Prostitution Problem that is best left to local forces

Even after yesterday's publication of the Fairweather-Skinner report, the biggest problem the Scottish Home Affairs Minister faces is the perception, at least as he sees it, that his hands are tied.

Asked what the Government can do about the massively different approaches in Edinburgh and Glasgow, his answer in a nutshell is nowt.

Or as he put it: ''It's up to individual chief constables to decide how best to tackle what is ostensibly an operational issue based on local factors and of course their local knowledge of local scenes.

''It's certainly not for me as a politician or a Government Minister to comment on how any particular activity should be policed. The same consideration applies to the way local authorities administer their local activities.

''Provided they operate within the law, there is scope for local authorities to exercise discretion. That's how it should be because local authorities are best equipped to react to particular situations in local communities.

''As a consequence, you then get the essential difference between what's happening in Edinburgh and what's happening in Glasgow.''

It's a fair point. Behind both communities, he says, is a whole range of different circumstances and traditions. There are also different interpretations of policing and the law.

Mr McLeish stresses the importance of chief constables' autonomy and the separation of powers between the state and the legal establishment.

He can change the law - in this case the Civic Government Act (Scotland) Act - but has ''no immediate plans''. However, he points out that such legislation will come under the aegis of the Scottish Parliament.

''Currently, we change all the laws at Westminster. Now all of this area is devolved so the MSPs will have more time to discuss some of those more distinctly Scottish issues with a wide variety of agencies.''

He accepts the language of the law is archaic but argues it is at least ''well understood and the provision is rarely the subject of complaints''.

Decriminalisation is emphatically not on the agenda. Apart from anything else, he believes the public wouldn't wear it, particularly those with the Pimby problem: Prostitutes In My Back Yard.

However, he is happy that the ''quite exciting'' Fairweather-Skinner has at least begun to address why so many prostitutes end up in prison through fine default and, in particular, why so many are from Glasgow.

The socialist in Mr McLeish makes him painfully aware that social background is a big factor in driving many women into prostitution.

''You cannot divorce the question of poverty and social exclusion from the activity we are talking about. A lot of the problems we are facing with prostitution are about self-worth, about the wider issues of sex education, self-development.

''And it seems to me that a lot of that, in terms of sex education, could be better. It's about getting to a point where the women assess their own value, feel valued, feel they are making a contribution.''

Then there are drugs, upon which neither Marx nor Morris nor even John McLean had much to say. Unless one counts the opium of the people. Today it is the heroin of the prostitutes.

''The drug-related issue is the most difficult one because clearly you've got the fines issue involved in that as well, so therefore you get more drug-related activity. It's a vicious circle.

''The drugs menace is a real and powerful issue in Scotland but in terms of the criminal justice system it is becoming more of an issue. Drug-related activities in terms of theft are up. Drug-related activities in terms of prostitution are also up.

''In any of these issues we must still be cognisant of public concerns. On a sensitive issue such as this I have tried in my year in the home affairs job to balance the criminal justice system with the views of the public.''