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I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34221 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at .

Our Delayed Discharge Action Plan committed us to developing a model national framework for joint hospital discharge policies and protocols. Consultation has taken place on a draft and guidance will be issued. We intend to publish Local Authority and NHS Board Partnerships' Protocols on our Delayed Discharge Website and audit these annually. Good practice in relation to the needs of carers will be incorporated in the framework protocol.

Service planners and providers are required under section 5A of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to consult effectively with service users and carers on the provision of local community care services, including respite care, to ensure that services are appropriate and accessible to carers. Our Carers Strategy specifically requires local authorities to consult carers on the use of resources allocated to them to provide services to support carers, including the provision of respite. Local authorities and NHS bodies are also encouraged to involve users and carers directly in implementing the Joint Future agenda to help deliver more integrated support services across health and social care.

In line with its Diversity Strategy, the Scottish Executive has a range of policies to allow its staff to meet their caring responsibilities and to achieve a satisfactory work life balance. These include career breaks, alternative working patterns, work place nurseries, subsidised holiday play schemes and special leave. The Executive also has in place staff networks for those with caring responsibilities or who work an alternative pattern. Work life balance policy is reserved to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Scottish Executive is working with the DTI to promote family-friendly policies in Scotland.

The resources allocated by the Executive to local authorities to support carers, including resources to develop respite services, will have risen from £5 million in 1999-2000 to £21 million in the period 2003-04. The local government allocations for the next three years maintain these resources at the 2003-04 levels, augmented by the general uplift for pay and inflation. We have made it clear to authorities that we expect these resources to be used to benefit carers. We are currently working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, NHS representatives and carers' organisations to develop outcome measures that will monitor the benefits to carers from these resources, our Carers Strategy in general and our recent introduction of new legislation to support carers. We are also monitoring through local agreements the outcomes achieved by individual councils for the significant resources we are providing specifically to develop additional respite services.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34219 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at .

We are phasing in regulation by the Care Commission of the wide range of services defined in the act. The implementation of the new registration and inspection framework set in place by the act, including application of the national care standards, is an operational matter for the Care Commission. Implementation of the Scottish Social Services Council's requirements under the act will also be phased. They have already published codes of practice and conduct and phased registration of the workforce will begin in April 2003. Ministers and their officials meet regularly with the commission and the council to discuss their progress with the performance targets set out in their respective corporate plans.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34226 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at .

The generic clinical standards of NHS Quality Improvement (previously the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland) require all NHS services to identify the needs of carers in line with the National Strategy for Carers. All NHS services should meet clinical standards, and the report of the board's second review of the implementation of these standards will be published in May.

Scotland's Transport: Delivering Improvements: Transport Indicators for Scotland stated the Executive's commitment to delivering an efficient, safe transport system which meets the needs of all and is accessible to all.Guidance issued by the Scottish Executive in 2000 underlined the importance of ensuring accessible travel in Local Transport Strategies (LTS). The guidance emphasised that everyone should have the opportunity for independent mobility. The LTS guidance is about to be reviewed and updated by the Executive and the consultation process will include all local authorities and the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS). MACS was established in May 2002 to allow disabled people to give their views on transport issues and suggest early practical improvements to transport for disabled people to the Executive.