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Budget - what it means for communities
14/11/2007
The Strategic Spending Review 2007 delivers key investment to support the delivery of safer and stronger communities - in both the short and the longer-term.
Investment in Justice services will increase by £131.2 million over the Spending Review period, including:
- an average of £120 million a year in capital for the Scottish Prison Service to build long-needed replacement prisons in the north-east and Bishopbriggs and end the conditions that leave the system open to compensation claims
- in the wake of the recent terrorist incident at Glasgow Airport, over £50 million over the Spending Review to equip our fire service with a state of the art communications system
- £13 million/£18 million/£23 million to boost police capacity and make an additional 1,000 police officers available in our communities (as announced to Parliament on Monday)
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill also highlighted the new Government's determination to deal not just with immediate challenges but the long-term issues that underlie crime and social problems in our country - especially drink, drugs and deprivation. He welcomed cross portfolio announcements of:
- £20.1 million/£30.1 million/£35.1 million in health to tackle Scotland's deep-seated problems with alcohol
- An extra £8.2 million to promote recovery from drug addiction backed by stronger accountability to make sure that the estimated £45 million currently spent each year on drug treatment and rehabilitation services delivers people back into productive drug-free lives
- a new fund for Community Planning Partnerships to tackle poverty and deprivation and help more people overcome barriers to get into work - over £145 million a year within the local government settlement
Mr MacAskill said:
"We have set out our determination to tackle the crime and social problems that continue to plague parts of our country in a more progressive way. A renewed focus on prevention and early intervention - allied to the most effective and appropriate use of the modern justice services we are building.
"It is the three 'd's' of drink, drugs, and deprivation that we must tackle and the foundations of that approach are clearly laid out through this Budget.
"A major expansion of health spending to tackle alcohol abuse will strengthen the work I am taking forward on licensing and enforcement issues around alcohol. Our bold economic strategy published yesterday, and announcements of new funding today to tackle deprivation, will give more people the opportunity to enhance their chances in life and their stake in our country. And across Government there will be increased investment in tackling drug misuse - directed in the New Year through a new drugs strategy that will be focussed on using resources more effectively to get addicts drug-free.
"The context for this Spending Review has clearly been set by the worst financial settlement since devolution. However, there are additional challenges that Justice has faced. An inherited prison population at record levels, and well beyond design capacity. Ongoing legal and compensation issues for current and former prisoners that stem directly from the legacy of underinvestment in the prison estate. And a retirement bulge in the police service that will see around 2,300 officers eligible for retirement over the next four years.
"Good government cannot stand by and let our prisons implode. And we have not. Good government acts to increase the capacity of our police service as retirements bite. And we will - including reinvestment of the 2 per cent efficiency savings in the police also announced today. Money may have already been set aside by SPS, but good government deals with both the cause and effects of the prisoner compensation scandal. Through investment in prisons and through pragmatic handling of outstanding claims we will close this sorry chapter.
"The result is that there are some areas where in the short-term we cannot go as far or as fast as I would like.
"I remain committed to shifting the balance of spending in our penal system from prisons towards tough community penalties. There is increased investment in community penalties in this Spending Review. But we must stabilise our prison situation, and hear the recommendations of Henry McLeish's independent Prisons Commission, before we can consider more radical approaches. To do otherwise would compromise public safety.
"I do believe however that the scope for delivering improved outcomes in reoffending rates through the use of effective community penalties remains considerable. I will be publishing a document setting out how we propose to revitalise this community approach in the next few weeks.
"Good Government needs a clear vision. But good government is also about dealing pragmatically with more immediate problems. Striking the right balance is tough. Delivering the right outcomes will be hard. But given the tough UK settlement and the specific inherited pressures, I believe that today's settlement gives us a robust platform on which to build."