Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-19915

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) recorded cases of, (b) prosecutions for and (c) convictions for (i) rape, (ii) assault with intent to rape and (iii) indecent assault took place in each of the last five years.

The available information is given in the following tables. The court proceedings statistics for 2004-05 are scheduled for publication in March 2006.

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 and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.

Number of Crimes Recorded by the Police, 2000-04

Crime	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Rape	562	589	745	794	892
Assault with intent to rape	143	164	168	194	215
Indecent assault	1,117	1,154	1,337	1,418	1,455

Number of Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Selected Crimes¹, 2000-03

Crime	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Number proceeded against
Rape	51	67	49	83
Assault with intent to rape	23	36	19	26
Indecent assault	99	73	72	101
Number with a charge proved
Rape	28	42	29	44
Assault with intent to rape	15	27	13	18
Indecent assault	66	52	56	82

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-19914

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were stopped for not wearing their seat belts in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area, and what type of fine was imposed upon each individual.

The available information is given in the tables. The court proceedings statistics for 2004-05 are scheduled for publication in March 2006.

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 and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.

Number of Seat Belt Offences Recorded by the Police, 2000-04

Police Force Area	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Central	2,286	2,581	2,435	2,548	2,547
Dumfries and Galloway	531	282	344	385	349
Fife	3,226	3,012	2,205	2,710	2,552
Grampian	2,645	1,975	1,919	517	513
Lothian and Borders	6,732	7,394	6,679	5,216	5,851
Northern	1,486	1,098	1,407	1,246	1,135
Strathclyde	17,952	22,013	13,552	11,222	10,635
Tayside	1,318	1,647	2,472	4,005	5,837
Scotland	36,176	40,002	31,013	27,849	29,419

Seat belt Offences Resulting in a Fine Imposed by a Scottish Court, 1999-2003

Police Force Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003¹
Number of Offences
Central	168	332	272	324	228
Dumfries and Galloway	60	15	4	12	12
Fife	181	172	146	135	207
Grampian	324	280	202	175	135
Lothian and Borders	446	447	320	273	322
Northern	88	93	104	75	68
Strathclyde	1,240	1,134	1,000	1,012	730
Tayside	290	139	118	151	315
Scotland	2,797	2,612	2,166	2,157	2,017
Average Fine Imposed (£)²
Central	39	45	53	59	59
Dumfries and Galloway	82	43	43	63	51
Fife	48	44	47	51	49
Grampian	40	46	50	52	62
Lothian and Borders	45	48	54	59	57
Northern	41	40	47	52	54
Strathclyde	44	44	49	50	52
Tayside	55	51	55	59	58
Scotland	45	46	50	54	55

Notes:

1. Includes estimated data.

2. Excludes fines where value not known.

Question reference: S2W-19951

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were living in poverty in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area in each of the last 30 years.

The information requested is not available.

The official source of low income data for Scotland is the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset available from 1994-95. This is derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The sample size of the FRS in Scotland is relatively small and can only be used to provide information for Scotland as a whole.

The following link provides the latest low income headline figures for Scotland (2003-04), together with data for previous years. This was published on 30 March 2005:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/29170611/06123.

A snapshot analysis of Benefits, such as Income Support and Job Seeker’s Allowance, may be used as a proxy for low income poverty by geographical area. Such analyses need careful interpretation, however as changes in the benefits system affect the results over time:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp.

Question reference: S2W-19966

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of (a) drunkenness, (b) driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs and (c) causing death by dangerous driving when under the influence of drink or drugs in each year since 1995, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table. The statistics for 2004-05 are scheduled for publication in March 2006.

Persons with a Charge Proved for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1995-2003

Police Force Area	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Drunkenness
Central	59	34	22	12	6	7	2	4	4
Dumfries and Galloway	50	46	21	-	3	-	-	-	1
Fife	40	19	18	8	7	2	5	3	10
Grampian	47	40	39	38	22	22	13	8	17
Lothian and Borders	70	33	51	41	20	18	26	28	22
Northern	289	231	246	224	159	138	104	140	135
Strathclyde	745	690	514	383	246	227	191	184	203
Tayside	13	10	17	19	15	20	30	17	19
Total	1,313	1,103	928	725	478	434	371	384	411
Drunk Driving
Central	397	411	424	383	371	393	298	640	537
Dumfries and Galloway	194	263	214	189	205	166	210	214	234
Fife	492	414	488	424	376	360	369	708	583
Grampian	947	908	948	895	840	784	811	920	1,012
Lothian and Borders	1,272	1,359	1,437	1,366	1,188	1,122	1,171	1,495	1,381
Northern	636	688	645	544	533	499	568	679	715
Strathclyde	3,088	3,432	3,710	2,869	2,830	2,784	2,725	3,430	3,017
Tayside	569	590	653	617	556	583	640	768	801
Total	7,595	8,065	8,519	7,287	6,899	6,691	6,792	8,854	8,280
Death by Careless Driving when Under the Influence of Drink or Drugs
Central	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
Grampian	1	-	2	1	1	-	1	1	-
Northern	-	-	1	1	-	1	-	-	1
Strathclyde	1	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-
Tayside	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Total	2	-	4	3	1	2	3	1	2

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-19959

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were reported missing in each year since 1990, broken down by police force area.

Question reference: S2W-19918

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were fined for offences directly relating to the improper use of (a) disabled vehicle stickers and (b) disabled parking spaces in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-19958

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders in breach of anti-social behaviour orders have (a) been returned to court and (b) received sentences in the last 12 months, broken down by local authority.

The latest available statistics on breaches of anti-social behaviour orders in the year ending March 2004 can be found at sections 5.9 to 5.15 of the relevant publication Use of Antisocial Behaviour Orders in Scotland on the Scottish Executive’s website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/04/07104508/45091.

More recent statistics, from a survey covering the year ending March 2005, are currently being compiled and are planned for publication towards the end of this year.

Question reference: S2W-20210

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers were suspended for (a) less than three months, (b) more than six months, (c) more than 12 months and (d) more than 24 months in each year since 1999, broken down by (i) rank and (ii) police force.

Question reference: S2W-19913

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners released with electronic tags have reoffended.

Question reference: S2W-20209

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average remuneration was of (a) general practitioners and (b) consultants in 1997 and what it estimates it will be for each category following the introduction of the new NHS contracts.

(a) General Practitioners

General practitioners are independentcontractors and not directly employed by the NHS. They receive payments in returnfor the range of services that they provide to patients. These payments enable GPsto run their practices and take an income. Therefore no figures are available forthe income of general practitioners.

I refer you to the answer toquestion S2W-18731 on 29 September 2005 for average gross payments under the new GMS Contract.

The Doctors and Dentists ReviewBody calculated the average net income for general practitioners across the UK at£46,031 in 1997. The average net income for 2004-05, the first year following theintroduction of the new GMS contract will not be available until all superannuationreturns from GPs have been assessed in the first half of next year.

(b) Consultants

Information on the average remunerationof consultants from 1997 is not held centrally, however consultant pay scales at1 April 1997 ranged from a minimum of £43,165 to a maximum of £ 55,705.

I refer you to the answer toquestion S2W-18733 on 14 September 2005 for consultants average gross remuneration under thenew contract.

The new consultant contract recognisesthe importance of recruiting and retaining skilled staff, and although pay is notthe sole determinant on these issues it is an important element. It is also acknowledgedthat much of the increased remuneration provided to consultants under the new contractis quite rightly recognising out of hours and on call commitments that were simplynot being paid before.

All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Chamber and committees