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The national rollout of Fiscal Work Orders (FWOs), which commenced in April 2015, was a direct response to a recommendation of the final report of the Commission on Women Offenders which was published in 2012. In that report, the Commission highlighted that FWOs were a useful addition to the wider suite of diversion from prosecution measures and that FWOs had been found to have high completion and low breach rates. The Commission therefore recommended that 'Fiscal Work Orders are made available throughout Scotland for male and female offenders'. The Scottish Government accepted this recommendation, and made additional funding available to Community Justice authorities to support the rollout.

In addition, to further support and inform the rollout, the Scottish Government established a National Implementation Group with membership from a range of Justice agencies involved in the delivery of these orders. As part of their considerations, the Implementation Group received informal and time-limited feedback from local authorities which confirmed that FWOs were being used in every authority, albeit in small numbers, and that the rollout was not impacting on service delivery.

Where possible, local Fiscal Work Order (FWO) schemes should harness the potential of local organisations to both provide activities and be involved in carrying them out. Local authorities do not, however, receive contributions from businesses or organisations that provide FWO placements.

Local authorities may contract with another agency or agencies to provide and manage the prescribed activities undertaken as part of a FWO. Where this takes place, the contract should be in the form of a Service Level Agreement and local authorities must make arrangements to ensure that the agency fulfils its contractual obligations.

No such targets are set for local authorities. The provision of Fiscal Work Orders is governed by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, as amended, which provides that both the decision to send a work offer, and the subsequent decision to impose a work order, is one for Prosecutors to consider on a case by case basis.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Where possible, local Fiscal Work Order (FWO) schemes should harness the potential of local organisations to both provide activities and be involved in carrying them out. Local authorities are required to appoint a supervising officer in relation to each individual made subject to a FWO, and it is the responsibility of the supervising officer to determine the nature of work which that individual is required to perform. As with other community disposals, local authorities may provide and manage the prescribed activities themselves, or contract with another agency or agencies to do so on their behalf.

To date, the Scottish Government has received 27 public representations in support of the application and 245 in opposition.

The consideration that officials and Ministers have been required to give to this proposal has been complex and time consuming. Now that the Public Local Inquiry is complete Scottish Ministers are considering the terms of the report and should be in a position to make a decision in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01213 on 22 July 2016. We have also legislated, through the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014, to ensure that those who report sexual offences should be able to choose the gender of their police interviewer. Additionally, last year, we awarded just under £2 million to Rape Crisis centres to enhance the support available for survivors of sexual violence (including advocacy), and in June the Equalities Secretary announced £844K of support for Rape Crisis Scotland and local centres.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at .

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The training of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland’s policing response is victim focused at all times and every police officer is given 'First Responder Training' during their initial course at the Police College of Scotland, this includes training which highlights the issues a victim faces when reporting sexual crime to the police. Police Scotland also has a cadre of experienced and dedicated Sexual Offences Liaison Officers who are specially trained to interview victims of sexual crime and provide the critical link between the victim and the enquiry team.

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<>The Scottish Government has not carried out an assessment of Police Scotland's estate. Assessment and maintenance of the police service are matters for the Scottish Police Authority.

In June 2015, the Scottish Police Authority approved an estate strategy for Police Scotland, to support improved service delivery by transforming the police estate into one which was modern, flexible and fit for future policing across Scotland.

Work continues to implement this strategy, a key element of which is an evaluation of the current police estate. The evaluation is built upon an assessment of service demand. The supply of premises from the existing estate is considered to assess whether it matches that demand and whether buildings are the right size, in the right place and in the right condition to support the effective and efficient delivery of police services to the communities of Scotland.

The chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) published his review of governance in policing on 23 March 2016: . The publication included an indicative timescale for delivery. Updates on the review are being presented at SPA public board meetings on a quarterly basis.