Chamber and committees

The following table containsdetails of all charges reported to Procurators Fiscal since April 2002 for offencesunder Regulations 5(3)(b) and 6(1)(d) of the Public Service Vehicles (Conduct ofDrivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990.

Charges under Regulations 5(3)(b)and 6(1)(d) of the Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductorsand Passengers) Regulations 1990¹

Year2	Police Force Area	No. of Charges	Action taken by Procurator Fiscal
			Prosecution	Warning Letter	No Proceedings
2002-03	Strathclyde	1			1
2003-04	Lothian and Borders	1			1
	Strathclyde	10	3	2	5
Grand Total		12	3	2	7

Notes:

1. The information in this tablehas been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s Case ManagementDatabase. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processingof reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a ProcuratorFiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will recorddetails only of the amended charge.

2. The Crown Office and ProcuratorFiscal Service completed an upgrade of its electronic case management system inApril 2002. Only case records created after that date contain complete data whichis capable of electronic analysis.

There are a number of possiblecharges which can result from offences involving a knife or gun, including for examplemurder, attempted murder, culpable homicide, robbery and assault. While it is notgenerally possible to separately identify the use of a knife or gun in these charges,information is available centrally on convictions for some offences which by definitioninvolved a weapon: possession of an offensive weapon, having in a public place anarticle with a blade or a point, or firearms offences. In addition, separate statisticalinformation is available on persons convicted in homicide cases by the method ofhomicide. All the available information is given in the following tables.

Convictions resulting in a policesentence have been understood to refer to convictions resulting in a custodial sentence.

Personswith a Charge Proved for Selected Offences Involving Knives or Guns¹,by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2004-05²

Police Force Area	Possession of an Offensive Weapon3	Firearms Offences	Having in a Public Place an Article With a Blade or a Point	Total
Central
1999-2000	26	4	20	50
2000-01	37	9	30	76
2001-02	35	8	26	69
2002-03	41	8	28	77
2003-04	46	10	37	93
2004-05	55	8	40	103
Dumfries and Galloway
1999-2000	26	9	10	45
2000-01	28	3	16	47
2001-02	15	11	17	43
2002-03	31	5	25	61
2003-04	19	4	17	40
2004-05	20	10	28	58
Fife
1999-2000	31	3	19	53
2000-01	22	5	23	50
2001-02	43	6	24	73
2002-03	29	5	32	66
2003-04	23	1	28	52
2004-05	21	4	23	48
Grampian
1999-2000	40	13	27	80
2000-01	38	12	30	80
2001-02	68	10	47	125
2002-03	54	9	49	112
2003-04	64	7	54	125
2004-05	86	7	59	152
Lothian and Borders
1999-2000	91	18	108	217
2000-01	114	24	120	258
2001-02	149	13	121	283
2002-03	149	22	171	342
2003-04	117	24	173	314
2004-05	140	24	201	365
Northern
1999-2000	22	13	12	47
2000-01	19	8	14	41
2001-02	27	9	17	53
2002-03	25	12	28	65
2003-04	20	13	27	60
2004-05	34	7	22	63
Strathclyde
1999-2000	793	61	773	1,627
2000-01	874	62	845	1,781
2001-02	967	62	933	1,962
2002-03	1,004	53	960	2,017
2003-04	1,097	39	1,022	2,158
2004-05	1,294	55	1,256	2,605
Tayside
1999-2000	74	11	46	131
2000-01	76	18	54	148
2001-02	81	9	62	152
2002-03	72	15	72	159
2003-04	82	14	46	142
2004-05	90	8	74	172
Scotland
1999-2000	1,103	132	1,015	2,250
2000-01	1,208	141	1,132	2,481
2001-02	1,385	128	1,247	2,760
2002-03	1,405	129	1,365	2,899
2003-04	1,468	112	1,404	2,984
2004-05	1,740	123	1,703	3,566

 

Persons given CustodialSentences for Selected Offences Involving Knives or Guns¹, by PoliceForce Area, 1999-2000 to 2004-05²

Police Force Area	Possession of an Offensive Weapon3	Firearms Offences	Having in a Public Place an Article with a Blade or a Point	Total
Central
1999-2000	-	1	2	3
2000-01	3	1	2	6
2001-02	1	-	4	5
2002-03	5	1	7	13
2003-04	6	-	7	13
2004-05	10	-	6	16
Dumfries and Galloway
1999-2000	2	-	1	3
2000-01	10	-	3	13
2001-02	5	1	4	10
2002-03	8	-	5	13
2003-04	3	-	2	5
2004-05	2	-	4	6
Fife
1999-2000	4	-	5	9
2000-01	3	-	6	9
2001-02	9	-	3	12
2002-03	2	2	4	8
2003-04	2	-	3	5
2004-05	4	-	4	8
Grampian
1999-2000	6	2	7	15
2000-01	6	2	5	13
2001-02	13	-	11	24
2002-03	6	-	5	11
2003-04	7	-	8	15
2004-05	10	-	8	18
Lothian and Borders
1999-2000	20	2	29	51
2000-01	28	1	44	73
2001-02	29	-	32	61
2002-03	24	2	49	75
2003-04	20	1	52	73
2004-05	24	3	61	88
Northern
1999-2000	2	-	3	5
2000-01	5	1	3	9
2001-02	4	-	2	6
2002-03	2	1	2	5
2003-04	2	2	4	8
2004-05	3	-	4	7
Strathclyde
1999-2000	174	13	247	434
2000-01	207	11	280	498
2001-02	195	11	282	488
2002-03	218	11	347	576
2003-04	199	9	305	513
2004-05	227	8	353	588
Tayside
1999-2000	15	-	11	26
2000-01	9	1	14	24
2001-02	13	-	20	33
2002-03	16	1	17	34
2003-04	12	1	9	22
2004-05	16	1	24	41
Scotland
1999-2000	223	18	305	546
2000-01	271	17	357	645
2001-02	269	12	358	639
2002-03	281	18	436	735
2003-04	251	13	390	654
2004-05	296	12	464	772

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Year of sentence.

3. Knives and guns cannot be identified separately fromother types of offensive weapon in the data held for this crime category.

Persons Convicted inHomicide Cases¹, by Police Force Area, Method of Killing andSentence, 1999-2000 to 2004-05²

Police Force Area	All convicted3			Persons Given a Custodial Sentence
		Of Which:			Of Which:
	Total	Sharp Instrument	Shooting	Total	Sharp Instrument	Shooting
Central
1999-2000	1	1	-	1	1	-
2000-01	4	-	-	1	-	-
2001-02	3	3	-	3	3	-
2002-03	4	2	-	2	1	-
2003-04	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004-05	4	3	-	4	3	-
Dumfries and Galloway
1999-2000	2	-	-	2	-	-
2000-01	4	1	-	3	1	-
2001-02	3	2	-	3	2	-
2002-03	-	-	-	-	-	-
2003-04	2	2	-	2	2	-
2004-05	2	2	-	2	2	-
Fife
1999-2000	2	-	-	2	-	-
2000-01	4	4	-	4	4	-
2001-02	2	1	-	2	1	-
2002-03	1	1	-	1	1	-
2003-04	4	-	-	3	-	-
2004-05	3	2	-	3	2	-
Grampian
1999-2000	7	3	-	6	3	-
2000-01	10	4	-	8	3	-
2001-02	3	1	-	2	1	-
2002-03	6	3	-	6	3	-
2003-04	7	3	-	6	3	-
2004-05	6	3	-	4	3	-
Lothian and Borders
1999-2000	6	2	-	4	2	-
2000-01	8	2	1	7	2	-
2001-02	12	3	-	12	3	-
2002-03	15	7	-	13	7	-
2003-04	13	9	-	13	9	-
2004-05	10	5	-	10	5	-
Northern
1999-2000	3	2	-	2	2	-
2000-01	1	-	-	1	-	-
2001-02	3	-	-	3	-	-
2002-03	5	2	-	5	2	-
2003-04	1	-	-	-	-	-
2004-05	2	-	-	2	-	-
Strathclyde
1999-2000	79	56	4	70	50	4
2000-01	49	30	-	45	28	-
2001-02	62	40	1	57	39	1
2002-03	73	42	3	67	39	3
2003-04	70	39	-	68	38	-
2004-05	64	47	3	59	44	3
Tayside
1999-2000	6	1	-	3	1	-
2000-01	4	2	-	4	2	-
2001-02	8	6	-	7	5	-
2002-03	6	5	-	6	5	-
2003-04	3	3	-	3	3	-
2004-05	1	-	-	1	-	-
Scotland
1999-2000	106	65	4	92	59	4
2000-01	84	43	1	73	40	-
2001-02	96	56	1	89	54	1
2002-03	110	62	3	100	58	3
2003-04	100	56	-	95	55	-
2004-05	92	62	3	85	59	3

Notes:

1. Currently (as at 28 November 2005) recordedas homicide.

2. Year police initially recordedthe homicide.

3. Includes persons acquittedon the ground of insanity and guardianship orders.

The information requested isnot available. Cases involving the use of drugs on buses cannot be identified separatelyfrom other cases involving offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as the useof drugs on a bus is not a specific offence.

The information requested iscontained in the following two tables.

(a) GP Referral to treatment:

Table 1: Number and Percentage of Breast Cancer Patients¹Diagnosed in 2005 who Received Treatment within Six Weeks (42 Days) of Referralby NHS Board of Diagnosis for GP referrals.

	Number of Patients1	Treated Within 6 Weeks
		Number	%
Argyll and Clyde	163	150	92.0%
Ayrshire and Arran	171	87	50.9%
Borders	61	49	80.3%
Dumfries and Galloway	85	79	92.9%
Fife	137	20	14.6%
Forth Valley	81	47	58.0%
Grampian	204	27	13.2%
Greater Glasgow	355	249	70.1%
Highland	105	36	34.3%
Lanarkshire	212	157	74.1%
Lothian	340	141	41.5%
Orkney	5	3	60.0%
Shetland2	6	1	16.7%
Tayside	248	84	33.9%
Western Isles	6	3	50.0%
Scotland	2,179	1,133	52.0%

 

(b) Diagnosis to treatment:

Table 2: Number and Percentage of Breast Cancer Patients¹Diagnosed in 2005 who Received Treatment within Six Weeks (42 Days) of Diagnosisby NHS Board of Diagnosis

	Number of Patients1	Treated within 6 Weeks
		Number	%
Argyll and Clyde	202	189	93.6%
Ayrshire and Arran	328	303	92.4%
Borders	91	90	98.9%
Dumfries and Galloway	110	110	100.0%
Fife	146	141	96.6%
Forth Valley	109	105	96.3%
Grampian	361	251	69.5%
Greater Glasgow	731	703	96.2%
Highland	187	167	89.3%
Lanarkshire	290	284	97.9%
Lothian	737	713	96.7%
Orkney	5	3	60.0%
Shetland2	6	5	83.3%
Tayside	372	309	83.1%
Western Isles	7	6	85.7%
Scotland	3,682	3,379	91.8%

Note:

1. Exclusion categories are:died prior to receiving treatment, refused treatment, patient induced non-clinicaldelay and co-morbidities.

2. Shetland started reportingon their own patients from July 2005, previously included with Grampian.

3. Total number of patients diagnosedincludes those referred other than GP including Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

The power to grantAntisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on conviction was introduced by theAntisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004. Fifty-five ASBOs on conviction were madein the period 1 March 2005 to 31 March 2006. All these orders were made in Sheriffcourts.

The majority of patients whorequire in-patient and day case treatment, including orthopaedic surgery, aretreated quickly. Nearly 53% of patients treated in NHSScotland hospitalsreceive immediate treatment and never join a waiting list. Of those whosecondition does not require immediate treatment and who are placed on a waitinglist, over 40% are admitted within 1 month and over 70% within three months.

The Executive has beensteadily reducing the maximum waiting time for those patients who wait longer. Thenational maximum waiting time was reduced from 12 months to nine months on 31 December 2003and to six months on 31 December 2005. This will be further reduced to 18 weeks from theend of 2007. On 31 March 2006, no patient with a guarantee had waited more than sixmonths for orthopaedic surgery.

NHSScotland is making goodprogress towards meeting the next key target of a maximum wait of 18 weeks bythe end of 2007. At that point, a new approach to defining and measuringwaiting will also be introduced to replace availability status codes (ASCs),which have the effect at present of excluding patients from waiting timesguarantees where for example, they are medically unfit for treatment, wherethey have asked for their treatment to be postponed, or where their treatmentis highly specialised or of low clinical priority. The new approach will befairer, more consistent and more transparent.

Retrospective analyses of waiting times for hospitaltreatment compiled from SMR01 returns are based on data that does not recordwhether patients have had an ASC applied. Information requested on waitingtimes for elective admissions to trauma and orthopaedic departments is given inthe following table: it includes the waiting times of patients who have beenexempted from the guarantee for the reasons given above and thereforeoverstates true waiting times. It is not possible to estimate the extent of theoverstatement. The SMR3 waiting times census data, which excludes patients withASCs, is used for target compliance purposes, and the table also presents SMR3data for patients who were waiting for elective admission to trauma andorthopaedic departments on the censuses undertaken on 31 March in each yearsince 1999.

NHSScotland: Percentage of Patients¹Who Waited Less Than Three Months, Less Than 12 Months and More Than 12 Months forElective Admission² in the Specialty of Trauma And Orthopaedics. Years Ended 31 March 1999–2006.

Year		Percentage Of Patients Who Waited
	Total Elective Discharges	Less Than 3 Months	Less Than 12 Months	Over 12 Months
1999	41,613	55.6%	97.2%	2.9%
2000	39,376	57.4%	97.3%	2.7%
2001	39,647	51.4%	95.8%	4.2%
2002	37,834	49.9%	94.5%	5.5%
2003	37,329	45.8%	92.2%	7.9%
2004	39,827	44.5%	94.9%	5.1%
2005	41,935	40.4%	95.5%	4.5%
2006P	41,833	38.7%	96.0%	4.0%

Source:  ISD Scotland.SMR01.

Notes:

^PProvisional.

1. Includes patients whoheld an availability status code.

2. Includes admissions fromthe deferred waiting list prior to its abolition on 1 April 2003.

NHSScotland: Percentage of PatientsWho Had Waited Less Than Three Months, Less Than 12 Months and More Than 12Months for Elective Admission in the Specialty of Trauma and Orthopaedics on 31March in Each Year From 1999-2006.

Year		Percentage Of Patients Who Had Waited
	Total Waiting List – With A Guarantee	Less Than 3 Months	Less Than 12 Months	Over 12 Months
1999	10,577	58.5%	100%	0%
2000	13,132	52.6%	99.7%	0.3%
2001	13,962	48.1%	100%	0%
2002	14,661	44.2%	100%	0%
2003	15,219	50.8%	100%	0%
2004	15,272	57.9%	100%	0%
2005	15,096	58.9%	100%	0%
2006	14,070	69.6%	100%	0%

Source: ISD ScotlandSMR3.

The Scottish Executive doesnot hold this information, as it is not separately disclosed in the accounts ofNHS bodies.

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

The information is not availablein the format requested, due to the turnover of prisoners, particularly those onshort-term sentences.

The following table show thetotal number of prisoners gaining SQA qualifications:

Year	SQA Qualifications
2000-01	1,457
2001-02	2,167
2002-03	3,529
2003-04	2,594
2004-05	3,408
2005-06	3,548

 

The number of negligence cases,excluding non-clinical, which have been (a) filed and (b) upheld in each of thelast five years, broken down by hospital, has been placed in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 39862).

Trafficking of people for thepurpose of exploitation is an offence under Section 4 of the Asylum & Immigration(Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. Trafficking of people for the purpose of sexualexploitation is an offence under Section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act2003.

These offences apply, whetherthe victims are adults or children. It is not possible to separately identify childtrafficking cases from the statistics held centrally.

To date, there have been no proceedingsunder the 2003 act or the 2004 act for trafficking offences.