Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-12822

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to amend its central heating installation programme, in order to take into account the need for emergency replacements so that elderly people are not without heating for five months over the winter period.

Waiting times, along with all other aspects of the customer service provided by Eaga, who manage the contract on behalf of the Scottish Executive, are kept under constant review. The popularity of the programme inevitably means thatrecipients have to wait, sometimes over the winter months. Delays can be caused for a number of reasons. For example, metering and pipe connections take time to arrange and other companies have to be called in to provide them, which can take months to arrange and finalise. Nevertheless, we are determined to ensure that waiting times are kept to the minimum achievable.

Question reference: S2W-12729

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 December 2004

Question reference: S2W-12738

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish an updated statistical bulletin on motor vehicle offences and what the reasons are for its position on the matter, and why there has been no publication of the bulletin since 2000.

The statistical bulletin on motor vehicle offences was discontinued after publication of the figures for 2000. Since then, the information involved has been incorporated into the annual statistical bulletin on criminal proceedings in Scottish courts. This provides a more comprehensive statistical overview in a single source document and reduces publication overheads. The next edition of the criminal proceedings bulletin, which will include summary data on motor vehicle offences for 2003, is currently planned for publication in February 2005.

Question reference: S2W-12728

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 December 2004

Question reference: S2W-12118

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what role and powers it has in respect of the (a) National Lottery, (b) New Opportunities Fund and (c) Community Fund; what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding possible legislation to change the structure and organisation of the National Lottery, and whether the Scottish Parliament will be consulted on any such changes and, if so, how that consultation will be achieved.

Although the National Lottery is reserved to Westminster, and the policy lead lies with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, there is extensive executive devolution of the National Lottery in Scotland.

There are three Scottish lottery distributors – the Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen and Sportscotland – with Scottish ministers appointing these bodies, issuing lottery policy directions, approving lottery strategic plans, and laying their lottery annual report and accounts before Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish ministers are consulted on the appointment of the Scottish member of the Heritage Lottery Fund; indeed the Scottish Executive is running the current exercise to appoint a new Scottish member on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Heritage Lottery Fund’s Scottish Committee determines awards in Scotland up to £2 million, with larger awards being determined by the UK board.

The Big Lottery Fund is a merger of the New Opportunities Fund and Community Fund and is governed by a co-terminous board which has three Scottish members who were appointed in consultation with Scottish ministers. The Scottish Executive ran an appointments exercise for the third Scottish member earlier this year.

Scottish ministers are consulted on policy directions to the UK lottery distributors and have the power to issue Directions to the New Opportunities Fund on its Scotland-only programmes.

The UK Government has agreed that the devolved administrations should have more influence in setting priorities for the National Lottery and in programme development, and that more decision-making should be devolved to the home countries unless there is a clear need for a UK approach. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport Bill has proposed a Lottery Bill which, among other provisions, would provide new functions and powers for the Scottish ministers in relation to the Big Lottery Fund. Under the Lottery Bill, Scottish ministers’ agreement would be required to the appointment of a Scottish member to the UK board and to the appointment of a Scottish Committee. Scottish ministers would issue policy directions to the fund in relation to all “devolved expenditure” in Scotland. Scottish ministers would receive the annual accounts of the fund which will enable them to be provided to the Scottish Parliament. Within a UKframework, the Lottery Bill would therefore give Scottish ministers functionsand powers in respect of the key strategic controls of the Big Lottery Fund’s Scottish operations.

The Scottish Parliament will be asked, by means of a Sewel Motion, to agree that the provisions in the National Lottery Bill that relate to the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers should be considered by the UK Parliament.

Question reference: S2W-12599

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was to each of its departments of (a) ministerial cars and drivers, (b) taxis, (c) rail travel, (d) the use of helicopters, (e) airline tickets and (f) chartered aeroplanes in each year since 1999.

The information requested for taxis, rail travel and airline tickets is set out in the following tables. Restructuring of departments in the Scottish Executive in the period between 1999 and 2004 affects some of the year on year comparisons. Information about the use of helicopters and chartered aeroplanes could only be disaggregated from other data available on air travel at disproportionate cost.

1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000	Taxis	Rail Travel	Airline Tickets
Departments	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Change and Corporate Services	33	70	127
Finance and Central Services Department	64	86	240
Education Department	19	42	49
Development Department	18	58	122
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department	12	62	187
Health Department	18	63	143
Justice Department	21	27	112
Environmental and Rural Affairs Department	23	117	319

1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001	Taxis	Rail Travel	Airline Tickets
Departments	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Change and Corporate Services	31	65	126
Finance and Central Services Department	59	75	280
Education Department	28	57	128
Development Department	16	56	106
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department	9	55	176
Health Department	24	61	157
Justice Department	19	21	63
Environmental and Rural Affairs Department	23	79	383

1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002	Taxis	Rail Travel	Airline Tickets
Departments	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Change and Corporate Services	16	58	133
Finance and Central Services Department	115	93	264
Education Department	18	51	112
Development Department	11	72	118
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department	9	57	158
Health Department	17	75	178
Justice Department	12	31	107
Environmental and Rural Affairs Department	16	96	369

1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003	Taxis	Rail Travel	Airline Tickets
Departments	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Change and Corporate Services	33	89	166
Finance and Central Services Department	50	115	265
Education Department	25	75	140
Development Department	19	98	137
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department	15	68	126
Health Department	28	122	244
Justice Department	9	51	146
Environmental and Rural Affairs Department	30	112	421

1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004	Taxis	Rail Travel	Airline Tickets
Departments	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Change and Corporate Services	65	81	169
Finance and Central Services Department	61	109	244
Education Department	44	82	139
Development Department	34	134	137
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department	25	117	210
Health Department	46	112	186
Justice Department	15	68	143
Environmental and Rural Affairs Department	48	121	441

The Scottish Executive does not hold a breakdown of the cost of ninisterial cars and drivers (Government Car Service (Scotland)) by each of its departments.Government Car Service (Scotland) (GCS) annual expenditure since 1999, is set out in the following table:

Period	Cost £000s
1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000	389
1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001	532
1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002	589
1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003	706
1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004	647

Notes:

1. Expenditure includes fuel, service and repairs, staff costs (including Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) and earnings-related national insurance contributions (ERNIC)), and contract hire.

2. The Government Car Service (Scotland) provides or arranges transport for Scottish ministers, ministers of UK Government departments when in Scotland, senior officials at the Scottish Executive, and visiting dignitaries.

Question reference: S2W-12686

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the conviction rate was for (a) common assault, (b) breach of the peace, (c) drunkenness and (d) breach of social work order in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Proceeded Against in Court for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1999-2002

Police Force Area	Persons Proceeded Against in Court³	% with Charge Proved
1999	2000	2001	2002⁴	1999	2000	2001	2002⁵
Common Assault:
Central	637	722	785	857	85	84	80	84
Dumfries and Galloway	407	352	338	374	83	77	86	83
Fife	692	600	795	735	83	81	86	86
Grampian	1,254	1,086	1,243	1,317	88	89	87	88
Lothian and Borders	1,957	1,922	1,859	2,156	88	88	86	87
Northern	736	650	695	794	88	88	94	86
Strathclyde	6,723	6,489	6,805	5,426	73	72	71	71
Tayside	1,381	1,283	1,414	1,484	75	77	77	80
Scotland	13,787	13,104	13,938	13,143	79	78	78	78
Breach of the Peace:
Central	708	726	835	898	88	91	90	89
Dumfries and Galloway	517	409	409	355	85	83	85	85
Fife	685	634	642	694	89	89	91	90
Grampian	1,178	1,038	1,088	1,081	93	92	90	88
Lothian and Borders	1,980	1,758	1,829	2,048	92	94	94	92
Northern	943	857	881	902	89	93	95	92
Strathclyde	8,848	8,365	8,696	7,768	85	83	82	82
Tayside	1,686	1,626	1,750	1,730	84	83	84	85
Scotland	16,545	15,413	16,130	15,476	87	86	85	85
Drunkenness:
Central	6	8	2	6	100	88	100	67
Dumfries and Galloway	3	1	-	-	100	-	-	-
Fife	7	2	5	3	100	100	100	100
Grampian	26	22	13	8	85	100	100	100
Lothian and Borders	20	18	28	29	100	100	93	97
Northern	170	142	104	147	94	97	100	95
Strathclyde	272	249	222	187	90	91	86	86
Tayside	17	20	32	17	88	100	94	100
Scotland	521	462	406	397	92	94	91	91
Breach of Social Work Orders
Central	175	196	321	347	100	99	98	99
Dumfries and Galloway	129	161	187	152	98	100	96	100
Fife	481	386	467	510	100	100	100	98
Grampian	411	519	408	418	100	100	100	100
Lothian and Borders	552	615	638	727	100	100	100	100
Northern	155	150	82	211	99	98	100	100
Strathclyde	2,057	2,134	1,686	1,934	99	99	99	100
Tayside	635	562	677	697	100	100	100	100
Scotland²	4,595	4,723	4,471	4,996	99	99	99	100

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes a small number of cases where the police force is unknown.

3. Excludes persons against whom proceedings are started but which are dropped before they reach court.

4. Figures may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

5. Includes estimate for Strathclyde.

Question reference: S2W-12684

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the conviction rate was for (a) homicide, (b) culpable homicide, (c) serious assault and attempted murder and (d) robbery in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Proceeded Against in Court for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1999-2002

Police Force Area	Number of Persons Proceeded Against in Court⁴	% With Charge Proved
1999	2000	2001	2002⁵	1999	2000	2001	2002⁶
Homicide²:
Central	7	2	3	5	86	50	100	100
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	6	7	-	-	67	86
Fife	2	1	8	5	50	100	88	100
Grampian	18	5	11	8	78	100	100	100
Lothian and Borders	12	12	8	16	92	83	100	94
Northern	7	7	5	2	100	86	100	100
Strathclyde	76	72	64	40	83	89	88	88
Tayside	5	9	6	12	80	89	83	75
Scotland	127	108	111	95	83	88	89	89
Culpable Homicide:
Central	1	2	1	3	100	50	100	100
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	2	3	-	-	50	100
Fife	1	-	2	1	100	-	100	100
Grampian	8	3	5	2	75	100	100	100
Lothian and Borders	2	5	2	1	100	80	100	100
Northern	-	-	1	-	-	-	100	-
Strathclyde	29	30	22	19	90	93	100	100
Tayside	-	2	3	3	-	100	67	67
Scotland	41	42	38	32	88	90	95	97
Serious Assault and Attempted Murder:
Central	87	88	82	111	74	67	66	76
Dumfries and Galloway	29	32	29	52	93	78	86	79
Fife	78	67	99	124	73	76	72	80
Grampian	120	91	88	91	76	75	81	81
Lothian and Borders	202	222	233	307	70	76	74	74
Northern	44	63	49	50	82	90	86	90
Strathclyde	835	783	879	680	71	67	66	66
Tayside	126	158	154	166	63	59	62	72
Scotland³	1,521	1,505	1,613	1,581	71	70	69	71
Robbery:
Central	22	26	29	28	91	77	86	82
Dumfries and Galloway	13	22	22	23	92	77	100	83
Fife	46	42	58	41	91	86	71	90
Grampian	49	41	56	56	82	80	89	89
Lothian and Borders	109	99	90	122	88	84	88	82
Northern	9	2	6	7	100	100	100	86
Strathclyde	539	517	460	388	79	78	82	82
Tayside	60	41	42	38	63	71	52	79
Scotland³	847	790	765	703	81	79	81	83

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes murder, culpable homicide, causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs.

3. Includes a small number of cases where the police force is unknown.

4. Excludes persons against whom proceedings are started but which are dropped before they reach court.

5. Figures may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

6. Includes estimate for Strathclyde.

Question reference: S2W-12688

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been of people who have caused road accidents that have caused the death of one or more people by careless driving while under the influence of drink and drugs in the last year for which figures are available and in each of the previous five years.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Causing Death by Careless Driving while Under the Influence of Drink or Drugs¹, 1997-2002

Year of Sentence	Number of Persons
1997	4
1998	3
1999	1
2000	2
2001	3
2002²	1

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Figure may be an underestimate due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

Question reference: S2W-12687

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the conviction rate was for (a) dangerous and careless driving, (b) drink driving, (c) speeding, (d) unlawful use of a vehicle and (e) vehicle defect offences in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Proceeded Against in Court for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1999-2002

Police Force Area	Persons Proceeded Against in Court²	% with Charge Proved
1999	2000	2001	2002³	1999	2000	2001	2002⁴
Dangerous and Careless Driving:
Central	142	120	138	147	87	78	90	95
Dumfries and Galloway	282	197	156	213	91	87	92	92
Fife	212	171	253	250	87	94	93	95
Grampian	558	432	484	445	96	95	92	93
Lothian and Borders	370	347	441	483	96	93	95	95
Northern	301	239	280	325	96	93	98	95
Strathclyde	1,544	1,367	1,455	1,412	86	88	89	89
Tayside	326	250	307	394	92	93	92	89
Scotland	3,735	3,123	3,514	3,668	90	90	92	92
Drink Driving:
Central	382	413	309	653	97	95	96	98
Dumfries and Galloway	213	174	217	224	96	95	97	96
Fife	385	374	378	726	98	96	98	98
Grampian	874	825	833	946	96	95	97	97
Lothian and Borders	1,226	1,181	1,190	1,546	97	95	98	97
Northern	546	516	575	694	98	97	99	98
Strathclyde	3,036	2,983	2,961	3,515	93	93	92	92
Tayside	570	604	661	807	98	97	97	95
Scotland	7,232	7,070	7,124	9,111	95	95	95	95
Speeding:
Central	955	861	781	722	98	97	98	99
Dumfries and Galloway	1,831	1,444	943	935	97	96	95	98
Fife	544	562	493	562	100	100	99	99
Grampian	1,812	1,526	1,206	1,095	99	100	100	100
Lothian and Borders	1,991	1,445	1,586	1,690	100	99	100	99
Northern	922	595	928	1,272	99	99	100	100
Strathclyde	4,627	3,600	2,374	1,713	99	99	98	98
Tayside	1,653	1,369	1,684	1,717	100	99	100	99
Scotland	14,335	11,402	9,9954	9,706	99	99	99	99
Unlawful Use of a Vehicle:
Central	1,018	1,302	1,369	1,449	91	91	93	94
Dumfries and Galloway	654	604	566	605	78	78	83	89
Fife	1,452	1,587	1,653	1,817	97	95	97	95
Grampian	1,632	1,830	1,788	2,003	96	96	96	96
Lothian and Borders	3,143	3,330	3,382	3,449	96	96	97	96
Northern	560	628	489	669	94	92	98	95
Strathclyde	7,400	6,927	7,558	7,218	89	89	90	90
Tayside	1,692	1,759	1,731	1,981	96	94	95	94
Scotland	17,557	17,965	18,536	19,191	92	92	93	93
Vehicle Defect Offences:
Central	209	179	176	169	77	73	75	87
Dumfries and Galloway	253	134	72	91	71	75	78	81
Fife	138	75	48	60	97	93	94	93
Grampian	296	211	127	201	93	90	92	95
Lothian and Borders	381	255	280	226	88	93	89	93
Northern	134	113	95	180	88	93	97	92
Strathclyde	696	713	573	383	81	81	75	75
Tayside	248	181	143	230	93	92	94	90
Scotland	2,355	1,861	1,514	1,540	85	85	83	85

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Excludes persons against whom proceedings are started but which are dropped before they reach court.

3. Figures may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

4. Includes estimate for Strathclyde.

2005-06	567
2006-07	489
2007-08	451

Chamber and committees