Chamber and committees

The following table shows averageweekly rents for local authority dwellings between 1996-97 and 2004-05. Data forcurrent local authority areas is only available from 1996-97 onwards.

Average Weekly Rents byLocal Authority; 1996-97 to 2005-06

Local Authority Area	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Scotland	31.11	33.6	35.4	36.43	38.05	38.88	40.43	40.96	42.64
Aberdeen City	25.83	27.75	33.10	32.89	34.77	36.48	38.55	39.90	42.67
Aberdeenshire	28.12	29.75	30.63	31.58	32.62	34.45	36.10	38.03	40.31
Angus	23.50	25.14	27.04	28.42	30.58	33.60	34.18	35.72	37.33
Argyll and Bute	34.00	35.05	36.58	36.49	37.70	39.39	41.10	42.57	44.20
Clackmannanshire	27.99	29.48	30.74	31.78	32.16	34.71	37.74	38.61	40.19
Dumfries and Galloway	35.67	36.79	32.77	34.29	35.30	40.41	39.05	na	na
Dundee City	32.60	32.62	38.03	38.65	39.52	37.14	42.16	43.42	44.72
East Ayrshire	34.99	36.42	28.96	30.43	34.24	35.48	36.89	38.24	41.91
East Dunbartonshire	24.95	26.95	32.78	34.39	36.65	38.09	39.95	42.58	44.79
East Lothian	28.54	29.76	30.25	31.80	32.73	34.19	35.53	36.79	36.70
East Renfrewshire	26.58	28.87	31.12	32.50	34.84	35.83	39.16	40.71	42.74
Edinburgh, City of	26.92	28.64	45.65	45.65	46.02	45.91	47.24	48.23	49.44
Eilean Siar	41.34	45.35	37.40	38.05	39.27	41.38	42.95	45.61	45.61
Falkirk	26.09	29.44	30.90	32.03	35.40	37.01	39.61	41.10	42.68
Fife	28.29	30.11	31.13	32.45	34.04	34.93	37.09	38.94	41.44
Glasgow City	36.94	40.23	42.63	43.96	45.71	47.33	48.60	na	na
Highland	35.97	38.37	40.19	41.11	42.46	43.11	43.98	45.82	47.54
Inverclyde	31.09	34.58	38.54	40.06	42.22	44.51	47.08	48.44	54.17
Midlothian	22.33	25.20	27.25	27.14	28.62	31.29	31.00	31.57	33.77
Moray	27.10	27.75	29.00	29.27	30.19	31.12	32.06	33.18	34.34
North Ayrshire	28.86	30.22	31.10	31.10	32.79	33.26	35.02	36.77	38.60
North Lanarkshire	29.54	31.14	33.11	35.43	37.16	38.78	39.29	40.86	42.44
Orkney Islands	32.92	33.20	32.85	34.98	34.54	36.05	37.74	38.70	40.11
Perth and Kinross	27.12	28.19	29.81	30.71	31.90	33.27	33.59	35.59	37.59
Renfrewshire	28.90	32.45	34.46	35.86	38.60	38.66	41.37	42.41	44.82
Scottish Borders	27.97	29.57	30.97	30.99	33.53	34.87	37.56	na	na
Shetland Islands	34.29	35.94	40.25	44.41	45.95	45.97	48.30	49.51	50.75
South Ayrshire	29.05	31.69	32.89	33.38	34.70	36.16	37.37	38.38	39.84
South Lanarkshire	31.59	35.47	37.24	38.50	39.40	40.18	41.15	41.15	43.57
Stirling	32.83	34.05	33.46	35.11	36.42	37.34	38.26	42.41	42.40
West Dunbartonshire	32.71	32.93	33.23	34.24	35.74	37.44	38.53	39.98	42.18
West Lothian	28.31	32.07	32.96	34.39	37.32	38.62	43.47	45.12	46.70

Source: Scottish Executive DevelopmentDepartment, HRA returns.

Note: Due to housing stock transfer,Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Scottish Borders are not included for 2003-04 onwards.

The Executive collects informationon total housing debt incurred by local authorities. Total debt is made up of historicdebt, plus any new debt associated with the construction or maintenance of localauthority housing. Information about total housing debt is contained in the Executive’sannual Housing Statistical Bulletins, Local Authority Housing Income and Expenditure.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Communities Scotland providesHousing Association Grant to housing associations to provide and subsequently managehousing for social rent. Grant support in the approved programme for 2005-06 amountsto £285.962 million.

The following table shows numbersof vacant local authority dwellings available to let by local authority area, 1996to 2005. Data for current local authorities is only available for 1996 onwards.The figures exclude dwellings which are vacant to be demolished, refurbished orwhich are to be used as temporary accommodation for the homeless.

Vacants (Available for Let) asat 31 March by Local Authority Area; 1996 to 2005

Local Authority Areas	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	9,831	9,721	10,336	12,821	14,666	13,453	12,229	10,312	8,756	8,993
Aberdeen City	649	808	768	878	854	1,298	1,197	1,252	1,309	1,606
Aberdeenshire	18	59	53	83	100	180	213	273	224	186
Angus	33	23	67	67	170	219	279	272	194	97
Argyll and Bute	68	48	70	53	102	125	67	277	69	82
Clackmannanshire	68	57	88	84	103	94	132	204	190	186
Dumfries and Galloway	86	86	109	131	147	150	157	116	0	0
Dundee City	1,139	731	957	853	501	519	406	414	511	282
East Ayrshire	468	330	390	459	642	638	637	650	575	348
East Dunbartonshire	36	41	68	56	20	36	23	39	36	17
East Lothian	83	117	77	123	49	68	75	86	50	72
East Renfrewshire	124	79	68	121	167	243	89	75	89	121
Edinburgh	1,638	1,623	1,210	864	780	429	552	645	585	413
Eilean Siar	186	591	55	56	56	38	29	38	24	17
Falkirk	474	470	170	141	182	314	363	363	248	145
Fife	1,247	1,253	833	814	837	945	788	960	1,058	989
Glasgow City	150	152	1,255	2,960	3,684	2,073	1,743	0	0	0
Highland	421	402	119	171	266	299	356	250	104	190
Inverclyde	49	35	655	509	694	618	434	305	516	672
Midlothian	26	17	58	42	37	48	32	51	39	26
Moray	303	184	19	20	20	31	42	28	24	22
North Ayrshire	600	659	288	288	226	352	133	107	122	73
North Lanarkshire	25	9	668	646	830	606	643	639	637	608
Orkney	120	165	17	18	13	6	8	13	9	7
Perth and Kinross	451	484	99	137	201	247	278	333	245	0
Renfrewshire	146	138	505	740	1,152	1,348	924	759	333	1,321
Scottish Borders	93	40	177	255	282	358	353	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	102	114	119	144	102	122	111	76
South Ayrshire	367	409	137	148	240	239	303	305	220	232
South Lanarkshire	148	0	574	662	845	802	815	595	426	324
Stirling	497	533	50	139	90	93	88	134	140	186
West Dunbartonshire	79	50	592	507	724	686	859	888	621	667
West Lothian	39	47	38	41	16	30	28	82	29	28
Scottish Homes	0	81	0	641	517	177	81	37	18	0

Source: Scottish Executive DevelopmentDepartment; Stock 2 return.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Communities Scotland providesgrant support to private developers to provide affordable housing for sale. Grantsupport in the approved programme for 2005-06 amounts to £7.663 million.

Our 2005 Housing Policy Statementset out the comprehensive range of actions that we are taking to improve housingsupply and affordability in the market and to increase provision of affordable housing.The policy statement built upon the findings of a wide ranging review of housingsupply and affordability in Scotland. Our review revealed a very mixed picture, with largeparts of the country having a net surplus of affordable housing (most notably inthe Greater Glasgow area), while elsewhere there was a sizeable net shortfall (mostnotably in Edinburgh and the Lothians). Even within local authority areas thereare geographical imbalances and the pattern of shortage and surplus is extremelycomplex. We are continuing to improve our evidence base and have commissioned Heriot-Watt University toupdate their affordability model for us to inform future policy. The update willbe available later this year.

In addition to a significantincrease in investment in affordable housing, the actions set out in our policystatement include planning reform, revised planning advice on affordable housing,a shared equity home ownership scheme and a commitment to address infrastructureconstraints. We continue to explore further measures that might ease affordabilitydifficulties and on 7 March I announced my intention to chair a joint planning andhousing forum involving local authorities which will seek to identify and resolveobstacles in the most pressured areas. Local authorities too have an important strategicrole to play in the delivery of affordable housing, informed by soundly-based LocalHousing Strategies.

Under the 1998-99 and 1999-2002New Housing Partnerships Initiatives, funding was made available to councils toassess the condition of their housing stock and the cost of bringing it up to modernday standards and maintaining it in good condition over the longer term. As a resulta number of councils, including the City of Glasgow and the Scottish Borders,concluded that they could not deliver the investment required and keep rents affordableand that transfer to community ownership offered the best way forward.

The following table shows thenumbers of new private sector dwellings completed, broken down by local authorityareas for years 1995 to 2004.

New Dwellings Completed; PrivateSector by Local Authority Area; 1995 to 2004

Local Authority Area	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	18,310	18,092	17,839	18,326	19,398	18,033	17,720	18,762	19,698	21,359
Aberdeen City	944	720	1,069	731	777	795	388	451	501	724
Aberdeenshire	1,159	619	652	1,132	1,179	988	1,201	1,148	1,270	1,633
Angus	443	326	233	213	252	254	308	360	316	365
Argyll and Bute	213	293	85	132	114	98	175	169	238	276
Clackmannanshire	108	146	122	60	122	128	160	206	332	401
Dumfries and Galloway	370	430	375	231	314	300	362	305	530	618
Dundee City	256	280	393	432	320	445	229	397	647	326
East Ayrshire	208	376	385	469	248	471	400	321	221	239
East Dunbartonshire	414	234	187	312	141	192	77	79	143	191
East Lothian	424	379	478	361	285	218	451	443	288	288
East Renfrewshire	294	296	276	402	431	345	204	270	114	83
Edinburgh City of	1,694	1,935	1,319	2,562	2,434	1,142	1,953	1,164	1,378	2,463
Eilean Siar	117	90	101	87	57	59	48	97	92	81
Falkirk	525	575	722	631	478	598	757	724	1,085	929
Fife	962	778	1,157	1,041	1,620	1,259	1,094	1,619	1,714	1,587
Glasgow City	1,698	2,360	1,540	1,338	2,209	2,207	2,115	2,146	1,592	2,572
Highland1	1,063	825	866	742	1,228	749	520	735	791	727
Inverclyde	103	328	211	210	195	172	164	244	222	246
Midlothian	190	256	339	232	288	221	167	115	165	82
Moray	572	460	340	117	200	290	298	447	324	267
sNorth Ayrshire	355	428	397	425	319	330	375	379	328	492
North Lanarkshire	1,586	1,363	1,720	1,640	1,868	1,658	1,145	1,356	1,261	1,504
Orkney	0	0	5	35	25	31	49	77	62	51
Perth and Kinross	577	386	702	670	348	438	520	779	895	847
Renfrewshire	812	853	750	779	495	539	400	422	472	504
Scottish Borders The	211	475	269	251	214	466	484	727	684	439
Shetland	95	96	69	122	48	210	66	78	61	79
South Ayrshire	274	337	421	375	362	278	341	206	324	353
South Lanarkshire	1,088	644	974	1,165	1,272	1,152	1,294	1,370	2,012	1,659
Stirling	337	499	453	313	352	366	337	511	286	123
West Dunbartonshire	332	204	236	78	99	299	421	198	202	194
West Lothian	887	1,101	993	1,038	1,104	1,335	1,217	1,219	1,148	1,016

Source: New Build returns bylocal authorities to the Scottish Executive Development Department: AnalyticalServices Division (Housing Statistics), housing association data provided byCommunities Scotland.

Note: 1. Includes estimates forHighland for 2004 due to outstanding returns.

The Scottish Executive has nothingto add to the answer to question S2W-22493. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

There is no central record of public inquiries so far as we are aware. There has been no public inquiry which has looked at the decision of the Lord Advocate whether or not to prosecute.

In 1959, a tribunal was established under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, following a motion before the House of Commons that a Select Committee should inquire into the case of John Waters. The Waters Inquiry relied on the established principle that the prosecutor’s decision as to whether or not to bring a criminal prosecution is for the prosecuting authorities to decide on the merits of the case without political or other pressure. Founding on that principle the Waters Inquiry did not consider the decision of the Lord Advocate not to prosecute. As far as I am aware there has been no public inquiry since then which has deviated from this principle.

The following are examples of public inquiries which have, inter alia, included consideration of matters potentially of a criminal nature.

Orkney Inquiry 1991

On 20 June 1991 Ian Lang, Secretary of State for Scotland appointed Lord Clyde to conduct an Inquiry into the removal of nine children from South Ronaldsay, Orkney to a place of safety on 27 February 1991.

This inquiry considered the actings of Orkney Islands Council, in particular the Social Work Department and the Reporter to the Children’s Panel for that area, of the Northern Constabulary and of all persons acting on behalf of either of them, and into the effect of certain matters on those actings, including the decision to remove nine children and their actual removal to, and their detention in a place of safety.

At the time of the Inquiry, there were no related on-going or completed criminal proceedings and the remit of the inquiry did not include consideration of any prosecutorial decisions by the Lord Advocate.

Piper Alpha 1998

On the 13 July 1988, the Secretary of State for Energy instructed an inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster. Lord Cullen was commissioned to report on the circumstances of the accident and to make recommendations with a view to the preservation of life and the avoidance of similar accidents in the future. Lord Cullen chaired the Inquiry into the disaster in two parts. The first was to establish the causes of the disaster. The second part made recommendations as to the future safety regime. Lord Cullen’s recommendations in the final published report led to a complete change in approach to Health and Safety matters offshore, with repercussions for the entire offshore industry in the UK.

Dunblane Inquiry 1996

The Dunblane Inquiry, in 1996, involved inquiry into, and consideration of matters of a criminal nature, including evidence about matters reported to procurators fiscal by the police, and the reasons stated by the procurators fiscal for their decisions in relation to those matters. However, Lord Cullen stated clearly in his report that he did not consider it proper for the Inquiry to require prosecutors to justify their decisions, or to entertain submissions as to the sufficiency of what was put forward as the justification of those decisions.