Chamber and committees

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The information requested is not held by local authority area. Information on average waiting times is collated and presented as a national average. The average waiting time, which covers the whole of Scotland, is five months.

The UK Government, through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is responsible for social security benefits and for campaigns to maximise their uptake. The Care 21 Report The future of unpaid care in Scotland calls, amongst other things, for a review of the benefit entitlements available to carers, and I have made DWP Ministers aware of this.

Under our Carers’ Strategy we are working with stakeholders to improve carer access to information and advice on sources of support, including financial assistance. An important strand here is the duties placed on local authorities and NHSScotland by the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002. The Care 21 report recognises that many of the necessary policy mechanisms are already in place, but that systematic implementation needs to happen Scotland-wide. We will be considering these matters further in our response to the report.

Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to assess the needs of people and decide, in the light of the assessment, whether they should arrange any services and, if so, which services. Any decision taken by the local authority’s social work department should be based on a detailed assessment of a person’s care needs taking his or her wishes into account. However, local authorities are also expected to ensure that the resources available are used in the most effective way to meet individual care needs.

Assistance to owners of private sector housing to make their houses suitable for the needs of disabled occupants is given mainly by local authorities through housing improvement grants, funded by Private Sector Housing Grant (PSHG) from the Scottish Executive. Adaptations for disabled people, along with improving houses which fall below the tolerable standard, are ministerial priorities which are taken into account in assessing local authorities’ proposals for PSHG expenditure. It is for local authorities to set local priorities, and information on the priority accorded to privately-rented and owner-occupied housing is not held centrally.

The Community Planning Implementation Group was set up in April 2003 for twelve months to take forward the recommendations of the Community Planning Task Force. The group completed its duties with the publication of its report, Making a Difference - Community Planning A Year On, in June 2004. Details of membership of the Group are given on page 15 of the report, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 33200) and on the Scottish Executive’s internet site (www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/cpayo-00.asp).

The distribution of National Lottery funds is a matter for the Lottery Distribution Bodies: Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen, sportscotland, the Big Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The information requested is not held centrally by the Executive.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport maintains an electronic database of National Lottery awards. Details of the total awarded to each constituency area and each local authority area for each Lottery good cause can be obtained through the DCMS website at:

http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk/search.asp.

For those aged 65 and over the provisional vaccine uptake figure by the end of November 2005 NHS board is as follows:

NHS Board	Uptake	% Total Uptake
Ayrshire and Arran	38,150	52.5
Argyll and Clyde	43,804	69.2
Borders	12,396	72.7
Dumfries and Galloway	19,590	73.3
Fife	43,389	74.4
Forth Valley	29,500	71.8
Greater Glasgow	93,122	69.2
Grampian	57,679	71.4
Highland	24,656	67.8
Lanarkshire	53,678	69.3
Lothian	80,227	75.2
Orkney	1,923	77.1
Shetland	2,290	69.1
Tayside	50,693	71.4
Western Isles	3,328	58.6
Scotland	554,425	69.5

 

Please note that this is an early stage in the vaccination programme and uptake will increase over time.

As stated in the Chief Medical Officer’s letter CMO (2005)7 to NHSScotland, Health Protection Scotland requests general practices to provide an estimation of vaccine uptake in the under 65 year at risk categories, as a once only exercise. However, this information will not be requested until the end of December and will be available mid January.

Community Hospitals play a key role in treating patients who cannot be cared for at home but who do not require the specialist care provided by acute hospitals. Community hospitals remain a key resource in the delivery of care.

When considering possible closure of any hospitals in their areas, NHS boards are required to undertake public consultations to give as many people as possible the opportunity to be involved in shaping the future of health services in their areas.

Before I am invited to give formal approval to any such closures, the relevant board must provide evidence that the proposed closure will be to the benefit of the local community, and that suitable alternative arrangements are in place, in terms of providing a more efficient, more modern service that properly caters for the needs of patients and staff.

As far as we are aware, no research has been carried out into the impact of community hospital closures on the delivery of services.

The Executive does not hold detailed information about local authority policies on this issue. However, we know that practice varies widely between authorities and schools regarding cooking facilities in particular. Some authorities – such as Borders – are focussing their efforts on on-site cooking, whilst others – such as Clackmannanshire – are investing substantially in centralised cooking. The situation is further complicated by factors such as split-site schools sharing facilities.

The emphasis of Hungry for Success is on the quality of the food prepared for pupils, and local authorities have discretion over the best way to achieve this in their areas. Where any problems resulted from the way in which food is prepared, whether on site or off site, these would be reported upon by Her Majesty’s  Inspectorate of Education.

The Executive does not hold detailed information on the use of local produce by local authorities. However, a recent informal survey of Hungry for Success coordinators found that 60% of local authorities had sourced products locally, and a further 31% were considering this.

In addition, a number of Scottish schools have been involved in the Food for Life initiative, which promotes the use of local and organic produce. One of the first schools in Scotland to become a Food for Life school was Hurlford Primary School in East Ayrshire, which recently won the Soil Association Food for Life School of the Year Award.

The assessment of an individual’s care needs is a matter for each local authority. The Scottish Executive has issued guidance to authorities and the NHS on single shared assessment and care management. An authority’s decision to provide meals on wheels, whether frozen or not, can be based on its assessment of the individual’s care needs, and the meals will be provided as part of a package of care drawn up in the light of that assessment. The individual’s care plan, and the monitoring arrangements for managing that care, should provide the appropriate support according to the individual’s needs. Meals can also be accessed as a single service without assessment if the person does not require a package of care. The monitoring of services is a matter for each local authority.