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I understand that the Department of Public Health at NHS Borders has already undertaken a health risk assessment in consultation with Scottish Borders Housing Association.NHS Borders has also been involved in public meetings on this issue and discussions with the local authority and other relevant agencies have taken place.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Scottish ministers with various powers in relation to housing associations and these powers have been delegated to Communities Scotland. However, Communities Scotland has no landlord function and no specific power to offer housing accommodation. The responsibility for finding suitable decant accommodation for tenants lies with the housing association. If approached by a housing association where there is insufficient accommodation to house decanted housing association tenants, Communities Scotland would support and assist the housing association by liasing with strategic partners and other housing providers in the area concerned to establish if additional accommodation could be made available by another social landlord.

I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Through the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, Communities Scotland has powers to provide resources through the Housing Association Grant (HAG) scheme to Registered Social Landlords to support them in the provision of new or improved housing for social rent and for low-cost home ownership. Registered Social Landlords are, however, responsible for the on-going maintenance and repair of their housing, including any remedial works.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Scottish ministers with the power to set standards for the performance of housing associations and other Registered Social Landlords. Performance Standards are developed and published jointly by Communities Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and COSLA.The current published performance standards set out the performance expectation that housing associations will identify and appraise the most important risks they face, and take a prudent approach to managing them. In meeting this standard, housing associations are expected to carry out regular risk appraisals, to identify key risks and have in place an appropriate risk management strategy. This should include contingency plans to respond to emergency events such as flooding.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Scottish ministers with powers to intervene to address poor performance by housing associations. These powers have been delegated to Communities Scotland. Where a housing association's performance is poor and it is failing to meet its obligations to tenants, Communities Scotland, on behalf of Scottish ministers, may:Remove members of the governing body of the housing association where their failure to act impedes the proper management of the organisation;Appoint persons to the governing body of the housing association for the purpose of improving the management of the organisation;Appoint a manager to the housing association, to ensure that the management of its affairs is of an appropriate standard, andInstruct a statutory inquiry into the affairs of the housing association, and (if required) a related Extraordinary Audit of its finances. If ministers conclude that there has been mismanagement or misconduct by the housing association, they have a further range of powers including directing the housing association to transfer its land to another registered landlord, following consultation with tenants.

The Bellwin Scheme would not be applied in these circumstances as it provides emergency payments to local authorities. Damage to Scottish Borders Housing Association property is recognised as an insurable cost, which Scottish Borders Housing Association should seek to claim from its insurers.

The Chief Inspector's report on the Scottish Borders Council social work services for people affected by learning disabilities is expected in the autumn, and will be published.

The Framework for Economic Development identifies the role of Government as ensuring that all regions of Scotland enjoy the same economic opportunities. The Executive is committed to this and has a range of policies and programmes in place which together work towards this goal. Our commitments to Scotland's transport and communications infrastructures will contribute significantly towards this, while Regional Selective Assistance and European Structural Funds direct resources to areas of greater need. Furthermore, narrowing the unemployment gap is a priority for the Enterprise Networks, which are able to address local needs and opportunities.

The agreement to introduce the minimum pay rate is between NHS employers and trade unions and it is for those parties to determine what monitoring arrangements should be put in place.I have asked the Management Side Chair of the Negotiating Group responsible for the agreement to confirm to you the current position on this matter.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues.A comprehensive assessment of overall economic need would typically include consideration of a number of indicators, including indicators such as population density as well as unemployment rates.The Executive has commissioned research to underpin the development of a long-term strategy for measuring deprivation in Scotland. The interim report of this research was published for consultation in May and covered issues relating to population change and economic fragility. The Scottish Executive will make its decisions once the final report is released.