Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04150 on 30 November 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Consideration has been given to a range of users of the justice system in developing the benefits framework of the programme. This has included workshops with representatives of users, which have included Children 1st.

Each of the Making Justice Work projects contains a range of workstreams. While no specific strands of work at the moment directly relate to children, their needs are considered along with the wider set of users of the justice system. For example, within project 2 work is going forward on “Getting People to Court” which is considering the needs of vulnerable witnesses and victims such as children.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility. Provisions In the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 raised the minimum age of prosecution from age eight to age 12 in March 2011.

Encouraging development and land use change that benefits biodiversity and climate change is part of the contribution of the planning system to achieving sustainable economic growth. As part of this, the planning fee covers the administrative cost of handling and making a decision on a planning application. Any revisions to the planning fee structure will be to ensure that fees are proportionate to the work involved in dealing with the application.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04048 on 25 November 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Invites have been sent to organisations which have practical experience of community engagement relating to planning proposals which can be controversial.

Invites have been sent to community based organisations which represent both geographically defined communities, such as community councils, and communities of interest. We expect these bodies to contribute to the event based on their experiences of the planning system. In addition, I intend to host similar events around the country to gauge communities’ views and opinions of planning issues.

Under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, when deciding whether to make an order about a child and, if so, what order to make, the court’s paramount consideration is the welfare of the child. I believe that approach, which is in line with Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and has been accepted by successive administrations, is the right one. We have no current plans to amend the law in this area.

Information on thefts at the level of detail requested is not held centrally.