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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Parliament was back in action again this week following the two week autumn break. The main justice business took place in the Justice Committee as it continued to hear evidence on the budget: this week it heard from the Cabinet Secretary, ADSW, CoSLA and Victim Support. In the Chamber there was a question for the First Minister about alcohol minimum pricing policy.
The Justice Committee
Last week’s meeting was much longer than usual, lasting the best part of a day. Most of this took place behind closed doors however, as the Committee continued to work in private on the Stage 1 Report for the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill and to consider their approach to the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill.
Draft budget scrutiny
During the public part of their meeting they continued to take evidence as part of their scrutiny of the Government’s draft budget 2010–11, hearing from ADSW, CoSLA, Victim Support and the Cabinet Secretary and his officials.
The spokespeople from ADSW and CoSLA spoke first and they were asked about the effect that no increase in the 2010–11 budget for local authorities would have on their services. CoSLA representatives replied that it was necessary to have the adequate resources to deliver good quality services, but that the real challenge was how to address the problem of the numbers of people in prison. There was a need for the judiciary to consider greater use of community penalties rather than continue to rely on imprisonment. ADSW said that although they were very grateful for the extra funding they had received over the past year, which had helped them to develop services and clear their backlog, they had concerns about future funding not least because of the projected growth in services over the forthcoming years. ADSW’s spokesperson also said that there was a need for a more sophisticated way of allocating resources, rather than the current model which simply divides money by the number of orders made.
Since the Concordat was agreed local authorities now hold the purse strings for a range of services which were previously ring–fenced, a point that came out strongly during the Committee’s last meeting when they heard from police and fire brigade unions. In light of this, the CoSLA spokesperson was refreshingly honest when he said that everyone knew there would be a reduction in the resources that are available to local authorities, which would mean that all partners that receive funding from them will need to ‘look collectively and prioritise key needs’ but that the reality was that some desirable services may have to go.
The witnesses said that there had been a 67% increase in the numbers of criminal justice social workers over the past 10 years, and there was some confusion about whether there has been a drop in the number over the past two years or not. CoSLA also pointed out that providing quality services was not only about numbers of social workers, it was also about co–operating with partners in community planning to construct the best ‘team’ to deliver services.
The spokespeople from Victim Support were also asked about the effect of a budget freeze over the next financial year, and they said that this would have a direct effect on the services they provide, given that their referral numbers have increased over the past year and they are now working with more vulnerable people. When asked whether this would mean cuts in budget or not, the witnesses said they may have to ‘review’ their services which may mean that people would not receive the same support as they had in the past.
The Committee then heard from the Cabinet Secretary and his colleagues. The Secretary first spoke about the funding for policing, which has increased over the past year to help cover the retirement bulge and to help with police pensions. He said that if ring–fenced funding were to be re–introduced, this would make no difference to way that police receive their funding, contrary to some recent claims that have been made. He also refused to say whether he would intervene if local authorities cut their share of police budgets the future, and he refused to comment on whether there should be greater civilianisation in the police force, saying that this should always remain an operational issue.
The Justice Secretary was asked about last week’s evidence from the Prison Officers Association, which said that there had been a 23% reduction in the number of operational staff within the SPS since 2000, and he replied that any cuts in numbers of staff in prisons would be carried out in consultation between unions and the SPS and that the safety of SPS staff must always be paramount.
There was the usual friendly exchange between Paul Martin (Lab) and the Secretary, this time about funding for community service, with Mr Martin wondering where the money saved from the community court in Glasgow will now be spent, now that this it is not proceeding.
You can read the transcripts of this meeting in the Official Report, or watch it on Holyrood.TV. You can read more about the budget in relation to criminal justice in the CJScotland Newsblog..
The Chamber
Questions
Minimum pricing
The First Minister was asked by his party colleague Stewart Maxwell (SNP) about a recent ruling in the European Court of Justice which stated that minimum pricing on tobacco products was illegal. This story was seized on by the domestic alcohol industry who argued that this should mean that the Scottish Government should rethink their plans for minimum pricing on alcohol.
The First Minister replied that the issue of minimum pricing for tobacco and for alcohol were completely separate and therefore no parallels should be drawn between the two. He said that the EC would not prohibit minimum pricing for alcohol on public health grounds, as long as it was non–discriminatory (i.e. it must apply to all traders within the country, and it must have the same impact on domestic and imported products). Mr Salmond then urged the whole of the Chamber to read the recent research which highlights the public health costs of alcohol abuse in Scotland.
In response to a supplementary question from Jackie Bailie (Lab), the First Minister said that he would do everything he could to make the legal advice the Government have received on this issue, available to the Opposition.
You can read this question in the Official Report, and also read the relevant press in the CJScotland Newsblog
Written Questions
There were several questions about the recently published research about the potential benefits of a minimum pricing alcohol policy, and a related question about whether alcohol consumption has changed over the past six years. There were various questions about the recently published recorded crime statistics, a question about the average sentence for domestic abuse, and a question about the number of needle exchanges operating throughout Scotland. There was a question about the potential SPS bill for human rights claims (see also the press stories in the CJScotland Newsblog), and the number of fiscal fines that remain to be paid. Finally, there were two questions about Government funding for police in this year’s budget.
Posted by KM
on Tue 3rd Nov 2009
at 9:19 am
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