Chamber and committees

The information requested isnot held centrally.

The information requested isnot held centrally.

The amount of private sectorgrant approved by local authorities for carrying out improvements for people withdisabilities is shown in the following table.

Amount of Private SectorGrant Approved for Improvements for People with Disabilities: 2005-06

Scotland	17,745,000
Aberdeen City	405,000
Aberdeenshire	320,000
Angus	382,000
Argyll and Bute	530,000
Clackmannanshire	134,000
Dumfries and Galloway	649,000
Dundee City	246,000
East Ayrshire	286,000
East Dunbartonshire	201,000
East Lothian	155,000
East Renfrewshire	143,000
Edinburgh (City of)	2,388,000
Eilean Siar	592,000
Falkirk	196,000
Glasgow City	1,775,000
Highland	1,460,000
Inverclyde	297,000
Midlothian	211,000
Moray	300,000
North Ayrshire	941,000
North Lanarkshire	748,000
Orkney	148,000
Perth and Kinross	614,000
Renfrewshire	203,000
Scottish Borders	197,000
Shetland	292,000
South Ayrshire	539,000
South Lanarkshire	2,130,000
Stirling	289,000
West Dunbartonshire	422,000
West Lothian	554,000

Source: IMP1Breturns submitted by local authorities to the Scottish Executive Development DepartmentAnalytical Services Division (Housing Statistics)

Note: 1. Figureshave been rounded to the nearest thousand.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

There are no proposals for compulsorytesting. The recent Scottish building regulations consultation did not involve areview of procedures, it was solely on the standards and technical guidance. A comprehensivereview of procedures was undertaken in 2003. However, the recent public consultationon energy standards in Scottish building regulations proposed guidance on airtightnesstesting of new buildings. Relatively few respondees objected to these proposals.Decisions still have to be made on whether or not these proposals are taken forwardwhen changes are made to the energy standards in 2007.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

No. There is a recent reporton the English and Welsh energy regulations, carried out by Future Energy Solutionsentitled Compliance with Part L1 of the 2002 Building Regulations (Aninvestigation into the reasons for poor compliance) which was commissioned by‘The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes’. In this report it is stated “It isperceived that the Scottish system is far more successful than the England and Walessystem. There are two key differences:

the Building Warrant Certificateissues prior to building commencement, and

that all Building Control officersare still attached to the Local Authorities.”

The report then recommends thatthis approach is adopted for England and Wales.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

I am not aware of any recentresearch that indicates non-compliance with the current energy standards in Scottishbuilding regulations. I am however aware of the Building Research EstablishmentReport which deals with compliance issues in England and Wales.

Patients are entitled to thesame level of access to NHS treatment whether or not their medical records are complete.For example, in an emergency situation, or in the case of a visitor from overseas,where records are not likely to be available, the NHS will provide the best possibletreatment on the basis of the information available at the time.

The consultation documentwill issue in due course.

Scottish Water submitted a newdelivery plan to the Executive on 26 May. The plan set out to the satisfactionof the Executive how Scottish Water will meet the objectives set by the Executivefor 2006-10, for improved standards for drinking water quality and environment protectionand enough strategic capacity to support new development across the country, withinthe financial limits set by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland. TheWater Industry Commission for Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the DrinkingWater Quality Regulator for Scotland each indicated that they were content with the planfor their respective interests. In these circumstances, the Executive has informedScottish Water that it has approved the plan and that Scottish Water should nowdirect all of its energies on implementing the plan.

Copies of the Scottish WaterDelivery Plan are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 39877).

The Environment and Rural AffairsDepartment utilises a range of stakeholder groups to support the work of the Department,and these are listed below. The remit of the groups varies according to the subjectmatter. In some cases members are appointed in their own right, rather than as representativesof particular organisations.

ClimateChange Review Stakeholder Group

ScottishOdour Steering Group

AntisocialBehaviour Act Noise Implementation Advisory Group

FloodingIssues Advisory Committee

ScottishLiaison Group on Waste

Scottish Water Outputs and Capital Monitoring Groups

Working Group on Diffuse (Water) Pollution

Bathing Waters Review Panel

National Stakeholder Forum for Water Environment and WaterServices Act

Scottish Sustainable Development Forum

Scottish Biodiversity Forum

AdvisoryGroup on Marine and Coastal Strategy

Marine Biodiversity Research Co-ordination Group

SealsForum

Sea Fisheries Advisory and Reference Group

Scottish Inshore Fisheries Advisory Group

UK Quota ManagementChange Programme Consultative Group

Scallop Advisory Group

Pelagic Review Group

Tripartite Working Group (on wild fisheries and farmedsalmon)

Fish Farm Location/Relocation Group

Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum

Highlands andIslands Aquaculture Forum

Ministerial Working Group on Aquaculture

Freshwater Fisheries Forum

FIFG Fishery Management Groups

CroftingPanel of Experts

External Communications Panel (on IACs literature and forms)

Single Farm Payment Implementation Advisory Group

Sheep and Goat Identification and Traceability AdvisoryGroup

Electronic Identification/Electronic Data Transfer AdvisoryGroup

Less Favoured Area Stakeholder Group

Agriculture Strategy Implementation Group

Scottish Rural Development Plan Stakeholder Group

Land Management Contracts Stakeholder Working Group

Organic Stakeholders Group

Farm Business Advice and Skills Task Group

LEADER Stakeholder Group

Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (Scotland)

National Goose Management Review Group

Animal Health and Welfare Stakeholder Group

Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Group

Strategic Science Advisory Panel.