Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is currently looking into a range of ways of addressing this manifesto commitment.

The Greenspace Scotland’s report Community Growing in Scotland – Towards a Framework for Action was commissioned by the Scottish Government to underpin the work of the Grow-Your-Own Working Group. The Working Group are using the Greenspace report to help them take the lead role in delivering their recommendations. The recommendations put forward by the Grow-Your-Own Working Group are to focus the groups activities and the group remain open and inclusive to ensure that the recommendations can be implemented.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01095 on 11 July 2011. 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.

There are 4,943 hectares of native woodland approved for new planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

There are 2,125 hectares of non native woodland approved for new planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

NHS Lothian previously sought Scottish Government approval for a new Royal Hospital for Sick Children using predominantly public funding. The project now being supported by the Scottish Government also incorporates the reprovision of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

The timescales for the delivery of the combined Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences project need to take into account the development of an integrated design, planning approval for a revised project scope and completion of a competitive dialogue procurement with bidders in 2012 to support a non-profit distribution funding model. NHS Lothian will confirm the project’s key milestone dates within an outline business case due for submission to the Scottish Government in November 2011. All parties, NHS Lothian, Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust are working together to ensure that any delay is minimised.

NHS Lothian have set a target of 2015 for completion of the project but key dependencies include approval of an outline business case scheduled for November 2011, receiving outline planning consent for an integrated Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences and successfully concluding a competitive dialogue procurement process with bidders prior to awarding the contract in 2012.

NHS Lothian is working with technical and financial advisors to develop an integrated design solution for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences. This will inform an outline business case which is due for consideration in November 2011 and will include the estimated cost for the preferred option and form a basis for a competitive procurement to commence.

NHS Lothian’s previously approved proposal was for a new Royal Hospital for Sick Children only using predominantly public funding and delivered via the Frameworks Scotland delivery model. In the meantime the UK Government has applied 36.5% cut in capital budgets in real terms over the comprehensive spending review period. In order to deliver the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences projects together, however, Scottish Government are supporting NHS Lothian to conclude a revenue financed solution using the Scottish Government’s non-profit distribution model.

The board will inform Scottish Government of the project’s key milestones in the business case due for submission in November 2011.

Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust officials have been working closely with NHS Lothian since November 2010 to help inform the strategic, financial, legal and procurement and governance aspects of the project.