Chamber and committees

The answer given in responseto S2W-23237 was factually correct, and reflected the fact that the tribunal hasalways arranged hearings when required to do so. At the time of the question onno occasion had the Mental Health Tribunal failed to hold a hearing to examine anapplication for a Compulsory Treatment Order, either because of the lack of availabilityof a panel or for any other reason, and that remains the case. The Mental HealthTribunal has held a hearing to consider every valid application for a CompulsoryTreatment Order received to date. Eighteen cases have been heard outwith the statutorytimescales provided in the act: 14 due to errors of interpretation made by MentalHealth Officers in the completion of applications; one due to an administrativeerror by the Tribunal, and three where the applications were received on the dateof expiry of the original Short Term Detention Certificates and the tribunal consideredit did not have time to arrange a Hearing within the statutory timescales. In allcases hearings were arranged as soon as possible but after the expiry of the respectiveShort-Term Detention Certificates. Following a Judicial Review the Tribunal policyof not arranging immediate Hearings for applications received late in the 28 dayperiod of the Short-Term Detention Certificate has now been changed so that whena venue is not available within the required timescales the Hearing will be heldat the next nearest available venue, or if that is not suitable at the TribunalSuite in Bothwell House, Hamilton.

The Scottish Executive has hadno discussions with VisitScotland and the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the creation of an Edinburgh tourist board and no such discussions are planned. VisitScotlandand its Edinburgh office currently markets the city as a world-class destinationfor leisure tourists, while the Edinburgh Convention Bureau promotes all that Edinburghhas to offer as a quality business tourism destination.

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

Reporting of demolitions at councillevel was not introduced until 2003. There have been no demolitions of houses reportedby Registered Social Landlords in the City of Edinburgh Council area for 2003or 2004.

The Mental Health (Care andTreatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 whichestablished the Tribunal and its Administration makes provision (at Schedule 2 Part2) for the president of the tribunal to give guidance and directions as necessaryto the Tribunal Administration. I understand that as a result of the judgement mentionedthat the President has instructed the Tribunal Administration to ensure that a hearingis held for every application received within the time limits set down by theact. The Executive is not taking any action.

Rule 55(3) of the Mental HealthTribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) (No. 2) Rules 2005 provides thatthe Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS) or a convenor may appoint a personhaving appropriate skills and experience to assess whether a patient has the capacityto instruct a solicitor to represent the patient’s interests. The MHTS may do soby acting through its administration. The MHTS Administration has indicated thatit has appointed such a person on 44 occasions since 5 October 2005.

It is for the Mental Health Tribunalfor Scotland to appoint a curator ad litem in appropriate cases. Theymust also (in terms of Rule 55 of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) (No.2) Rules 2005) provide all necessary information to a curator adlitem appointed to enable that curator to represent the patient’s interestsin proceedings before the tribunal. The administrative procedures followed by theMental Health Tribunal for Scotland in carrying out these duties are for the tribunal todecide.

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police.

The following table shows thenumber of dwellings owned by the city of Edinburgh council which have been demolished from 2001-02 to 2004-05.

Demolitions of Dwellings Ownedby the City of Edinburgh Council;

2001-02 to 2004-05

Year	Demolitions
2001-02	427
2002-03	410
2003-04	165
2004-05	203

Source: Scottish Executive DevelopmentDepartment: Stock 4 return.

The available information is given in the following tables. No breakdown of these figures into parliamentary constituency is available from the data held centrally. The court proceedings statistics for 2004-05 are planned for publication in April 2006.

Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Sale of Drink To Persons Under 18¹, 1999-2003

Police Force Area	Number					Percentage Change on Previous Year
	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032
Central	-	4	2	3	1	-	n/a	-50	50	-67
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	-	1	-100	-	-	-	n/a
Fife	1	2	2	-	3	-67	100	-	-100	n/a
Grampian	5	4	3	4	2	-29	-20	-25	33	-50
Lothian and Borders	3	4	6	9	3	-79	33	50	50	-67
Northern	1	1	2	2	1	-67	-	100	-	-50
Strathclyde	13	12	11	13	22	-48	-8	-8	18	69
Tayside	7	-	2	2	3	75	-100	n/a	-	50
Scotland	30	27	28	33	36	-50	-10	4	18	9

 

Persons Proceeded Against forSelling Alcohol to Persons Under 18¹, by Approximate Local AuthorityArea³ 1999-2003

	Number					Percentage change on previous year
Local authority area	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032
Aberdeen City	2	3	-	3	4	n/a	50	-100	n/a	33
Aberdeenshire	4	4	1	2	-	-100	-	-75	100	-100
Angus	2	-	1	-	2	n/a	-100	n/a	-100	n/a
Argyll and Bute	1	1	-	1	-	-67	-	-100	n/a	-100
Clackmannanshire	-	4	-	-	-	-	n/a	-100	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	3	-	-	-	2	-57	-100	-	-	n/a
Dundee City	2	2	2	3	1	-33	-	-	50	-67
East Ayrshire	2	3	3	2	9	-33	50	-	-33	350
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	1	-	-	-100	-	n/a	-100	-
East Lothian	-	1	3	-	-	-	n/a	200	-100	-
East Renfrewshire	-	-	1	-	-	-100	-	n/a	-100	-
Edinburgh, City of	1	2	3	6	4	-92	100	50	100	-33
Eilean Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-100	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	2	2	3	4	4	-100	-	50	33	-
Fife	1	8	2	-	5	-80	700	-75	-100	n/a
Glasgow City	3	14	8	4	4	-81	367	-43	-100	-
Highland	1	3	2	2	-	-67	200	-33	-	-100
Inverclyde	-	-	1	-	-	-100	-	n/a	-100	-
Midlothian	-	1	1	-	-	-100	n/a	-	-100	-
Moray	1	-	2	-	1	-75	-100	n/a	-100	n/a
North Ayrshire	5	-	-	1	3	-44	-100	-	n/a	200
North Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-100	-	-	-	-
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	n/a
Perth & Kinross	13	1	-	1	-	63	-92	-100	n/a	-100
Renfrewshire	-	-	2	-	6	-100	-	n/a	-100	n/a
Scottish Borders	3	2	3	5	-	n/a	-33	50	67	-100
Shetland Islands	-	1	-	1	-	-	n/a	-100	n/a	-100
South Ayrshire	1	2	5	4	-	-67	100	150	-20	-100
South Lanarkshire	8	5	4	4	-	-	-38	-20	-	-100
Stirling	1	-	-	1	2	-100	-100	n/a	n/a	100
West Dunbartonshire	2	2	-	-	2	-33	-	-100	-	n/a
West Lothian	-	1	-	-	-	-	n/a	-100	-	-
Scotland	58	62	48	44	50	-53	7	-23	-8	14

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

3. Incorporates an approximatemapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts willdeal with cases from more than one local authority area. Some local authorityareas, including East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothianand North Ayrshire, do not contain a sheriff court.

 

Thefollowing is a corrected answer (published on 30 November 2006); see below

 

Cathy Jamieson: The available informationis given in the tables. No breakdown of these figures into parliamentaryconstituency is available from the data held centrally. The court proceedingsstatistics for 2004-05 are planned for publication in April 2006.

Persons Proceeded Against inScottish Courts for Selling Alcohol to Persons Under 18¹, by PoliceForce Area, 1999-2003

Police Force Area	Number					Percentage Change on Previous Year
	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032
Central	3	6	3	5	6	-50	100	-50	67	20
Dumfries and Galloway	3	-	-	-	2	-57	-100	0	0	-
Fife	1	8	2	-	5	-80	700	-75	-100	-
Grampian	7	7	3	5	5	-42	0	-57	67	0
Lothian and Borders	4	7	10	11	4	-79	75	43	10	-64
Northern	1	4	2	3	1	-75	300	-50	50	-67
Strathclyde	22	27	25	16	24	-63	23	-7	-36	50
Tayside	17	3	3	4	3	55	-82	0	33	-25
Scotland	58	62	48	44	50	-53	7	-23	-8	14

 

Persons Proceeded Against inScottish Courts for Selling Alcohol to Persons Under 18¹, byApproximate Local Authority Area³ 1999-2003

Local Authority Area	Number					Percentage change on previous year
	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032	1999	2000	2001	2002	20032
Aberdeen City	2	3	-	3	4	n/a	50	-100	n/a	33
Aberdeenshire	4	4	1	2	-	-100	-	-75	100	-100
Angus	2	-	1	-	2	n/a	-100	n/a	-100	n/a
Argyll and Bute	1	1	-	1	-	-67	-	-100	n/a	-100
Clackmannanshire	-	4	-	-	-	-	n/a	-100	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	3	-	-	-	2	-57	-100	-	-	n/a
Dundee City	2	2	2	3	1	-33	-	-	50	-67
East Ayrshire	2	3	3	2	9	-33	50	-	-33	350
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	1	-	-	-100	-	n/a	-100	-
East Lothian	-	1	3	-	-	-	n/a	200	-100	-
East Renfrewshire	-	-	1	-	-	-100	-	n/a	-100	-
Edinburgh, City of	1	2	3	6	4	-92	100	50	100	-33
Eilean Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-100	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	2	2	3	4	4	-100	-	50	33	-
Fife	1	8	2	-	5	-80	700	-75	-100	n/a
Glasgow City	3	14	8	4	4	-81	367	-43	-100	-
Highland	1	3	2	2	-	-67	200	-33	-	-100
Inverclyde	-	-	1	-	-	-100	-	n/a	-100	-
Midlothian	-	1	1	-	-	-100	n/a	-	-100	-
Moray	1	-	2	-	1	-75	-100	n/a	-100	n/a
North Ayrshire	5	-	-	1	3	-44	-100	-	n/a	200
North Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-100	-	-	-	-
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	n/a
Perth and Kinross	13	1	-	1	-	63	-92	-100	n/a	-100
Renfrewshire	-	-	2	-	6	-100	-	n/a	-100	n/a
Scottish Borders	3	2	3	5	-	n/a	-33	50	67	-100
Shetland Islands	-	1	-	1	-	-	n/a	-100	n/a	-100
South Ayrshire	1	2	5	4	-	-67	100	150	-20	-100
South Lanarkshire	8	5	4	4	-	-	-38	-20	-	-100
Stirling	1	-	-	1	2	-100	-100	n/a	n/a	100
West Dunbartonshire	2	2	-	-	2	-33	-	-100	-	n/a
West Lothian	-	1	-	-	-	-	n/a	-100	-	-
Scotland	58	62	48	44	50	-53	7	-23	-8	14

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

3. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area. Some local authority areas, including East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Ayrshire, do not contain a sheriff court.

The benefits in achievingrecognition for Edinburgh as UNESCO’s first City of Literature are expected tobe: raised awareness and prestige of Scotland’s literature nationally andinternationally; new initiatives attracted to Scotland; Edinburgh used as amodel for other World Cities of Literature, providing partnerships with othercities with strong literary profiles and aspirations, and a focus and co-ordinationfor literary activity, encouraging greater participation at all levels ofScottish society.

It is too soon to judge the fullimpact; however, some benefits already accrued are:

the inaugural Mann BookerInternational Prize, one of the most valuable new international awards, washeld in Edinburgh in 2005;

during the EdinburghInternational Book Festival in 2005 a high-profile delegation from UNESCO andfrom other potential cities of literature enjoyed a special programme of events;

City of Refuge – inpartnership with Norwich, Liverpool and Cardiff, to inaugurate a UK network of cities of refugefor writers in exile from their home countries over issues of freedom ofspeech;

Edinburgh has also beengaining profile as a centre for publishing, with a new literary agency openingin August 2005 (the Maggie McKernan literary agency), and a new cross-partygroup on publishing set up by members of the Scottish Parliament, and

development of a city-widecampaign to encourage Edinburgh citizens to read one book, to be launched inthe autumn of 2006 with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped.