Chamber and committees

The procedure for the imminent appointment of a successor to Lord Gill as Chair of the Scottish Law Commission has been formulated in consultation with the Executive's Public Appointments Unit and with the approval of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.In terms of the agreed procedure, the senior judiciary will be consulted before a new Chair is appointed.

The procedure for the imminent appointment of a successor to Lord Gill as Chair of the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) has been formulated in consultation with the Executive's Public Appointments Unit and with the approval of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA).

Children's Panel Training Organisers, who are funded by the Scottish Executive to provide training to panel members, are responsible for the development of material used in training. They have drawn on expertise provided by child psychologists and psychiatrists which has been incorporated into training on communicating with children which features in panel member pre-service training. In-service training may involve workshops on specific issues. The National Autistic Society conducted such a workshop in October 2001 in Dundee.

The recent reappointments of Professors Maher and Thomson as Scottish Law Commissioners were conducted in accordance with the procedures for appointments to public bodies and after due consultation with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-21349.

My officials met Supporters Direct last September to discuss the possibility and practicalities of Supporters Direct extending the service they provide in England and Wales to Scotland. Supporters Direct were asked to submit a written proposal on how this could be achieved together with costings.Following the setting up of the Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) in November 2001, Supporters Direct were encouraged to apply to the SFP for funding and I understand that initial contact has been made. My colleague, Mike Watson has written to the Chairman of the Partnership asking that his board consider sympathetically any subsequent application received from Supporters Direct for funding. It is, however, a matter entirely for the board of the SFP. We remain committed to examining all possible means of encouraging responsible groups of supporters to become more involved in their football club.

We seek to promote consistency in the way that police forces record crime through guidelines and audits.We issue guidance through the Criminal Statistics Handbook. The guidance is discussed with police representatives through the Scottish Criminal Statistics Committee and is ratified by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.The Justice Department Justice Statistics Unit also visits police forces to monitor police recording practice and confirm that the guidance is being followed. In its regular programme of primary inspections, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary also audits processes and procedures used within forces to record crime.

Training dealing specifically with autistic spectrum disorder is not provided for police officers. General awareness of the need to deal sensitively with people who may have special needs will, however, be addressed through the new National Equal Opportunity Training Strategy which is presently being rolled out at the Scottish Police College.

The Performance Audit Group (PAG) is appointed by the Scottish Executive to audit and monitor the activities of BEAR Scotland Ltd. BEAR's physical performance is monitored and audited throughout the year by PAG's Field Engineers. During winter months PAG pays particular attention to reviewing BEAR's strategic planning as described in their Winter Maintenance Plan. This involves monitoring the management of BEAR's plant and labour resources and the deployment of these resources. PAG communicates its observations to the Executive by means of various reports either periodically or as particular matters arise.

The new guidance published is designed to show agencies what needs to be in place where and when to provide good psychological interventions and eating disorder services.The workforce skills, recruitment, training and retention issues are recognised and are under active consideration. Meantime, the Mental Health and Well Being Support Group, the Scottish Health Advisory Service and others will consider and report on local responses and progress in delivering the care and support needed in each case added to which will be the reviews under the new Performance Assessment Framework which will include consideration of progress made by agencies across the mental health agenda.