Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-09738

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were appointed to public bodies in each of the last five years and, of these, how many had been involved in political activity in the five years preceding their appointment.

I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-20118 (answered on 26 March 2002), S1W-24411 (answered on 17 April 2002) and S1W-25468 (answered on 30 April 2002) which explain why annual data for part of the period in question is not available.

Information from 1 April 2001 is as follows:

Period	Appointments (Including Reappointments)	No of Appointees Declaring a Political Activity
1 April 2001 – 31 March 2002	273	65
1 April 2002 – 31 March 2003	253	61
1 April 2003 – 31 March 2004	220	32

Question reference: S2W-09737

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many criminal trials called (a) were adjourned to another day, (b) had a guilty plea tendered at any stage and (c) went ahead in each of the last five years.

The information requested is shown in the following tables. Adjournment of trials can be for a variety of reasons, and usually on the motion of the Crown or Defence.

Cases where evidence has been led and a guilty plea is tendered during the course of a trial are counted in the total for guilty plea tendered.

Sheriff Court Summary Criminal Cases

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Called for trial	40,207	40,800	47,071	52,140	49,011
Adjourned	7,336	7,720	8,640	9,553	8,756
Guilty Plea	9,708	10,032	11,955	14,174	13,344
Evidence Led	7,890	7,427	7,420	7,523	7,091

Sheriff Court Solemn Criminal Cases

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Called for trial	1,924	2,301	2,280	2,456	2,750
Adjourned	362	484	498	521	625
Guilty Plea	657	744	727	843	953
Evidence Led	797	882	802	754	852

Sheriff Court - All Criminal Cases

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Called for trial	42,131	43,101	49,351	54,596	51,761
Adjourned	7,698	8,204	9,138	10,074	9,381
Guilty Plea	10,365	10,776	12,682	15,017	14,297
Evidence Led	8,687	8,309	8,222	8,277	7,943

Question reference: S2W-09741

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of shoplifting in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the table.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Shoplifting¹, 1998–2002

Police Force Area	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Central	257	391	477	641	595
Dumfries and Galloway	109	135	195	176	212
Fife	384	451	480	518	446
Grampian	1,133	803	814	894	969
Lothian and Borders	1,258	1,166	1,194	1,172	1,335
Northern	213	216	163	208	254
Strathclyde	3,586	3,777	3,412	3,728	4,311
Tayside	671	710	684	786	809
Scotland	7,611	7,649	7,419	8,123	8,931

Note: Where main offence.

Question reference: S2W-09745

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when the consultation on the review of local government funding finance will commence.

Question reference: S2W-09743

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of theft from a motor vehicle in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

Question reference: S2W-09739

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases under sections 51, 52 and 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 have (a) been received, (b) had court proceedings taken and (c) had a charge proved in each of the last five years.

The available information is given in the tables. Statistics dealing with cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal and court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than charge involving more than one report, while a report may be received in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Charges reported to the Fiscal may also be altered as a result of the judicial process.

Cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal with One or More Charge(s) UnderSections 51, 52 and 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, 2002-03 and2003-04¹

	Financial year of receipt
2002-03	2003-04
Number of reports	145	190
Number of accused	150	194
Number of charges	339	405

Note: Only incomplete information available for previous years.

Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Offences Under Sections 51, 52 and 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982¹, 1998-2002

	Calendar Year of Outcome
1998	1999	2000	2001	2002²
Total	20	13	23	24	29
Number with a charge proved	15	11	17	18	28

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Recording delays mean that cases where the charges were not proved may be under-stated in the totals for persons proceeded against.

Question reference: S2W-09736

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive in how many police operations in each of the last five years firearms were issued to officers, broken down by police force area.

The deployment of firearms is an operational matter for chief constables. Firearms may be issued to officers for a range of reasons including for operations against persons known or suspected to be armed, for protection duties and for putting down animals. The table gives information provided by forces for the number of operations against persons known or believed to be armed.

Number of Operations Where Firearms were Issued Against Persons Known or Believed to be Armed

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Central Scotland	10	8	1	6	3
Dumfries and Galloway	6	3	15	11	6
Fife	5	5	6	8	13
Grampian	17	11	11	6	6
Lothian and Borders	66	94	96	165	197
Northern	7	10	5	0	1
Strathclyde	17	14	24	103	131
Tayside	13	5	5	1	1

Source: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Question reference: S2W-09742

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of theft by housebreaking in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the table.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Housebreaking¹, 1998-2002

Police Force Area	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Central	102	139	109	160	154
Dumfries and Galloway	118	105	109	104	97
Fife	297	330	292	334	268
Grampian	469	470	429	415	352
Lothian and Borders	369	331	388	347	416
Northern	106	104	71	102	76
Strathclyde	1,293	1,358	1,096	1,075	1,122
Tayside	223	184	192	174	251
Scotland	2,977	3,021	2,686	2,711	2,736

Note: Where main offence.

Question reference: S2W-09629

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much in total remained outstanding in unpaid fines in each sheriff court district in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of total fines levied.

The information requested isshown in the following tables. The values are the total value of imposed fines whichhave not yet been paid plus any remaining balance on fines which are being paidby instalments. They include compensation and fines transferred from England and Wales as wellas fines imposed by the High Court of Justiciary which are recovered by the SheriffClerk. Not all of the outstanding balance will be due to fines in default as a largeproportion could be within their valid payment period.

Outstanding Balance -Financial Penalties Imposed - Balance as % of Imposed

	O/S Bal 31/3/99	Imposed 1998-99	%	O/S Bal 31/3/00	Imposed 1999-2000	%	O/S Bal 31/3/01	Imposed 2000-01	%
Aberdeen	534,258	928,576	58	457,679	785,412	58	431,656	716,978	60
Airdrie	314,660	414,870	76	323,260	353,701	91	340,399	384,138	89
Alloa	89,978	126,033	71	79,996	99,927	80	87,803	119,609	73
Arbroath	139,521	225,602	62	120,398	219,885	55	115,798	167,390	69
Ayr	249,424	438,842	57	238,330	344,893	69	254,193	445292	57
Banff	57,301	203,682	28	45,188	194,217	23	77,973	216,623	36
Campbeltown	50,645	55,903	91	44,944	48,576	93	48,201	41,136	117
Cupar	40,063	73,120	55	32,478	86,342	38	45,203	86,927	52
Dingwall	67,616	109,098	62	60,254	84,971	71	55,253	93,420	59
Dornoch	20,671	42,470	49	29,155	150,941	19	27,508	47,453	58
Dumbarton	184,739	253,005	73	216,123	264,493	82	201,231	256,051	79
Dumfries	244,059	381,644	64	213,127	344,720	62	227,680	395,292	58
Dundee	352,420	375,572	94	349,961	493,198	71	372,722	421,263	88
Dunfermline	318,609	341,393	93	285,520	403,522	71	258,921	333,624	78
Dunoon	34,871	56,578	62	28,690	56,671	51	39,889	44,937	89
Duns	22,852	28,883	79	29,290	44,958	65	* N/A	* N/A	*N/A
Edinburgh	1,339,710	1,849,152	72	1,277,953	1,575,272	81	1,544,831	2,099,740	74
Elgin	157,792	264,349	60	198,520	240,586	83	188,274	286,736	66
Falkirk	346,135	395,478	88	385,426	415,156	93	402,623	410,404	98
Forfar	59,254	158,776	37	58,250	141,774	41	57,802	122,576	47
Fort William	49,575	96,860	51	39,828	81,264	49	35,961	66,435	54
Glasgow	2,026,906	1,586,083	128	2,178,475	1,500,533	145	1,926,508	1,172,942	164
Greenock	149,364	201,161	74	178,301	200,251	89	182,060	178,653	102
Haddington	78,764	126,031	62	91,105	127,219	72	77,317	164,543	47
Hamilton	701,142	708,402	99	742,585	634,671	117	641,287	684,758	94
Inverness	173,013	267,969	65	165,184	301,471	55	171,331	262,028	65
Jedburgh	30,703	48,134	64	40,650	74,931	54	70,461	117,703	60
Kilmarnock	582,968	1,011,851	58	479,524	897,157	53	463,117	815,744	57
Kirkcaldy	316,236	365,380	87	264,938	316,599	84	274,792	332,234	83
Kirkcudbright	80,268	114,077	70	73,978	115,327	64	55,315	80,349	69
Kirkwall	41,943	70,292	60	35,281	45,943	77	38,666	50,787	76
Lanark	140,523	251,866	56	127,899	285,279	45	101,119	216,143	47
Lerwick	64,390	117,775	55	38,963	101,757	38	30,374	77,991	39
Linlithgow	336,171	383,688	88	330,036	380,046	87	350,285	415,550	84
Lochmaddy	4,851	19,024	25	2,830	14,650	19	5,572	19,974	28
Oban	47,822	110,413	43	47,763	112,971	42	42,568	99,943	43
Paisley	693,382	670,741	103	587,053	541,997	108	579,736	492,549	118
Peebles	14,480	30,639	47	25,155	28,430	88	15,378	45,303	34
Perth	244,627	358,744	68	217,537	356,694	61	229,480	331,117	69
Peterhead	112,972	198,129	57	87,377	128,545	68	98,281	134,284	73
Portree	9,948	14,565	68	11,258	13,985	81	10,466	13,950	75
Rothesay	11,696	13,590	86	7,482	13,751	54	13,919	17,286	81
Selkirk	36,025	70,696	51	26,329	44,201	60	35,193	69,436	51
Stirling	149,843	234,659	64	109,664	189,336	58	135,943	254,291	53
Stonehaven	40,640	115,698	35	35,680	117,331	30	31,380	85,275	37
Stornoway	39,245	92,449	42	32,993	82,395	40	43,317	60,071	72
Stranraer	170,397	291,554	58	246,409	337,435	73	259,490	278,139	93
Tain	85,062	120,540	71	82,548	121,472	68	82,014	97,381	84
Wick	47,167	97,873	48	49,566	84,446	59	46,786	105,004	45
Totals	11,104,701	14,511,906	77	10,830,935	13,599,299	80	10,826,077	13,429,454	81

Note:

*Figures For Jedburgh & Duns Amalgamated For 2000-01.

Outstanding Balance -Financial Penalties Imposed - Balance as % of Imposed

	O/S Bal 31/3/02	Imposed 2001-02	%	O/S Bal 31/3/03	Imposed 2002-03	%	O/S Bal 31/3/04	Imposed 2003-04	%
Aberdeen	524,565	1,076,343	49	521,299	1,096,583	48	640,533	1,260,128	51
Airdrie	384,256	407,503	94	340,921	454,624	75	319,253	465,538	69
Alloa	97,113	194,874	50	189,083	202,240	93	222,764	388,609	57
Arbroath	112,063	182,196	62	101,204	189,278	53	140,521	258,795	54
Ayr	269,330	397,301	68	256,498	433,002	59	299,287	545,228	55
Banff	64,709	143,721	45	50,776	173,845	29	56,370	142,191	40
Campbeltown	30,907	43,461	71	30,606	62,675	49	34,681	53,180	65
Cupar	42,832	107,044	40	46,796	109,162	43	54,503	124,827	44
Dingwall	52,019	106,769	49	61,165	109,567	56	72,942	159,972	46
Dornoch	31,985	60,766	53	31,497	43,214	73	37,896	64,753	59
Dumbarton	212,324	245,927	86	222,811	284,139	78	247,815	303,726	82
Dumfries	200,722	358,564	56	235,568	448,011	53	238,104	426,512	56
Dundee	374,870	428,544	87	428,355	488,344	88	487,528	661,929	74
Dunfermline	252,694	321,870	79	300,120	389,372	77	336,086	405,480	83
Dunoon	41,602	57,933	72	49,592	68,152	73	44,034	67,459	65
Duns	59,887	33,553	178	58,636	65,753	89	69,710	74,157	94
Edinburgh	1,556,178	1,831,238	85	2,615,488	2,801,732	93	2,556,130	2,108,646	121
Elgin	221,538	322,124	69	243,445	362,520	67	338,194	469,638	72
Falkirk	407,634	1,403,917	29	523,931	600,570	87	537,528	512,564	105
Forfar	186,752	255,291	73	74,163	150,451	49	80,950	226,551	36
Fort William	42,003	128,421	33	51,570	105,028	49	65,432	128,843	51
Glasgow	2,053,024	1,363,549	151	1,682,540	1,353,975	124	1,639,305	1,489,374	110
Greenock	199,091	186,578	107	240,662	231,454	104	228,833	215,892	106
Haddington	91,308	156,744	58	115,537	226,299	51	123,945	204,645	61
Hamilton	667,649	903,355	74	704,370	981,125	72	733,288	856,159	86
Inverness	199,851	421,798	47	205,158	378,514	54	317,621	576,177	55
Jedburgh	81,984	108,687	75	97,723	111,629	88	101,478	120,578	84
Kilmarnock	509,697	823,220	62	510,198	700,967	73	554,213	758,741	73
Kirkcaldy	297,005	326,270	91	338,723	440,537	77	461,033	536,371	86
Kirkcudbright	53,293	72,377	74	83,353	107,974	77	83,893	110,362	76
Kirkwall	31,349	40,105	78	36,834	110,775	33	37,882	73,431	52
Lanark	86,180	224,604	38	90,418	196,892	46	90,454	186,302	49
Lerwick	28,062	88,600	32	35,426	88,037	40	54,330	118,870	46
Linlithgow	310,300	413,601	75	384,131	560,935	68	353,763	695,755	51
Lochmaddy	5,210	16,740	31	7,215	12,656	57	7,252	19,793	37
Oban	42,019	105,982	40	43,851	96,452	45	68,861	133,267	52
Paisley	577,097	575,434	100	628,463	569,116	110	569,965	662,492	86
Peebles	16,907	55,945	30	29,736	47,487	63	33,561	61,324	55
Perth	269,293	439,545	61	319,689	526,406	61	345,541	641,028	54
Peterhead	109,984	166,627	66	124,981	253,785	49	118,817	513,306	23
Portree	5,282	18,394	29	10,274	22,137	46	11,279	22,723	50
Rothesay	11,058	18,501	60	11,574	16,686	69	11,007	16,874	65
Selkirk	63,733	104,042	61	112,506	121,251	93	106,765	115,953	92
Stirling	134,431	256,692	52	187,519	385,849	49	205,350	358,654	57
Stonehaven	31,832	124,639	26	38,127	95,204	40	39,162	155,646	25
Stornoway	38,204	86,162	44	43,425	99,293	44	62,498	119,070	52
Stranraer	246,695	232,504	106	230,103	220,382	104	161,556	237,310	68
Tain	90,179	129,999	69	80,793	118,767	68	103,894	129,656	80
Wick	117,223	131,266	89	77,517	164,887	47	88,645	189,854	47
Totals	11,533,923	15,699,319	73	12,904,368	16,877,735	76	13,594,453	18,168,329	75

Question reference: S2W-09715

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1932 by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 September 2003, what the most recent average waiting times are for first out-patient appointment with a neurology consultant following referral by a GP, broken down by NHS board area.

The number of first out-patient neurology appointments and the median waiting time for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of neurology, following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board area of residence, in the year ended 31 March 2004, is given in the table.

As part of the Centre for Change and Innovation Outpatient Programme, I recently announced a £2.95 million neurology initiative aimed at reducing out-patient waiting times. This initiative will support delivery of our national maximum waiting time commitment that no patient will wait more than 26 weeks for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant, following referral by their GP, by the end of 2005.

NHSScotland: Number of First Out-patient Appointments and Median Waiting Times¹ for a First Outpatient Appointment with a Consultant in the Specialty of Neurology, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, by NHS Board Area of Residence. Year Ended 31 March 2004^P

NHS Board of Residence	Number of Appointments	Median Wait (Days)
Argyll and Clyde	773	76
Ayrshire and Arran	227	48
Borders	239	103
Dumfries and Galloway	38	111*
Fife	1,003	109
Forth Valley	824	60
Grampian	1,984	68
Greater Glasgow	2,641	87
Highland	324	108
Lanarkshire	1,170	132
Lothian	4,236	29
Orkney	14	X
Shetland	25	173*
Tayside	1,045	97
Western Isles	44	81*
Scotland	14,587	70

Source: ISDScotland, SMR00.

X: not shown due to small numbers, less than 15 appointments.

*Figures to be viewed with caution as derived from small numbers (more than 14 but less than 50 appointments ).

^p Provisional.

Note: Excludes patients with an Availability Status Code.

Chamber and committees