Chamber and committees

Monitoring the effectivenessof NHS Health Scotland’s disbursements of funding is by way of theorganisation’s performance management system.

Internal processesto monitor effectiveness are driven by quarterly business plan delivery reviewswhich involve budget holders and other staff tasked with project delivery, and stafffrom policy and planning and finance. These reviews lead to the production of reportson business plan delivery for consideration and, where necessary, action by theCorporate Management Team, the Audit Committee and the board.

External processesto monitor effectiveness include periodic reviews with organisations receiving funding,and reviews by external and internal audit. The annual delivery plan is agreed withthe Scottish Executive. Overall organisational effectiveness is reviewed annuallyby the Scottish government, through the annual review process.

The Scottish HealthCouncil was established as part of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland but with itsown distinct identity. The Chief Executive of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland istherefore the accountable officer for the Scottish Health Council and is personallyanswerable to the Parliament for regularity, propriety and value for money in themanagement of the organisation. The council’s staff are responsible for complyingwith the requirements of NHS QIS systems of internal financial control and the board’sstanding financial instructions.

The Annual Reviewof the Scottish Health Council, which I will lead, also provides a mechanism forthe monitoring and review of expenditure.

The funding allocationagreed for the Scottish Health Council for 2007-08 is £2.711 million. Funding forsubsequent years will be set following the spending review, which is currently underway.

The figures forfunding, since NHS Health Scotland’s inception in 2003, are shown in the followingtable.

Organisation	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	Total Funding
Voluntary Health Scotland	£0	£95,130	£75,110	£72,325	£242,565
Community Health Exchange (CHEX)	£146,574.80	£74,545.50	£105,118	£9,050	£335,288.30
Scottish Community Development Centre (Learning Evaluation And Planning (LEAP))	£0	£88,229.99	£371,242.28	£418,451.46	£877,923.73
Community Development Foundation	£9,106	£192,319.95	£0	£0	£201,425.95
Young Scot	£287,880.58	£143,475	£130,000	£130,000	£691,355.58
Barnardos	£55,471	£51,402	£49,796	£0	£156,669
Family Planning Association	£0	£22,500	£21,525	£15,600	£59,625
Jog Scotland	£25,000	£25,000	£40,000	£0	£90,000
Paths to Health	£3,867	£0	£4,790	£21,500	£30,157
Paths for All Partnership	£31,000	£31,000	£31,000	£65,000	£158,000
ASH Scotland	£0	£106,800	£98,002	£48,037	£252,839
Age Concern Scotland	£6,500	£6,500	£17,500	£4,850	£35,350
Age Concern Orkney	£0	£8,175	£4,822.90	£4,087.50	£17,085.40
No Smoking Day	£50,000	£35,000	£25,000	£25,000	£135,000
Totals	£615,399.38	£880,077.44	£973,906.18	£813,900.96	£3,283,283.96

 

NHS Health Scotland’s levels of funding, since inception in April 2003,are set out in the following table.

Financial Year	Revenue Resource Limit (£000)
2003-04	13,969
2004-05	17,148
2005-06	19,672
2006-07	22,595

 

This informationis available in the annual reports published by NHS Health Scotland.

Health projectsdo not receive funding from NHS Health Scotland for publicity or public information. Instead, projects receive supportfrom NHS Health Scotland staff such as expertise, literature andadvice regarding public relations.

Local authoritiesand schools are presently and rightly responsible for considering thearrangements under which any potential employer offers advice on careeropportunities to pupils, and does that in a professional manner, appropriate tothe pupils’ age and maturity, and in a way which does not seek to exert undueor inappropriate influence.

The Scottish Governmenthas no plans to ban recruitment visits to hospitals by the British Armed Forces.Recruitment visits are in the main held for recruitment to the reserves or TerritorialArmy (TA) and are carried out with the permission of the hospital. NHS staff areentitled under employment law legislation to take special leave with pay to performessential civic and public duties, such as serving as a reserve or in the TA.

The information requestedis not available centrally.

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

This informationis not held centrally. However, Scottish Gas has continued to use the same mainmaterial supplier, based in Scotland, as used by the previous managing agent, since the start of the currentcontract in October 2006.