Seòmar agus comataidhean

HM Treasury advises the Scottish Government from time to time of changes “ both up and down “ in the overall Scottish Block budget consequent on changes in Departmental spending totals in England and Wales affecting programmes that are included in the Barnett arrangements as comparable to Scotland. The source of these changes is a matter for the relevant Whitehall Departments and their ministers. Barnett consequentials accrue to the Scottish Block as a whole. Consequently, decisions about how the changes in overall budgets should be reflected in Scottish spending totals are matters for Scottish ministers. Scotland has received no Barnett consequentials in respect of funding for flood risk management in England and Wales since May 2007.

The Countryside Survey 2007, the most recent country-wide assessment of habitat extent, estimates the area of blanket bog in Scotland as 1.1m ha. This survey does not attempt to distinguish on a quantitative basis between areas in favourable and unfavourable condition.

Scottish Natural Heritage assesses the condition of features on designated sites on a cyclical basis. Recent monitoring indicated that the blanket bog on 64% of sites was in favourable or recovering condition, with the feature on 36% of sites being in unfavourable condition. However, continuing changes in management, including those supported through the Scottish Rural Development Programme should have improved that position.

Funding for peatland restoration is provided through the Scottish Rural Development Programme, with measures covering Rural Priority Options and their associated capital items like drainblocking. In addition Scottish Natural Heritage funds moorland projects through their Natural Care scheme.

The Scottish Flood Forum (SFF) is an independent body funded by the Scottish Government. It was set up in October 2008 and has been working closely with SEPA to encourage people and communities at risk of flooding to take action for themselves and prepare for future flood events. During its first year it has been working mainly with communities in Broxburn, Freuchie, Dumfries and Hawick to help residents set up community flood groups.

The SFF has also responded to recent flood events in Cupar and Milnathort and has provided advice and support through personal visits and drop in flood surgeries for victims of the July floods. It has been praised by local councillors in Fife for providing an invaluable service to those who have been unfortunate to have suffered in those flood events.

The SFF has met East Ayrshire Council to discuss how it can support people and local businesses at risk from flooding in the area. In Kilmarnock the SFF is working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Kilmarnock Business Gateway to build resilience and offer training to help businesses prepare for flooding.

The SFF has not been active in Loudoun to-date but would be happy to offer support to communities there if required.

We do not hold information centrally on the timescales involved in processing applications for approval as prospective adopters.

The Adoption Policy Review Group, referred to in the answer to question S1W-14765, identified a number of issues which needed to be addressed to ensure that the adoption process was timely and efficient in order to meet the needs of the children involved. The recommendations of the Adoption Policy Review Group led to the development of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act). The 2007 act and associated regulations make provision for a rigorous process of assessing and approving prospective adopters to ensure they meet, and continue to meet, the needs of a child placed with them. The 2007 act will come into force on 28 September 2009 and the Scottish Government is supporting the implementation with guidance and training prepared and delivered by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network.

The information requested is not held centrally. However, the General Register Office for Scotland collects information on the number of adoption applications granted in each year. I attach the details in the following table.

Year	Number of Adoptions
1999	489
2000	391
2001	468
2002	385
2003	468
2004	393
2005	439
2006	418
2007	441
2008	418

Table 2.1, Vital Events Reference Tables 2008, General Register Office for Scotland.

We do not hold information centrally on the proportion of looked after children who secure a permanent home.

The courts in Scotland are required to notify the General Register Office for Scotland when they grant an adoption order. As indicated in the Statistics supplied in the answer to question S3W-27200 on 22 September 2009, there were 418 adoption orders granted in 2008, 67% of those adoptions were by non-relatives. A small number of the non-relative adoptions may have been granted with respect to a child who was looked after outwith Scotland but who was being adopted by adopters resident in Scotland. However, the majority of the non-relative adoptions are likely to involve children who were looked after by a Scottish local authority.

Adoption is not the only form of permanent option available for children who are looked after by a local authority, and may not be the best option for some of these children. Other options for providing a permanent home to a child who is being looked after by a local authority can include the child returning to their natural parents with support from the local authority or permanent fostering. The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, which will come into force on 28 September 2009, will provide for a robust process for planning for a looked-after child, not only in the short-term, but also the medium and long-term, taking account of all the permanent options available for that child.

Also, the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, which will also come into force on 28 September 2009, introduces a new, flexible court order, the Permanence Order, which is designed to meet the individual needs of a child and to supply them with a permanent home when they cannot return to their natural parents. This order will allow a greater degree of autonomy from the local authority while retaining the safeguard of being a looked-after child.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Adoption Policy Review Group was set up in 2001 to look at adoption practice and law in Scotland. The first report was published in 2003 and looked at practice issues; the second report was published in 2005 and dealt with the legal framework. The Review Group identified a number of issues which needed to be addressed to ensure that the adoption process was timely and efficient in order to meet the needs of the children involved.

The recommendations of the second report by the Adoption Policy Review Group led to the development of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act). The 2007 Act, and associated regulations, makes provision for the process of assessing and approving prospective adopters and assessing children as suitable for adoption. It creates new court rules governing the processes for adoption and the new Permanence Order. The new legislation is designed to minimise any delays in the process and ensure that safe, stable and secure placements are found for children who can no longer live with their natural parents. The 2007 Act will come into force on 28 September 2009.

Alongside the 2007 Act the Scottish Government is supporting the implementation with guidance and training which has been delivered by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network to almost 1,000 practitioners and others, such as Children''s Hearing members and local government solicitors. The guidance will provide all those working with the new legislation the necessary tools and good practice to ensure that the system works effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of children.

We do not hold information centrally on the timescales involved in the issuing of adoption orders.

The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act), which will come into force on 28 September 2009, requires a child, placed by an adoption agency, to live with a prospective adopter for 13 weeks prior to an adoption order being granted. New court rules have been developed as part of the implementation of the 2007 Act which govern the processes in court for the hearing and disposal of applications for adoption or the new Permanence Order. These court rules will give a framework for the timescales involved from the time a petition for an adoption order is lodged with the court to the point the application is disposed.

The following table shows (for charges reported in each financial year) the number of charges which resulted in a conviction. A number of charges are still subject of on-going court proceedings and these are included in the table.

Charges: Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005^1,2

Charge Outcome	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	Total
Total Charges Prosecuted	20	23	25	21	89
Proceedings still on-going	0	0	0	4	4
Convicted	14	19	22	15	70

Notes:

1. The information for this question has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The table shows the position recorded as at 10 September 2009.

The Scottish Government has made no formal assessment of the potential use of light emitting diode (LED) lighting as an alternative to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), although current industry reports indicate that compared with CFLs, LEDs are a very energy efficient lighting technology, even if the quality of light can be poorer. We have however ensured that a minimum standard for the energy efficiency of lighting will be met whenever building owners elect to do new building work through Scottish building regulations. Both LED and compact fluorescents can be used to achieve compliance.

We will continue to work closely with our colleagues at Westminster over the implementation in the UK of the European Ecodesign of Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) which has already seen the phasing out of inefficient incandescent lighting.

We are also keenly awaiting the results of the LED field trials being carried out by the Energy Saving Trust and funded by DEFRA''s Environmental Transformation Fund.