Chamber and committees

 The Scottish Executive consultation paper on proposals for the Housing Bill included a question on time limits for surveys. Eighty-six percent of those who responded on this point said that there should be a time limit on single surveys. Of those who agreed that there should be a time limit over 60% proposed that the time limit should be six months or less. A further quarter of respondents to this question said that the maximum time limit on the validity of a single survey should be one year.

Some respondents, for example the National Association of Estate Agents and the Law Society, suggested that a compulsory time limit on single surveys would place financial pressures on sellers particularly in areas where the market is less active.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors expressed strong opposition to any time limit, noting that a survey is a “snapshot” of the property at the time of the inspection. It also pointed out that there are risks in relying on old information.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders argued that it would be difficult to be prescriptive about a time limit. It expressed the view that in areas where there is a buoyant market, such as Edinburgh, the valuation might change significantly over a three-month period. However, in less active areas a valuation might not change significantly over a six or even a nine-month period.

From our discussions with the parties mentioned above, we are not aware of any changes to these views on this issue. We will work closely with all stakeholders on this and other issues to deliver an effective scheme.

GPs aged 60 and Over in the Years 2005 - 2008: by NHS Board Area

Source: General Medical Practitioner database, ISD Scotland.

Ref: IR2005-00558 – 23 February 2005.

The requirements with which general medical practitioners must comply are set out in the NHS (Primary Medical Services Performers lists) (Scotland) Regulations 2004. They do not specify an age for retirement.

The terms of the NHS pension scheme in Scotland allow for members to retire from pensionable employment at any time on or after attaining age 60, with entitlement to a normal retirement pension. This arrangement includes those members who are general practitioners.

The new GMS contract, introduced on 1 April 2004, includes specific incentives to help fill vacancies which occur. To achieve this, the contract allows GPs to manage their workloads better. Perhaps the biggest disincentive to attracting GPs into general practice was onerous out-of-hours commitments, particularly in remote and rural areas. Under the terms of the new contract GPs can now transfer this responsibility to NHS boards.

The new contract also included enhanced seniority payments for GPs.

Between 1 April 2004 and 28 February 2005, NHS 24 dealt with 1.19 million calls across Scotland. In that same period the Executive received 86 specific complaints about NHS 24 and the out of hours GP services. Six of these complaints came from patients in NHS Borders and NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

On 24 February 2005 I announced that I was establishing a review group to consider the operational performance of NHS 24 and to come forward with recommendations for action, including actions for NHS 24, NHS boards, other partners and the Health Department for improving the services provided.

2002-03

2003-04

1 April 2004 to 31 December 2004

Note: The totals in the local authority breakdown tables will not necessarily reflect the total number of orders applied for and granted. This is because there may be orders in respect of adults who have property in Scotland but who reside elsewhere which are not attributed to a local authority area.