Chamber and committees

Cabinet discussed this issue yesterday.We remain committed to dispersal and we have already taken significant steps to implement this.We have located or are currently planning to relocate 650 jobs outwith Edinburgh and of the seven reviews planned, five of these are under way with decisions expected later this year.

None.

Dumfries and Galloway Council have been awarded £34,400 in the current financial year to aid in the construction of the accommodation for disabled women in Dumfries. Further funding of £71,582.98 is also now available, following the conclusion of End Year Flexibility discussions regarding resources which were unspent on the project in financial year 2001-02.

There is no procedure for adoption orders to be reviewed outside the judicial process. The effect of an adoption order is to transfer all parental rights and responsibilities to the adoptive parents, as if the child had been born into that family. This includes the right to have the child live with them or otherwise to regulate the child's residence.However, an adoption order will only be granted if it is in the child's best interests after careful inquiry. As part of the adoption process, a child aged 12 or over must give their consent to a proposed freeing or adoption, unless that child is incapable of so doing. The views of younger children on proposed adoptions should also be taken into account, when the child has the maturity to express a view.Should an adoptive family become unable to care for an adopted child, for whatever reason, the local authority assumes a responsibility for ensuring the child's welfare, as would be the case in any other family.

The Scottish Executive has not provided any financial guarantees to the Airborne Initiative (Scotland) Ltd in respect of the purchase of Braidwood House. Whilst the Executive is providing a three-year funding package towards the organisation's annual running costs for the period to 31 March 2004, no public monies have been made available or offered by the Executive towards the capital costs incurred by Airborne in relocating from its current site at Abington.

The information requested is not collected on a routine basis by the Scottish Executive. However, an independent evaluation by Stirling University commissioned by the Executive and published in June 2000 suggested that the average programme participant had 10.5 previous convictions and had served, on average, 3.0 previous custodial sentences. The research indicated that the principal offences for which offenders were referred to Airborne were dishonesty (50% of referrals), violence including common assault (23%) and breach of a previous court order (10%).

The Scottish Executive has been aware for some time of the organisation's desire to find an alternative location and premises to its current site at Abington. As a voluntary sector organisation, decisions on the most suitable site for its operations are essentially matters for Airborne Initiative (Scotland) Ltd. The Executive was, however, made aware by the organisation of its intention to purchase Braidwood House and there have been a number of informal discussions on the issue in recent weeks. I myself paid a visit to the organisation's current site at Abington on 19 August when the subject of the move to Braidwood was discussed. The issue has also been discussed on an informal basis between officials of the Scottish Executive and South Lanarkshire Council in its role as the local planning authority and managing authority for the organisation.

Since January 1998, there have been 495 participants on the Airborne programme of whom 321, or 65%, have successfully completed the programme. The remaining 174 participants failed to complete for a variety of reasons. The information requested on re-offending rates is not collected on a routine basis. However, an independent evaluation carried out by Stirling University and published in June 2000 indicated that reconviction rates were significantly lower among those who completed the Airborne programme compared with those who failed to complete and amongst a comparison group, who received alternative disposals. The evaluation found that 64% of Airborne completers had been reconvicted within 12 months compared with 95% of non-completers and 77% of comparison group cases. The evaluation also indicated that Airborne participants were slower to be re-convicted and that participation in Airborne significantly increased an offender's likelihood of remaining free of further convictions.

The Executive does not place offenders with the Airborne Initiative (Scotland) Ltd. The courts have the option of imposing an additional specific condition to attend the Airborne programme, as part of a probation order. Since January 1998 to date, there have been 495 offender placements, with 51 participants so far this calendar year. In the financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01, £471,500 and £483,286 respectively was allocated in direct grant, through South Lanarkshire Council, to fund placements with Airborne. Following an independent evaluation published in June 2000, changes were made to these funding arrangements from the 2001-02 financial year. In 2001-02, £300,000 was allocated to South Lanarkshire Council in respect of the direct grant for Airborne. In addition, all local authorities received a ring fenced grant allocation from the Executive to purchase places on the Airborne programme and similar courses provided by the Fairbridge Venture Trust. The total sum made available to the local authorities for this purpose in 2001-02 amounted to £278,545. In the current financial year, South Lanarkshire received an allocation of £206,000 for the direct grant for Airborne and local authorities a total allocation of £404,573 to purchase places from Airborne and the Fairbridge Venture Trust.

The relevant legislation governing allotments is the Allotments (Scotland) Acts 1892, 1922 and 1950. Sections 23-27 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1959 and sections 73 and 74 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 are also relevant.The Local Government Committee is currently holding an inquiry into the provision and management of allotments and we will consider its findings once these are completed.