Chamber and committees

The group’s recommendations propose extensive reform of debtor access to sequestration. A bill is currently in preparation which will introduce wide ranging reforms to the legislation affecting these areas. It is necessary to consider what impact these reforms will have before deciding whether it is appropriate to introduce further reforms which have the potential to markedly increase the numbers of Scottish sequestrations.

The working group considered that it would be helpful to have an indication of the number of no income no assets (NINA) debtors and therefore commissioned a desk study of existing research on over-indebtedness and debt with a view to identifying any information relating to research to try and provide more detailed information on the size of the NINA pool and whether there were different types of NINA debtors who might require different solutions.

It was not possible, however, to quantify with any accuracy the number of NINA debtors in Scotland. Officials are currently considering whether further research is needed and if so when and how it should be undertaken.

The Debt Arrangement Scheme is intended to help both debtors and creditors. I am aware that some creditors have not agreed to proposed debt payment programmes, as is their right. The scheme, however, provides for the consent of creditors to be dispensed with in some circumstances provided that a proposed programme is fair and reasonable. I am also aware that programmes have been approved where a creditor has refused to consent. The operation of the scheme will be reviewed by my officials from November 2005, and the issue of creditor consent will be considered in the round at that time. No action is planned at present.

Information is not available for periods prior to 1 April 2002. In the period since 1 April 2002, a total of three cases involving charges under section 121(3) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal in relation to offences under the Loch Lomond Registration and Navigation Bye-laws 1995. Two cases were reported in 2003-04 and one case was reported in 2004-05. One accused was subject to a warning by the Procurator Fiscal. In the other two cases summary proceedings were initiated though one of the cases was not called and marked for no further proceedings as a result of failed service of the complaint. There have been no cases in which the Procurator Fiscal decided to take no proceedings.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19260 on 29 September 2005. 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/webapp/wa/search.

The registration of watercraft users on Loch Lomond is an operational matter for the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority.

The Scottish Executive is currently consulting on proposals for Best Value in Public Services, which include NHS boards. The findings of this consultation will help to shape the future arrangements adopted.

The Scottish Executive is keen to ensure that decisions to release prisoners on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) take account of victims’ interests as far as possible. The mechanism for taking account of these will be a robust risk assessment process, which all prisoners considered for HDC will be subject to.

All decisions on whether to grant HDC will have regard to protecting the public, as specified in the bill. The majority of prisoners likely to be granted HDC will be short-term prisoners. For the small group of long-term prisoners who might also be granted HDC, victims who have joined the Victim Notification Scheme will be told of their imminent release.

The risk assessment for HDC will draw on a variety of information, primarily from the Scottish  Prison Service, and criminal justice, and community social workers. This will identify whether there are any victim issues that decision-makers should be aware of that might preclude release, or which require special conditions to be included in the licence.

An additional safeguard which takes account of victims’ interests, is the exclusion of some categories of offender from HDC, including those serving an indeterminate sentence and those on the sex offender register. The exclusions are specified on the face of the bill.

HDC will not be granted to any prisoner who might pose a risk to those they would be living with, or who might pose a risk to the community more generally.

The purpose of the ministerial power of direction in section 2(10)a of the Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Bill is to ensure consistency and comparability across all Community Justice Authorities (CJAs) in the manner they carry out their administrative functions. It is expected that the powers of direction under 2(10)a would be particularly relevant in the following areas:

management and reporting of performance – directions could be used to establish consistent monitoring regimes which will provide data comparable across CJAs. The bill also enables CJAs to take action where there is evidence that local authorities are failing to perform adequately, or to make recommendations to ministers concerning Scottish Prison Service performance. Directions could be used to establish those situations in which it would be appropriate for CJAs to take this action.

sharing of information – directions would provide a means of ensuring consistency across Scotland in how information is shared between partners within a CJA. This would ensure that national organisations do not have to adapt to a variety of protocols used by different CJA areas.

It is expected that an evaluation of the victim notification scheme will start towards the end of 2005 and be completed sometime during 2006. The timing of the evaluation will depend upon there being enough participants in the Scheme from which to draw a representative sample that is large enough to enable a meaningful evaluation to be carried out. At present, about six victims per week are joining the scheme.