undertaken by Government Car Service (GCS) who provided Scottish Cabinet Secretary/ministers with a car and driver, and where necessary separate transportation of their official documents/boxes, which is included in these figures.

iii. Private hire cars are only used when it is operationally impossible for GCS to provide a car.

iv. Taxis are used for short journeys whenever it is practically possible.

v. Each leg of a car journey is enumerated separately in the table. So a straightforward return is shown as two journeys.

This compares with a total of 6,607 journeys by ministerial car and 518 by private hire car during the comparable period in the previous year. A record of journeys by taxi in previous years is not held centrally.

The 218 Centre in Glasgow for the support and supervision of women involved in the Criminal Justice system was established in 2003. Funding is provided by the Scottish Government through Section 27 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and paid through the Community Justice Authority to Glasgow City Council as the commissioning authority.

An initial evaluation of the 218 Centre, published in April 2006, reported that the centre provided many benefits for the target group. However, the evaluation was carried out at a relatively early stage of the centre''s existence. The possibility and timing of a further study to look at longer term impacts such as cost-effectiveness and effect on reconviction rates, is currently being explored. This will help identify what particular aspects of this model have proved effective in dealing with women offenders and might be applied in other areas.

Funding for local third sector organisations and delivery projects largely sits with local authorities and other public bodies. It is for these authorities to ensure appropriate monitoring, evaluation and audit processes are in place, subject to the oversight of Audit Scotland.

The Scottish Government has a number of funds which support local action and which have monitoring, evaluation and audit processes in place in line with government funding guidelines. These are also ultimately subject to the oversight of Audit Scotland.

There have been 184 overnight stays in hotels charged for by ministers since  May 2007 at a total cost of £22,185.11.

 

The following is the original answer (published on 25 February 2008); see below.

 

There have been 211 overnight stays in hotels charged for by ministers since May 2007 at a total cost of £23,940.11.

The Scottish Government published a baseline list of 199 formally constituted national public organisations which they are committed to reduce to at least 121 by 2011. No further national public bodies have been set up by ministers since October 2007. The following consultative groups have been set by the Scottish Government since October. These groups are not formally constituted public bodies and do not command any separate legal or administrative identity in their own right. There are no formal budget lines associated with these groups and in most cases costs are limited to incidental travel and subsistence expenses.

Name	Estimated Cost
Business Experts & Law Forum	£1,600 (note1)
Housing Advice for Prisoners Working Group	None (note 2)
Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland “ National Reference Group	None (note 2,3)
Flooding Bill Advisory Groups	None (note 2)
Speciality Training Programme Board	None (note 2)
Serious Organised Crime Task Force	None (note 2)
NHS 60th Anniversary Steering Group	None (note 2)
Network 100 “ Advisory Group on Children''s Hearing Systems Reforms
Working Group to Review Identification of those Eligible for Free School Meals, and School Clothing Grant Provision Across Scotland	None (note 2)
Substance Misuse Education Steering Group	None (note 2)
Steering Group to Support the Development of Building the Curriculum Guidance on Vocational Learning	None (note 2)
Mental Health Act Review Group	£5,000 (note 1)
EU Agricultural Appeals Review Panel	£8,000 (note 1)
Joint Future Thinking Task Force on Universities	None (note 2)
Sustainable Seas Task Force	£10,800 (note 1)

Notes:

1. Funded from within existing resources.

2. No formal budget “ expenditure limited to modest incidental expenses.

3. Group to be disbanded following meetings in March and April.

No comparative data was published by the previous administration on the number of tasks forces/advisory groups established between 1999 and May 2007. They are part of the internal workings of government, many of which are short life working groups drawing in external expertise to inform the development of policy and support the government in delivering its commitments.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

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/webapp/wa.search.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s Official Report website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/index.htm.

The Scottish Government does not collect the figures requested.

The operational deployment of resources is a matter for chief constables, and no information on planned establishment levels is held centrally.

Figures on the number of police officers are collected on a whole-time equivalent basis for the Quarterly Strength Return. This is updated on a quarterly basis to reflect returns for 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December. Copies are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 40257 (for 2006-07) and 43307 (for 2007-08)).