Chamber and committees

Dumping of sewage sludge is illegal. Sewage sludge may be legally disposed of to landfill or by incineration, or recovered, notably to land. In any of these cases, regulatory requirements apply.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a national policy on the use of treated sewage.

In May 2008, Scottish Water published its own National Sludge Strategy which identifies the organisation''s long term strategy for the management of sludge in Scotland. The Executive Summary of this document may be found at the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/rae/papers-08/rup08-18.pdf.

There are parameters in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, as amended, however as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is Scotland''s environmental regulator, the issuing of any guidelines on the limits would be a matter for SEPA.

The Scottish Government does not produce or treat sewage sludge, or regulate its disposal or recovery. Accordingly, information on exact locations where this disposal or recovery has taken place is not held centrally. This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency or Scottish Water.

Statistics on the amount of sewage sludge recovered/disposed of in Scotland in each of the last four years are available on the Scottish Government website at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Environment/seso/sesoSubSearch/Q/SID/198.

Please note that the figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 indicate post-digestion sludge quantities. From 2006-07 onwards pre-digestion sludge results were reported, therefore the data from these different time periods is not comparable.

This PQ was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0115-01.htm

The Scottish Borders is marketed by VisitScotland using the fantastic assets which it can offer its visitors. These include mountain biking and adventure sports, golf, touring, walking and other outdoors pursuits, food and drink, nature, local events, festivals and history and heritage “ the list goes on and on. These great assets are promoted across the UK and overseas by VisitScotland in a number of ways, such as websites, print, direct mail and PR activity. Some of this focuses entirely on the Borders, e.g. the Borders Visitor Guide, and the dedicated visit borders website, while others feature the Borders as part of the wider promotion of Scotland.

The Borders also features in the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations. The Return to the Ridings; Clan Scott Society Gathering and In the Footsteps of Reivers are examples of events which are receiving funding support and being publicised globally as part of the Homecoming Initiative.

The member will be particularly pleased to know that Homecoming has been the subject of our largest ever mailshot in the USA, letting 140,000 potential visitors know about the many events and excellent welcome they will receive in all parts of Scotland.

No information is held centrally on the number of people arrested, however the following two tables contain information on the number of offences of consuming alcohol in a public place recorded by the police in Scotland for each of the last five years, by (i) police force and (ii) local authority area.

(i) Police Force Area	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Central	309	342	477	534	551
Dumfries and Galloway	29	56	22	113	152
Fife	347	810	920	702	770
Grampian	143	255	305	458	365
Lothian and Borders	110	195	201	220	203
Northern	128	208	83	210	226
Strathclyde	19,974	20,041	22,799	24,023	23,438
Tayside	316	347	528	618	479
All Scotland	21,356	22,254	25,335	26,878	26,184

 

(ii) Local Authority Area	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeen City	103	211	247	314	284
Aberdeenshire	1	0	0	1	41
Angus	17	36	61	65	49
Argyll and Bute	230	115	160	319	202
Clackmannanshire	29	44	54	53	90
Dumfries and Galloway	29	56	22	113	152
Dundee City	257	194	285	341	221
East Ayrshire	489	389	450	922	828
East Dunbartonshire	335	530	513	476	809
East Lothian	2	6	14	72	66
East Renfrewshire	407	435	481	445	269
Edinburgh, City of	1	0	0	1	8
Eilean Siar	0	6	2	1	7
Falkirk	214	196	312	389	325
Fife	347	810	920	702	770
Glasgow City	8,825	7,245	8,440	9,326	9,308
Highland	128	202	81	208	166
Inverclyde	179	194	300	350	1,126
Midlothian	7	21	79	57	58
Moray	39	44	58	143	40
North Ayrshire	420	584	616	807	954
North Lanarkshire	6,178	6,009	5,501	5,028	4,273
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	42	117	182	212	209
Renfrewshire	248	270	311	411	841
Scottish Borders	0	2	0	0	0
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	1	53
South Ayrshire	495	471	815	1,343	1,450
South Lanarkshire	1,939	3,627	4,880	3,955	2,670
Stirling	66	102	111	92	136
West Dunbartonshire	229	172	332	641	708
West Lothian	100	166	108	90	71
All Scotland	21,356	22,254	25,335	26,878	26,184

 

No information is held centrally on the number of people charged, however, the following two tables contain information on the number of persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for the five most recent years available.

Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Consuming Alcohol in Designated Places¹, by Police Force Area, 2002-03 to 2006-07.

(i) Police Force Area	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Northern	73	22	30	32	40
Grampian	2	9	5	16	41
Tayside	37	68	24	19	15
Fife	9	14	18	13	21
Lothian and Borders	13	21	24	24	31
Central	66	40	42	62	96
Strathclyde	1,160	1,295	1,422	2,644	2,898
Dumfries and Galloway	5	2	7	8	61
Scotland2	1,365	1,471	1,572	2,818	3,203

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes a small number where court is unknown.

Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Consuming Alcohol in Designated Places¹, by Approximate Local Authority Area², 2002-03 to 2006-07

(ii) Local Authority Area	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Aberdeen City	-	7	4	14	39
Aberdeenshire	-	1	-	-	-
Angus	-	4	3	1	-
Argyll and Bute	8	11	18	7	14
Clackmannanshire	13	5	6	10	10
Dumfries and Galloway	5	2	7	8	61
Dundee City	34	56	20	15	5
East Ayrshire	25	73	69	52	188
East Dunbartonshire	19	19	20	23	-
East Lothian	-	-	-	-	3
East Renfrewshire	19	27	26	17	40
Edinburgh, City of	-	-	-	-	1
Eilean Siar	-	-	1	-	1
Falkirk	33	31	21	36	56
Fife	9	14	18	13	21
Glasgow City	359	288	307	442	494
Highland	73	22	29	32	39
Inverclyde	60	41	17	52	23
Midlothian	2	3	2	5	17
Moray	2	1	1	2	2
North Ayrshire	27	54	50	92	129
North Lanarkshire	303	441	553	1,038	941
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross	3	8	1	3	10
Renfrewshire	12	11	14	30	20
Scottish Borders	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	43	73	38	86	225
South Lanarkshire	272	231	281	802	781
Stirling	20	4	15	16	30
West Dunbartonshire	13	25	29	3	43
West Lothian	11	18	22	19	10
Scotland3	1,365	1,471	1,572	2,818	3,203

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area. There are four local authority areas which do not contain a sheriff court, namely East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Ayrshire.

3. Includes a small number where court is unknown.

It should be noted that the statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.

Following a successful pilot in the use of byelaws to prohibit drinking in designated parts of Galashiels, Motherwell and Dundee, local authorities were invited in 1993 to submit proposals for similar byelaws under powers contained in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

There are currently 30 local authorities that have alcohol byelaws in operation. These byelaws cover over 480 settlements and local authorities amend the byelaws on a regular basis.

Set out below are the local authorities which have alcohol byelaws currently in operation and the date their first byelaw came into operation:

Local Authority	Date
Aberdeen City	30 September 2002
Aberdeenshire	13 July 2007
Angus	4 September 2002
Argyll and Bute	7 July 1997
City of Edinburgh	8 January 2007
Clackmannanshire	5 January 1998
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	23 March 1998
Dumfries and Galloway	16 October 2000
Dundee City	1 August 1993
East Ayrshire	26 May 1997
East Dunbartonshire	20 December 1996
East Lothian	11 December 1995
East Renfrewshire	5 January 1998
Falkirk	5 January 1998
Fife	24 November 1997
Glasgow City	19 August 1996
Highland	1 August 1996
Inverclyde	4 August 1997
Midlothian	6 April 1998
Moray	1 June 1998
North Ayrshire	1 June 1998
North Lanarkshire	5 January 1998
Perth and Kinross	26 June 1998
Renfrewshire	3 October 1997
Shetland Islands	2 March 2007
South Ayrshire	22 September 2002
South Lanarkshire	7 April 1997
Stirling	10 August 1998
West Dunbartonshire	27 April 1998
West Lothian	1 September 1997

 

This information is not held centrally.

The provision of rail services to Reston and East Linton is not one of the priced options secured under the ScotRail franchise extension. However, the option to operate additional services between Edinburgh and Dunbar is part of the franchise extension consultation being carried out by Transport Scotland. If implemented, that option will trigger a study into the feasibility of a Dunbar hourly service and this will also examine the possibility of further services.

NHS Borders advises me that it provides psychological and psychiatric therapies, as appropriate, and follows national guidance for people with post traumatic stress following service in the armed forces. Current and ex-members of the armed forces are given priority when referred by their GP, in keeping with government guidance. After referral, full assessment takes place with individually tailored interventions and treatment depending on the diagnosis and corresponding care plan.

The Scottish Government contributed fully to the MOD command paper published in summer 2008 and published our commitments paper the same day. Both documents set out the current and future proposals for service personnel care and support. We are now considering the responses to our consultations on Scotland''s veterans and forces'' communities designed to further inform arrangements for assessing, addressing and meeting well-being and welfare needs.

We continue to work with the MOD and other UK health departments to pilot new community-based models of care that address the particular mental health needs of veterans. For Scotland an innovative mental health pilot designed in partnership with NHS Lothian and Combat Stress will, from early next year, provide a community based walk in one stop shop for veterans'' mental health care in the centre of Edinburgh. This new provision forms part of our ambition to improve and extend the overall quality of services and support for service personnel, their families and for veterans and progress with which will also inform approaches in other areas.