Chamber and committees

The regulations are subject to affirmative procedure. If passed by Parliament, this will enable potential scheme providers to submit proposals for tenancy deposit schemes to ministers.

Until proposals are received, it is not possible to predict an exact date when an approved scheme will be operational.

(a) The number of absconds and failures to return at Noranside are as follows:

(b) The number of absconds and failures to return at Castle Huntly are as follows:

Both the police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service must adhere to strict requirements around the release of information. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38760 on 24 January 2011. It is for Lothian and Borders Police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to consider whether these requirements have been met.

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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/publications/1983/07/lag-police-media.

Internal guidance is available to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal staff to deal with routine enquiries.

Internal guidance is available to Scottish Court Service (SCS) staff to assist them in handling enquiries received from either the press or public on accessing court records or on other aspects of criminal proceedings. Further advice is available from SCS senior staff or SCS communications where required.

It is not possible to provide the running costs separately for Noranside and Castle Huntly for the years in question, as they were funded as one prison establishment “ HMP Open Estate.

For the years in question:

(i) 2009-10 the running costs for HMP Open Estate was £7,903,061

(ii) 2010-11 the running cost budget for HMP Open Estate is £8,193,090.

Current practice is all public sector prisons are allocated a budget based on the number of prisoners they are expected to hold, this is reflected in their service agreement. Any establishment required to hold prisoners more than they are budgeted for receives extra payments based on the number of prisoners over that base level. The amount of £10 per prisoner per day is paid to each establishment. This is provided to cover extra costs such as food.

All payments for additional places within public and private sector prisons are funded from within the SPS agreed annual budget allocation.

However, the National Drug Treatment Waiting Times Framework collects information on the number of offers of different types of treatment made to clients on a quarterly basis. This framework provides some detail on the range of services which are available:

For the first three quarters of 2010 (1 January to 30 September) there were:

5,811 offers of appointment for structured preparatory intervention;

5,145 offers of appointment for community rehabilitation;

3,305 offers of appointment for prescribed drug treatment, and

496 offers of appointment for residential rehabilitation made across Scotland.

These figures indicate that prescribed drug treatments (including methadone) are by no means the only, or most common, type of treatment offered to clients.

It should be noted that not all those offered an appointment may enter treatment and once they are being treated within a service, they may receive different interventions later that are not recorded in the waiting times system.

Further information can be accessed via the Waiting Times Framework at the following link:

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/wtpilot/reports.htm.

The Scottish Government recognises it is important that a range of drug treatment and support services, including abstinence based programmes, are available locally to support people with drug problems towards recovery and a drug-free life. Supporting people towards recovery is the underpinning principle of the national drugs strategy, The Road to Recovery.

The Scottish Government does not promote one form of treatment over another. Decisions about the most appropriate type of treatment to prescribe in each case are for clinicians and practitioners, in discussion with their clients and in line with national prescribing guidelines and the British National Formulary, which is used by clinicians to support prescription of medication and the management of a patient''s condition. It is important that individuals are offered the type of treatment which best suits their needs and circumstances, based on a person-centred treatment and support plan.

To support the delivery of recovery-focused treatment and support services, this government has made record investment in frontline drug treatment services. This investment, allocated to NHS boards, totalled £81 million between 2008-09 and 2010-11. Funding for frontline drugs services in 2011-12 has been protected and will be maintained at 2010-11 levels (£28.6 million), subject to parliamentary approval. It is for local partners to use this funding to support the development and delivery of recovery-focused treatment services in their area, based on an assessment of local needs and priorities.