Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive has not commissioned research into the reasons for cases involving violence against women failing to reach court. I would, however, refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19180 on 15 November 2001 concerning research into and reasons for rape cases failing to reach court.

The National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland, prepared by the Scottish Partnership, is applicable to NHS services in Scotland and includes a detailed plan of action and guidelines for all agencies involved in tackling domestic abuse. This sets out the expectation that health services will participate in local multi-agency groups charged with preparing local strategies and developing practice guidelines and service standards. Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change set out the Scottish Executive's commitment to developing guidelines to help health professionals recognise when women are experiencing domestic abuse and to ensure that they are given sensitive support and advice.A short life working group is currently preparing this guidance, which is aimed at all health care workers. The guidance will acknowledge domestic abuse as a major public health issue and recognise its impact on the health of women and their families, particularly children. It will outline the role and responsibilities of NHS Boards and assist health care staff in recognising indicators of domestic abuse and responding appropriately. The guidance will help health boards and health professionals discharge their responsibilities to implement our national strategy on domestic abuse.

The Scottish Executive is committed to implementing the Action Plan in the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland. This will include a review of legislation and legal processes. A working group has recently been set up to consider this review and will meet for the first time next month.

Criminal justice social work services are provided by groupings of local authorities and they are currently finalising their strategic plans for the period 2002-05. A number of these plans include proposals for domestic violence programmes. The bids for Executive funding to support these programmes will be considered along with other bids which have been submitted, within the context of the national priorities set for criminal justice social work. It is hoped to inform the groupings of the outcome early in 2002.

Information in the form requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In the light of the provisions of the Parliament's Standing Orders, ministers aim to answer parliamentary questions for written answer within 14 days (or 28 days for those lodged in the seven days before, or during, a period of recess of more than four days). The Executive publishes regular audits of performance which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre. The latest published audit, which covers the period April to June 2001, showed that the proportion of questions answered ahead of, or on time, was just over 70%. For the equivalent period in 2000 the proportion was 51%.

The available information, on the crimes of rape which were recorded by the police and on persons with a charge proved in court where the main offence was rape, is given in the following tables:Crimes of rape recorded by the police and persons with a charge proved in court¹

Police force area	Number of offences recorded by the police, 1999	Number of persons with a charge proved,19992	Number of offences recorded by the police, 2000
Scotland	591	27	562
Central	5	2	14
Dumfries & Galloway	40	1	19
Fife	32	2	54
Grampian	82	5	60
Lothian & Borders	111	8	119
Northern	36	1	15
Strathclyde	218	8	219
Tayside	67	0	62

Notes:1. The statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim, or a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year.2. Where rape was the main offence.Crimes of rape recorded by the police

Council area	Number of offences recorded by the police, 1999	Number of offences recorded by the police, 2000
Scotland	591	562
Aberdeen City	53	27
Aberdeenshire	21	23
Angus	23	10
Argyll & Bute	7	8
Clackmannanshire	0	5
Dumfries & Galloway	40	19
Dundee City	35	32
East Ayrshire	14	8
East Dunbartonshire	7	3
East Lothian	7	11
East Renfrewshire	4	6
Edinburgh, City of	60	76
Eilean Siar	1	0
Falkirk	3	4
Fife	32	54
Glasgow City	79	99
Highland	33	13
Inverclyde	12	15
Midlothian	12	18
Moray	8	10
North Ayrshire	19	13
North Lanarkshire	18	16
Orkney Islands	0	0
Perth & Kinross	9	20
Renfrewshire	22	16
Scottish Borders	17	5
Shetland Islands	2	2
South Ayrshire	13	8
South Lanarkshire	15	18
Stirling	2	5
West Dunbartonshire	8	9
West Lothian	15	9

Research completed in 1999 followed a sample of sex offence cases, which included complaints of rape, retrospectively through each stage of the criminal justice system from the first report of the incident to its outcome. The research found no overriding reason for rape complaints not being prosecuted. The main reason for rape complaints not proceeding from the police to the Procurator Fiscal was that no suspect had been found, while the main reason for not prosecuting was lack of evidence. In cases where a more minor sex offence was involved, this was sometimes not prosecuted as the public interest was seen to be better served by leaving the accused to the psychiatric or social work services.

The National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland will consider these matters in due course.

The Refuge Development Programme is providing £10 million for capital projects to increase and improve refuge provision. This may include furnishing. Funding for revenue costs are the responsibility of the local authorities.

A Chance to Change: An Intervention With Young People Who Have Sexually Abused Others, was published in 1997 and summarised research into a project for children who had sexually abused other children. The research was jointly funded by the Scottish Office and Barnardos. There have also been a number of research studies on bullying.