Chamber and committees

Midlothian Council has reported that they have demolished only one property in the four year period 1997 to 2000, and that the demolition took place in 1999. The dwelling demolished was outwith the local authority rented sector, though its exact tenure is not known.Figures for 2001 are not yet available.

We have no plans for community support officers with police powers in Scotland to undertake neighbourhood patrols along the lines proposed south of the border. However, the Scottish Executive has provided funding under the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) for a pilot to explore the use of neighbourhood wardens in part of Paisley. Their principal function will be to observe and report incidents to local authority colleagues or the police, as appropriate, with the aim of reducing vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

Information on the basis sought is not held centrally. The following table gives the number of complaint allegations made involving officers in Lothian and Borders Police and also the number of cases investigated:

Year	Complaint allegations made	No of cases investigated
1996-97	426	251
1997-98	385	210
1998-99	492	320
1999-2000	619	347
2000-01	625	340

Notes:1. An allegation may involve a complaint against more than one officer. A case is defined as a single investigation undertaken by an investigating officer into one incident or a group of incidents following a complaint by one or more persons. 2. Neither of the columns in the table equate to the number of officers who have been the subject of a complaint because, for example, more than one person may make a complaint about a single officer, someone may make a complaint about a number of officers or an officer may be the subject over a period of more than one complaint.

Information on the number of work-related ill-health retirements is not held centrally. It would be open to the member to approach Lothian and Borders Police to obtain these figures. The numbers of officers from Lothian and Borders Police who retired early on ill-health grounds in 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 are 22, 32, 32 and 35 respectively. Better management of ill-health retirement is currently being considered by the Police Negotiating Board which advises Government on the pay and conditions of police officers.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The recruitment of seagoing staff by Superfast Ferries for its new Rosyth to Zeebrugge service is a commercial matter for the company. I understand that the company recently advertised for seagoing staff in the Scottish press.

The Scottish Executive has had initial discussions about the Strathbungo Link with Strathclyde Passenger Transport. Those discussions include an assessment of the impact of the proposed link on the M74 northern extension. No decision has yet been reached on the Strathbungo Link or the final alignment of the M74 where it crosses the proposed link.

The regulation of whatever company succeeds Railtrack will remain a reserved matter and as such will be the responsibility of the Office of the Rail Regulator.

No.

The position remains as stated in the answer given by Sarah Boyack to Robert Brown in question S1W-15440 11 May 2001.