Chamber and committees

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Programme ManagingAgent (Scottish Gas) has indicated that 31,720 applications have been received sinceOctober 2006.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Programme ManagingAgent (Scottish Gas) has indicated that contractors take around ten days from beingissued with specifications to completion of the work.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of centralheating systems installed, by fuel type, since October 2006 until July 2007 is shownin the following table:

Type of Heating System	Number Installed
Gas	6,176
Electric	263
Oil	157
Solid Fuel	0
Total	6,596

 

The provision of freshchilled drinking water in hospitals is specifically covered in the NHS QualityImprovement Scotland (NHS QIS) Clinical Standards for Food, Fluid and Nutrition. Standard 3 states that,where clinically appropriate, patients should have access to fresh drinking waterat all times. Standard 4.8 states that boards should ensure there is appropriatefood and fluid available outwith main mealtimes and that there is on-going monitoringand review of the food and fluid provided for patients. These standards were publishedin 2003 and will be reviewed by NHS QIS in 2008.

Audit Scotland is the formal auditor for the public sector. Their mostrecent review of hospital catering was in November 2006. That review did not specificallymention the provision of fresh chilled drinking water.

No. Teachers termsand conditions of service already limits the size of all composite classes to amaximum of 25 pupils. In time this composite limit will reduce to 18 when the classcontains any P1 to P3 pupils.

The National CareStandards for care homes describe what each individual person can expect from aservice provider. They focus on the quality of life that the person using the serviceactually experiences.

Included in the standardsis the right to have snacks and hot and cold drinks whenever a resident wishes.

The teacher inductionscheme guarantees an offer of a one-year teaching post to newly qualified, eligibleprobationer teachers. Since the scheme’s inception in 2002, an offer of a placehas been made for 100% of eligible probationers.

An additional £9 millionhas been made available to local authorities this year to employ a further 300 teacherswith a particular emphasis being placed on the employment of teachers who have justcompleted their one year induction.

Under the Charitiesand Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 a body must demonstrate it provides,or intends to provide, public benefit in order to pass the charity test. When determiningwhether a body provides public benefit the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator(OSCR) must have regard to how the benefit to the public compares to any privatebenefit or any disbenefit that may result from the activities of the particularbody. The OSCR must also have regard to whether there are unduly restrictive conditionson obtaining the benefit the body provides.The interpretationof these statutory provisions in the discharge of its regulatory duty is entirelya matter for the OSCR, as an independent regulator. The OSCR has produced guidanceon Meeting the Charity Test which includes information on how they will assesspublic benefit. This is available on their website www.oscr.org.uk.

Licensing authoritieshave powers to regulate the taxi licensing regime under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

These powers providethat an authority may not grant or renew a taxi licence unless they are satisfiedthat the vehicle is suitable in type, size and design for use as a taxi and thatit is safe for that use. There are powers also to require taxi licence holders topresent their vehicle for periodic inspection and testing to ensure their continuingfitness for the carriage of passengers.

Our energy strategywill set out objectives and key areas for action. A target for generation of electricityfrom renewable sources is already in place and this Government has ambitions foran approach to renewables which extend beyond that. Targets for heat and transportwill be examined, taking into account the European target of 20% renewable energyby 2020 and targets set under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.