Chamber and committees

The HealthProfessions Council is a corporate body which regulates various healthprofessions. It was set up, and given powers, including powers to hold hearingsin Scotland, by the Health Professions Order 2001.

The Health ProfessionsCouncil (HPC) was established in July 2003. Since that time, 29 cases have beenreferred to the HPC from employers in Scotland.

I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:

Glasgow Housing Associationspent its full allocation of £20.63 million by March 2007. Nine thousand, onehundred and ninety central heating systems were installed in total with this expenditure.

I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:

Under the CentralHeating Programme, Glasgow Housing Association was allocated £20.63 million in April2003.

I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:

Glasgow Housing Associationhas completed all its installations under the Scottish Government Central HeatingProgramme.

The Scotland Act reservesthe subject matter of the Postal Services Act 2000 to the UK Government. The ScottishGovernment’s powers to provide direct support to the Post Office network are thereforeextremely limited. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government continues to seek ways to add value to the restructuringexercise underway in the current Post Office Network Change Programme.

There are no suchplans. Local authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set outin statute. They are responsible for organising and funding the delivery of theservices for which they are responsible.

Local authoritiesare distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set out in statute. They areresponsible for organising and funding the delivery of the services for whichthey are responsible in the way that they see fit.

Where a cultureand leisure trust has been set up as a charity, charity law requires that theorganisation only applies its resources for its charitable purposes.

In setting upculture and leisure trusts, local authorities are expected to ensure clearpublic accountability for public funds and the quality of local services, inkeeping with the statutory principles of Best Value, regardless of whether theyprovide these services directly or set up and fund external bodies to do so. Decisionsby councils about how and by whom local services are delivered and sustainedare subject to scrutiny by the Accounts Commission for Scotland.

To the extentthat trusts have been established with charitable status, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has a role in monitoring their compliance with therequirements of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, which places a duty on Charity Trustees to act in the best interestof the charity, and to operate in a manner consistent with the charity’spurposes.

The informationrequested is not held centrally.