Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16822 on 30 October 2008. 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.

In recent years, information on the provision of respite by local authorities has been collected by Audit Scotland as part of its Statutory Performance Indicator data set. Audit Scotland have still to publish the data for 2007-08, which will provide the baseline for measuring the growth in respite care provision from 2008-09 onwards. No figures are currently available for respite provision since April 2008. COSLA will work with Audit Scotland and the Scottish Government to ensure that relevant data can be collected as efficiently as possible to enable progress to be measured.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17734 on 24 November 2008. 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.

As Scottish Women''s Aid themselves state, the single outcome agreements (SOAs) are new for both national and local government and this is a process still in development. The next stage of SOA development will ensure the full involvement of community planning partners, which should in turn assist with the engagement of violence against women multi-agency partnerships in the process of identifying local priorities.

Public bodies are subject to the requirements of the public sector equality duties set out in equalities legislation. It is expected therefore that councils will equality impact assess their policies and activities and have due regard to the promotion of equality and elimination of discrimination in developing SOAs and their priorities.

The SOA document does not describe everything that is being undertaken by the council and community planning partners.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17734 on 24 November 2008. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17734 on 24 November 2008. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17734, on 24 November 2008. 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.

The £4 million referred to in question S3W-16720 has been identified from within existing Health Directorate budgets.

Consequentials flowing from the UK Government''s announcement of an extra £340 million for disabled children were not hypothecated in anyway. The allocation of appropriate levels of support for disabled children and young people is a matter for local authorities. The flexibility introduced with national and single outcome agreements should help local authorities sustain and improve services for disabled children and their families, who will benefit from greater and more flexible resources flowing to local authorities. The Scottish Government will engage with COSLA through the single outcome agreement process to ensure better outcomes for disabled children and their families at a local level.

The Scottish Government provided the additional £4 million, which I referred to in the answer to question S3W-16720, to ensure that the concordat commitment to make progress towards an additional 10,000 respite weeks a year is delivered in full by 2010-11.

These additional weeks are intended to support a wide range of carers and those they are caring for. This will of course include disabled children and their families. The additional weeks have not been apportioned amongst specific care groups. It is at the discretion of local authorities how they allocate the additional weeks, based on local needs and priorities.

Ministerial approval is sought for all significant funding proposals.