Chamber and committees

The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) has established a Working Group to assess the total health needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis. The Group's report, which will describe the epidemiology of the disease, the impact it has on patients and service provision, will provide consistent advice across Scotland on the appropriate care of people suffering from the disease and the service input required at the different stages of their condition.The report should assist health boards in planning services for these patients.

The Scottish Executive assists and advises councils on all possible procurement approaches, including Public private partnerships. In addition, there are well established arrangements under which local authorities are advised each year of the capital allocations for their capital programmes, including work on school buildings. In partnership with CoSLA we have agreed work on school buildings as a key priority for local authorities. Authorities are also advised of the resources available for the repair of school buildings under the New Deal for Schools.

I am currently considering the need for a wide-ranging review of the diligence system as a whole. Any such review would include a review of the summary warrant procedure. It is already open to local taxpayers, prior to the grant of a summary warrant, to appeal where they consider that there has been an error in calculating their liability for Council Tax. The appeal, in the first instance is to the relevant council and, if a mutually acceptable solution cannot be reached within two months, the appeal would then be considered by a Valuation Appeal Committee. Valuation Appeal Committees are independent of both central and local government.

The 1999-2000 unified allocations to Health Boards included for Scotland as a whole £610m in respect of GP and dental prescribing. Available at the present time confirms that this is adequate to meet current projected costs. It is however for Health Boards and NHS Trusts to determine how the total resources available to them are located at a local level.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex condition, which unfortunately is not fully understood, and has, as yet, no definitive diagnostic test to identify it. The Scottish Executive is very much aware of the concerns of ME sufferers and the Chief Medical Officer in Scotland has met representatives of the ME Association - Scotland, to listen to and address areas of concern to them.

The difficulties surrounding diagnosis and treatment of ME were recognised in the establishment of a Working Group on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) by the Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health in England. The Working Group, which held its first meeting in January 1999, has been tasked with reviewing current management and clinical practice of CFS/ME with the aim of providing best practice guidance for professionals, patients and carers to improve the quality of care and treatment. The Scottish Executive Health Department has observer representation on the Group and is closely monitoring its progress.The Scottish Executive will give full and careful consideration to the Report of the Working Group when it becomes available to determine what changes/guidance might be appropriate to current clinical practice and treatment of those with ME in Scotland.

Home owners have the usual legal remedies, both statutory and under the common law of contract and delict - for instance, conditions in the missives of sale will continue to apply after the purchase.Protection is available to the purchasers of new homes through the National House-Building Council (NHBC) Buildmark Warranty Scheme, a ten-year warranty and insurance policy that aims to ensure new homes are built to acceptable standards and that structural defects are rectified.Additionally, all new homes have to comply with building regulations to ensure that they are designed and constructed to a standard that protects the health and ensures the safety of the occupants. It is the responsibility of all local authorities to ensure that house builders adhere to the Technical Standards for compliance with the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations.For the longer term, the Scottish Executive is maintaining close links with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) over the introduction of measures to combat cowboy builders, following the final report of the Cowboy Builders Working Group, chaired by Tony Merricks. The report has called for the establishment of a nation-wide register of "quality marked" builders, backed up by a mandatory warranty covering all work.

This information is not yet available. However, we have commissioned the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland to monitor the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, as well as the extended powers of eviction for anti-social behaviour in the Act. The outcome of this survey should be available in March next year.

The information is not held centrally. As set out in our guidance to local authorities, only the person receiving the services may be charged. However, authorities may consider whether a client has sufficient reliable access to resources other than his or her own. Instances of this nature may arise in relation to married or unmarried couples. It is for authorities to consider each case in the light of their own legal advice.

Policy directions to the New Opportunities Fund were issued in August 1998 by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport after consultation with interested colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Scotland, and the Fund's Board.

These directions specified that grants for projects under the childcare strand of the Fund's out of school hours activities initiative could be made up until 2003. In order that the Fund can meet the targets set out in the policy directions for numbers of children benefiting from places, funding for the large majority of projects will be for one year only. This might be extended for up to three years in certain circumstances. Nothing in the policy directions prevents existing childcare providers receiving funding, although this should be for new rather than existing childcare places.There are no present plans to amend or add to the policy directions to the Fund in relation to childcare.

There are currently no plans.