Chamber and committees

Mr Smith originally raisedhis case against the Electoral Registration Officer in the Sheriff Court.Although his application for civil legal aid in this case was ultimatelyrejected, a fee of £809.58 was paid to his legal representatives under specialurgency procedures.

The most recent appeal is tothe Court of Session, sitting as the Registration Appeal Court. Civil legal aid for thisappeal was granted in August 2004 and £2,686.29 has been paid to date.

Final accounts have yet tobe submitted in this case. Therefore, the final legal aid bill is not yet known.However, solicitors are asked to estimate the final cost of a case before legalaid is granted. Mr Smith’s representatives have estimated the final cost to bein excess of £5,000.

The impact of theintroduction of a super casino in Scotland, including the effect on gambling addiction, wasconsidered in the study Research on the Social Impact of Gambling. This waspublished by the Executive on 12 September 2006. A copy can be found at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/Research/17692/SocialResearchPubs/EntLifelongLearning.

NHS boards and other agencieshave the resources to provide a full range of treatment and care services. We confirmedon 1 February the allocation of £10 billion to NHS boards in Scotland in 2007-08.It is for NHS boards to determine how best to use the resources allocated to themto plan and deliver services and support according to local and national prioritiesand needs.

Lothian and Borders Police wasallocated in the region of £185.4 million, out of a total police budget of almost£1.1 billion for 2006-07. In the last five years alone funding for Lothian and BordersPolice has increased by £44.5 million and the number of police officers has risenby 172 with support staff rising by 282.

The Chief Constable of Lothianand Borders Police is responsible for planning the use of the resources available to him to deliver the full range of policingactivities, including maintaining public order and security.

The Scottish Executive is inregular contact with the Home Office and the Security Industry Authority at bothministerial and official level.

This is an operational matterfor Forth Ports plc.

No decision has been made onwhether the free bus travel scheme for older and disabled people should be extendedto cover travel on any future Edinburgh tram network. The current scheme will be reviewed afterits first few years of operation and Scottish ministers may make regulatory changesto it in light of any relevant findings available then.

Forth Ports plc is the competentharbour authority for the Firth of Forth. It is responsible for regulating arrangementsfor pilotage on the Forth as required by the Pilotage Act 1987, and also for authorisingpilots to conduct pilotage on the Forth. Part of this duty involves keeping the need for pilotageand the service provided under review.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

A recruitment campaign for YoungOffender Institution Visiting Committees was run in the national press during October.A number of applications were received and a selection process was run during November/December.

The Minister of Justice has ratifiedthe appointment of the successful candidates.

Letters confirming appointmentshave now been sent to the VC members.

Parliament agreed to theremit of the Standards Commission for Scotland, as set out in the EthicalStandards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. That remit did not include the operationof, or the investigation of members of, prison visiting committees. However,the Scottish Executive has asked Professor Lorne Crerar to carry out anindependent review of the regulation, inspection audit and complaints handling ofpublic services in Scotland. It is likely that the Standards Commission andprison visiting committees will be considered within that independent review.Any consideration of changing existing remits would have to take account of thereview’s findings.