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Data on how many people in young offender institutions have mental health problems is not provided to the Scottish Government.

The SPS prisoner survey will identify mental health issues via self-reporting. Prisoners are asked questions on mental health by way of an instrument known as the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). There is a specific young persons report which covers HMYOI Polmont only. http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Publication-3908.aspx

A hate crime is defined as being where an offence is committed by a perpetrator motivated by prejudice on the grounds of one or more of the following - race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Scottish Government currently produces official statistics on the number of racist incidents recorded by the police in Scotland, including information on any crimes associated with those incidents. In 2013-14, Police Scotland recorded 4,807 racist incidents. We are currently investigating the feasibility of changing the racist incidents publication into a new and broader product on police recorded hate crime. This would include a race element, and we will inform users as this work progresses.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal produce separate statistics that cover all protected characteristics. Since 2013, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have reported 5180 cases (2013-14), 5428 cases (2014/15) and 5544 cases (2015-16. Further details can be found on the Crown Office website at: http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/publications/equality-and-diversity.

Police Scotland have legislative authority, provided for by part ten of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, to seize vehicles for a variety of reasons including antisocial behaviour and road traffic offences. A police officer has authority to seize a vehicle if it is being driven in a manner which is causing, or is likely to cause, alarm, distress, or annoyance; in circumstances where the person has been warned to stop using the vehicle in such a manner; and the officer has reasonable grounds to believe their warning has not been complied with.

The data contained in the following tables, for antisocial behaviour and road traffic offences, can only be provided for the period from 2 February 2015 until 25 August 2016. Historically, the eight legacy police forces each had separate contracts with various vehicle recovery agents to process vehicle recovery. On 2 February 2015, these arrangements were centralised and data for Police Scotland was thereafter compiled in one place.

Antisocial Behaviour seizure figures from 2 February 2015 until 25 August 2016

Road Traffic Offence seizure figures from 2 February 2015 until 25 August 2016

The following table contains information on the number of quad bikes and motorcycles seized in Fife over the past five years due to antisocial behaviour incidents or road traffic offences. However, we cannot provide a breakdown because the vehicle recovery company with whom Fife Constabulary had the recovery contract did not detail the reason for each vehicle uplift. Also, the company did not maintain records of how many seized vehicles were subsequently destroyed.

Vehicle seizures in Fife

Police Scotland report that a total of 972 quad bikes were stolen across Scotland over the past five years, with 276 of those being recovered. For the Fife area, 177 quad bikes were stolen over the same period with 54 of those being recovered. Due to restrictions in searching facility, and the scope of the question posed, the figures provided in response to this question have been limited to quad bikes alone.

A breakdown of the data provided to us by Police Scotland for each year is provided in the following tables. The period of data collection in both tables runs from 1 April until 31 March 2016.

Scotland:

Fife:

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The latest data released by Scottish Government shows that on 31 March 2014, 42% of young persons under 21 in prison custody came from the 15% most deprived data zones.

As announced on 6 September 2016, the Scottish Government’s programme for government for 2016-17 includes the introduction of a Bill that will ban the use and exhibition of wild animals in travelling circuses in Scotland.

The deployment of tasers is an operational matter for Police Scotland and are deployed in accordance with the current national UK practices as directed by the College of Policing and National Armed Policing and approved by the National Police Chiefs' Council. Since the establishment of Police Scotland the number of times a taser has been deployed and discharged is set out in the following table.

All incidents of Police Scotland's use of firearms, including tasers, must be referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner for independent investigation and the subsequent reports can be found at: http://pirc.scotland.gov.uk/investigations.

Police Scotland do not record the specific deployment distances for each incident. There have been no deaths due to the use of tasers with only one injury attributed to the use of a taser.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: There is no data held by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) which can categorically attribute alcohol or substance misuse as a cause of offending behaviour in young people 21 years of age or under held in custody. SPS does collect general data on alcohol and substance misuse among young people (16 to 21) held in custodial care, gathered every second year through self-report in the Prisoner Survey Series. Through self-report, young people do admit that they have been either drunk or under the influence of drugs at the time they committed the offence. SPS does not hold any information on the use of alcohol or drugs by young people 21 years of age or under who have been given community disposals by the Scottish courts.

Information over the last five years indicates that alcohol use at the time of the commissioning of the offence has been declining from 78% in 2011 to 68% in 2013 to 60% in 2015. The overall comparator for the rest of the SPS estate (adults over 21) has also declined from 50% in 2011 to 45% in 2013 to 41% in 2015.

Substance misuse at the time of the commissioning of the offence has, by and large, remained static at 54% in 2011 to 49% in 2013 to 55% in 2015. The overall comparator for the rest of the SPS estate (adults over 21) has also remained static at 44% in 2011 to 39% in 2013 to 40% in 2015.

Table 1

“I was drunk at the time of my offence”

Table 2

“I was under the influence of drugs at time of my offence”

Source: SPS Prisoner Surveys 2015; 2013; 2011

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: As a proportion of the average total young offender population over the last 12 months this equates to (a) 25% being remand and (b) 10% being convicted awaiting sentence.