Chamber and committees

The Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 are only one part of a broader system for the determination of cases of alleged misconduct by constables. This includes access to independent police appeals tribunals and the ordinary courts in appropriate circumstances. The Scottish Government considers that this system ensures constables’ rights under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are safeguarded.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20097 on 26 March 2014. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has not discussed the Police Federation independent review with the Scottish Police Federation. The operation and structure of the Scottish Police Federation, beyond what is laid out in the Police Federation (Scotland) Regulations 2013, is a matter for Scottish Police Federation to consider.

Support for schools taking part in the Pathways process comes from local authorities and local authorities will have their own guidelines on inter-agency working in order to achieve the best outcomes for looked after children.

Currently the Supporting Young People leaving Care Regulations and Guidance on

Services for Young People Ceasing to be Looked After by Local Authorities 2003, sets out detailed and comprehensive support to local authorities in exercising their duties to support young people leaving care. It states that social work and education departments should work together to ensure that young people who are looked after achieve their maximum potential within the education system.

The Children and Young People Bill defines corporate parents and their duties. As corporate parents, schools with a responsibility for looked after young people, must assess the needs of the children and young people and collaborate with other services when safeguarding or promoting the wellbeing of children and young people in their care.

Guidance on corporate parenting for local authorities, including schools, will be written after consultation with all relevant stakeholders and interested parties. In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to fund Who Cares? Scotland to deliver a programme of corporate parenting training across local authorities.

The MV Helliar and the MV Hildesay have only operated on the Northern Isles ferry service since February 2010 and January 2011.

Under the current public service contract in respect of the Northern Isles ferry services, the operator time charters the MV Helliar and the MV Hildesay and therefore maintenance costs are the responsibility of the owner of the vessels.

There are currently four Ferry User Groups in place across the Clyde and Hebrides network. These are the Clyde Ferry User Group, Argyll Ferry User Group, Lochaber, Small Isles and Skye Ferry User Group and the Hebrides Ferry User Group. Discussions between Transport Scotland, CalMac and Hitrans are on-going to discuss their scope. The Ferries Plan said that we would consider how best to include key transport professionals, academics and operators of ferry services as we deliver wider consultation mechanisms. As part of our arrangements for wider consultation, we have set up the Expert Ferry Group.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to an approach which focusses public service attention on prevention rather than cure. Our approach encourages greater use of evidence to prioritise and deliver performance improvements, and empowers and develops people across public services to make full use of the assets, skills and knowledge they have in order to achieve better outcomes.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill will extend throughcare and aftercare support up to age 26 years and, from April 2015, young people will be entitled to continuing care up to the age of 21 years. Approximately £9 million a year will be added to local authority funding for these provisions.

Overall, in 2013-14, the Scottish Government is providing local authorities with total funding of £10.3 billion. This will increase to over £10.6 billion in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. The vast majority of this funding, including funding in support of the Pathways process for looked after children, is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The statutory remit of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), as set out in the Police Act 1996, is the welfare and efficiency of police officers and the Scottish Government has no plans to change this. Any SPF member who is a constable is subject to the Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 that set out the circumstances under which misconduct proceedings may be brought. The conduct of any member of the SPF, whose actions damage the reputation and standing of the SPF, can be considered under internal rules made by the SPF.

The annual grant figure paid in respect of the Northern Isles Ferry Service covers a range of items including vessel maintenance and is available in the Scottish Transport Statistics and be found by following the link below

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/analysis/statistics/publications/scottish-transport-statistics-previous-editions

Any further breakdown of this information is considered to be commercially confidential.

The Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2013 are only one part of a broader system for the determination of cases of alleged misconduct by constables. This includes access to independent police appeals tribunals and the ordinary courts in appropriate circumstances. The Scottish Government considers that this system ensures constables’ rights under the European Convention on Human Rights are safeguarded.