Chamber and committees

This government is committed to raising the employability and skills of young people. Through the provision of tailored work-based opportunities, where the mentoring dimension is usually a key component, national training programmes such as Get Ready for Work perform a vital role in that regard and have been shown to have a positive impact on young people''s employability skills and their ability to sustain positive destinations.

Work-based mentoring schemes can assist in addressing offending by young people by providing an early and effective intervention that can reduce the need for involvement in formal systems, and encourage young offenders to participation in society.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

While the Scottish Futures Trust has been briefed on the Scottish Prison Service investment plans, it has not to date been involved in the delivery of any capital investment in the Scottish Prison Service. The current prison modernisation programme is being taken forward using traditional capital funding.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The prison modernisation programme is currently being taken forward using traditional capital funding. The potential to use not-for-profit trusts to deliver investment in the Scottish Prison Service is kept under review.

Information on how much is spent by local authorities and NHS boards specifically on rehabilitation for drug problems is not held centrally; it is for local authorities and NHS boards to commission services to meet the needs of the local population.

The Scottish Government allocates funding to NHS boards for drug treatment services, including rehabilitation. Table 1 provides the funding allocations from the Scottish Government to NHS boards for each of the last 10 years. It should be noted, however, that this table does not provide the complete picture of NHS spend on drug treatment and rehabilitation; NHS boards and other local partners are able to supplement these funds to tackle problem drug use, in order to meet the needs of the local population.

Table 1: NHS Board Allocations for Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation

Year	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)
Total NHS Board Allocation	11,352	12,352	14,973	16,952	16,952	19,752	23,769	23,769	23,769	24,668	27,998

In addition to this investment in frontline NHS drug treatment services, the Scottish Government also provides funding to a number of national organisations with a focus on driving forward the principles of Road to Recovery.

Local authorities hold data on the amount that they spend on treating adults with addictions and substance misuse problems, this includes (but is not specific to) drug rehabilitation services. Table 2 provides the local authority net revenue expenditure on adults with addictions and substance misuse problems for each of the last 10 years. Care should be taken when comparing some of these totals, as explained in the notes in the following table.

Table 2: Local Authorities'' Net Revenue Expenditure on Adults with Addictions and Substance Misuse Problems

Year	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004- 05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)
Total Local Authority Net Revenue Expenditure	8,159	8,975	11,449	23,285	22,741	23,912	25,860	25,780	27,875	36,224	36,455

Notes:

1. Figures from 1999-2000 to 2001-02 exclude expenditure on addictions and management and support costs and are not comparable with 2002-03 onwards.

2. When comparing revenue expenditure levels in 2008-09 to previous years, it is important to note that there was a change to the local government funding structure in 2008-09, with the former ring-fenced revenue grants rolled up into General Revenue Funding. As a result of this change, the figures are not wholly comparable.

3. 2009-10 figures are provisional.

It should be noted that, in addition to the above, resources for tackling drug misuse are provided through a number of other budgets. In particular, many NHS boards use resources from their unified budget to supplement funds provided through the drug misuse budget; the police use some of their resources towards tackling drug misuse; and further resources, such as those from the budget allocated to dealing with blood borne viruses, are used to deal with the types of problems associated with drug misuse.

The detailed estimated costings for the setting up and the running of the Scottish Sentencing Council are provided in the Explanatory Notes for the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill. Pages 93 to 95 of the Explanatory Notes provide the costings and can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/24-CrimJustLc/b24s3-introd-en.pdf

As per the Explanatory Notes, the estimated setting up costs for the Scottish Sentencing Council are £450,000 and the estimated running costs for the Scottish Sentencing Council are £1,100,000 per annum.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36670 on 25 October 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The review of national antisocial behaviour policy, Promoting Positive Outcomes, was published in March last year and can be found on the Scottish Government''s website at www.scotland.gov.uk.

The idea of community involvement in applying sanctions was examined during this review. Volume 2: Evidence provides detail of the research, analysis and consultation that took place, including interviews with Scottish police forces, local authorities, and focus groups with the public at five locations across Scotland. The clear message from our most hard-pressed communities was that they didn''t want to be involved in applying ASBOs or other enforcement measures because they saw this as the role of professionals and were fearful of retribution.

Recent discussions with national and local partners including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS), the Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN), the Antisocial Behaviour Officers'' Forum (ASBOF) and the Antisocial Behaviour Lawyers'' Forum (ASBLF) has confirmed these bodies continue to support our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour.

Community Councils can of course approach the local authority and request that measures to tackle antisocial behaviour are considered. We keep such matters under review and we welcome suggestions on measures which can be taken to make Scotland''s communities safer and stronger places for all.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36906 on 28 October 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

We have been working with Scotland''s legal community and others, and intend to create an International Arbitration Centre in Scotland in partnership with relevant interested parties. On 28 September, I met with representatives of the bodies appointed as Arbitral Referees under the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 to consider a firm proposal for establishing the Centre. Discussions are ongoing.