Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-19301

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases were reported under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and, of those, how many did not proceed to court in each of the last five years.

A total of 1,577 charges under Section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in the last five years. The following table shows the number of charges reported annually and the numbers that did not involve the initiation of court proceedings.

There were 674 charges where no action was taken. There was insufficient evidence in 69% of these cases. Other reasons for taking no action include mitigating circumstances (9%) and further action disproportionate (5%).

Charges: Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, Section 3

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Total Charges Reported	272	360	258	353	334
No Action	103	164	118	148	141
Direct Measure	29	60	37	45	62

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of 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 database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Question reference: S3W-19302

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dogs have been destroyed under the (a) Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and (b) Dogs Act 1871 in each of the last five years.

Data on the number of dogs destroyed is not held centrally. The number of convictions under these Acts, for the last five years for which data is available, is given in the following table.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and Dogs Act 1871, 2002-03 to 2006-07

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991¹	37	48	52	52	50
Dogs Act 1871¹	24	40	63	57	64
Total	61	88	115	109	114

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S3W-19304

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dogs have been seized by the police in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-19299

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average amount of compensation awarded in claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for dog bites was in each of the last five years.

The average amount of compensation awarded in claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for dog bites in each of the last five years was as follows:

Financial Year	Average Amount Paid (£)
2003-04	2,816
2004-05	2,399
2005-06	2,282
2006-07	2,768
2007-08	2,759

Source: Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Question reference: S3W-19293

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dogs have been reported to the police as being dangerously out-of-control in each of the last five years.

The following table shows the number of offences recorded by the police in Scotland in relation to the control and supervision of dogs for each of the last five years.

Offences Recorded by the Police in Scotland in Relation to the Control and Supervision of Dogs, 2003-04 to 2007-08

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Dangerous Dogs, Failure to Control, Supervise or destroy	403	529	531	532	557
Keeping dogs under proper control or contravention of an order	433	618	517	623	587
Total	836	1,147	1,048	1,155	1,144

Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

Question reference: S3W-19294

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals have been made against fixed penalties issued for dog fouling in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-19298

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims for compensation resulting from dog-bite incidents were (a) made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and (b) upheld in each of the last five years.

The number of claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for compensation for injuries caused by dog bites in the last five years is as follows:

Financial Year	Number of Cases Received	Number of Cases where Compensation Paid
2003-04	366	89
2004-05	366	71
2005-06	333	76
2006-07	381	76
2007-08	407	86

Source: Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Question reference: S3W-19305

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dogs have been impounded by dog wardens in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-19306

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dog wardens are currently in the employment of local authorities, broken down by area.

Question reference: S3W-19295

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dog-bite incidents have been (a) reported to the police and (b) treated at hospital in each of the last five years.

The information requested in part (a) concerning the number of dog-bite incidents reported to the police is not held centrally.

With regards to the information asked for in part (b) in relation to the number of dog-bite incidents treated at hospital in each of the last five years, the reason for attendance at accident and emergency departments is not centrally available.

For patients admitted into secondary care following an injury, the cause of injury is recorded. The following table shows the number of these cases where the cause of injury is recorded as bitten or struck by dog for the past five years where data is available.

Number of Hospital Admissions as a Result of Being Bitten or Struck by Dog, for Financial Year of Discharge, 2003-04 to 2007-08

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Number of Admissions	310	309	345	386	363

Source: Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland.