Chamber and committees

The review of police GAE funding is well under way, under the auspices of a working group comprising the Executive, COSLA and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS). It is however, too early to say what the results of the review will be. I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27788 today.

The number of police officers in each force, at 30 June 2002, expressed per 1,000 population is shown in the following table.

Force	EstimatedPopulation	Number ofPolice Officers	Number per1,000 population
Central	278,000	719	2.59
Dumfries and Galloway	145,800	480	3.29
Fife	350,400	897	2.56
Grampian	523,400	1,254	2.40
Lothian and Borders	890,500	2,688	3.02
Northern	277,700	693	2.49
Strathclyde	2,263,300	7,313	3.23
Tayside	385,500	1,181	3.06
Total	5,114,600	15,225	2.98

The working group is expected to make recommendations later this year. When they do so, a full report of the processes and analysis involved in the GAE review will be published.

The information requested is given in the following table.Recorded Crimes in Each Police Force Area in 2001-02

Police Force Area	Number of recorded crimes
Central	17,174
Dumfries and Galloway	8,126
Fife	28,043
Grampian	43,704
Lothian and Borders	79,862
Northern	14,238
Strathclyde	203,824
Tayside	31,340
Scotland	426,311

The rights of appeal by a convicted person against his conviction or sentence are long standing and have evolved over the years into the system in operation today. They afford any person convicted of an offence by a court of first instance the opportunity to appeal to the High Court of Justiciary, sitting as an appeal court, usually subject to the granting of leave to appeal. These arrangements are generally satisfactory.The High Court of Justiciary recently issued a consultation paper proposing the introduction of amended procedures in criminal appeals to deal with certain causes of delay and inefficiency causing the High Court concern. These measures are now to be introduced by primary and secondary legislation as appropriate. I welcome this initiative of the High Court which should improve the effectiveness of the appeal process.

The Scottish Executive has no power to review the grant of bail to convicted persons pending the determination of their appeal and it would be inappropriate to seek such powers. Only the High Court has the power to grant bail in these circumstances and to recall any such grant of bail.The High Court may grant bail on the application of a convicted person if it thinks fit. However, it cannot grant a convicted person bail unless, in the absence of written grounds of appeal, the application for bail states reasons why bail should be granted and sets out proposed grounds of appeal, and the High Court considers that there are exceptional circumstances to justify granting bail.We have no plans at present to review the High Court's powers in this respect.

Anaphylaxis is primarily treated as an emergency. Most treatments for allergies will take place in an out-patient clinic. Centrally available information does not identify cases where treatment starts in an out-patient setting. Information on the time between a patient being placed on the waiting list for in-patient or day case treatment for anaphylaxis or allergies and their admission to hospital is available. The mean waiting time for anaphylaxis or allergy in-patient and day case treatment by NHS board of residence in the year ending 31 December 2001 is provided in the following table:NHSSCotland: Mean Waiting Times for Hospital Admission from the In-patient and Day Case Waiting List for Anaphylaxis and Allergy in Year Ending 31 December 2001^P: by NHS Board of Residence

NHS Board	Mean Wait
Argyll and Clyde	30 days
Ayrshire and Arran	28 days
Borders1	-
Dumfries and Galloway	62 days
Fife	29 days
Forth Valley	30 days
Grampian	49 days
Greater Glasgow	28 days
Highland	24 days
Lanarkshire	21 days
Lothian	17 days
Orkney	-
Shetland1	-
Tayside	113 days
Western Isles1	-
Scotland	32 days

Source: SMR01 ISD, Scotland.^PProvisional.Notes:1. Not shown due to small numbers.

There are no closed waiting lists. Only patients awaiting in-patient/day case treatment can be placed on a deferred waiting list. Anaphylaxis is primarily treated as an emergency, and allergy services are mostly provided on an out-patient basis.

Allergy was recognised by the Specialist Training Authority as constituting a related but distinct specialty as recently as June 1999. Accordingly, the effects of specialist training in that discipline will take time to be fully reflected in NHS provision, and there were therefore no training grade or consultant staff recorded in the specialty as at 30 September 2001.Training in the assessment and treatment of allergic reactions is a facet within a number of general medical specialties and also forms part of general undergraduate medical education. All doctors in NHSScotland will therefore have received a certain level of training in this area, though it is not possible to identify those who have a specific interest in the treatment of anaphylaxis.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27347.