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NHS boards andtheir local planning partners are expected to provide facilities such as thesefrom the budgets available to them, based on their assessment of local needs.

There is growingevidence to suggest that hydrotherapy pools are beneficial to people witharthritis, who often report perceived benefit and improved quality of life. Asthere is still limited evidence around the cost-effectiveness and quantitativeoutcomes of this intervention when compared with other therapies, there is alack of clear evidence that hydrotherapy should be preferred over othertherapeutic interventions.

It is for NHS boardsand their local planning partners to determine the levels of services which areprovided for people with arthritis, including the provision of hydrotherapy.

The new airambulance contract began on 1 April 2006. Since then,Orkney Islands Council have written to and met with the previous Minister forHealth and Community Care to discuss air ambulance services. The Convenor ofOrkney Islands Council has also written to the Scottish Government about thisand has discussed the issue with me when I was in Kirkwall for the NHS Orkney annual review in September. There have been norepresentations from the other Councils about air ambulance services.

This informationis not collected. The vast majority of missions carried out by the ScottishAmbulance Service’s air ambulance service are planned missions and are not timecritical. For such missions, shift changes can be worked into the schedule ofjourneys to be undertaken within the timeframe for the response agreed with theclinician making the request.

The duty hours offlight crew are regulated in law by the Civil Aviation Authority. The ScottishAmbulance Service has to ensure that its crews strictly adhere to theregulations in the interests of safety - of the patient, the aircraft and thecrew. Some leeway does however exist where the condition of the patient isassessed by a clinician as “life or limb threatening”. In such circumstancesthe duty hours of the flight crew may be extended where that is required forthe mission to be carried out within the timeframe requested by the clinician.

Local authoritieshave discretionary powers to make payments to kinship carers of children who arenot looked after. These are:

1. Section 22 of theChildren (Scotland) Act 1995

2. Section 50 of theChildren Act 1975.

In addition, whena child becomes orphaned, the kinship carer of the child can apply for a Guardian’sAllowance paid for by the Department of Work and Pensions.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-6505 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-6505 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Currently local authoritieshave discretion to pay allowances to kinship carers of looked-after children.

I will be publishinga strategy for foster and kinship care later this year, which will address the provisionof a range of support, including financial, for kinship carers.

I intend to launcha consultation before Christmas on our proposals for the abolition of council tax,which will include discussion of the identification and taxation of second homes.

I intend to launcha consultation before Christmas on our proposals for the abolition of council tax,which will include discussion of the taxation of second homes.