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Grant aided expenditure to forces last year was increased by 2.4%. Most forces reported an increase in recorded crime but some did not. There was therefore no question of funding being cut nor any apparent relationship between trends in funding and trends in recorded crime. In the case of Strathclyde the Chief Constable's Annual Report for 1998-99 records the positive measures taken to deal with increased recorded crime, with encouraging results, which are a testimony to the success of the Chief Constable and his force in tackling crime in Strathclyde. These included a new force corporate strategy and planning framework and the launch of a major initiative in October 1998 targeted on housebreaking and drugs related crime. The force achieved an increase in detection rates, to 43.2%, for the year which was the highest in the history of the force and there was also a significant slow down in the increase in crime. Information recently released by the force shows a further increase in detection rates during the period April to June 1999, with a 44.4% detection rate and a reduction in recorded crime of 6% on the equivalent period last year.

The Executive makes every effort to give a substantive reply to all written questions within fourteen days. This may not be possible in some circumstances, for example where the necessary data takes some time to gather, in which case a holding reply is issued.

This information is not readily available but could be provided by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe). All efforts are made to ensure Members receive a response to Written Questions within fourteen days.

This information is not held by the Scottish Executive. The implementation of a formal housing and council tax anti-fraud policy or the adoption of the Department of Social Security (DSS) verification framework is a matter for individual councils to pursue.

This information is not held centrally.

No. The Scottish Executive has not been approached by Inverclyde Council to give it any special assistance over this matter, nor do I think this would be appropriate.

Local Authorities are responsible for returning officers' payments at local elections and we have no plans to change this.Matters relating to Parliamentary elections, including those to this Parliament, are reserved.

The 30 June is the statutory deadline for the submission of unaudited accounts for the financial year 1999-2000. There is no statutory deadline for the completion of audits. The standard and completion of audits of local authority accounts is a matter for the Controller of Audit and we support his efforts to improve performance in this area.

The Scottish Executive does not hold this information because monitoring compliance with the Code of Guidance on Funding External Bodies and Following the Public Pound is the responsibility of councils' external auditors appointed by the Accounts Commission for Scotland.

All deaths in Scotland are coded according to the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD9) which is promulgated by the World Health Organisation. As with all classifications, ICD9 tends to group minor categories and split up larger categories. Any choice of the 'five main causes' of death is therefore somewhat subjective. The table below gives information on causes or groups of causes that are considered to be appropriate to the age group of interest. As can be seen the 'five main causes' have varied over the period in question.

Deaths aged under 35, selected causes, by sex, Scotland
Cause of death	ICD9 code	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Males
Suicide (incl. 'undetermined')	E950 - E959, E980 - E989	161	167	191	188	219	188	236	213	251	291	255	250	256	282	268
Motor vehicle traffic accidents	E810 - E819	255	222	251	210	227	204	229	187	174	140	140	157	144	154	133
Drug dependence	304	4	9	2	5	5	9	10	22	14	26	94	111	125	102	125
Perinatal conditions	760 - 779	166	129	144	139	131	135	113	136	136	101	106	91	103	82	98
Congenital anomalies	740 - 759	149	113	93	91	111	116	100	99	101	104	74	80	76	66	71
Homicide	E960 - E969	30	28	27	40	66	76	34	35	69	39	54	48	51	35	42
Sudden infant death syndrome	798.0	82	87	99	87	77	85	86	62	45	37	31	25	30	34	19
All causes		1397	1278	1344	1268	1371	1303	1320	1236	1252	1188	1212	1204	1223	1110	1151
Females
Suicide (incl. 'undetermined')	E950 - E959, E980 - E989	39	49	42	59	59	58	58	57	73	79	64	60	75	75	72
Perinatal conditions	760 - 779	112	117	106	91	78	94	93	77	80	73	85	87	76	58	67
Congenital anomalies	740 - 759	106	104	90	86	84	67	69	72	86	83	68	64	63	59	60
Motor vehicle traffic accidents	E810 - E819	79	72	62	65	54	68	53	72	65	35	40	57	39	41	43
Drug dependence	304	2	1	2	1	0	3	3	6	4	8	31	28	30	20	27
Sudden infant death syndrome	798.0	55	52	54	49	57	58	46	28	19	21	17	23	13	18	18
Breast cancer	174	12	12	10	12	12	10	17	19	21	16	16	15	14	13	10
Homicide	E960 - E969	15	8	9	18	20	82	8	10	11	10	9	11	22	7	9
All causes		769	754	652	656	609	711	613	637	621	651	565	597	569	515	531

Notes 1 The method of collecting information on drug-related deaths was changed in 1994. This change significantly affected the number of deaths classified as drug dependence.2 The number of homicides was increased significantly in 1988 and 1989 by the Lockerbie incident, and to a lesser extent in 1996 by the Dunblane incident.3 Certain standard conventions have been followed in preparing the data in the table: the years given are calendar years; ages cover persons aged under 35 rather those aged 35 or younger; and deaths from an 'injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted' have been included with suicides.