Chamber and committees

The guidance issued under cover of SGHD/CMO(2012)1 was published on 13 February 2012. This reminded NHS boards of their responsibilities to maintain an overview of the effectiveness of their local arrangements for the introduction of new medicines, including NHS board formulary arrangements and Individual Patient Treatment Request (IPTR) arrangements.

Detailed information on these local arrangements are not held centrally.

However, as outlined in the response to S4W-00960, monitoring arrangements to underpin the guidance issued under cover of CEL 17 (2010) which took effect from 1 April 2011, is being taken forward with NHS boards. This includes a collation of summary information on IPTRs from 1 April 2011 for a period of six months.

As outlined in the response to S4W-04842, information on the number of IPTRs made to NHS boards and approved in the last five years is not held centrally.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce such a time limit. The existing arrangements strike a balance between involving communities, and providing a clear, proportionate system to applicants.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce such as restrictions.

The Scottish Government oversees the Scottish planning system, which operates to balance competing interests over the use and development of land. Primary responsibility for considering individual proposals falls to planning authorities. Scottish ministers have powers to call in planning applications for their own determination, but these powers are only used in exceptional circumstances, in instances where there are issues of genuine national significance.

<>Scottish Government guidance published on 13 February 2012 clarified that NHS board Individual Patient Treatment Request (IPTR) panels are expected to include a practising medical consultant with (or with access to) specialist medical knowledge of the relevant clinical area. This will include IPTRs for eculizumab to treat Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria (PNH). A link to the guidance is attached http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cmo/CMO(2012)01.pdf.

NHS boards have been asked to confirm by no later than 1 April 2012 that their policies on formularies and management of IPTRs have been updated to reflect the additional guidance.

<>I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-06087 on 21 March 2012. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government proposes to reform the relief offered to non-domestic empty properties from 1 April 2013 to introduce incentives to bring commercial property back into economic use.

However, no changes are proposed to the level of relief offered to empty industrial or listed property.

We estimate that approximately 2,000 council properties, with a total rateable value of £21 million, at any given point in time are in receipt of empty property non-domestic rates relief.

Within these totals, individual properties will change ownership, move in and out of occupation, which may mean they switch onto other forms of relief and the level of standard or commercial relief change will change from 100 per cent to 50 per cent after three months. Some properties occupied by councils will be listed or industrial and will be unaffected by the reform.

Reform of empty property relief will save an estimated £18 million annually across all sectors from 2013-14 onwards, of which, the impact on councils is estimated to be less than 10 per cent of that total.

<>I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-06087 on 21 March 2012. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

<>I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04878 on 17 January 2012. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government will shortly begin negotiations with trade union and employer representatives on long-term reforms of the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme. The Scottish Government place considerable importance on partnership working and want there to be genuine engagement in designing a new teachers’ pension scheme capable of supporting the needs of a modern education service for Scotland. Officials are in the process of making the necessary arrangements and will confirm details with stakeholders, including the Educational Institute of Scotland, shortly.