Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The costs of reception are not separately identified.

The numbers of sheltered dwellings built in the years 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are shown in the following table:

	1999-2000		2000-01		2001-02
New Build	Very Sheltered	Sheltered	Very Sheltered	Sheltered	Very Sheltered	Sheltered
Aberdeen City	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aberdeenshire	0	32	0	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
E. Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
City of Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0	0
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0
Highland	0	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	12	0	25	0	0
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	N/A	N/A
Stirling	0	3	0	2	N/A	N/A
W. Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Lothian	6	16	0	0	0	0
Scotland	6	63	0	27	0	0

Source: Housing Capital Programme 1999-2000 to 2001-02.Housing associations also build sheltered housing. Information is collected by Communities Scotland but is not held at local authority level. However, national new build totals for the years 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are as follows:

1999-2000	148
2000-01	173
2001-02	78

Two formal reviews are in progress. Lord Bonomy is examining the efficiency of the High Court and will report later this year. Sheriff Principal John McInnes chairs a committee examining the whole structure of summary criminal justice with a view to efficient and effective deliver, and is expected to report in summer 2003.The efficiency of administration is one of the issues that will be examined in each review, although the recommendations are likely to range more widely, into structure, jurisdiction and other aspects of criminal procedure.

The use of houses for multiple occupation is mainly driven by market forces. In that connection the Scottish Executive's role is to ensure as far as possible that the physical condition and management of such houses is to acceptable standards, giving protection to the tenants involved and to neighbours. The Executive introduced mandatory licensing for houses in multiple occupation in October 2000, and is currently reviewing the first year of operation of the licensing scheme. Some particular types of residential accommodation in multiple occupation are separately regulated under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 gives local authorities powers to provide discretionary grants for improvements by private owners including owners of houses in multiple occupation. Grants may also be paid specifically for the provision of fire escapes in houses in multiple occupation, and this will be extended to other means of escape from fire when Part 6 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 is commenced.The development funding for new housing provided by the Executive, through Communities Scotland, to Registered Social Landlords, funds a number of group homes where the occupants share facilities, usually with a care element. A small proportion of other housing provided with public funding is also likely to be occupied on a shared tenancy basis, in response to specific requests from prospective tenants.

The information requested is not held centrally. Although some properties are built or adapted specifically for use as hostel type accommodation, it is not possible to distinguish how many other houses in any housing sector will be used for multiple occupation, since this is not necessarily determined by the design of the house.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:In addition to the obligations of the respective parties to the contract, details of which were published on the SPS website on 8 March 2002, SPS also incur costs associated with HMP Kilmarnock in relation to the Assisted Prison Visit Scheme (for prisoners' families); addiction transitional care service (in respect of prisoners released from Kilmarnock); prisoners' discharge grants, and the cost of the controller function.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:(a) £107,584 excluding VAT and (b) none.

I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Sheltered housing is now classified as supported residential accommodation on an individual or group basis. The number of new build unit approvals by Registered Social Landlords in the period 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are:

1999-2000	New Build
Supported Residential	148
2000-01	New Build
Supported Residential	173
2001-02	New Build
Supported Residential	78

No information is held on provision by private developers.

I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Sheltered housing is now classified as supported residential accommodation on an individual or group basis. The number of unit approval rehabilitations by Registered Social Landlords in the period 1999-2000 to 2001-02 were:

1999-2000	Rehabilitation
Supported Residential	27
2000-01	Rehabilitation
Supported Residential	17
2001-02	Rehabilitation
Supported Residential	3

No information is held on provision by private developers.

The Executive will commission an independent research project into the impact of fixed payments in the course of this year.