Chamber and committees

There are no current plans. Since 2010 there has been a 0.7% rise in the number of offenders reported for breach of the notification requirements against a 3.6% increase in the number of registered sex offenders managed through MAPPA. Most offenders are managed at level 1. This is not unique to Scotland but applies to the arrangements in England and Wales where the majority of cases (94%) are managed at Level 1.

There is no centrally held information about the standard costs involved in managing sex offenders under MAPPA as by their very nature, the arrangements are highly tailored to individual requirements, risks and circumstances.

The statutory criteria that govern the imposition of Orders for Lifelong Restriction can be found in sections 210B to 210G of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. It is for the court to decide whether an offender may fit the criteria when deciding on an appropriate sentence following conviction. The court will be aided in this regard by a risk assessment order produced by an accredited risk management professional. We do not hold information relating to the number of offenders who could have potentially received an Order for Lifelong Restriction.

Information held by the Risk Management Authority shows that to date 89 Orders for Lifelong Restriction have been imposed since they were introduced. No offender receiving an Order for Lifelong Restriction has been released from prison with one offender dying while in custody and another successfully appealing the Orders for Lifelong Restriction sentence.

No. Limitations on appointment to the role of a Police Investigations and Review Commissioner are set out in Schedule 4 (2) (1) of the Police Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 as amended by Schedule 7 (33) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. Accordingly, members or former members of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are not disqualified from taking on this role.

It does not. Schedule 4 (2) (1) of the Police Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006, which covers “limitations on appointment” to the role of Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland, does not disqualify a member or former member of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority from taking on this role.

Prior to 2007-08, this information had not been collected. That is why the Scottish Government has invested in, and enhanced, the Scottish Drugs Misuse Database (SDMD) to include the collection of follow-up and outcomes based information from people as they progress through their drug treatment pathway. The Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland will be publishing the first release of this follow-up information in December 2012, which will provide us with more information on people’s journey’s through treatment and the outcomes being achieved (e.g. around accommodation, family, employment/training, drug use and offending).

From the SDMD, we know that between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2011 that there have been 39,458 recorded entries into specialist drug treatment.

The Scottish Government introduced the Scottish Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times Database, which went live nationally from 1 April 2011. This provides quarterly information on the length of time people are waiting for treatment and the treatment interventions started. Between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012, 19,043 drug treatments were started in Scotland and the interventions started were as follows:

Information from the waiting times database is published online by ISD Scotland on a quarterly basis.

The Scottish Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission has met 12 times since its first meeting in December 2009.

The commission produced its first year report and recommendations to minister in October 2011 which can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/10/10142851/0.

The National Forum on Drug-Related Deaths established in 2005 meets on a quarterly basis each year. Between 2006 and 2008 the Forum met 10 times. Since January 2009 the Forum has met 15 times and produced two reports.

The forum has four sub-groups:

The Pathology Sub-Group explores forensic pathology practice, including toxicology, in Scotland when dealing with a suspected drug-related death. Since January 2009 this sub-group has met six times.

The Data Collection Sub-Group gathers information on drug-related deaths and analyse the findings of the national Drug-Related Deaths Database reports. Since January 2009 this sub-group has met 12 times.

The Volunteer’s Forum discusses issues raised at the National Forum on Drug-Related Deaths meetings and feedback issues they feel are important from a service user’s perspective. Since January 2009 the Volunteer’s Forum has met 19 times.

The Short-Life Working Group for Family Support explored what support services are in place for families following a suspected drug related death and how this can be improved. This Short-Life Working Group met for the first time in March 2011 and has met twice since then.

The forum has published four annual reports in total since 2005. The two most recent reports were the 2009-10 annual report published in July 2010 and the 2010-11 Annual Report published in October 2011. The reports can be accessed on the following links:

2009-10 Report: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/07/30140320/0.

2010-11 Report: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/11/6842/0.

The Scottish Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission produced its first year report and recommendations to Minister in October 2011 which can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/10/10142851/0.

The report contained 23 recommendations focused on three key areas, Children Affected by Parental Substance Misuse; Care, Treatment and Recovery, and Governance and Accountability of the Delivery System. The report and its recommendations were sent to the 14 NHS Boards in Scotland and 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and key stakeholders.

The Scottish Government is working in collaboration with NHS Boards and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to address all the recommendations in the report.

In April 2009, then Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing announced the establishment of a Scottish Drugs Recovery Consortium (SDRC) whose role would be to advocate, catalyse and lobby for recovery to be the mainstay of drug services.

The first member of staff joined the consortium in November 2009 and the first director joined in January 2010. The consortium was officially launched by Fergus Ewing in June 2010. The Scottish Government is the sole funder for the consortium (now called Scottish Recovery Consortium) and has provided £1,065,745 between 2009-10 and 2012-13. The breakdown is as follows: