Chamber and committees

The Scottish Drug Services Directory lists 217 community-based services as of 10 November 2010. There is no centrally held information on the spaces available for each community based service, as the capacity of these services fluctuates according to demand.

It is noted that the number of beds available for each residential/inpatient service listed in the Scottish Drug Services Directory is available on the Scottish Drug Services Directory website and can be found at:

http://www.scottishdrugservices.com/sdd/homepage.htm

However, the number of beds does not equate to the number of places available annually which depends on occupancy rates and length of programme.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has responsibility for administering the legal aid scheme.

SLAB has reparation cases coded on its systems going back to 2001. In 2005, it introduced a category code to identify cases of reparation with a specific medical negligence component. However, it does not categorise the type of opponent.

Medical negligence cases take between one and two years on average to result in an account being submitted. As can be seen in the following table the first two years after the introduction of the new system saw a build up in the level of identified expenditure, and will not be an accurate representation of the amount of legally aided work related to medical negligence in any particular year.

The figures quoted are for all opponents that appear to be a part of the wider National Health Service, i.e. they include health boards, health trusts, individual doctors, dentists etc as well as the Scottish Ambulance Service, the Blood Transfusion Service and NHS 24.

Exclusions have been made for cases against obvious private companies and non-medical bodies, for example the Scottish Prison Service.

The figures shown in the table have combined the costs of advice and assistance and full legal aid.

The breakdown of the total paid is shown in terms of solicitor''s fees, counsel''s fees and outlays to cover expenses and items such as expert witness reports. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds.

SLAB recovers a considerable part of the costs of medical negligence cases. In 2009-10 it recovered 30% of the total gross cost of these cases through expenses being awarded against opponents and through contributions from assisted persons. These gross figures therefore do not represent the net cost on the legal aid fund.

Gross Expenditure (£000)	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11 (part yr)
TOTAL Paid inc VAT	12	91	416	781	1,082	1,271
Sol Fees Inc VAT	3	3	124	279	342	488
Counsel Fees inc VAT	0	0	50	91	101	317
Total Outlays inc VAT	9	88	242	411	640	466

 

We can only give specific figures for asylum, to any degree of accuracy, after April 2008.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has responsibility for administering the legal aid scheme. It has recorded payment figures in the immigration and asylum category going back to 2001. However, a specific category within the advice and assistance scheme to separately identify cases of asylum seekers was only introduced just over two years ago, in April 2008.

In the separate scheme for civil legal aid, which pays for representation in relation to judicial hearings, the most specific subject matter SLAB has is to identify judicial or statutory reviews relating to immigration or asylum proceedings. There is no further breakdown and therefore we need to estimate specific asylum costs. The figures shown on the following table use these estimates as described and have combined the costs of advice and assistance and civil legal aid. The breakdown of the total paid is shown in terms of solicitor''s fees, counsel''s fees and outlays to cover expenses and items such as expert witness reports. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds.

There is some income received to cover costs in asylum and immigration. In 2009-10, 4% of the gross costs in this area were recovered.

Expenditure Item (£000)	2008-09	2009/10	2010-11 (Part Year)
All Immigration and Asylum Costs Including VAT	3,793	4,403	2,544
Asylum Total Paid Including VAT	1,214	1,251	913
Solicitor Asylum Fees Including VAT	895	893	677
Counsel Asylum Fees Including VAT	70	96	37
Outlay Asylum Costs Including VAT	249	263	200

 

Courses at the Scottish Police College do not run on a month by month basis and the Scottish Government does not hold information on the college''s total capacity for training recruits each month. For most of the period 2003 until April 2010 the Scottish Police College''s maximum capacity was 96 students per 15 week course. In January 2008 the Scottish Government provided additional funding to enable the college to temporarily increase its capacity to 197 students per course, as part of the Scottish Government''s commitment to deliver an additional 1,000 police officers in Scotland''s communities.

In April 2010 the current 13 week course was introduced, raising the permanent maximum capacity of the college to 120 students per course.

The Scottish Government does not hold figures for the capacity of the police college prior to 2003.

Courses at the Scottish Police College do not run on a month by month basis and the Scottish Government does not hold figures for the number of probationers trained in each month. The following table shows the total number of probationers trained each year since 2000 at the college:

Year	Number of Students
2000	1,035
2001	731
2002	761
2003	990
2004	1,009
2005	875
2006	742
2007	682
2008	1,673
2009	1,261
2010	326

The figure for 2010 only reflects students trained on courses beginning before July 2010. Students who have completed their initial training return to the college for a reconvention course after approximately 12 months service with their force. These returning students are not reflected in figures in the table.

This information is not held centrally.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The Prisoner Survey captures data from prisoners reporting to be in receipt of a methadone prescription and whether they are receiving a reducing dose.

The following table is an extract from the Prisoner Survey 2009. The survey was conducted between 15 May and 10 July 2009. The overall response rate was 62%. Column (a) records the number within the establishment that responded to the survey; column (b) records the number reporting being prescribed methadone, and column (c) records the number who report they are in receipt of a reducing dose.

Establishment	(a) % and number of prisoners responding to overall Survey	(b) % and number of respondents reporting being prescribed methadone	(c) Number of respondents reporting that prescription to be a reducing dose
Aberdeen	55% (n=115)	32% (n=34)	n=8
Addiewell	51% (n=348)	22% (n=67)	n=10
Barlinnie	79% (n=786)	26% (n=183)	n=43
Cornton Vale	65% (n=194)	32% (n=51)	n=11
Dumfries	88% (n=144)	20% (n=20)	n=5
Edinburgh	45% (n=346)	21% (n=66)	n=11
Glenochil	44% (n=292)	27% (n=73)	n=18
Greenock	68% (n=176)	18% (n=29)	n=6
Inverness	55% (n=79)	9% (n=6)	n=1
Kilmarnock	68% (n=346)	26% (n=79)	n=15
Open Estate	43% (n=109)	10% (n=9)	n=2
Perth	65% (n=462)	21% (n=85)	n=10
Peterhead	73% (n=213)	0	n/a
Polmont	80% (n=540)	2% (n=9)	n=6
Shotts	52% (n=281)	29% (n=66)	n=11

 

Column (b) corresponds closely with snapshot audits of methadone prescribing, sourced from prison health centres.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

This information is not available.

However, the SPS has undertaken prison-wide snapshot audits across all Scottish prisons since 2006 of prisoners being prescribed methadone on a given day. On 8 December 2006, 1,228 prisoners were prescribed methadone, being 17.1% of the prisoner population on that day. These audits have demonstrated a 1% annual increase in the number of prisoners being prescribed methadone.

The latest audit in respect of prisoners held in custody on 23 July 2010 shows that 1,679 prisoners were prescribed methadone, being 21.5% of the prisoner population on that day. The majority, approximately 85%, are the continuation of prescriptions commenced in the community.

Results for the last five years are given in the following table:

Snapshot Audit of Methadone Prescribing in Prison: Highest No. in Each Year

Year	Date of Audit	No. of Prisoners Receiving Methadone	Population that Day	% of Population in Receipt of Methadone
2006	8 December	1,228	7,174	17.1
2007	14 December	1,354	7,240	18.7
2008	22 August	1,497	7,956	18.8
2009	28 August	1,609	8,027	20
2010	23 July	1,679	7,807	21.5

 

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS has undertaken snapshot audits across all Scottish prisons since 2006 of prisoners being prescribed methadone on a given day, two to three times per year.

Results of the last five years are given in the following table:

Snapshot Audit of Methadone Prescribing in Prison: Highest No. in Each Year

Year	Date of audit	No. of Prisoners Receiving Methadone	Population that Day	% of Population in Receipt of Methadone
2006	8 December	1,228	7,174	17.1
2007	14 December	1,354	7,240	18.7
2008	22 August	1,497	7,956	18.8
2009	28 August	1,609	8,027	20
2010	23 July	1,679	7,807	21.5

 

The Scottish Government remains committed to the target of ensuring that all unintentionally homeless households have the right to access settled accommodation by the end of 2012. At the last statistical count published in March 2010, it is evident that Scottish Borders Council still have some way to go to meet the national 2012 target on the abolition of the priority need test. However, the Scottish Government regularly meets with our partners in COSLA via the 2012 Joint Steering Group to discuss progress in this area, and to assist local authorities in achieving this target

One of the key aims of the 2012 Joint Steering Group is to facilitate greater access to existing housing stock. In this context, a Scottish Government official met with officials of Scottish Borders Council in March 2010 to discuss how recently introduced legislation pertaining to greater access to the private rented sector could assist the council''s progress towards the target. Scottish Borders Council has also indicated that it intends to participate in our forthcoming regional seminars on the Housing Options approach to homeless prevention, another key aim of the steering group.