Chamber and committees

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The closing date for the submission of tenders was 4 May 2001.

Responsibility for the enforcement of building regulations lies with the local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

I had intended to respond formally to this report in March 2001. However, in order to ensure a co-ordinated, strategic approach to curriculum development within the context of National Priorities, this statement was delayed. I will outline our response in detail as soon as possible.

The time bar in question is not one which relates to the courts. It is, rather, the one set out in section 136 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, which prevents the commencement of summary proceedings once six months have passed from the date of the contravention. The figures represent cases which were not reported to Procurators Fiscal until it was already too late to meet that time limit. The figures are:

1997-98	1,420
1998-99	1,278
1999-00	1,533
2000-01	2,009

The recent year-on-year increase is disturbing and the Crown Office has recently reminded reporting agencies again of the need to report cases within time bar.

The table which follows sets out the key performance targets set for the Scottish Court Service in relation to the Supreme Courts of Scotland in each year from 1997-98 to 2000-01 together with the respective percentage achievement rates.Cases which fail to be allocated within the relevant target period, even by one day, score 0% achievement, hence the outturn in 2000-01 when pressure on the courts resulted in delays running beyond the target periods. In addition, cases may be allocated to diets outwith these targets to accommodate the availability of counsel, agents or witnesses.Key Performance Targets

		1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01
Efficiency
Percentage of Court of Session diets allocated within waiting periods set by the Lord President	Target	90	92	93	93
	Outturn	94	93	84	30
Percentage of solemn and summary appeals on roll within waiting periods set by the Lord Justice General	Target	70	70	60	60
	Outturn	70	59	45	50
Quality
Percentage achievement of administrative standards set by the Lord President/Lord Justice General	Target	90	92	95	95
	Outturn	94	97	91	90

 Tables A and B3 provide a more detailed breakdown of the specific targets set by the Lord President and Lord Justice General in relation to waiting periods and administrative standards in both criminal and civil proceedings. New administrative targets were adopted in 1998-99.Table A

Supreme Courts Waiting periods
	% of diets allocated in the year within waiting period
CIVIL	waiting period (term weeks except*)
Civil Business	Target	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
(a) Appeals against Interlocutory orders (from date of lodging)	4	100%	97%	80%	31%
(b) All other appeals (from date sent to roll)#	18	93%	11%	0%	0%
(c) Jury trials(from date issues approved)	19	100%	100%	79%	50%
(d) Ordinary proofs (from date proof allowed)	19	89%	81%	84%	38%
Criminal
Criminal Business - Appeals
Leave to Appeal - Solemn and Summary
Applications for leave to appeal;
(i) from date of report received to allocation to single judge	1*	71%	92%	55%	64%
(ii) from intimation of appeal against refusal to allocate to 2/3 judges	2*	66%	69%	29%	38%
Appeals - Solemn
Notes of Appeal;
(from date when leave to appeal granted)
(i) Sentence	5*	90%	78%	56%	36%
(ii) Conviction and Sentence	5	16%	0%	2%	0%
Appeals - Summary
Notes of Appeal against Sentence;
(from date when leave to appeal granted)
(i) Accused in custody	4*	91%	76%	56%	38%
(i)Other	6*	90%	88%	70%	67%
Stated Cases;
(from date when leave to appeal granted)
(i) Accused in custody	4	100%	100%	100%	100%
(i)Other	6	11%	0%	0%	0%
Bills of Suspension (from date lodged)	4	100%	31%	4%	8%

Target (a) above came into operation with effect from 1 October 1997 and was set at two weeks for the duration of 1997-98.# This target has been omitted from agency annual achievement rate calculations since 1998-99.Table B

Supreme Courts Administrative Targets
Description	1998-1999	1999-2000	2000-01
To process summonses, petitions and appeals from inferior courts within one working day of their acceptance	100	100	100
To notify solicitors of returned citations on the date of their receipt.	100	100	100
To notify solicitors of custody reports on the date of their receipt.	100	100	100
To issue all extracted decrees of divorce on the first working day it would be competent to do so and to issue all other extracted decrees within five working days of the request	98	100	100
To secure accurate and timeous publication of the Rolls of Court and to deliver to practitioners in Edinburgh, the weekly and daily Rolls of Court on the day of publication.	100	100	100
To intimate disposal of appeals under solemn criminal procedure within one working day of determination by the Court.	97	88	76
To intimate disposal of appeals under summary criminal procedure within five working days of determination by the Court.	73	75	65
To prepare applications for leave to appeal. and appeals against refusal of leave within one working day from the date of receipt of summary appeal papers, or the Judge's report in solemn appeals.	99	65	71
To intimate the grant or refusal of leave to appeal within two working days of receipt of the papers.	91	79	53
To complete the audit of at least 95% of all Curatory Accounts within three months of lodgement.	100	100	97
To complete the audit of at least 75% of all Judicial Factory Accounts within two months of lodgement.	100	100	100
To issue to solicitors in the Court of Session monthly accounts within seven days of the end of each period.	97	69	99
To process all invoices and claims within forty eight hours of receipt.	100	100	100
To reply to all correspondence, except that which requires extensive investigation, within three working days of receipt.	100	96	95

The available information is given in the table. Figures for 2000 are not yet available.Number of proceedings in Scottish sheriff courts resulting in a custodial sentence

	Calendar year
Sheriff court	1997	1998	1999
All courts	13,276	13,274	13,389
Aberdeen	924	862	843
Airdrie	309	310	383
Alloa	96	119	114
Arbroath	142	189	141
Ayr	406	460	516
Banff	38	31	32
Campbeltown	22	33	30
Cupar	100	74	52
Dingwall	57	67	53
Dornoch	6	15	8
Dumbarton	398	369	374
Dumfries	215	207	210
Dundee	665	745	728
Dunfermline	303	257	232
Dunoon	71	48	34
Duns	14	20	10
Edinburgh	1,408	1,393	1,436
Elgin	141	89	117
Falkirk	317	392	357
Forfar	82	65	59
Fort William	68	53	52
Glasgow	2,450	2,406	2,689
Greenock	574	645	630
Haddington	95	110	73
Hamilton	586	504	486
Inverness	243	236	217
Jedburgh	76	68	66
Kilmarnock	714	945	1,006
Kirkcaldy	570	553	528
Kirkcudbright	44	33	38
Kirkwall	19	15	26
Lanark	116	92	103
Lerwick	34	28	45
Linlithgow	242	197	235
Lochmaddy	5	10	9
Oban	45	44	45
Paisley	696	689	633
Peebles	11	19	32
Perth	280	230	202
Peterhead	132	138	96
Portree	6	4	2
Rothesay	17	18	4
Selkirk	42	51	43
Stirling	202	136	145
Stonehaven	36	35	30
Stornoway	51	38	37
Stranraer	138	150	145
Tain	32	35	18
Wick	38	47	25

The numbers of legal staff in (a) the Crown Office and (b) the Procurator Fiscal Service ended their employment (i) within six months, (ii) between six and 12 months and (iii) between 12 and 18 months of them taking up post and the posts affected by these departures, in each year from 1997-98 are shown in the table.

1. Crown Office - Nil
2. Procurator Fiscal Service

Year	Within 6 months	6 to 12 months	12 to 18 months
1997-98	Nil	1 Depute, Aberdeen	Nil
1998-99	Nil	Nil	Nil
1999-2000	Nil	Nil	1 Depute, Glasgow
2000-01	1 Depute, Aberdeen	1 Depute, Aberdeen	1 Depute, Edinburgh
2001 (to July)	Nil	Nil	1 Depute, Glasgow

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:There were seven temporary contracts in 2001 of which four are Church of Scotland and three Roman Catholic.The appointments are shown in the table:

Prison	Church of Scotland	Roman Catholic
Barlinnie	1	1
Dumfries	1
Perth	2	2

Cases brought under section 11 of the Building (Scotland) Act 1959 are not separately identifiable on the Scottish Executive classification of crimes and offences. Between 1997 and 1999 there were eight prosecutions in Scottish courts where the main offence was under the Building (Scotland) Act 1959. Data for the year 2000 are not yet available.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The information is given in the table:

Prison	Church of Scotland	Roman Catholic	Scottish Episcopal
Barlinnie	1	1	1
Castle Huntly	1
Cornton Vale		1
Dumries		1
Glenochil		1
Greenock	1	1
Inverness	1
Low Moss	1	1
Noranside	1	1
Peterhead			1
Polmont	1
Shotts	1	1