Special Branch activity is the main component of the Scottish Police Service’s response to terrorism. Special Branches are funded mainly from within police Grant Aided Expenditure ,which rose by over 31% between 1999-2000 and 2004‑05 and is planned to rise by a further 17% by 2007-08. Information on the costs of Special Branches is not held centrally.

Particularly since 9/11, the Executive has also provided increased levels of 100% funding for a number of specific activities linked to or complementary to Special Branch working. These include force Counter-Terrorist Security Advisers, units responsible for co-ordinating the response to threats to national security and other covert activities. Given the sensitivity of these activities, it is the Executive’s policy not to comment on the levels of funding made available.

Additional amounts were included in Building a Better Scotland: Spending Proposals 2005-2008 to enable police forces to fund additional recruitment and also as part of the levelling-up of Grant Aided Expenditure across forces following a recent review of the allocation methodology for police grant aided expenditure. The overall amounts were £4.5 million in 2006‑07 and £14.5 million in 2007-08. The amounts specifically for additional recruitment were £1.5 million and £4.5 million respectively but, as a substantial part of the balance will also go towards additional recruitment, the larger figures provide a better measure of the total provided for additional recruitment to offset the peak in officer retirements.

The base year measure will be the two-year reconviction rate for the cohort of offenders discharged from a custodial sentence or given a non-custodial sentence in the year ending 31 March 2004.

This information is not available from 1999 because there was no target of this nature at that time. There is now a new joint target for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), the Scottish Police Service and the Scottish Court Service to dispose of 60% of sheriff summary and district court cases within 26 weeks of the date of caution and charge by March 2008.

A sampling exercise in 2003-04 suggested that around 42% of sheriff summary and district court cases were disposed of within 26 weeks of the date of caution and charge.

The COPFS is in the process of making changes to its operational database in order to measure future performance against this target.

The pay awards made to all grades in the police service since 1999 are as follows:

1999	3.6%
2000	3%
2001	3.5%
2002	3%
2003	3%
2004	3%

 

During the corresponding period police pensions have increased as follows:

1999	3.2%
2000	1.1%
2001	3.3%
2002	1.7%
2003	1.7%
2004	2.8%

 

The base year is the financial year 2004-05.

The additional amounts for police pay and pensions in 2006-07 and 2007-08 taken into account within Building a Better ScotlandSpending Proposals 2005-2008, announced on 29 September 2004, were as follows:

	2006-07	2007-08
Police Pay	£25 million	£52 million
Police Pensions	£4 million	£17 million

Notes:

1. The amounts given show increases compared to currently estimated levels for 2005‑06 and were arrived at following consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. Forecasts were not made separately for different grades of officer.

2. Police pay is determined annually on the basis of recommendations made by the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) and is amended in line with the median of private sector non-manual pay settlements.

3. Police pensions are increased in April each year on the same basis as other public sector pensions linked to adjustments for the State Earnings Related Pensions Scheme and Retail Price Index.

The number of summary criminal complaints and indictments registered since 1999 is shown in the following table.

Sheriff Court National Figures

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Summary Complaints Registered	92,752	95,615	101,441	104,960	109,177
Solemn Indictments Registered	4,017	4,445	4,248	4,636	5,050

 

I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11211 on 2 November 2004. 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/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11211 on 2 November 2004. 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/webapp/wa.search.