Chamber and committees

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:-Mr Murray appealed against his sentence at the High Court in Glasgow on 1 September 2000. The Court quashed his original sentence and substituted it with an 18 months sentence effective from 1 June 2000. Mr Murray was therefore released on the appropriate date.

In almost every case the problem stems from the late reporting of the case to the Procurator Fiscal. The overwhelming majority of them are reported by agencies other than the police and the Executive has very limited powers in relation to those agencies. However, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has been pointing out the problems of late reporting to those agencies for several years and encouraging them to aim at meeting the same targets as the police - that is, to report the offence within four to eight weeks of its commission. That advice is about to be reiterated in the latest edition of written guidance to be issued to all. The relevant time limit is, in most cases, six months. Where there is a genuine problem in meeting the time bar, reporting agencies are encouraged to consult the Procurator Fiscal before expiry of the time bar - in some circumstances the time bar has an element of flexibility if action is taken before it passes. In the last analysis, however, if the case is not reported to the Procurator Fiscal within the statutory time limit it cannot be prosecuted.

As explained in the answer to question S1W-13131, the Secretary of Commissions met various groups of Justices of the Peace. These meetings were held, at their request, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cumbernauld, Dumbarton and Giffnock.

Estimates of the level of offending by drug misusers are available from a study of the piloting of drug testing published by the Scottish Executive's Central Research Unit (Interviewing and Drug Testing of Arrestees in Scotland, McKeganey et al'). A copy of the report is in the Parliament's Reference Centre but, based on information provided by interviews, it suggested that around 87% of arrestees who were currently injecting drugs had stolen from shops in the past 12 months, as compared with 57% of non-injecting drug users and 32% of arrestees who had not used drugs in the past 12 months. The Scottish Executive does not however hold information on the proportion of retail crime that is considered to be drug related.

The information requested is set out in the table:

Proportion of Higher Maths Candidates Sitting Exam for the First Time
1996-97	1995-96	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
83%	83%	84%	83%	Not yet available

Data for 1999-2000 is not yet available.

The information requested is set out in the table:

1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Proportion of all Higher candidates Sitting Higher Physics
19%	18%	17%
Proportion of Higher Physics Candidates Sitting Exam for the First Time
86%	87%	Not yet available

The figures for 1999-2000 are taken from provisional pre-appeal data, and, at this time, the proportion of first time candidates is not yet available.

Between 1 August 2000 and 31 January 2001, 1,113 cases are recorded as having been marked no proceedings by Procurators Fiscal on the ground that they had been reported to the fiscal after the expiry of the relevant statutory time bar.No cases are recorded as having been marked "no further proceedings" on the ground that there had been a breach of a statutory time limit, but it is almost certainly the case that the imminent expiry of a time limit has contributed to decisions to discontinue proceedings in which there have been other problems (for example, lack of success in serving a summary complaint).

As promised by the then Deputy Minister for Justice when introducing the Bail, Judicial Appointments etc (Scotland) Bill in May 2000, officials have been consulting informally on what issues to identify for review in a consultation paper. As part of this process, the Secretary of Commissions has held meetings with the District Courts Association and various groups of Justices of the Peace. Ministers will now be considering how to take the review forward.

A policy and financial management review of the board was carried out last year in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance on the need for routine reviews of Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The report of the review is currently being considered.

The Scottish Conveyancing and Executry Services Board came into operation on 1 March 1997 and has registered 12 practitioners since that time. There are 10 practitioners currently registered with the board.The board's running costs are set out in its Annual Reports and Accounts, copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 10585).