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Information is not held by local authority area.

The Scottish Government website contains information on the programme including a video of a householder who has benefited from a central heating installation.

The managing agent is responsible for raising awareness of the programme and undertakes a number of activities to achieve this aim such as the marketing/networking promotional week undertaken in the Western Isles in August 2008. The managing agent keeps in contact with organisations who have an interest in raising awareness of the programme such as Help the Aged, Age Concern and the Citizen Advice Bureau and provides them with information leaflets and advice. Additionally articles regularly appear in the national and local press such as the West Highland Free Press at the end of October.

For NHS boards, the formula which is used to allocate funding for Hospital and Community Health Services and GP prescribing to boards takes into account the unavoidable excess costs associated with island locations. This ensures that the particular issues relating to delivery of services on the islands, including those arising from higher fuel costs, are fully recognised.

In relation to local government grant allocations, no allowance is being made for higher fuel costs however, islands authorities benefit from the Special Islands Needs Allowance, a supplement added to a local authority''s grant allocation to reflect additional costs of a local authority to service its island communities. There are six beneficiaries of this supplement and, in total, they receive an additional £21.6million in 2008-09.

EC regulations state that inspections shall in general be unannounced. There are provisions within these announcement rules that allow exceptionally up to 48 hours notice in instances where it is known, for example, to be difficult to gather stock or in remote island situations. Thereafter any request from a producer to postpone an inspection would be treated on a case-by-case basis. Postponement would be considered, for example, where there had been a sudden family bereavement, a serious disease outbreak or the producer was suddenly taken ill and no other responsible person was available.

The Scheme of Assistance provisions which are being introduced under the previous Administrations Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 give local authorities wider powers to help homeowners repair, improve and adapt their homes. Authorities will need to consider to what extent loans, including equity loans, will play a part in expanding the range of assistance they make available. The Scottish Government does not expect local authorities or Care and Repair projects to act as lenders themselves and is pursuing supported lending to be available where there is no reasonable commercial option.

For owners unable to access either commercial or supported lending options, it will be a matter for each authority, under the Scheme of Assistance, to determine whether grant or other assistance will be available in respect of repairs or improvements. Subject to parliamentary approval, Regulations will be introduced in April 2009 governing assistance for disabled owners undertaking adaptations. Where such owners face a funding shortfall, they will be entitled to receive targeted advice and support which may include, at the authority''s discretion, additional funding support.

The Scottish Government has no plans to change the care and repair scheme into an equity release scheme. The aim of the Scheme of Assistance provisions, which are being introduced under the previous administration''s Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, is to give local authorities wider powers to help homeowners repair, improve and adapt their homes. Authorities will need to consider to what extent loans, including equity loans, will play a part in expanding the range of assistance available. They will also need to consider how assistance might be delivered through care and repair projects and what forms that assistance would take.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17301 on 12 November 2008. 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 Scottish Government is working with the Care and Repair Forum on ways to support the Care and Repair movement to adapt to the implementation of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. Statutory guidance on the act is expected to be issued in early 2009. However, it is for each local authority to decide how its Care and Repair project should operate, in cooperation with its local community and delivery partners.

Since the cap was introduced by the previous administration in January 2007, the managing agent has indicated that around 133 householders did not proceed with their central heating application, after being informed of their contribution.

It is likely that those who cancelled could have had a system installed without making a personal contribution if they had accepted an alternative system of a different fuel choice.

When devising its criteria for giving assistance using powers in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, it will be for each local authority to decide whether it gives any grants for repairs and improvements and, if so, at what level. There will be no statutory minimum or maximum grant levels as with the current system. Statutory guidance will encourage local authorities to maximise the use of other options, such as suitable lending where this is appropriate.

Subject to the approval of the Parliament, regulations setting out a simpler and fairer system of financial assistance with house adaptations to suit the needs of a disabled person will come into force in April 2009. These regulations will prescribe a minimum grant level of 80% for essential adaptations, rising to 100% for people in receipt of specific income replacement benefits.