Chamber and committees

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: Comprehensive records of positive destinations of young people leaving young offenders’ institutions are not held by Scottish Prison Service (SPS) or other agencies.

SPS is giving high priority to improving the life chances of young people in its care. Working with partner organisations, SPS is implementing its Vision for Young People in Custody, which aims ‘to use the time a young person spends in custody to enable them to prepare for a positive future’ and so achieve a positive destination.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The Scottish Prison Service does not currently hold this information.

The selling and ownership of quad bikes and other similar single-person operated vehicles has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains an issue that is reserved to the UK Government.

The legislation governing the usage of quad bikes on our roads has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains reserved to the UK Government.

Police Scotland uses this UK Government legislation along with the additional powers available through the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 to deal with the irresponsible use of quad bikes or similar vehicles. Through engagement with communities and partner organisations at a local level Police Scotland seek to educate and encourage the responsible ownership and usage of this type of vehicle.

The Scottish Government has made no payments, loans or grants directly to Police Scotland in the last two years.

This information is not currently available.

Detailed statistics for Fiscal Works Orders (FWOs) will be included in the annual Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland bulletins from 2015-16 onwards. This will include data on the number of assessments undertaken by local authorities; the number of orders commenced; the number of orders completed/terminated; and the number of orders commenced broken down by the number of hours involved. This data will be available at a local authority level, and the Scottish Government currently anticipates that the 2015-16 statistics will be published in February or March of 2017.

The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland bulletin will also include data on FWOs from 2015-16, including information on the offence types for which FWOs have been imposed. We currently anticipate that the data for 2015-16 will be published in December 2016.

Where possible, local Fiscal Work Order (FWO) schemes should harness the potential of local organisations to both provide activities and be involved in carrying them out. Local authorities do not, however, receive contributions from businesses or organisations that provide FWO placements.

Local authorities may contract with another agency or agencies to provide and manage the prescribed activities undertaken as part of a FWO. Where this takes place, the contract should be in the form of a Service Level Agreement and local authorities must make arrangements to ensure that the agency fulfils its contractual obligations.

No such targets are set for local authorities. The provision of Fiscal Work Orders is governed by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, as amended, which provides that both the decision to send a work offer, and the subsequent decision to impose a work order, is one for Prosecutors to consider on a case by case basis.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Where possible, local Fiscal Work Order (FWO) schemes should harness the potential of local organisations to both provide activities and be involved in carrying them out. Local authorities are required to appoint a supervising officer in relation to each individual made subject to a FWO, and it is the responsibility of the supervising officer to determine the nature of work which that individual is required to perform. As with other community disposals, local authorities may provide and manage the prescribed activities themselves, or contract with another agency or agencies to do so on their behalf.

The national rollout of Fiscal Work Orders (FWOs), which commenced in April 2015, was a direct response to a recommendation of the final report of the Commission on Women Offenders which was published in 2012. In that report, the Commission highlighted that FWOs were a useful addition to the wider suite of diversion from prosecution measures and that FWOs had been found to have high completion and low breach rates. The Commission therefore recommended that 'Fiscal Work Orders are made available throughout Scotland for male and female offenders'. The Scottish Government accepted this recommendation, and made additional funding available to Community Justice authorities to support the rollout.

In addition, to further support and inform the rollout, the Scottish Government established a National Implementation Group with membership from a range of Justice agencies involved in the delivery of these orders. As part of their considerations, the Implementation Group received informal and time-limited feedback from local authorities which confirmed that FWOs were being used in every authority, albeit in small numbers, and that the rollout was not impacting on service delivery.