Chamber and committees

The Airdrie to Bathgate Railway improvement is currently planned to open on 12 December 2010 which is in line with the original schedule given by the project sponsors, Network Rail.

The General Register of Sasines is a register of deeds in which conveyancing deeds are lodged. The fact that a deed appears in the General Register of Sasines does not guarantee its validity, merely that it is competent to be recorded. The state and quality of a title to a property must be deduced by examination of the relevant deeds relating to that property as recorded in this register.

By contrast, the Land Register is a register of title whereby title flows from the entry for a property in the Register. Section 5 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 requires the Keeper to complete registration in respect of a property title by making up a title sheet for it in the Land Register. The title sheet includes a description of the property, the names of the proprietors, details of any charges over the property and title conditions and rights affecting the property. The title sheet also includes a title plan on which the extent of the registered property is shown. Except for over-riding interests as defined in section 28 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979, the title sheet is determinative of title. (An overriding interest is, in relation to an interest in land, a right or interest that does not have to be constituted in a conveyancing deed, for example certain types of access right.)

The post of Chief Inspector of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate was advertised on 24 March 2009. Interviews will be held on Friday 8 May 2009, the earliest practicable date for the selection panel to meet.

The Land Register is designed to be definitive as to the nature and extent of title. Section 5 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 requires the Keeper to complete registration in respect of a property title by making up a title sheet for it in the Land Register. The content of the title sheet is set out in section 6 of that act and includes a description of the property, the names of the proprietors, details of any charges over the property and title conditions and rights affecting the property. The title sheet also includes a title plan on which the extent of the registered property is shown. The Keeper creates a title sheet for a property based upon the deed submitted for registration, accompanying documentation including the application form, and where the property is being registered in the Land Register for the first time, prior deeds relating to that property as recorded in the General Register of Sasines.

The Fair for All agenda seeks to ensure that whatever the individual circumstances of people''s lives, they have access to the right health services for their needs.

Guidance entitled Achieving fair access was produced and issued to the NHS by the Fair for All “ Disability team in April 2007 and is available at http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/2033.aspx.

Section 4 of the guidance covers Accessible service delivery and Section 4.4 provides advice on Admission to health services.

The six strands of the Fair for All initiative were mainstreamed within NHS Health Scotland with effect from 1 April 2008.

The Scottish Government is supporting NHS boards to take forward a change programme to address the health inequalities facing people with a learning disability and/or autism spectrum disorder. A learning network of NHS boards will give them a forum to share learning and good practice including the role and effectiveness of liaison nurses.

Interviews for the post of Chief Executive of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate will take place on Friday 8 May 2009 the earliest practicable date for the selection panel to meet. The date on which the new chief inspector takes up post will be confirmed following the selection process.

A copy of the Health Protection Scotland (HPS) report has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 48082).

The Keeper creates a title sheet for a property based upon the deed submitted for registration, accompanying documentation including the application form, and where the property is being registered in the Land Register for the first time, prior deeds for that property as recorded in the General Register of Sasines. The Keeper may also request additional evidence from the applicant that he considers necessary to evidence the legal title of the property in respect of which registration is being sought. If the information provided and the examination of title by the Keeper does not reveal any legal or title discrepancy, a title sheet will be completed without exclusion of indemnity.

Where the Land Register is inaccurate (whether due to an error by the Keeper or for any other reason) a person may apply for rectification of the Register. The circumstances in which the Keeper may rectify the Register to remove an inaccuracy are set out in section 9 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979.

Subsection (1) of section 9 confers on the Keeper a general power to rectify any inaccuracy in the register, either on his own initiative, or on being requested to do so. It also requires the Keeper to rectify an inaccuracy on being so ordered by a court or the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

Subsection (3) of section 9 limits both the Keeper''s power to rectify the Land Register and also the power of the court or the Lands Tribunal for Scotland to order the Keeper to rectify. If rectification of the Land Register would prejudice a proprietor who is in possession of the registered title the circumstances in which rectification is permissible are limited. These are: where everyone whose interests are likely to be affected by the rectification have agreed; where the rectification is to note an overriding interest (a form of right that does not require to be constituted in a conveyancing deed such as certain forms of access right); where the inaccuracy has been caused by fraud or carelessness, or where the title is not fully guaranteed (this can happen where there is an element of uncertainty in the underlying title).

If rectification is not legally permissible and the person seeking rectification has suffered loss as a result of that they may be entitled to be indemnified by the Keeper in respect of that loss. If rectification is legally permissible, a person who suffers loss as a result of the rectification may equally be entitled to be indemnified by the Keeper.

The entitlement to indemnity is provided by section 12 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 and is subject to a number of exceptions. Examples include where the Keeper has expressly excluded his indemnity when registering the title or where specified matters could not have been known to the Keeper, and on occasion the applicant, when an application was presented for registration.

Where the Keeper refuses an application to rectify, that decision may be challenged in a court or the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

Pilot visits are anticipated to commence in May 2009 with the visit schedule fully operational from September 2009. All acute hospitals will receive at least one announced and one unannounced visit within a three year cycle.