Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is seekingto ensure that more Scottish food is processed and consumed in Scotland, byencouraging localised food distribution systems and by supporting local marketingschemes. For example, we have provided over £60 million since 2001 enabling a totalinvestment of £308 million in Scotland to support improvements in the processing and marketingof Scottish primary produce.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-31209 on 2 February 2007. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The information requested isgiven in the table Mortality rates forskin cancer, by parliamentary constituency,1995-2005 a copy of which is availablein the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41643).

The Executive has a broad rangeof interventions in place which ensure that individuals are offered access to treatmentat each stage in the criminal justice system. The range includes arrest referralschemes, mandatory drug treatment for arrestees, diversion from prosecution, pilotingof drug treatment and testing as a condition of bail, drug treatment as a conditionof probation order, Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, drug treatment throughoutprisons sentences and upon release from prison through the Throughcare addictionservice. In addition, the Glasgow and Fife Drug Courts focus specifically on offendersdriven by addiction and the 218 centre in Glasgow provides services for women offenders.The aim of this wide-ranging strategy is to reduce levels of addiction and to reduceor eliminate associated levels of crime.

We have put in place a rangeof measures to enable local agencies to address antisocial behaviour (ASB) drivenby addiction. For example:

We are providing £2 million fundingbetween 2006 and 2008 to three local authorities for Breaking the Cycle projects,testing intensive supervision and intervention models aimed at encouraging behaviouralchange in the small number of families, many of whom have addiction problems, whoare responsible for much of the most serious ASB in each community.

We have provided the police withpowers under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 to disperse groupsengaged in persistent ASB, including street drinking, and to close premises beingused as drug or drinking dens.

We are supporting local authorityproposals to introduce byelaws prohibiting drinking of alcohol in designated publicplaces under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

These measures are in additionto the £120 million funding which is supporting local authorities between 2004 and2008 to develop a full range of ASB services appropriate to local circumstances.We require local authorities to show how local action to tackle ASB is co-ordinatedwith that to tackle alcohol and drug addictions.

The Single Farm Payment Schemecame into effect from 1 January 2005 with the first payments being made from 1 December 2005. Thetotal modulation receipts for financial year 2005-06 were £28.158 million. My departmentcurrently forecasts these receipts being £36.266 million for financial year 2006-07and £43.6 million for 2007-2008.

The IPPC Regulations are designedto tackle a range of potential pollution problems which can result from pig andpoultry farming and which may have an adverse impact on the environment, human healthor both. Although the regulations will impose additional costs on the industry,they should help to promote and secure the positive environmental reputation whichis essential for the future of Scottish farming.

It is for every Scottishpublic authority to adopt its own system for monitoring requests it receives forinformation. It is for each public authority to determine what information canmost effectively be recorded, and there is no requirement to monitor requestsin any particular way, for example by reference to any particular circumstanceof the requester. Further the Executive is not party to the detailed informationheld by any other public authority as a result of that authority’s monitoringsystem. It is therefore not possible for the Executive to answer this question.

The evidence on the leachingof nitrate to groundwater as a result of the spreading of manure is summarised inAnnex B of the Executive’s consultation paper on proposed amendments to the ActionProgramme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, issued on 16 November.

A budget allowance of £2,000has been allocated for indoor plants and a further £36,300 for grounds maintenanceincluding outdoor plants but also including winter gritting and the maintenanceof grass areas.