Chamber and committees

The Crown Office and ProcuratorFiscal Service has taken steps to enhance the effective prosecution of wildlife crime by establishing a network of wildlife specialist prosecutors who provideexpertise in wildlife law in Procurator Fiscal offices around Scotland. TheWildlife and Habitats Crime Prosecution Forum, involving representatives from thepolice and other agencies working on the investigation of wildlife crime, has alsobeen set up to identify any problems in achievingthe effective enforcement of wildlife and habitats policy.

The Scottish Executive has beeninvolved in a programme of joint training courses with the police service, dealingexclusively with wildlife crime issues and the recent legislative improvements.As chair of the Scottish Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime, the Executivehas produced a wide range of material to publicise the new legislation. This aimsto inform both the general public and key agencies of the measures contained inthe Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act, including the increased penalties now available.

The information requested isset out in the following table.

Charges Under Part 1 of the Wildlifeand Countryside Act 1981^1,2

		2002-033	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Total Charges	Total no. of charges reported to Procurators Fiscal	118	124	78	143
Court Proceedings	No. of charges where court proceedings were initiated	47	54	55	62
	No. of charges where court proceedings have resulted in a conviction	28	14	25	18
	No. of charges where court proceedings are still underway	0	0	7	34
Non-Court Disposals	No. of charges where there was a Non-Court Disposal (eg a Fiscal Fine or a Warning Letter) or where the charge was not prosecuted as a separate charge but court proceedings were initiated in respect of related charges.)	69	20	13	59
No Proceedings	No. of charges where no proceedings were taken.4	2	50	10	22

Notes:

1. The information in this tablehas been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case managementdatabase. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processingof reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies.If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the databasewill record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted thereforerelate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged orthe number of incidents that gave rise to such charges. Both at the stage of raisingcriminal proceedings and in court, individual charges may be combined where theyrelate to similar offences. In addition, where charges involve duplication, theymay be deleted

3. The Crown Office and ProcuratorFiscal Service completed an upgrade of its electronic case management system inApril 2002. Only case records created after that date contain complete data whichis capable of electronic analysis.

4. It is part of a ProcuratorFiscal’s duties to independently consider reports from the police and other reportingagencies and to determine what, if any, proceedings should be taken. There willalways be a proportion of cases where, following careful consideration of all therelevant factors, the Procurator Fiscal concludes that no proceedings should betaken. The Procurator Fiscal may decide to take no proceedings for a number of reasons,including lack of admissible evidence, mitigating circumstances, the age of theoffence or the fact that the suspected offence is not a crime.

The Scottish Executive has beenworking closely with Association of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), who have developed a strategy paper for dealingwith wildlife crime in Scotland with detailed objectives for the next three years upto 2008. Objective 5 is to ensure that all wildlife and environmental crimes andincidents are properly recorded. This aim is to be achieved by putting in placelocal methods of properly recording wildlife and environmental crimes and incidents.ACPOS will also develop a nationally accepted system of recording wildlife and environmentalcrime.

None. On 16 May 2006, Iannounced an additional £3 million for the Scottish Community and HouseholderRenewables Initiative (SCHRI) for years 2006-07 and 2007-08. This additionalinvestment will ensure that all applications in the system can be dealt withand funded according to the rules of the scheme.

Neither the Scottish Executivenor Transport Scotland has carried out any research over the last five years intothe number of car journeys made from Perth to Edinburgh via the Forth Road Bridgeor Stirling.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows:

Eaga Partnership hasinformed Communities Scotland that prior to 2004-05 these records have not beencompiled in a reportable format.

In 2004-05 the number ofsystems reported as failing was seven and in 2005-06 the number reported was four.

Information is not held bylocal authority area.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Eaga Partnership has informedCommunities Scotland that there are currently 53 companies engaged on the Programme,of which 44 have received complaints from customers. Some complaints received arenot upheld or are of a minor nature.

Information is not held by localauthority area.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

All gas installation companiesengaged on the programme must be Corgi registered.

Information on companies subsequentlyde-registered by Corgi is not held centrally.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Eaga Partnership has informedCommunities Scotland that since October 2004, out of a total of 21,780 installations,1,322 systems required some remedial work post-installation.

Information is not availableprior to October 2004.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Eaga Partnership has informedCommunities Scotland that from April 2004 until March 2006 out of a total of 27,069installations, 529 complaints were received in relation to heating systems requiringrepairs within the first year following installation. This information is not availableprior to 2004-05 and is not held by local authority area.