Chamber and committees

The law relating to the detention of persons suffering from personality disorders was recently reviewed as part of the work of the Millan and McLean Committees. Their recommendations informed the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, which received Royal Assent in March and April respectively this year and will come into force in due course. Given this, we see no benefit in a further review at this time. The operation of the new legislation will clearly be very closely monitored.

No further local authorities have adopted formal litter plans since my response to question S1W-30208. The decision on whether to adopt a litter plan is one for the individual local authority.

The available information, which relates to all offences categorised as litter offences under the Scottish Executive Justice Department's classification of crimes and offences, is given in the following table. The data for 2002 are expected to be published in the autumn of 2003.Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts Where the Main Offence was a Litter Offence, by Local Authority, 2000 and 2001

Local Authority	2000	2001
Angus	2	5
Argyll and Bute	1	-
City of Edinburgh	-	1
Dumfries and Galloway	1	-
Dundee City	3	3
East Ayrshire	-	2
East Dunbartonshire	1	-
Falkirk	-	1
Glasgow City	1	4
Highland	-	2
Inverclyde	1	1
North Ayrshire	-	1
North Lanarkshire	2	3
South Ayrshire	-	2
South Lanarkshire	1	2
West Dunbartonshire	1	-
Total	14	27

The available information is given in the following table. The data for 2002 are not expected to be available until the autumn of 2003.Prosecutions and Fines Imposed for Offences Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as Main Offence), Scotland, 1998-2001

	1998	1999	2000	2001
All Offences1
Number of Prosecutions	55	44	24	34
Number with Charge Proved	53	36	20	32
Total Amount of Fines Imposed (£)	18,705	6,740	16,480	12,080
Offences Classified as Litter Offences2
Number of Prosecutions	41	30	14	27
Number with Charge Proved	39	23	11	26
Total Amount of Fines Imposed (£)	1,940	1,190	7,990	3,680

Notes:1. Excludes a small number of cases where the charge information available is not sufficiently detailed to identify the offence as being under the 1990 act.2. Under the Scottish Executive Justice Department classification of crimes and offences.

In 2000 and 2001, 14 and 27 persons respectively were proceeded against in Scottish Courts where the main offence was categorised as a litter offence under the Scottish Executive Justice Department's classification of crimes and offences. The data for 2002 are not expected to be available until the autumn of 2003.

The Scottish Executive collects annual statistics from local authorities on the following aspects of the mandatory licensing scheme:

• number of applications received, refused, granted, revoked or suspended during the year, by types of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO);
• number of applications pending at 31 March, by types of HMO;
• total number of licenses in force at 31 March, by type of HMO and by number of occupants;
• reasons for refusals for licences, and
• licensing fees and fee structure.

The resulting figures have been published in the Scottish Executive's Statistical Bulletin, Housing Trends in Scotland. The relevant issues, which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre, are for quarters ending 31 December 2001 and 31 March 2002 (Bib. number 23303) and quarter ending 31 March 2001 (Bib. number 16396).The Executive also commissioned independent research, A Review of the First Year of Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation in Scotland, by Hector Currie, and officials keep in touch with current issues and developments through attending the meetings of the Scottish HMO Network Group of local authority officers.

It is for local authorities to decide on how they provide day care services for individuals, in consultation with the users of those services and their carers. While day care centres may be one form of appropriate provision, service users are entitled to choice and services tailored to their needs. Achieving this can result in a move away from the provision of fixed services in day care centres and it would therefore be a retrograde step to consider statutory provision for funding of a form of day care which may not be every user's choice.

The private bill promoting the re-opening of the Stirling to Alloa to Kincardine railway line was introduced to Parliament in March this year. Subject to its successful passage, the project could be authorised for construction by summer 2004, with a view to running services by winter 2005-06.For the proposed re-opening of the Airdrie to Bathgate line, the Scottish Executive has made available £500,000 to West Lothian Council in order to fund a detailed engineering study into the scheme. We expect to receive the study's findings by spring 2004.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-455 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The task of monitoring any individual who poses a threat to local communities is taken extremely seriously by the police and by other agencies which have a responsibility. The measures available to the police include, for example, applying to the sheriff court for a Sex Offender Order which would seek to place restrictions on the actions of the individual in question. While it would be a matter for the relevant Chief Constable to determine the measures to be taken in each individual case, Lothian and Borders Police has already given assurances that it will undertake a full assessment in respect of Mr Cronin, should he return to the East Lothian area.