Chamber and committees

Restorative justice can be defined as the process whereby the parties involved in a specific offence collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath. In particular, it aims to involve the victim and the offender in discussing the implications of the crime and possible forms of reparation.Elements of restorative justice appear in various current initiatives. The use of mediation and reparation services in certain cases of diversion from prosecution is an example of restorative justice in practice. We also expect many of the Youth Crime Review programmes to have strong restorative justice elements in the light of the increased emphasis on the victims of crime.The Scottish Executive funded and evaluated the SACRO Young Offenders Mediation and Reparation Project in Kirkcaldy in Fife. A report was published in 2000.

After the report of the McFadden Commission was published on 9 May, we invited comments on the recommendations. This consultation will end on 30 September. In the meantime, the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) of the Cabinet Office has announced a review of the voluntary sector at a UK level. This may have relevance for Scotland. The consultation responses will therefore be considered alongside any recommendations from the PIU. We aim to publish a comprehensive response to the McFadden report as soon as possible thereafter. Any Bill that may follow this will have to take its place alongside other competing priorities in the legislative programme.

Apart from travelling expenses, which have been paid to only one individual from the lists, no payments are made to the organisations or individuals listed in respect of their involvement in the various working groups and task forces.

The Home Office is responsible for the Immigration Detention Centre at Dungavel House. Discussion is taking place with Lanarkshire Health Board about appropriate arrangements for the medical needs of individuals held there.

The number of staff currently on loan to other organisations is 35. Staff on loan move to the pay systems of the receiving organisation with full salary costs met by that organisation. There is no cost to the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

The total number of staff on loan to other organisations at any time in the period May 1999 to date is 61. Staff on loan move to the pay systems of the receiving organisation with full salary costs met by that organisation. There is no cost to the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

The number of staff on secondment to other organisations in the period May 1999 to July 2001 who have had their salary costs met by the Scottish Executive is 27. The number of staff on secondment to other organisations during this period who have had their salaries met by the receiving organisation is 126. The total cost to the Scottish Consolidated Fund was £1,068,990.

The number of staff currently on secondment to other organisations who are having their salary costs met by the Scottish Executive is 17. The number of staff currently on secondment who are having their salaries met by the receiving organisation is 91. The total cost to the Scottish Consolidated Fund in financial year 2001-02 will be £434,970.

No felling licences have been withdrawn when landowners have failed to comply with the conditions in the licence. The Forestry Commission has, however, served 16 enforcement notices on landowners in these circumstances over the last five years.

Section 61(4) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (as it will be amended by section 43(5) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001) provides that section 61 of that Act (which gives the right to buy) does not apply where the registered social landlord (RSL) was, at Royal Assent of the Act, "a recognised body within the meaning of section 1(7) (Scottish charities) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990". We are currently considering what further provisions may be required in secondary legislation under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to protect any existing entitlement to the right to buy on the part of tenants whose houses are transferred to a registered social landlord which is exempt from the right to buy as a result of its charitable status.However, most assured tenancies of housing associations do not currently have the right to buy and, following commencement of the relevant provisions of the 2001 Act, they will in any event be subject to the operation of section 44 of the Act which provides for a 10-year exemption from the right to buy.