Chamber and committees

The UK Government has today made a statement regarding a scheme to support the resettlement of vulnerable British people from Zimbabwe. The Scottish Government will be playing a full part in that scheme and will work with local government and other agencies to ensure the necessary range of services to anyone returning who chooses to live in Scotland.

The UK Government estimates that there are some 3,000 British citizens and British nationals in Zimbabwe with the right of abode in the UK aged 70 or over, or vulnerable because of care needs or medical conditions. For some time the UK Government has advised vulnerable British people and their families that if they are concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe, they should consider whether they need to remain there. This has remained unchanged since 2007. Despite the recent changes in the political situation, this advice remains unchanged.

The UK Government is concerned about elderly and vulnerable British people who increasingly may be unable to support themselves in Zimbabwe but who are unable to move to the UK without assistance. The UK Government is therefore ready to offer those British people assistance to resettle in the UK. It is putting in place arrangements to receive, assess housing and care needs and provide on-going support to those British people who wish to resettle here. Discussions are on-going with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities regarding the practical arrangements for receiving those who may choose to return to live in Scotland.

Older and vulnerable British people in Zimbabwe are being informed of the assistance available. It is difficult to anticipate the extent of interest in this offer, but it is estimated that up to 750 households may wish to come to the UK over the next 18 months or so. It is not clear how these would be distributed across the UK and how many might want to settle in Scotland. That will only become apparent as applications are made.

The British Embassy is not advising people to leave Zimbabwe and it continues to provide a full consular service to those who remain.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing the necessary support to those vulnerable people who choose to settle here. The UK Government, Scottish Government and COSLA will work together to ensure that adequate resources are in place to support this scheme. I am confident that we will be able to meet the needs of any person who resettles in Scotland.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0205-01.htm

I am pleased to say that we have today published our interim Games Legacy Plan. This is the forerunner to what will be the more detailed full Games Legacy Plan to be launched in summer 2009.

It is a national plan and is focussed with realistic ambitions. The interim plan was developed by a comprehensive group structure - comprising internal and external representatives “ taking account of feedback from the games legacy consultation process (our consultation paper, 16 public meetings across Scotland and Young Scot''s parallel consultation).

It has health as the unifying theme; has five key underpinning principles, and outlines the seven key legacy programmes we aim to take forward to help deliver a legacy across Scotland from the Glasgow 2014 and London 2012 Games (and other major events). These programmes cover sport; health; education and learning; culture; volunteering; the greener agenda, and business, tourism and skills/employment.

We believe that by using the excitement of the games, we can get more out of existing resources to deliver a legacy. In shaping our legacy programme ideas, we have therefore aimed to be imaginative in how we can use the games to lend impetus to existing or planned programmes. As we flesh out the legacy programmes over the coming months, we will explore other possible funding routes to turn what would be a good legacy into a great legacy. We have already bid for the return of £150 million lottery funds diverted from Scotland to help fund the London 2012 Games and will explore with the private sector and other potential funders possible ways in which they can support the development of community-based legacy.

As described within one of the key underpinning principles, Enhancing Partnerships, we recognise that collaboration of all kinds is essential to achieving our ambitious legacy. Success depends on everyone being committed to the Plan and playing their part in making it work at a national and local level. We have aimed to ensure our group structure includes all the relevant organisations and representative groups, particularly COSLA and other local authority representatives. That same group structure will help develop the detail of the full Games Legacy Plan and, as importantly, deliver it.

A copy of the interim plan, the reports from the consultation, and the membership and remit of our group structure are on our website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/Sport/MajorEvents/Glasgow-2014/Commonwealth-games.

The Scottish Government will ask UK ministers to lay the Order in spring 2009.

Details are as follows:

NHS Board	Actual Initial Allocation 2008-09 (£ Million)	Allocation with Inflation Uplift Only 2008-09 (£ Million)	Difference (£ Million)
Ayrshire and Arran	546.658	544.273	2.385
Borders	158.858	158.165	0.693
Dumfries and Galloway	228.093	227.097	0.996
Fife	479.740	474.627	5.113
Forth Valley	375.507	372.611	2.896
Grampian	646.297	641.578	4.719
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,790.901	1,783.088	7.813
Highland	459.614	457.609	2.005
Lanarkshire	760.490	754.488	6.002
Lothian	963.040	955.851	7.189
Orkney	29.660	29.391	0.269
Shetland	34.929	34.776	0.153
Tayside	566.431	563.960	2.471
Western Isles	55.189	54.949	0.24
Scottish Ambulance Service	183.395	182.594	0.801
National Services Scotland	247.160	245.961	1.199
NHS 24	53.377	53.144	0.233
The State Hospitals Board for Scotland	33.727	33.580	0.147
National Waiting Times Centre	39.983	39.809	0.174
NHS Education for Scotland	361.670	360.092	1.578
NHS Health Scotland	17.312	17.208	0.104
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland	16.240	16.169	0.071
Total	8,048.271	8,001.020	47.251

 

The Scottish Government has introduced the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill, which will introduce a modernised and sustainable approach to flood risk management in Scotland and address all types of flooding. It will give authorities the powers they need to coordinate sustainable flood management at a catchment scale.

Scottish Government Officials meet regularly with NHS Forth Valley to discuss a wide range of issues.

I last met the chair of NHS Forth Valley at a regular monthly meeting of NHS chairs on 22 September 2008. The Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison MSP, will carry out the Annual Review of NHS Forth Valley on 30 September 2008.

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force in April 2005. Part three of the act; Fire Safety and The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 only came into force in October 2006 and guidance for this sector was issued in October 2007. Fire and rescue authorities who are the enforcing authorities are currently in the process of implementing this new regime across Scotland. A commitment to undertake an evaluation of the impact of this new risk-based fire safety regime for non-domestic premises has been given and this work will be initiated once the new arrangements have had time to bed in.

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force in April 2005. Supporting regulations for part 3 of the act, The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, came into force in October 2006 and guidance has been developed and issued progressively culminating with the publication of Practical Fire safety Guidance for Healthcare Premises in January 2008. As this is new legislation which is currently bedding in, no review of the Act has been undertaken and we have no plans to commission one at this time. However, under section 40 of the act, Scottish ministers are required to prepare a Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland and keep the document under review. In my answer to S3W-7926 on 18 December 2007, I confirmed that we are working with the fire and rescue authorities and the unions to review the existing framework. This work is progressing well and will in due course set out agreed priorities and objectives for fire and rescue authorities in a manner consistent with the government''s new partnership with local government.

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/webapp/wa.search.

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 enabled a new safety regime to be introduced for all premises in Scotland, with the exception of private dwellings, based upon risk assessment and fire prevention and mitigation measures. The regime was also designed to be better understood and administered by businesses and relevant enforcement agencies. The new fire safety regime was implemented by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 which came into force in October 2006. As in normal practice, the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 were informed by a regulatory impact assessment which assessed the cost and benefits of different implementation options on the various sectors affected, including the small businesses such as bead and breakfast establishments. Regulatory impact assessment 2003/56 is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0041374.pdf.