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Transport Scotland recently received the report and this is currently being considered. It is expected to be published in March and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 50129).

Scottish Government staff are afforded opportunities to donate blood during working hours. In addition Scottish Government staff continue to be paid whilst donating blood at the mobile blood transfusion units visiting the Scottish Government buildings.

Local authorities, health boards, voluntary organisations and private care providers are working hard to ensure that housebound people receive the help they need during the severe weather conditions, including assistance with purchasing groceries and other essential items. The Scottish Government, local authorities and voluntary organisations are publicising the help available as set out in my answer to question S3W-30510 on 18 January 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.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provide cold weather payments to those in receipt of income related benefits, including pension credit, when specified criteria are met. Payments of £25 are made when the area in which the person lives is, or is forecasted to be, zero degrees celsius or below for a period of seven consecutive days. Payments are made automatically to those who qualify. As with all DWP benefits the policy on cold weather payments is reserved to the UK Government.

As for local authority and health board funding for the delivery of key services during the severe weather, both are expected to deal with some rise and fall in expenditure demands within the money allocated to them by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is working with local authorities and local radio to help individuals in communities find help for themselves and others. We are publicising “ through the Weather Wise section of the government''s website “ local authority helpline numbers for those experiencing difficulties. In addition, local authorities and voluntary organisations are involved in a range of activities to publicise the help available and how to access it.

Local authority social work departments operate emergency helplines and when contacted will ensure that all vulnerable housebound people receive essential goods and services whenever possible. The Scottish Government, local authorities and voluntary organisations are publicising the help available as set out in the answer to the question S3W-30510 on 18 January 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.

An expert group comprising COSLA, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO), a local government finance officer and the Scottish Government considered all applications against the agreed principles and criteria. The group provided an initial assessment of applications and their recommendations were shared and then discussed with COSLA''s Shared Services Board (for round one) and the Leadership Board (for round two). These bodies considered the advice and then formed an agreed position and recommendations which were considered by Scottish ministers in making a final decision.

Applications were assessed against criteria relating to six overarching principles, as Parliament was informed in response to parliamentary question S3W-20310 on 5 February 2009. Due to the high demand for this fund from across the country, the expert group and the Shared Services/Leadership Boards had to ensure that applications met all the requirements set out in the criteria. One of the criteria is that the council has prudential borrowing or the capacity to use other sources of funding to fund the investment. The existing level of debt associated with Shetland Island Council''s housing revenue account is already very high, the council has the highest debt per unit of all councils in Scotland. Whilst Shetland''s proposed borrowing is from an internal source, it will still incur interest. Therefore, the fact that the borrowing will incur interest and will still need to be repaid meant that increasing the level of debt presented too high a risk to the sustainability of the housing revenue account.

Moray Council received £1.2 million subsidy from round one of the incentivising council house building fund to help build 48 new houses. In round two, Moray applied for £1.125 million to help build 45 new houses.

In round two, an expert group comprising COSLA, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO), a local government finance officer and the Scottish Government considered all applications against the agreed principles and criteria. The group provided an initial assessment of applications and their recommendations were shared and then discussed with COSLA''s Leadership Board. The board considered this advice and then formed an agreed position and recommendations which were considered by ministers before making a final decision.

Applications were assessed against criteria relating to six overarching principles, as Parliament was informed in response to parliamentary question S3W-20310 on 5 February 2009. A key principle in assessing proposals was deliverability, requiring evidence that the development would be on site within a year of funding allocations, including identified sites and the number of units to be built. Unfortunately, Moray Council''s ongoing tendering exercise with developers meant that evidence was not available. Given the high level of demand for the available funding, it was considered that it would be more appropriate to allocate subsidy to applications which had the required site details and that Moray Council''s application should not receive support at this time.

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.

The allocations made by the Scottish Government, to which local authorities also add their own resources, are shown in the following table.

Mental Health Specific Grant was absorbed into the main local government settlement from April 2008. The funding will continue to have an important role in continuing to provide local, community based services and support for people with a mental health problem, their carers and families.

Allocations for Each Year from 2003-04 to 2007-08

Council	(£)
Aberdeen City	708,400
Aberdeenshire	578,200
Angus	320,600
Argyll and Bute	312,200
Clackmannan	110,600
Dumfries and Galloway	373,800
Dundee City	341,600
East Ayrshire	320,600
East Dunbartonshire	163,800
East Lothian	222,600
East Renfrewshire	57,400
Edinburgh City	1,345,400
Eilean Siar	163,800
Falkirk	366,800
Fife	893,200
Glasgow City	2,774,800
Highland	597,800
Inverclyde	193,200
Midlothian	266,000
Moray	159,600
North Ayrshire	197,400
North Lanarkshire	562,800
Orkney	133,000
Perth and Kinross	271,600
Renfrewshire	375,200
Scottish Borders	310,800
Shetland	165,200
South Ayrshire	301,000
South Lanarkshire	750,400
Stirling	207,200
West Dunbartonshire	250,600
West Lothian	204,400
Total	=SUM(ABOVE) 14,000,000

 

It is for the owners of Inverness College to determine the range and level of sporting facilities to be developed on its campus. On the matter of a 50 metre swimming pool, this has not been identified as a priority within Scottish Swimming''s facility strategy. However, I am sure that Scottish Swimming would be happy to discuss their facility strategy with the owners of the college to consider how best to help meet the needs of swimmers in the Inverness area.