Chamber and committees

The available informationis shown in the following table. The available data on assaults does not give anyinformation about whether the officer was injured, nor does it identify the numberof officers, since it is possible that an officer may have been assaulted on morethan one occasion. There is no information held centrally on the number of policeofficers who are accidentally injured at work. Police officers are called upon to carry out difficulttasks which can run the risk of serious injury or, in some instances, death. IndividualChief Constables are acutely aware of these risks and ensure that the highest standardsof health and safety training and advice are provided to all their staff.

Assaults on policeofficers, 1999-2000 to 2006-07

	Central	Dumfries and Galloway	Fife	Grampian	Lothian and Borders	Northern	Strathclyde	Tayside	Scotland
1999-2000	267	14	164	68	304	215	8,713	276	10,021
2000-01	262	11	221	279	299	223	6,670	270	8,235
2001-01	404	111	56	76	313	236	7,045	14	8,255
2002-03	407	176	381	238	269	249	7,506	117	9,343
2003-04	873	448	58	316	41	52	unknown	153	-
2004-05	934	398	356	unknown	205	284	unknown	168	-
2005-06	935	430	34	0	239	222	10,029	15	11,904
2006-07P	940	557	40	66	220	195	10,841	115	12,974

Source: HerMajesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s Annual Statistical Returns from policeforces.

Note: Data for 2006-07is provisional.

As I have alreadyindicated to the Parliament, I am committed to bringing forward Scottish marinelegislation and to consult on this issue. As part of this process, I am consideringthe range of options for improved delivery of public sector activities on the marineenvironment, including the establishment of a marine management organisation.

Convictions of tradersresulting from investigations by trading standards officers cannot be separatelyidentified from other convictions of traders within the data held centrally.

Information onthe occupation of persons proceeded against in Scottish courts is not heldcentrally.

Information onthe occupation of persons proceeded against in Scottish courts is not heldcentrally.

None of theannual police budget is assigned to payments for information from covert humanintelligence sources and other sources. Operational responsibility for paymentsto covert human intelligence sources rests with chief constables.

The informationrequested is not held centrally.

It is for chief constablesto decide how to allocate resources to meet policing priorities in their forceareas, including tackling internet fraud. Police forces are funded by acombination of police grant from the Scottish Government and from localauthorities. As a result it is not possible to identify the overall police resourcesallocated to tackling internet fraud.

However, the Scottish Crimeand Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) has an E-crime unit, which providesspecialist support to the Scottish police service for those areas of seriousorganised criminality involving or facilitated by computer or informationtechnology. The costs of this are included within the budget of the SCDEA,although the costs of tackling internet fraud are not separately identifiablein the agency’s budget.

the Scottish Government provides general financial support for Scotland’slocal authorities’ net revenue expenditure on core services, including tradingstandards. This funding is, in the main, provided by means of a block grant andit is not possible to identify the level of funding for individual services. Itis the responsibility of each individual local authority to allocate its totalresources, including the locally collected council tax, on the basis of localneeds and priorities.

In 2007-08 the core localgovernment funding provided by the Scottish Government will amount to over £8.7billion.

Information onthe number of emergency ambulance staff who have been injured at workaccidentally or as a result of assault is not collected in the formatrequested. The Scottish Ambulance Service began capturing information on thenumbers of incidents of violence and aggression towards staff in August 2004when it issued guidance to staff about the need to report such incidents. Therewere 265 incidents reported in 2005 and 299 in 2006. In 2007 to 31 July, therewere 117 incidents reported.

The number ofroad traffic accidents that have involved police pursuits from 1999 until 2007

Year1	Police Force								Total
	Central	Dumfries and Galloway	Fife	Grampian	Lothian and Borders	Northern	Strathclyde	Tayside
1999-2000	3	7	7	13	47	1	102	23	203
2000-01	4	3	21	14	58	2	104	18	224
2001-02	3	4	13	3	41	7	133	0	204
2002-03	1	8	17	29	63	9	74	21	222
2003-04	7	11	10	19	38	10	152	4	251
2004-05	12	18	13	9	31	8	156	19	266
2005-06	23	12	17	11	53	1	44	25	186
2006-07	11	9	9	13	15	9	40	13	119

Note: 1. Thefigures given relate to accidents occurring in the financial year.