Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-23729

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 14 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the results of its consultation, Reducing health harms of foods high in fat, sugar or salt: consultation, and what action it plans to take in response to restrictions on the promotion and marketing of products that are high in fat, sugar and salt.

Question reference: S5O-03422

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is meeting the objectives of its Equally Safe Strategy.

Question reference: S5W-23562

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 12 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23071 by Joe FitzPatrick on 29 May 2019, how much it will cost to match the EIBSS scheme payments in cases in which they are higher than the SIBSS, without reducing any other existing payments from the Scottish scheme.

It is not possible to provide a precise cost estimate given that the numbers of beneficiaries registered with SIBSS changes constantly, in particular as new applicants join the scheme. It is also important to note that not all categories of beneficiary are the same in the two schemes and therefore, in particular for those with chronic hepatitis c where there are three SIBSS categories, EIBSS does not have directly equivalent categories.

Question reference: S5W-22904

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people from ethnic minorities have been recorded as having been (a) arrested, (b) stopped and searched, (c) prosecuted and (i) convicted and (ii) not convicted and (d) on remand in each of the last five years, also broken down by ethnicity.

Question reference: S5W-23375

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people from ethnic minorities have been victims of crime in each of the last five years, also broken down by ethnicity.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is the main source of evidence on the extent of victimisation in Scotland. It provides information on the proportion of adults experiencing crime, including incidents not reported to the police, rather than the number of victims.

Results from the SCJS on the proportion of adults experiencing crime over the last five years, broken down by ethnicity, and any changes in the victimisation rate over time are shown in Table 1. The sample sizes for each group are shown in Table 2.

SCJS results are not released for groups where the underlying sample size is less than 50. As such, some groups must be aggregated in order to provide results by ethnicity – although where possible more detailed breakdowns are provided. Survey results are estimates with associated margins of error, rather than precise values. Generally where sample sizes are smaller the margin of error around results is larger. Statistical tests are used to assess whether apparent differences between results are statistically significant. There was no SCJS conducted in 2013-14 or 2015-16

The SCJS finds:

In 2017-18, an estimated 15.2% of adults from minority ethnic groups experienced crime, unchanged from 2012-13 – the apparent decrease from 18.0% is not statistically significant.

In 2017-18, the estimated proportion of adults from each ethnic minority group experiencing crime was no different to the proportion of White Scottish adults who were victims of crime – any apparent differences shown in Table 1 are not statistically significant.

Table 1: Proportion of adults experiencing crime by ethnicity.

	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	Percentage point change 2012-13 to 2017-18		Percentage point change 2016-17 to 2017-18
White – Scottish	17.0%	N/A	14.4%	N/A	13.4%	12.8%	-4.3	*	-0.6

White - Other British	15.2%	N/A	13.7%	N/A	12.0%	10.4%	-4.8	*	-1.6

White – Other (i and ii combined)	18.7%	N/A	16.7%	N/A	12.1%	10.4%	-8.3	*	-1.6
(i) White Polish	21.7%	N/A	20.6%	N/A	16.4%	12.4%	-9.3		-3.9
(ii) All other white groups	17.7%	N/A	14.9%	N/A	10.2%	9.7%	-8.0	*	-0.5

Minority Ethnic (iii and iv combined)	18.0%	N/A	16.3%	N/A	18.5%	15.2%	-2.9		-3.3
(iii) Asian	15.8%	N/A	16.0%	N/A	14.1%	18.6%	2.8		4.5
(iv) All other ethnic groups	23.3%	N/A	16.7%	N/A	25.5%	10.2%	-13.1	*	-15.3	*

Total	16.9%	N/A	14.5%	N/A	13.4%	12.5%	-4.5	*	-1.0

Source: Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2012-13 to 2017-18

1. Statistically significant changes over time are indicated by ‘*’.

2. The ‘All other white groups’ sub-group contains: people who identify as Irish, Gypsy/Traveller or ‘any other white ethnic group’.

3. The ‘All other ethnic groups’ sub-group contains adults who identify as having a mixed or multiple ethnic background and adults who describe their ethnicity as: African, Caribbean or Black, Arab or ‘other’ (i.e. their ethnicity is not listed in the pre-defined answer options).

Table 2: Sample sizes for results shown in Table 1

	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
White - Scottish	9657	N/A	8932	N/A	4343	4199

White - Other British	1533	N/A	1531	N/A	725	725

White – Other (i & ii combined)	521	N/A	625	N/A	281	343
(i) White Polish	132	N/A	183	N/A	78	92
(ii) All other white groups	389	N/A	442	N/A	203	251

Minority Ethnic (iii and iv combined)	318	N/A	364	N/A	210	197
(iii) Asian	208	N/A	210	N/A	115	105
(iv) All other ethnic groups	110	N/A	154	N/A	95	92

Total	12045	N/A	11472	N/A	5567	5475

Source: Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2012-13 to 2017-18

1. The ‘All other white groups’ sub-group contains: people who identify as Irish, Gypsy/Traveller or ‘any other white ethnic group’.

2. The ‘All other ethnic groups’ sub-group contains adults who identify as having a mixed or multiple ethnic background and adults who describe their ethnicity as: African, Caribbean or Black, Arab or ‘other’ (i.e. their ethnicity is not listed in the pre-defined answer options).

Question reference: S5W-23376

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of sentence has been for a convicted person from an ethnic minority in each of the last five years, also broken down by ethnicity.

Question reference: S5W-23378

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people from ethnic minorities in police custody have been recorded as having (a) self-harmed, (b) been assaulted, (c) been identified as having assaulted other prisoners, (d) been involved in violence involving other prisoners and (e) died by suicide in each of the last five years, also broken down by ethnicity.

Question reference: S5W-23377

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of people from ethnic minorities who have been convicted and recorded as having reoffended in each of the last five years, also broken down by ethnicity.

Question reference: S5W-22903

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on people from ethnic minorities' (a) confidence in the police and (b) fear of crime, broken down by ethnicity.

Confidence in the police

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) collects data on the public’s perceptions of the police through a range of questions. These cover aspects such as the perceived effectiveness of the police, how engaged the police are with communities and whether the police treat people fairly. The highest level question exploring confidence in the police asks people ‘how good a job’ they think the police are doing – with ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ results usually combined to show positive perceptions. Results from this question from the 2017-18 SCJS are shown in Table 1.

SCJS results are not released for groups where the underlying sample size is less than 50. As such, some groups must be aggregated in order to provide results by ethnicity – although where possible more detailed breakdowns are provided. Survey results are estimates with associated margins of error, rather than precise values. Generally where sample sizes are smaller the margin of error around results is larger. Statistical tests are used to assess whether apparent differences between results are statistically significant.

Looking at ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ responses combined, the SCJS finds:

Adults in the ‘White – Other’ group (and ‘White Polish’ and ‘All other white’ sub-groups) were more likely to say the police were doing an excellent or good job in 2017-18 than ‘White Scottish’ adults.

The results for all other groups were no different to the figure for ‘White Scottish’ adults – any apparent differences shown in Table 1 are not statistically significant.

Table 1: Adults views on how good a job the police are doing (% of adults)

	Excellent / Good	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Very poor	Don’t Know / Refused	Sample size
White – Scottish	55%	10%	46%	33%	7%	2%	3%	4199

White - Other British	60%	8%	51%	29%	5%	2%	5%	725

White – Other (i and ii combined)	68%	13%	56%	18%	7%	0%	6%	343
(i) White Polish	72%	9%	63%	17%	4%	0%	7%	92
(ii) All other white groups	67%	14%	53%	19%	8%	1%	6%	251

Minority Ethnic (iii and iv combined)	60%	14%	45%	29%	6%	0%	5%	197
(iii) Asian	62%	11%	51%	28%	8%	0%	3%	105
(iv) All other ethnic groups	56%	19%	37%	32%	3%	0%	9%	92

Total	57%	10%	47%	31%	7%	2%	3%	5475

Source: Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2017-18

1. Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

2. The ‘All other white groups’ sub-group contains: people who identify as Irish, Gypsy/Traveller or ‘any other white ethnic group’.

3. The ‘All other ethnic groups’ sub-group contains adults who identify as having a mixed or multiple ethnic background and adults who describe their ethnicity as: African, Caribbean or Black, Arab or ‘other’ (i.e. their ethnicity is not listed in the pre-defined answer options).

The Scottish Surveys Core Questions (SSCQ) combines data on selected questions included in three of the Scottish Government’s main household surveys to provide a larger overall sample size and facilitate more detailed breakdowns of results for population sub-groups. Between 2012 and 2017 the SSCQ included the SCJS questions on confidence in the effectiveness of the police. The most recent SSCQ results (including ethnicity breakdowns) can be found in the 2017 SSCQ report: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-surveys-core-questions-2017/ .

Fear of crime

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) collects data on the public’s perceptions of and worry about crime through a range of questions. One question asks respondents how safe they feel walking alone in their local area after dark – this is often referred to as providing evidence on fear of crime, but also captures wider feelings of safety in the neighbourhood.

Results from this question from the 2017-18 SCJS are shown in Table 2.

SCJS results are not released for groups where the underlying sample size is less than 50. As such, some groups must be aggregated in order to provide results by ethnicity – although where possible more detailed breakdowns are provided. Survey results are estimates with associated margins of error, rather than precise values. Generally where sample sizes are smaller the margin of error around results is larger. Statistical tests are used to assess whether apparent differences between results are statistically significant.

Looking at ‘very safe’ and ‘fairly safe’ responses combined, the SCJS finds:

Adults in the ‘White Other British’ and ‘All Other White’ groups were more likely to feel safe walking alone in their local area after dark in 2017-18 than ‘White Scottish’ adults.

The results for all other groups were no different to the figure for ‘White Scottish’ adults – any apparent differences shown in Table 2 are not statistically significant.

Table 2: How safe adults feel walking alone in their local area after dark (% of adults)

	Very / fairly safe	Very / fairly unsafe	Don’t Know / Refused	Sample size
White – Scottish	76%	23%	1%	4199

White - Other British	83%	15%	1%	725

White – Other (i and ii combined)	81%	19%	0%	343
(i) White Polish	77%	23%	0%	92
(ii) All other white groups	82%	17%	0%	251

Minority Ethnic (iii and iv combined)	73%	26%	1%	197
(iii) Asian	68%	30%	1%	105
(iv) All other ethnic groups	79%	20%	1%	92

Total	77%	22%	1%	5475

Source: Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2017-18

1. Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

2. The ‘All other white groups’ sub-group contains: people who identify as Irish, Gypsy/Traveller or ‘any other white ethnic group’.

3. The ‘All other ethnic groups’ sub-group contains adults who identify as having a mixed or multiple ethnic background and adults who describe their ethnicity as: African, Caribbean or Black, Arab or ‘other’ (i.e. their ethnicity is not listed in the pre-defined answer options).

Question reference: S5W-23186

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many dog control notices have been issued in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland and (b) the Glasgow local authority area under section 1 of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010.

The requested information is set out in the following table. Each year covers the period from 27 February to 26 February of the following year.

Number of Dog Control Notices Issued Per Year
Local Authority	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	Total
Aberdeen City	5	8	6	1	6	26
Aberdeenshire	10	4	11	10	26	61
Angus	2	2	2	11	19	36
Argyll & Bute	9	16	17	24	20	86
Clackmannanshire	0	0	3	1	5	9
Comhairle nan Eilean Sair	3	5	4	2	2	16
Dumfries & Galloway	14	7	28	17	18	84
Dundee City	4	15	15	17	31	82
East Ayrshire	4	0	5	2	1	12
East Dunbartonshire	5	5	0	1	3	14
East Lothian	17	11	7	4	2	41
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	2	2
City of Edinburgh	5	17	14	5	0	41
Falkirk	14	4	19	4	7	48
Fife	48	57	44	56	59	264
City of Glasgow *	0	1	0	-	-	1
Highland	14	23	30	29	14	110
Inverclyde	0	1	0	1	0	2
Midlothian	4	13	7	10	17	51
Moray	2	2	4	3	3	14
North Ayrshire	2	7	4	9	20	42
North Lanarkshire	0	0	1	3	7	11
Orkney	1	4	8	2	2	17
Perth & Kinross	10	9	11	10	14	54
Renfrewshire	26	21	15	20	19	101
Scottish Borders	10	11	1	15	3	40
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	2	2
South Ayrshire	0	0	3	6	5	14
South Lanarkshire	3	11	3	2	5	24
Stirling	6	2	8	4	13	33
West Dunbartonshire	0	1	4	4	8	17
West Lothian	26	20	16	17	6	85
TOTAL	244	277	290	290	339	1440

* City of Glasgow Council - Figures for 2016-17 and 2017-18 were request but no reply was received.

Chamber and committees