Chamber and committees

The progress of the Single SurveyPilot is being monitored by the project team through the collection of data on thenumbers of surveys commissioned and of feedback from housing market professionalsand consumers. The team will continue to promote the pilot and encourage consumersto participate. The pilot will be the subject of an evaluation to examine whetherthe single survey is workable in practice, to assess professional and consumer opinionand to inform future policy.

There are no plans toappoint an Inspectorate for the judiciary.

The Scottish Law CommissionReport on Title to Sue for Non-Patrimonial Loss (SLC 187) waspublished on 8 August 2002. It made a number of recommendations for changes tothe categories of persons who are able to sue for non-patrimonial loss.

Recommendation10 of the Report was that the Damages(Scotland) Act 1976 shouldbe amended to provide that:

“(a)any person who, immediately before the deceased's death, was the same-sex cohabitantof the deceased should be entitled to sue for patrimonial and non-patrimonial loss;and

(b)"same-sex cohabitant" (for the purposes of title to sue fornon-patrimonial and patrimonial loss) should mean any person who was livingwith the deceased in a relationship which had the characteristics, other thanthat the persons are of the opposite sex, of the relationship between husbandand wife.”

The Scottish Executive hasagreed that this recommendation should be implemented and that is being donethrough provisions contained in Schedule28, Part 4 of the Civil Partnership Bill which is presently before theUnited Kingdom Parliament.

The other recommendations forchange contained in the report are still under consideration, and no decisionshave yet been taken as to their implementation.

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

The pension rights of thestaff employed at the new prison will be a matter for the relevant employer.

The Scottish Executive and itsagencies spent £152,534 on acquiring official publications from January 2003 toOctober 2004, and £452,128 on sale and distribution services of publicationsfrom June 2001 to October 2004.

The Scottish Executive doesnot have any powers of direction over TSO.

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

The Scottish Prison Servicesite is about 15 hectares of which the existing prison occupies about onethird.

The SPS-owned land adjacentto the existing prison was considered to be too small for the proposed newprison. The site needs to be used to create the most effective establishmentoperationally so that value for money is maximised. The SPS consider that thisneeds to include the part already occupied.

The Housing Improvement TaskForce reported in 2003 on policy issues concerning the quality of privatesector housing stock in Scotland. That report identified that although the Scottishhouse buying and selling system has a number of strengths, there werenevertheless a number of ways it could be enhanced, particularly in relation toincentives for property maintenance. The task force recommended that the ScottishExecutive pilot a single survey system for buying and selling that would givepotential buyers better information on house condition and encourage greaterattention to that aspect of ownership. That pilot is in progress. It aims also totest whether the single survey is an appropriate means of addressing theproblems of so-called “multiple surveys” that are a feature of some marketareas and whether the inclusion of a valuation within the single survey willact to discourage the setting of misleadingly low upset prices that can befrustrating for house buyers.

The proposed housing bill wouldinclude powers for ministers to make the provision by sellers of the singlesurvey and any additionally defined information mandatory, should this bedeemed appropriate in the light of the pilot.

The task force alsoconsidered issues around blind bidding and the setting of closing dates, butconcluded that action to enforce alternatives to these conventions would beheavy-handed and out of proportion to the problems identified. The Executiveaccepted these conclusions and has no plans to introduce mandatory alternativessuch as open auctions or fixed prices.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues,including the proposed new gambling legislation. Scottish ministers will have a wider range of controls under the new systemincluding power to set licence fees and licence conditions.  

Scottish ministers will be fullyinvolved in procedures for implementation of the new regime and will be consultedprior to the UK Government deciding whento commence the new arrangements.

A Sewel motion on the devolvedaspects of the bill will be presented to the Scottish Parliament in due course.

The information is given in thefollowing table:

Financial Year	Judges	Sheriffs	Total Pay Bill for Judges and Sheriffs (£ Million)
1999-2000	27	122	16.346
2000-01	32	129	18.919
2001-02	32	136	19.757
2002-03	32	136	21.414
2003-04	32	136	23.496
2004-05	34ø	140	23.788

Note: ^øIncrease of two subject to approval ofan Order currently before Parliament.

In financial year 2004-05, the Lothian and Scottish Borders Consortium has been allocated grant of £173,141 for its Domestic Violence Probation Project (DVPP). This funding is provided through Section 27 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Indicative funding has been provided on a three year basis. As part of the strategic planning process, the consortium has submitted its plan to the Executive for the period beginning April 2005. The target is to inform the consortium and all other groupings/unitary authorities of funding for 2005-06 by end January 2005. Funding decisions in respect of such programmes as DVPP will be determined on the evidence of effectiveness and value for money within the level of available national resources.

A report of an evaluation, sponsored by the Scottish Office and the Home Office, was published in 1996. The report was positive, concluding that the project was considered to be more successful than other forms of court disposal in reducing the frequency of violence. Since then, the Consortium has continued to monitor and evaluate the project, primarily through consultation with the partners of the men on the programme.

There have been 58 new referrals in 2001-02; 61 in 2002-03, and 61 in 2003-04, rising to 77, 79 and 67 men if those already on the programme are included.  In the period from April to August 2004, there were 24 new orders, reflecting a greater proportion of men assessed as suitable, as a result of the increased use of risk assessment and risk management procedures.

The notional working capacity has recently been increased to 50 men and their partners at any one point in time. The project is currently working with 60 men following imposition of a quota last July when the number of men receiving a service was 63. The project is currently carrying one vacant post which it expects to fill next month.

The consortium has submitted a bid to the Executive to increase the capacity of the scheme to approximately 70. This bid will be considered alongside bids from other groupings/unitary authorities as part of the overall funding proposals for 2005-06.

In addition, the Executive is supporting the DVPP which is working in partnership with the SACRO Falkirk Domestic Violence Project and the CHANGE project to develop a domestic violence programme that will be submitted in 2005-06 for accreditation.