Chamber and committees

I refer the member to answer to question S3W-36274 on 27 September 2010. 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 were 16 joint operations reported to have taken place between local authorities and HM Revenue and Customs during 2009-10 and six joint operations during 2008-09.

The national targets for joint operations between local authorities and HM Revenue and Customs are five operations in 2008-09, six operations in 2009-10 and seven operations in 2010-11.

The information requested is as follows:-

A. 2008-09

i. Test Purchasing

(a) 12 local authorities met their targets.

(b) The authorities were:

Aberdeen City, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Shetland, South Ayrshire and West Lothian.

ii. Business Advice and Assistance

(a) 16 local authorities met their targets.

(b) The authorities were:

Angus, Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Renfrewshire, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.

B. 2009-10

i. Test Purchasing

(a) 20 local authorities met their targets.

(b) The authorities were:

Aberdeen City, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.

ii. Business Advice and Assistance

(a) 19 local authorities met their targets.

(b) The authorities were:

Aberdeenshire, Angus, Scottish Borders, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Renfrewshire, Shetland, South Ayrshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Western Isles and West Lothian.

C. Information is collated annually and therefore 2010-11 data will not be available until later next year.

The Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTTS) is expected to publish a report on the progress made under the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme within the next couple of months. We will inform you when the report is available.

The Scottish Government has made new funding of £4.5 million over three years (2008-09 to 2010-11) available to Scottish local authorities for the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme. The allocation made to each local authority is intended broadly to support achievement of the range of agreed outcomes and therefore it is not possible to provide a breakdown for funding devoted to individual activities, such as test purchasing or business advice and support. Moreover, while it was envisaged that the new funding would be allocated to trading standards departments, it was made available through the mechanisms provided by the new national performance framework for local authorities enshrined in the Scottish Government and local authority concordat. Under the concordat it is for local authorities to determine how best to utilise the resources in support of the agreed outcomes.

The funding allocated to individual local authorities remained the same for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 and is shown in the following table.

Local Authority	Funding (£)
Aberdeen City	51,232
Aberdeenshire	59,008
Angus	35,371
Argyll & Bute	47,034
Clackmannanshire	20,546
Dumfries and Galloway	45,220
Dundee City	56,882
East Ayrshire	34,386
East Dunbartonshire	30,550
East Lothian	25,782
East Renfrewshire	25,522
Edinburgh, City of	158,011
Eilean Siar	24,278
Falkirk	37,289
Fife	81,556
Glasgow City	137,330
Highland	95,914
Inverclyde	26,196
Midlothian	24,641
Moray	29,358
North Ayrshire	37,237
North Lanarkshire	77,357
Orkney Islands	20,339
Perth and Kinross	45,012
Renfrewshire	40,088
Scottish Borders	38,066
Shetland Islands	19,872
South Ayrshire	36,978
South Lanarkshire	56,623
Stirling	26,922
West Dunbartonshire	24,745
West Lothian	30,654
Total	1,500,000

 

The Scottish Government is aware that the Department of Health plans to publish later in the year, a consultation on establishing a cancer drugs fund from April 2011 and that interim funding will be made available for cancer drugs via clinically led panels in October 2010. The Scottish Government will give due consideration to the consultation and its proposals when further details are made available following the Comprehensive Spending Review.

However, the extant guidance on the introduction and availability of newly licensed medicines published on 17 May 2010 provides a robust, equitable and transparent framework for NHS boards to make decisions about all newly licensed medicines and not just those to treat cancer. The guidance includes specific advice in relation to making such decisions for individual patients. These arrangements are intended to ensure that, where there are demonstrable benefits, NHS patients in all parts of Scotland are able to access newly licensed medicines in accordance with their particular needs.

SSE submitted the Muthill rationalisation scheme to Scottish Ministers on 29 April 2010. Since then it has been subject to consultation with Perth and Kinross Council, and their response to me also reflects the views of all community councils in those areas relevant to the rationalisation scheme.

I will consider the consultation responses before I take a final decision.

Views from consultees on the various Beauly to Denny rationalisation schemes have been sought and received. A decision on the Muthill Conservation Area Rationalisation Scheme will follow shortly.

Planning legislation requires decisions on planning applications to be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. It is in the first instance for the decision maker, and ultimately for the courts, to decide if a consideration is material to a particular application.