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Information on the number of acid attacks over the last five years is not held centrally. Where someone uses acid or other corrosive substances to attack another person, a range of general criminal offences can be used to prosecute including the common law of assault. The statistics for assault held do not differentiate when corrosive substances have or have not been used.

Depending on the facts and circumstances of a given case, anyone carrying corrosive substances in public can be prosecuted for carrying an offensive weapon and anyone who uses a corrosive substance to attack another person can be prosecuted for a number of offences such as assault. Under the common law of assault, courts have powers to sentence up to life imprisonment

The Scottish Government always keeps the criminal law of Scotland under review and will consider carefully what, if any, steps may be needed in this area.

The following tables provide mean and median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in Scotland for 2016 by Scottish parliamentary region, broken down by age and gender.

Table 1a: Median annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Table 1b: Mean annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 and by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

- x denotes estimates which are considered unreliable for practical purposes.

1. Covers employees on an adult rate of pay who have been in the same job for more than a year.

2. The estimates are from ‘workplace’-based analysis and therefore include all those who work in the Parliamentary Region, regardless of where they live.

The following tables provide mean and median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the Mid Scotland and Fife parliamentary constituencies, broken down by age and by gender.

Table 1a: Median annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Table 1b: Mean annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

- x denotes estimates which are considered unreliable for practical purposes.

1. Covers employees on an adult rate of pay who have been in the same job for more than a year.

2. The estimates are from ‘workplace’-based analysis and therefore include all those who work in the constituency area regardless of where they live.

The Climate Challenge Fund is open to all eligible community-led organisations across Scotland, and there are robust procedures in place to ensure that funding is accessible to all types of communities.

A breakdown of all Climate Challenge Fund grants, since 2008, by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile is included in the following table.

In terms of application and monitoring processes, the Climate Challenge Fund works closely with grant recipients to continuously improve processes and ensure that they are straightforward and widely accessible.

Since the Climate Challenge Fund’s inception in 2008, a range of organisations have received cumulative funding which totals more than £250,000. The requested breakdown for these organisations is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 58761).

The Climate Challenge Fund does not specifically target communities in the highest ranked deciles of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. The Fund’s administrator, Keep Scotland Beautiful, promotes the Climate Challenge Fund throughout Scotland and provides support to all applicants to assist them to make successful applications to the Fund.

Applications to the Climate Challenge Fund are assessed by an independent grants panel, which makes funding recommendations to Scottish Minsters.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of applications approved and declined by funding round.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-09208 on 23 May 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Since April 2016 the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has had a regular meeting with the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority on: 10 August 2016; 5 October 2016; 3 November 2016; 14 December 2016; 16 January 2017; 7 February 2017; 7 March 2017; and 18 April 2017 and with the Chief Constable of Police Scotland on: 26 May 2016,10 August 2016; 7 September 2016; 05 October 2016; 9 November 2016; 22 November 2016; 13 December 2016; 17 January 2017; 28 February 2017; and 28 March 2017.

In addition, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice had meetings with both the SPA Chair and the Chief Constable on: 10 November 2016; 29 November 2016; 06 December 2016; 20 December 2016; 11 January 2016; 24 January 2017 and 22 February 2017.

The Supreme Court's ruling in the case of AB v. HMA concerns the defence at section 39 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 of "reasonable mistaken belief as to age." The defence applies in respect of offences at sections 28-37 of the Act concerning sexual activity with children aged between 13 and 15.

There have been 460 people convicted of offences at sections 28-37 of the 2009 Act (where this was the main offence for which they were convicted) between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

The Supreme Court's ruling that section 39(2)(a)(i) does not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights does not of itself have any direct effect on the convictions of persons with such offences. It is the case that anyone who believes they suffered a miscarriage of justice can apply to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to have their case referred back to the Appeal Court. The Commission can refer a case to the Appeal Court where they consider that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred and it is in the interests of justice to do so. It is for individual convicted persons to consider whether to make such an application in light of this ruling.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the terms of the judgement.