I visited HM Prison Aberdeen on Monday 23 August 2004.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

Capital investment overall in the SPS is at record levels. Priority is currently being given to upgrading facilities to end slopping out. Aberdeen prison already provides access to night sanitation.

It is recognised that the health centre and visiting facilities at Aberdeen prison are far from ideal. The Minister for Justice has instructed SPS to update the estate development strategy, and future investment plans will be considered in light of this.

The number of staff (full time equivalents) employed at Disclosure Scotland, including staff employed directly by BT, at April each year since 2002 and at mid-uly 2004, was as follows:

April 2002, 47.5 (including 22 by BT).

April 2003, 85.5 (including 38 by BT).

April 2004, 193.5 (including 85 by BT).

July 2004, 249 (including 96 by BT).

Information relating to applications returned to applicants is only available from January 2004 and a breakdown by category of disclosure is not available. The available information is shown in the following table:

Month	Applications Returned	% Returned
January 2004	1,851	3%
February 2004	2,491	4%
March 2004	9,116	20%
April 2004	5,113	13%
May 2004	3,954	11%
June 2004	3,663	11%

Disclosure Scotland may only issue disclosures where the appropriate fee is paid. Scottish ministers have, however, made available funding to cover the cost of disclosures applied for by volunteers working unpaid with children and vulnerable adults. The following table shows, for each period, the actual number of applications involved and the number expressed as a percentage of the total number of applications received.

Period/Month	Number of Applications Made by Volunteers	As Per Cent of All Applications
April 2002 to Mar 2003	9,242	7%
April 2003 to Mar 2004	30,119	8%
January 2004	1,357	2%
February 2004	2,364	4%
March 2004	3,383	8%
April 2004	3,026	9%
May 2004	1,862	6%
June 2004	2786	9%

The information requested is set out in the following table:

Period/Month	Number of Applications	Period/Month	Number of Applications
Basic	Standard	Enhanced
April 2002 to Mar 2003	2,191	20,871	115,558
April 2003 to Mar 2004	178,818	29,758	187,162
July 2003	9,326	1,961	12,765
August 2003	13,534	1,785	12,794
September 2003	13,368	2,219	16,688
October 2003	14,565	2,824	19,887
November 2003	16,478	2,815	22,714
December 2003	24,978	1,843	18,087
January 2004	45,558	896	8,818
February 2004	40,689	1,329	13,852
March 2004	24,449	2,229	18,493
April 2004	19,220	1,813	14,055
May 2004	14,621	1,639	15,979
June 2004	11,156	1,786	17,755

The figures relate to valid applications and exclude those returned to applicants as a consequence of errors identified during initial checks.

The estimated average turnaround time for all levels of disclosures processed in the week ending 25 July 2004 was 11 calendar days.

The times for the earlier periods are set out in the following table:

Month	Times in Calendar Days
Standard/Enhanced	Basic
July 2003	9	10
August 2003	12	12
September 2003	9	12
October 2003	15	13
November 2003	16	13
December 2003	17	15
January 2004	17	20
February 2004	23	24
March 2004	30	23
April 2004	13	17
May 2004	17	17
June 2004	13	13

In all cases, the turnaround times given apply to applications which did not require the correction of errors in the application form, clearance of payment arrangements or enquiries to police forces for any relevant non‑conviction information. Applications requiring correction, etc took longer to process.

The service level agreement (SLA)for standard and enhanced applications is to deal with 90% in 14 calendar days and for basic applications it is to deal with 90% in six calendar weeks. The SLA relates to applications which do not require the correction of errors in the application form, clearance of payment arrangements or enquiries to police forces for any relevant non-conviction information.

The table shows the percentage of applications which were completed within and outside the SLA.

Period/Month	Standard/Enhanced	Basic
Within	Outside	Within	Outside
April 2002 to Mar 2003	92%	8%	99%	1%
April 2003 to Mar 2004	75%	25%	98%	2%
January 2004	30%	70%	93%	7%
February 2004	16%	84%	97%	3%
March 2004	29%	71%	95%	5%
April 2004	72%	28%	99%	1%
May 2004	47%	53%	97%	3%
June 2004	36%	64%	100%	0%

In the course of routine business the Scottish Executive has made numerous written and oral representations to Department for Environment Food andRural Affairs (DEFRA) on several aspects of the Article 19 review, concentrating on the implications of the review for the Shetland Box access arrangements. Representations from Scottish Executive have included views on the proper scope and timetabling of the review, the membership and terms of reference for the Commission’s scientific expert groups, and the UK strategy for anticipating and handling proposals arising from the Commission’s report, including effective stakeholder engagement and consultation.

The Scottish Executive provided DEFRA with detailed submissions on the effectiveness of the Shetland Box during the negotiations leading to the reformed framework regulation of the Common Fisheries Policy. No further submissions have been provided.

No. The principle of relative stability is not being reviewed. Following working group discussions in 2003-04, it was agreed that the Article 19 review shall be limited to include the Shetland Box, the Plaice Box and certain access restrictions in the outermost territories of the Community.