Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is committed to reducing the number of households, particularly households with children, living in temporary accommodation including bed and breakfast accommodation. At the end of June 2002 there were 105 families with children temporarily accommodated in bed and breakfast.As recommended by the Homelessness Task Force, existing guidance, developed in consultation with COSLA and others, requires councils to identify in their homelessness strategies how they will eliminate the use of bed and breakfast as temporary accommodation for families. The Code of Guidance on Homelessness makes clear that bed and breakfast accommodation should be used only as a last resort. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 introduced a requirement on local authorities to have regard to the best interests of dependent children in exercising their homelessness functions and the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Bill strengthens this reference to make clear that the accommodation provided must be suitable for occupation by such children so far as is consistent with their best interests. Through these measures we expect all local authorities to end the use of bed and breakfast for families with children and their progress towards this will be monitored closely.We will continue to discuss the delivery of this policy with COSLA and others.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32954. 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/search.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including immigration matters.The Executive welcomes the announcement by Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes MP on 26 November 2002 that changes to the Immigration Rules will make it easier for those victims of domestic abuse who are still subject to immigration control to stay in the UK without being trapped in an abusive relationship. Details can be found on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/.

The Scottish Executive commissions an annual report from the Chartered Institute of Housing on use of ASBOs. The latest report was published in December 2002 and is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre. The report does not include information on the time taken by local authorities to prepare an ASBO application or the costs incurred. Information is available on the time taken for the court to grant or reject ASBO applications. In the period 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2001, eight ASBOs were granted in less than four weeks, 23 were granted in one to three months, 15 were granted in four to six months and 14 were granted in six months or more. In the period 1 December 1999 to 30 November 2000, 14 ASBOs were granted in less than four weeks, 26 were granted in one to three months, seven were granted in four to six months and five were granted in six months or more. The Executive has introduced interim ASBOs in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill to provide more immediate protection from anti-social behaviour. The Executive has commissioned research from Stirling University to compare the costs of mediation and legal remedies for tackling anti-social behaviour. This is expected to report in spring 2003.

The Sociable Neighbourhood National Co-ordinator (SNNC) is on target to deliver agreed outputs from an action plan developed by the Scottish Executive. In the last year, she has completed an audit of all the local authorities in Scotland and her report will be published shortly. The SNNC is also currently developing a model anti-social behaviour policy; a directory of Legal Options with a costing framework for landlords; a directory of good practice; a good practice guide on anti-social behaviour orders, and a framework for multi-agency working. These will be published this year.

An audit of Scottish local authorities undertaken by the Sociable Neighbourhood National Co-ordinator indicates that all local authorities have policies in place to deal with anti-social behaviour. To date, 11 authorities have dedicated specialist investigation and enforcement teams, others have multi-agency anti-social behaviour teams or staff with responsibility for anti-social behaviour.

ASBOs were introduced by section 19 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and came into effect in April 1999. Information on the number of ASBOs applied for by each local authority in the periods 1 December 1999 to 30 November 2000 and 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2001 is set out in the following table. This information is collated by the Chartered Institute of Housing who prepare an annual report on use of ASBOs in Scotland, which is commissioned and funded by the Scottish Executive. Copies of the latest report, Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Anti-Social Behaviour in Scotland: A study of the use of Evictions and ASBOs in Scotland, which was published in December 2002, are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre. ASBOs Applied for by Local Authority

Local Authority	1 December 1999 to 30 November 2000	1 December 2000 to 30 November 2001
Aberdeen City	15	9
Aberdeenshire	0	1
Angus	0	2
Argyll and Bute	0	0
City of Edinburgh	19	16
Clackmannanshire	0	0
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0
Dundee City	11	10
East Ayrshire	11	1
East Dunbartonshire	0	1
East Lothian	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0
Falkirk	0	0
Fife	5	14
Glasgow	7	5
Highland	1	1
Inverclyde	0	0
Midlothian	0	1
Moray	1	3
North Ayrshire	0	0
North Lanarkshire	7	14
Orkney Islands	0	0
Perth and Kinross	5	1
Renfrewshire	0	2
Scottish Borders	4	9
Shetland Islands	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	0
South Lanarkshire	5	4
Stirling	0	1
West Dunbartonshire	4	5
West Lothian	1	0
Total

The annual survey of the use of evictions and anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) by the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland was published on 13 December 2002. Copies of the survey were placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. Delays were experienced in the production of the 2001 survey due to changes in personnel at the Institute. No costs arose from this delay.

The Sociable Neighbourhood National Co-ordinator is the only neighbourhood champion reporting directly to the Scottish Executive. The champion's role is to work closely with councils to assimilate and disseminate good practice, identify gaps and act as facilitator in assisting councils to develop successful strategies to tackle anti-social behaviour.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32954. 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/search.