Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-15627

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent figures available are on what percentage of (a) male and (b) female prisoners were reconvicted within (i) two and (ii) four years of discharge, broken down by category of offence in each police force area.

The latest available information, which relates to the cohort of offenders discharged from a custodial sentence in 1999, is given in the following tables. The data for female offenders is not provided by crime group within police force areas as the very small numbers involved at this level of breakdown means that there is the potential for individual offenders to be identified.

Females Discharged from Custody in 1999:

Percentage Reconvicted within Two and Four Years by Police Force Area and Index Crime Group¹

Police Force Area	Index Crime Group^1,2	Number Discharged from Custody (=100%)	Percentage Reconvicted within 2 Years	Percentage Reconvicted within 4 Years
Central	All	19	68	79
Dumfries and Galloway	All	12	67	67
Fife	All	12	8	33
Grampian	All	20	50	60
Lothian and Borders	All	37	49	59
Northern	All	12	50	50
Strathclyde	All	171	68	79
Tayside	All	20	60	80
Scotland	All	303	61	72
	Violence	31	45	58
	Indecency	0	0	0
	Dishonesty	147	73	82
	Criminal damage	7	71	86
	Other crime	75	35	53
	Miscellaneous offences	43	72	77

Males Discharged from Custody in 1999:

Percentage Reconvicted within Two and Four Years by Police Force Area and Index Crime Group¹

Police Force Area	Index Crime Group^1,2	Number Discharged from Custody (=100%)	Percentage Reconvicted within 2 Years	Percentage Reconvicted within 4 Years
Central	All	220	65	75
	Violence	32	56	72
	Indecency	11	18	27
	Dishonesty	85	89	95
	Criminal damage	8	38	50
	Other crime	36	33	53
	Miscellaneous offences	48	65	75
Dumfries and Galloway	All	169	58	67
	Violence	20	30	45
	Indecency	4	0	25
	Dishonesty	77	82	87
	Criminal damage	4	75	75
	Other crime	37	41	46
	Miscellaneous offences	27	41	59
Fife	All	259	59	68
	Violence	45	33	44
	Indecency	16	25	25
	Dishonesty	134	78	84
	Criminal damage	6	67	83
	Other crime	27	33	52
	Miscellaneous offences	31	58	65
Grampian	All	315	64	74
	Violence	33	39	70
	Indecency	10	0	0
	Dishonesty	148	80	85
	Criminal damage	8	100	100
	Other crime	71	38	52
	Miscellaneous offences	45	76	84
Lothian and Borders	All	783	53	64
	Violence	124	41	56
	Indecency	49	16	24
	Dishonesty	290	65	74
	Criminal damage	19	68	68
	Other crime	121	38	57
	Miscellaneous offences	180	58	69
Northern	All	193	50	62
	Violence	21	38	57
	Indecency	13	15	15
	Dishonesty	43	65	74
	Criminal damage	11	73	73
	Other crime	38	18	37
	Miscellaneous offences	67	64	78
Strathclyde	All	3,141	62	74
	Violence	461	39	57
	Indecency	86	21	27
	Dishonesty	1,338	77	86
	Criminal damage	66	62	76
	Other crime	607	48	64
	Miscellaneous offences	583	67	76
Tayside	All	355	59	68
	Violence	53	43	49
	Indecency	27	11	11
	Dishonesty	125	76	81
	Criminal damage	6	83	83
	Other crime	66	47	65
	Miscellaneous offences	78	69	81
Scotland	All	5,435	60	71
	Violence	789	40	56
	Indecency	216	17	22
	Dishonesty	2,240	76	84
	Criminal damage	128	66	75
	Other crime	1,003	44	60
	Miscellaneous offences	1,059	65	75

Notes:

1. Includes convictions for common assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated conduct and harassment, firearms offences, social security offences and all offences classified as crimes in the Scottish Executive Justice Department (SEJD) classification of crimes and offences. Excludes convictions for motor vehicle offences, some miscellaneous offences and all convictions outwith Scotland.

2. SEJD crime group of index conviction.

Question reference: S2W-15676

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 March 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on the use of fixed penalty notices over district court hearings.

We believe that fixed penalty notices, correctly and appropriately used, are an important part of a modern criminal justice system. They offer a quick, proportionate and effective response to a number of instances of minor offending, making clear to the offender, and the community, that such behaviour will not be tolerated. We also believe that a court hearing, with the wider range of disposals available, can be the most effective response to a range of offending behaviour. That is why we propose to maintain summary court capacity in addition to developing appropriate uses of alternatives to prosecution. Our priority is to develop a range of flexible responses to tackle offending which can be appropriately used by the police, prosecutors and the courts. Our package of summary justice reform was outlined in Smarter Justice, Safer Communities. Summary Justice Reform, Next Step, published on 22 March 2005 and available on the Executive’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/about/JD/CP/00019008/Homepage.aspx.

Question reference: S2W-15258

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33414 by Mr Jim Wallace on 5 February 2003, how many, and what percentage of, persons convicted of drug offences were convicted for (a) supplying and trafficking and (b) possession of (i) cannabis, (ii) cocaine, (iii) ecstasy, (iv) heroin, (v) amphetamines and (vi) other illegal drugs in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following tables.

The figures provided on the total number of persons with a charge proved for drug offences are derived from the Scottish Executive Justice Departments court proceedings database. This database does not currently hold information on the type of drug involved in all such convictions. However, it is possible to make use of separate data collected by the Home Office to estimate the proportion of convictions involving different types of drug and offence at Scotland level, and the proportion of all drug convictions by type of drug at force level.

Persons with a Charge Proved for Drug Offences¹ in Scottish Courts, by Type of Offence and Police Force Area, 1999-2003

>

Police Force Area	Supply and Trafficking³		Possession
	Number	% of all Drug Convictions	Number	% of all Drug Convictions
Central
1999	84	32	174	67
2000	64	27	170	72
2001	100	29	242	71
2002	89	24	284	76
2003²	119	26	327	72
Dumfries and Galloway
1999	62	36	110	64
2000	44	34	86	66
2001	37	38	60	62
2002	47	35	86	65
2003²	49	34	94	64
Fife
1999	109	37	186	63
2000	40	27	107	72
2001	72	45	88	55
2002	89	43	118	57
2003²	86	49	88	51
Grampian
1999	153	23	501	76
2000	117	26	337	74
2001	116	19	496	81
2002	132	23	432	77
2003²	155	21	588	79
Lothian and Borders
1999	205	26	591	74
2000	196	27	540	73
2001	198	26	577	74
2002	162	29	403	71
2003²	202	34	385	66
Northern
1999	60	19	250	80
2000	43	16	222	83
2001	72	21	277	79
2002	65	17	318	83
2003²	85	21	327	79
Strathclyde
1999	793	23	2,648	77
2000	698	23	2,285	77
2001	695	24	2,234	76
2002	640	21	2,407	79
2003²	818	20	3,182	79
Tayside
1999	122	24	384	76
2000	116	25	352	75
2001	98	21	370	79
2002	129	25	391	75
2003²	125	21	457	79
Scotland
1999	1,588	25	4,844	75
2000	1,318	24	4,099	76
2001	1,388	24	4,344	76
2002	1,353	23	4,439	77
2003²	1,639	23	5,448	77

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

3. Includes offences of unlawful production of drugs, unlawful supply, possession with intent to supply unlawfully and unlawful import or export.

Persons with a Charge Proved for Drug Offences¹ in Scottish Courts, by Type of Offence, Type of Drug and Police Force Area, 1999-2003

Estimated Percentage of Persons Convicted of all Drug Offences³

Police Force Area	Total Number of Persons	Cannabis	Cocaine	Ecstasy	Heroin	Amphetamines	Other Drugs
Scotland
	Supplying and trafficking⁴
1999	1,588	13	1	2	6	4	n/a
2000	1,318	10	1	2	6	3	n/a
2001	1,388	8	1	3	6	1	n/a
2002	1,353	6	1	3	5	1	n/a
2003	1,639	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Possession
1999	4,844	66	1	3	13	10	n/a
2000	4,099	66	2	4	12	7	n/a
2001	4,344	63	2	6	14	4	n/a
2002	4,439	64	2	6	13	3	n/a
2003²	5,448	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
	All drug offences
Central
1999	259	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2000	235	74	0	4	18	8	2
2001	342	67	0	8	33	8	8
2002	373	88	0	6	18	6	0
2003²	452	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Dumfries and Galloway
1999	172	72	1	3	25	10	2
2000	130	65	0	4	27	9	5
2001	97	69	0	6	31	6	6
2002	133	74	0	5	32	0	11
2003²	146	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Fife
1999	296	81	0	4	8	15	3
2000	148	78	0	7	15	13	2
2001	160	63	0	11	21	11	5
2002	207	78	0	6	14	6	3
2003²	174	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Grampian
1999	656	71	2	6	18	12	4
2000	455	68	4	13	19	6	5
2001	613	71	6	13	20	2	6
2002	564	74	9	11	26	6	6
2003²	743	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lothian and Borders
1999	796	83	3	6	7	17	6
2000	738	83	2	6	9	15	5
2001	776	81	2	12	12	7	5
2002	567	87	2	8	15	3	3
2003²	587	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Northern
1999	311	88	0	3	1	15	1
2000	267	88	2	8	3	7	2
2001	349	94	0	6	6	6	0
2002	384	91	0	13	6	9	6
2003²	412	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Strathclyde
1999	3,442	67	2	3	24	12	13
2000	2,984	68	3	4	22	9	10
2001	2,931	67	3	5	22	4	12
2002	3,052	72	4	7	22	4	14
2003²	4,009	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Tayside
1999	507	84	1	6	3	10	6
2000	469	83	2	8	2	7	5
2001	468	78	4	18	8	6	4
2002	521	74	5	15	11	6	11
2003²	582	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Scotland
1999	6,439	73	2	4	18	13	9
2000	5,426	73	2	6	17	9	7
2001	5,736	71	3	8	19	5	9
2002	5,801	80	4	9	20	5	11
2003²	7,105	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Notes:

n/a: Not available.

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

3. Estimated from Home Office data for persons found guilty, cautioned or given a fiscal fine. As an offence can involve more than one type of drug, columns cannot be added together to produce sub-totals or totals.

4. Includes offences of unlawful production of drugs, unlawful supply, possession with intent to supply unlawfully and unlawful import or export.

Question reference: S2W-15836

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11312 by Nicol Stephen on 8 November 2004, whether it will publish an updated version of the answer reconciling the total with the data in the table.

The overall figure, given in the answer, for the number of blue badges at 31 March 2004 was correct. However, the table omitted to show the number of blue badges for Aberdeen City of 7,834. The correct table is now shown. Figures published in Scottish Transport Statistics show the correct breakdown of badges. The Scottish Executive is now in the process of collecting information from local authorities on the number of blue badge holders as at 31March 2005.

Council		Council
Aberdeen City	7,834	Highland	10,143
Aberdeenshire	10,011	Inverclyde	3,817
Angus	5,005	Midlothian	3,912
Argyll and Bute	3,701	Moray	3,631
Clackmannanshire	2,219	North Ayrshire	10,602
Dumfries and Galloway	8,041	North Lanarkshire	15,524
Dundee City	6,327	Orkney Islands	848
East Ayrshire	6,892	Perth and Kinross	6,344
East Dunbartonshire	4,330	Renfrewshire	6,420
East Lothian	3,751	Scottish Borders	5,221
East Renfrewshire	1,257	Shetland Islands	621
Edinburgh, City Of	16,057	South Ayrshire	5,217
Eilean Siar	261	South Lanarkshire	13,694
Falkirk	7,166	Stirling	3,908
Fife	17,832	West Dunbartonshire	2,974
Glasgow, City Of	23,243	West Lothian	7,192
Total	223,995

Question reference: S2W-15831

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-229 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 2 June 2003, whether it will publish an updated version of the answer reconciling the totals with the data in the tables.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of households to benefit from each of the programmes is as follows:

Warm Deal

	July 1999*- March 2000	April 2000 - March 2001	April 2001 - March 2002	April 2002 - March 2003	April 2003 - March 2004	Total
Local Authority Programme	22,318	22,660	18,549	8,321	7,643	79,491
Eaga Managed Programme	16,131	26,555	22,328	21,755	21,600	108,369
Total	38,449	49,215	40,877	30,076	29,243	187,860

Note: *The Warm Deal Programme commenced in July 1999 as the successor to the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme

Central Heating Programme

	April 2001 - March 2002¹	April 2002 - March 2003	April 2003 - March 2004	Total
Local Authority Programme	4,007	4,085	4,681²	12,773
Eaga Managed Programme	3,560	5,500	10,200	19,260
Housing Association Programme (managed by Communities Scotland)	941	1,635	2,710	5,286
Total	8,508	11,220	17,591	37,319

Notes:

1. The Central Heating Programme commenced in April 2001

2. The figure for the local authority programme in 2003-04 includes 803 properties where partial central heating was upgraded.

The figures for 2004-05 are yet to be confirmed.

Question reference: S2W-15832

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13027 by Peter Peacock on 14 January 2005, whether it will publish an updated version of the answer reconciling the totals with the data in the tables.

Question reference: S2W-15829

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7906 by Mr Frank McAveety on 27 June 2000, whether it will publish an updated version of the answer reconciling the totals with the data in the tables.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The amount spent by each local authority from 1999-2004 is shown in the first table, and the allocation for each local authority for 2004-05 is shown in the second table. It should be noted that in 2004-05 grant was made available for local authorities to treat private sector properties as well as their own stock.

Warm Deal spend by local authority since 1999.

Local Authority	April 1999 to March 2000	April 2000 to March 2001	April 2001 to March 2002	April 2002 to March 2003	April 2003 to March 2004
Aberdeen	£81,847	£69,231	£15,000	£18,077	£259,715
Aberdeenshire	£52,153	£35,383	£29,614	£20,000	£147,000
Angus	£10,769	£50,000	£47,000	£30,000	£95,766
Argyll and Bute	£42,382	£50,000	£35,000	£0	£32,276
Clackmannanshire	£50,000	£60,000	£25,462	£0	£58,626
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	£14,076	£23,154	£44,614	£10,000	£16,904
Dumfries and Galloway	£64,460	£69,846	£69,692	£40,000	£0
Dundee City	£160,000	£161,461	£100,000	£30,000	£45,640
East Ayrshire	£89,522	£100,000	£60,000	£20,000	£90,000
East Dunbarton	£41,308	£60,000	£54,000	£30,000	£51,101
East Lothian	£70,000	£80,000	£75,000	£10,000	£100,000
East Renfrewshire	£38,154	£45,000	£22,038	£0	£15,000
Edinburgh	£199,615	£199,383	£130,000	£109,461	£130,074
Falkirk	£110,000	£130,000	£42,076	£4,922	£0
Fife	£140,000	£140,000	£80,000	£30,000	£124,547
Glasgow City	£494,753	£550,000	£275,000	£90,000	£0
Highland	£45,193	£70,000	£41,000	£10,000	£62,500
Inverclyde	£60,000	£70,000	£45,000	£10,000	£25,000
Midlothian	£50,000	£60,000	£40,000	£9,923	£27,538
Moray	£60,000	£25,384	£16,923	£0	£68,000
North Ayrshire	£60,000	£70,000	£75,000	£130,769	£160,685
North Lanarkshire	£266,615	£280,000	£278,846	£160,000	£420,124
Orkney	£14,307	£19,769	£9,846	£10,000	£4,432
Perth and Kinross	£0	£0	£0	£0	£0
Renfrewshire	£90,000	£100,000	£59,923	£20,000	£57,500
Scottish Borders	£40,000	£49,231	£49,769	£30,000	£0
Shetland	£15,191	£15,000	£16,615	£1,154	£13,945
South Ayrshire	£69,692	£80,000	£80,000	£50,000	£104,220
South Lanarkshire	£167,384	£190,000	£104,923	£29,998	£160,619
Stirling	£22,922	£39,076	£19,692	£20,000	£70,466
West Dunbartonshire	£80,000	£90,000	£65,000	£18,615	£25,404
West Lothian	£47,154	£40,692	£20,000	£20,000	£146,785
Total	£2,747,497	£3,022,610	£2,027,033	£962,919	£2,513,867

Warm Deal Allocation April 2004 to March 2005

Local Authority	Own Stock	Private Sector
Aberdeen	£131,000	£21,263
Aberdeenshire	£75,000	£56,887
Angus	£45,000	£27,826
Argyll and Bute	£31,000	£34,382
Clackmannanshire	£29,000	£7,398
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	£10,000	£17,391
Dumfries and Galloway	£0	£60,340
Dundee	£86,000	£30,382
East Ayrshire	£78,000	£17,867
East Dunbartonshire	£22,000	£11,455
East Lothian	£45,000	£16,558
East Renfrewshire	£20,000	£17,830
Edinburgh	£128,000	£101,405
Falkirk	£85,000	£17,897
Fife	£180,000	£63,523
Glasgow	£0	£100,854
Highland	£79,000	£65,343
Inverclyde	£49,000	£13,306
Midlothian	£35,000	£8,491
Moray	£34,000	£29,923
North Ayrshire	£80,000	£21,828
North Lanarkshire	£217,000	£30,950
Orkney Islands	£10,000	£11,623
Perth and Kinross	£44,000	£0
Renfrewshire	£80,000	£27,009
Scottish Borders	£0	£0
Shetland	£11,000	£8,536
South Ayrshire	£50,000	£29,908
South Lanarkshire	£166,000	£47,058
Stirling	£35,000	£15,365
West Dunbartonshire	£65,000	£7,700
West Lothian	£70,000	£12,705
	£1,990,000	£933,003

Question reference: S2W-15826

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 26 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11715 by Johann Lamont on 9 November 2004, whether it will publish an updated version of the answer reconciling the totals with the data in the table.

As stated in the answer to question S2W-11715 on 8 November 2004, the Scottish House Condition Survey is the only source we have for reliably measuring fuel poverty. The latest available information from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 was provided in the answer to S2W-11715. The all-Scotland figure of 286,000 fuel poor households is slightly higher than the sum of the number of fuel poor households in each local authority because the local authority and Scotland estimates have been independently rounded to the nearest 1,000.

Question reference: S2W-15911

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) maximum and (b) minimum (i) fine and (ii) custodial sentence is that can be imposed for assaulting a police officer

Serious cases of assault on apolice officer can be dealt with as common law offences and prosecuted under solemnprocedure, whereby a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and/or an unlimited finecan be imposed. There are no specified minimum sentences.

There are also specific offencesof assaulting a police officer in the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 and in the EmergencyWorkers (Scotland) Act 2005. These attract a maximum penalty of 9 monthsin custody and/or a level 5 fine (currently £5,000).

Question reference: S2W-15915

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13580 by Cathy Jamieson on 28 January 2005, what percentage of recorded incidents of assault of a police officer resulted in convictions in each year from 1994 to 2004, broken down by police force area.

The available information on convictions relates to offences under section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967. This section of the 1967 act provides that any person who “assaults, resists, obstructs molests or hinders a constable…” shall be guilty of an offence. Offences which specifically involve an assault on a police officer can not generally be identified separately from other section 41(1)(a) offences in the data held centrally. Similarly, other assaults on police officers which may result in other charges such as serious assault or attempted murder can not be identified separately in the available statistics. It is not therefore possible to make like with like comparisons between the number of convictions and the number of recorded incidents from the data held centrally.

Chamber and committees