Chamber and committees

There was no formal consultation on the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2009 (SS1 2009/234). The Accountant in Bankruptcy did however run a series of workshops with stakeholders and met regularly with the money advice sector at various stages during the regulation making process.

Stakeholders included representatives from:

HM Revenue and Customs

Eversheds

Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation

Lloyds TSB

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland

Money Advice Scotland

Citizens Advice Scotland

Glasgow City Council

South Lanarkshire Council

North Lanarkshire Council

Highland Council

Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice

Argyll and Bute Council

Fife Council

North Ayrshire Council

Accountant in Bankruptcy

 

The Accountant in Bankruptcy publishes their staffing and operational costs annually in their annual report which is available on their website at www.aib.gov.uk.

The trust deed process was discussed as part of the work of the Debt Action Forum (DAF). There has not been any policy decision to change trust deeds at this time. Work is ongoing with stakeholders to consider the whether changes are required to trust deeds.

There are various approaches which could be adopted to ensure that no NHSScotland staff member received less than £7 per hour.

Depending on which approach was chosen, it is estimated that it would cost between £3.1 and £7.3 million to introduce a £7 per hour minimum wage in NHSScotland in the 2009-10 financial year. There may also be further additional costs of up to £3.4 million in 2010-11.

The lowest hourly rate currently available in NHSScotland is £6.76 which is significantly above the current minimum wage of £5.73 per hour. From modelling data available centrally it is estimated that some 5,000 staff are on this rate.

It is unlikely that any pay point will be below £7 per hour from 1 April 2011.

Only points one and two on the 56 point Agenda for Change salary scale are below £7 per hour and are currently £6.76 and £6.94 respectively. Both of these rates are already substantially more than the minimum wage of £5.73 per hour. It should also be noted that all Agenda for Change staff receive incremental progression as well as cost of living increases. These are, therefore, the bottom points on scales which staff move up as their experience increases. From modelling data available centrally, it is estimated that some 8,000 staff in NHSScotland are currently on these two pay points.

It is not possible from the information held centrally to break this number down according to NHS board.

The forecasts for future growth in UK Total Managed Expenditure (TME) made at the Finance Committee on the 19 May were derived from the projections contained in the UK Budget 2009.

TME consists of current expenditure and gross investment. The UK Budget 2009 contained projections for current expenditure and gross investment from 2009-10 to 2013-14 (Table C4, UK Budget 2009). Using these projections and the GDP deflators (which are estimates for the years from 2009-10) provided in the Budget document (Table C1, UK Budget 2009), it is possible to estimate the expected change in TME for this period. On this basis it is estimated that TME at the UK level will decline by 0.1% a year in real terms on average between 2011-12 and 2013-14.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24422 on 11 June 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.

NHS Health Scotland recently distributed 36,000 copies of Facing Dementia (Bib. number 47926) and also widely publicised its availability. This included, amongst others, copies to GP practices, Old Age psychiatrists and psychologists and lead contacts in each NHS board area.

NHS Health Scotland is considering an evaluation of its dissemination strategy with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to establish whether the publication has reached the target audience of people with dementia and those who care for them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24353 on 10 June 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.