Chamber and committees

Strathclyde Police.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18967 on 15 January 2009. 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.

This unit has been funded by Strathclyde Police from within existing resources.

Whilst the problem of teenage gangs is not exclusive to the West of Scotland available evidence gathered by the police suggests that is where the problem is greatest. One of the areas worst affected is the east end of Glasgow, and that is why the Scottish Government announced on 12 December 2008 a £1.6 million funding package to support the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) project. The project will bring together a range of partners from the police, education, social work, health, employment and the community to tackle this long standing problem, delivering coordinated intensive support services, diversionary activities and intelligence led enforcement. The project will be fully evaluated and we hope that the positive findings can, where appropriate, will be replicated in other parts of Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that community supported activity can play a valuable role in reducing alcohol-related harm and tackling antisocial behaviour. Community Alcohol Partnerships can bring the benefits of effective partnership working by all relevant partners to tackle issues such as underage drinking and a number of positive indicators appear to have resulted from initial schemes.

Some elements of Part 8 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 are currently in force. Section 105(1), purchase of alcohol by or for a child or young person, came into force from 1 June 2006 (subject to a number of transitional provisions).

For recorded crime data, section 105(1) is covered within a crime code that also contains offences relating to a number of other legislations. It is not therefore possible to find the number of recorded offences that solely relate to section 105(1) of the 2005 act.

The Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database has no records up to 2006-07 (the most recent published data) of prosecutions under Part 8 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, most of which does not come into force until 1 September 2009. This timetable is consistent with that proposed by the previous administration for full implementation of the act.

The £1 million of additional funding to deliver speedier community penalties has been allocated to each community justice authority (CJA) as per the following table.

CJA	Allocation (£)
Fife and Forth Valley	£181,117
Glasgow	£271,375
Lanarkshire	£198,782
Lothian and Borders	-£55,969
Northern	£109,558
North Strathclyde	£142,265
South West Scotland	£104,183
Tayside	£48,688

 

It is not intended to record this information centrally as a matter of routine. However, the additional £1 million funding to community justice authorities from 2009-10 which was announced on 24 October 2008 for the delivery of speedier and more immediate community penalties, carries with it a requirement for local authorities to make discernible progress towards this goal. Progress will be tracked through audits at appropriate intervals.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The actual saving will depend on the value of qualifying expenditure incurred by SPS during this period. Such information and the expenditure distribution by prison are not available. However, based on the expenditure profile during the current year, it is estimated that the reduction in VAT for this period will save the Scottish Prison Service around £3 to 4 million.

The £1 million additional funding to deliver speedier community penalties has been incorporated into the core funding for community justice authorities. As such it becomes part of their baseline budget and will continue beyond 2009-10.