« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Being Outside: CONSTRUCTING A RESPONSE TO STREET PROSTITUTION
Dear Consultee
BEING OUTSIDE: CONSTRUCTING A RESPONSE TO STREET PROSTITUTION
REPORT OF THE EXPERT GROUP ON PROSTITUTION IN SCOTLAND
The Expert Group on Prostitution was set up by the Scottish Executive in 2003 to review the legal, policing, health and social justice issues surrounding prostitution in Scotland and to consider options for the future. Throughout its first year, the Expert Group has been considering the issues surrounding street prostitution, and its stage 1 report has now been submitted to the Scottish Executive.
The Scottish Executive is seeking views on the proposals set out in this report. The report, and all other Scottish Executive consultation exercises, can be viewed online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. (You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public access point is.)
The consultation period will last until Friday 18 March, and responses can be submitted in a number of ways:
We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which parts of the report you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received. A response form is available online, and a hard copy is enclosed with this letter.
We also need to know how you wish your response to be handled. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form which forms part of the consultation response form as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately.
We will make all responses available to the public in the Scottish Executive library by 19 April and on the Scottish Executive consultation web pages by 26 April unless confidentiality is requested in the Respondent Information Form. All responses not marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory remarks before being lodged in the library or placed on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SE library on 0131 244 4552. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.
If you have any queries about this consultation, please contact Ronnie Fraser at the above address, or by emailing him on: ronnie.fraser@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
We look forward to receiving your response.
Yours faithfully
KIRSTEN DAVIDSON
Annex
The Scottish Executive Consultation Process
Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.
The Scottish Executive now has an email alert system for Scottish Executive Consultations (SEconsult). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new Scottish Executive consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces, Scottish Executive distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all Scottish Executive consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.
While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body. Consultation exercises may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises.
Typically, Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the area of consultation, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. Copies of all the responses received to consultation exercises (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4552).
The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:
indicate the need for policy development or review
inform the development of a particular policy
help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented
If you have any comment about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to Ronnie Fraser at the address given above, or by emailing him on ronnie.fraser@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
Acknowledgements
The Group would wish to acknowledge with thanks the considerable assistance which it has received from a number of people, whose knowledge, experience and advice have informed the Group's analysis and conclusions. In particular thanks are offered to:
- those representatives of services tackling prostitution in the four Scottish cities visited, and at HMP Cornton Vale and at other locations, who have met with the Group and provided information and guidance;
- women with an involvement in prostitution who participated in research on behalf of the Group, and who have met with Group members to share their experience and ideas;
- those with knowledge and experience who have contributed to the work of sub-groups established from the main Group to examine aspects such as health service requirements, management and reduction of risks and the role of law;
- colleagues in the Home Office, who shared information from their own review of prostitution in England and Wales, and those who assisted Group members with information gathering in cities outwith Scotland; and
- Paul Silk, for his work in writing this report.
The Group would also wish to thank staff of the Scottish Executive for the considerable support and assistance made available to underpin its work.
« Previous | Contents | Next »