Chamber and committees

Under the concordat agreed betweenScottish ministers and COSLA, the Supporting People fund and an element of the ViolenceAgainst Women Fund will from 1 April 2008, be absorbed into the main local government settlement.This decision to remove ring fencing from these funds will not be postponed.

Removingthe ring fencing from these funds will reduce unnecessary administrative and accountingburdens, freeing up more resources for front line services, as well as promotingmore integrated and efficient planning and delivery of services, and allow moreflexibility in how support packages for individuals are funded.

Bothnational and local government recognise the importance of tackling violence againstwomen. The Scottish Government will be providing local government in Scotland withrecord levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11.It will be the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the resourcesavailable to it on the basis of local needs and priorities, to fulfil its statutoryobligations and meet the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and nationaloutcomes, which were set out in the concordat and agreed with COSLA.

Furthermore, the Scottish Governmenthas shown its on-going commitment to the work to tackle violence against women,including domestic abuse through the allocation of more than £40 million over thenext three years to this agenda. For example, both the Violence Against Women Fundand the Children’s Services Women’s Aid Fund will continue, as well as funding forScottish Women’s Aid.

Under the concordat agreed betweenScottish ministers and COSLA, the Supporting People fund and an element of the ViolenceAgainst Women Fund will from 1 April 2008, be absorbed into the main local government settlement.This decision to remove ring fencing from these funds will not be postponed.

Removingthe ring fencing from these funds will reduce unnecessary administrative and accountingburdens, freeing up more resources for front line services, as well as promotingmore integrated and efficient planning and delivery of services, and allow moreflexibility in how support packages for individuals are funded.

Bothnational and local government recognise the importance of tackling violence againstwomen. The Scottish Government will be providing local government in Scotland withrecord levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11.It will be the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the resourcesavailable to it on the basis of local needs and priorities, to fulfil its statutoryobligations and meet the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and nationaloutcomes, which were set out in the concordat and agreed with COSLA.

Furthermore, the Scottish Governmenthas shown its on-going commitment to the work to tackle violence against women,including domestic abuse through the allocation of more than £40 million over thenext three years to this agenda. For example, both the Violence Against Women Fundand the Children’s Services Women’s Aid Fund will continue, as well as funding forScottish Women’s Aid.

No meetings have been held withwomen’s organisations to specifically discuss the funding for places in refugesfor women suffering from domestic abuse. However, as chair of the National Groupto Address Violence Against Women I get a report on progress from the Domestic AbuseAccommodation and Provision Working Group. This group last met on 12 June 2007 andprovided an update report to the last National Group meeting held on 26 November2007. The next meeting of the Domestic Abuse Accommodation and Provision WorkingGroup is due to take place at the end of February 2008.

The Domestic Abuse Accommodationand Provision Working Group, which was established by the National Group to AddressViolence Against Women is due to meet at the end of February 2008. Scottish Women’sAid is represented on this group, as is COSLA, and the Violence Against Women Teamand Housing Support from the Scottish Government.

The issue of funding for refugeprovision will be raised with this group.

I have asked James Hynd, ActingChief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Dumfries and Galloway Council and Shetland Islands Council havenot yet submitted Strategic Housing Investment Plans.

I have asked James Hynd, ActingChief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Dumfries and Galloway Council and Shetland Islands Council haveboth indicated that pressure of work has prevented the submission of their StrategicHousing Investment Plans.

I have asked James Hynd, ActingChief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Revised submission dates of 18 January 2008 and8 February 2008 have been agreed with Dumfries and Galloway Council andShetland Islands Council respectively.

It is not routine practice forthe Scottish Government to take or publish full transcripts of meetings in localcommunities. However, notes of the outcome or action points from such meetings willbe provided on request where available and appropriate, in accordance with Freedomof Information legislation.

The following meetings were heldin local communities between August and December 2007 to discuss antisocialbehaviour:

10 August 2007 – Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, heldmeetings with Fife Community Safety Partnership and Fife Police in Glenrothes andKirkcaldy to discuss community safety issues, including antisocial behaviour.

13 August 2007 - Officials andnational co-ordinators from the Scottish Government Community Safety Unit and YouthJustice met with Renfrewshire Local Authority to identify good practice in dealingwith youth justice, community safety and antisocial behaviour and assess the potentialfor these approaches to be used in other local authority areas.

28 August 2007 - Officials andnational co-ordinators from the Scottish Government Community Safety Unit and YouthJustice met with South Ayrshire Local Authority to identify good practice in dealingwith youth justice, community safety and antisocial behaviour and assess the potentialfor these approaches to be used in other local authority areas.

12 September 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, and officialsvisited Port Glasgow to launch Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland’s Public ReassuranceStrategy.

2 October 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, and officialsvisited NCH Scotland, Perth, to officially open the Perth, Falkirk and SouthLanarkshire Breaking the Cycle Intensive Family Support demonstration projects.

4 October 2007 - Officials andnational co-ordinators from the Scottish Government Community Safety Unit and YouthJustice met with East Ayrshire Local Authority to identify good practice in dealingwith youth justice, community safety and antisocial behaviour and assess the potentialfor these approaches to be used in other local authority areas.

17 October 2007 – Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, andofficials visited Glasgow for the launch of Fixed Penalty Notices for minor antisocialoffences by Strathclyde Police.

25 October 2007 –Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, and officials, visited the City ofEdinburgh Council Early Intervention Case Management Project to mark publicationof the Terms of Reference for the review of the national antisocial behaviour strategy,three related research reports and relevant statistics.

6 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety and his officials, FergusEwing met with Michael Matheson MSP and Annette Holmes of the Falkirk Car Cruisers’Committee to discuss antisocial driving and seizure of vehicle powers being consideredas part of the review of the national antisocial behaviour strategy.

6 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing and hisofficials, met with Mr Matheson and Central Scotland Police, including Chief ConstableAndrew Cameron, to discuss antisocial driving and seizure of vehicle powers.

6 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, visitedLarbert Fire Station, Larbert.

13 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, visitedNorth Ayrshire to meet the North Ayrshire Community Forum and hold a public forumat Radio City, both with discussion on the antisocial behaviour strategyreview.

14 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety and officials attendedthe Community Wardens Conference, Dunblane.

24 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, and officials visited the Scottish Business Crime Centre in Stirling to launch the ACPOS Crime Prevention Strategy.

29 November 2007 – Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, deliveredkeynote address and took questions at the Scottish Community Safety Network Chairs’and Managers’ meeting in Edinburgh.

Spending to meet the health needsof survivors of childhood sexual abuse is a matter for NHS boards within the frameworkof the Action Plan Better Health, Better Care. This aims to improveboth access to, and the purchase of, quality of health care for all people in Scotland.