Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39647 on 15 March 2011. 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.

There is no formal reporting mechanism, but the Scottish Government maintains an awareness of progress in each area through contact with Summary Justice Reform Co-ordinators.

There has been no formal evaluation of the domestic abuse toolkit itself, which in part is a product of the Glasgow domestic abuse court pilot. However, the Scottish Government maintains an awareness of progress at local level through contact with Summary Justice Reform Co-ordinators.

The domestic abuse toolkit is a framework developed to aid Sheriffs Principal and local criminal justice partners shape how they handle domestic abuse cases in their area. The toolkit therefore helps inform local practice and training, and as such, we would not expect there to be ongoing training on its particular use.

In each of Scotland''s six sheriffdoms, police officers and legal staff receive training on the joint domestic abuse protocol which sets out to identify best practice and obtain consistency of approach in the investigation, reporting and prosecution of cases. In addition, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service provide specialist domestic abuse training for legal staff, Victims Information and Advice staff and precognoscers.

The domestic abuse toolkit was developed to aid Sheriffs Principal and local criminal justice partners begin the task of developing a specialist approach to domestic abuse cases in their area. Learning from the Glasgow domestic abuse court pilot, the toolkit provides a non-prescriptive framework to help shape local responses. All 11 local criminal justice boards in each of Scotland''s six sheriffdoms are familiar with the toolkit and have used it to help develop their action plans.

Community benefit clauses in Scottish Government contracts have, to date, focussed on youth unemployment.

To increase opportunities for supported employment and other third sector businesses we have taken a range of actions including introduction of the Scottish Government Ready for Business Programme (aimed at capacity-building through training provision to third sector organisations) and we have amended the Public Contracts Scotland advertising portal so that an automatic alert is now issued to purchasers where a supported business may be interested in a contract they are preparing to advertise.

Opportunities have also occurred at a sub-contracting level in Scottish Government contracts, for example, Scottish Braille Press provide services under the Scottish Government''s Design, Print, Publishing Contract. We continue to work with contractors to determine the potential to utilise supported businesses further.

In February 2008, the Scottish Government published a detailed report on community benefit clauses with practical information on how and when to use the clauses. Over the past 15 months there has been a programme briefing events on community benefits aimed at public bodies. These have been attended by an estimated 150 buyers from across the public sector in Scotland.

The original guidance was supplemented by an information leaflet published in 2010 asking public bodies to consider using community benefit clauses in all appropriate contracts and signposting sources of help and advice to facilitate this. Use of community benefit clauses is also a key part of the Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan and will continue to be promoted as a major component of sustainable procurement.

There is currently no officially recognised measure of severe poverty in Scotland and therefore I cannot provide a definitive answer.

Uptake of free school lunches by virtue of the tax credit system is formally monitored through the annual School Meals in Scotland Survey. Results from the last one were published on the Scottish Government website on 29 June 2010.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/07/06095048/0

There is currently no officially recognised measure of severe poverty in Scotland and therefore I am unable to give a definitive answer.

Prescription charges will be abolished on 1 April this year, subject to the will of the Scottish Parliament. Whilst children are themselves already exempt from paying prescription charges, we estimate that around 600,000 adults living in families with an annual income of less than £16,000 will benefit from the abolition of prescription charges when they collect prescription medication.

There is currently no officially recognised measure of severe poverty in Scotland and therefore I am unable to give a definitive answer.

The Energy Assistance Package offers low income families living in an energy inefficient household measures to improve the energy efficiency of the house and therefore reduce bills. For the period 1 April 2010 to 31 January 2011; over 4,000 families have been referred to Scottish Gas for heating measures (complete heating systems and boilers) for which the average estimated annual saving per household is £669.