Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-15916

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions for assault of a police officer resulted in (a) custody, (b) a financial penalty and (c) a community sentence in each year since 1994, broken down by police force area.

The available information, which relates to convictions under section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, is given in the table. This section of the 1967 Act provides that any person who assaults, resists, obstructs, molests or hinders a constable shall be guilty of an offence. Offences which specifically involve an assault on a police officer can not generally be identified separately from other section 41(1)(a) offences in the data held centrally. Similarly, other assaults on police officers which may result in other charges such as serious assault or attempted murder can not be identified separately in the available statistics.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for an Offence Under Section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967¹, by Selected Type of Sentence and police Force Area, 1994-2003

Police Force Area	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
	Custody:
Central	26	17	23	12	15	18	18	25	24	25
Dumfries and Galloway	10	12	10	17	10	15	14	14	10	13
Fife	25	26	26	26	22	14	23	23	17	31
Grampian	43	33	31	32	32	28	18	28	46	30
Lothian and Borders	41	65	60	58	71	81	74	76	87	77
Northern	38	28	25	25	26	22	32	34	38	31
Strathclyde	294	259	307	274	235	200	207	196	214	252
Tayside	33	30	25	43	56	47	43	49	60	67
Scotland	510	470	507	487	467	425	429	445	496	526
	Financial penalty:
Central	117	134	122	74	44	61	65	84	105	96
Dumfries and Galloway	60	54	44	42	40	29	31	30	32	58
Fife	116	92	81	94	79	60	59	72	61	64
Grampian	207	224	173	185	187	135	96	128	157	200
Lothian and Borders	233	272	222	251	273	192	213	203	211	239
Northern	104	107	100	70	82	64	76	91	81	106
Strathclyde	906	903	975	992	796	602	485	595	635	676
Tayside	83	122	97	106	120	123	99	112	156	134
Scotland	1,826	1,908	1,814	1,814	1,621	1,266	1,124	1,315	1,438	1,573
	Community sentence:
Central	13	15	20	20	16	13	16	20	28	26
Dumfries and Galloway	15	3	4	11	9	5	8	7	11	18
Fife	15	16	25	21	29	12	19	27	42	47
Grampian	21	40	25	19	22	21	20	19	27	48
Lothian and Borders	41	39	61	51	65	78	67	71	83	70
Northern	27	24	19	19	21	20	20	33	27	39
Strathclyde	143	151	176	204	199	151	152	174	218	287
Tayside	22	24	30	55	52	57	40	49	77	69
Scotland	297	312	360	400	413	357	342	400	513	604

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15851

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons had a charge proved for the non-sexual crimes of violence (a) homicide, (b) serious assault and attempted murder, (c) robbery and (d) other offences in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following tables.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1997- 2003

Offence/Police Force Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003³
Homicide
Central	7	6	6	1	3	5	2
Dumfries and Galloway	2	1	-	-	4	6	1
Fife	9	3	1	1	7	5	2
Grampian	8	2	14	5	11	8	9
Lothian and Borders	12	18	11	10	8	17	10
Northern	5	4	7	6	5	2	6
Strathclyde	62	50	64	64	58	42	47
Tayside	3	4	4	8	5	9	6
Total	108	88	107	95	101	94	83
Serious Assault and Attempted Murder
Central	38	56	64	59	56	85	84
Dumfries and Galloway	33	29	27	25	27	41	34
Fife	55	58	57	51	71	99	60
Grampian	70	75	91	68	71	74	93
Lothian and Borders	184	144	142	169	173	227	228
Northern	22	39	36	57	43	45	67
Strathclyde	552	516	589	526	585	604	744
Tayside	83	85	80	94	95	123	100
Total	1,037	1,002	1,086	1,050²	1,121	1,298	1,410
Robbery
Central	22	17	20	20	27	23	32
Dumfries and Galloway	15	6	12	17	22	19	14
Fife	42	32	42	36	41	38	49
Grampian	34	55	40	33	50	51	70
Lothian and Borders	125	84	96	83	79	102	70
Northern	5	9	9	2	6	6	5
Strathclyde	380	389	425	405	383	356	362
Tayside	41	35	38	29	22	30	29
Total	664	627	682	625	632²	625	631
Other Crimes of Violence
Central	4	4	3	6	6	9	8
Dumfries and Galloway	4	9	2	4	4	1	1
Fife	9	13	12	6	8	10	9
Grampian	27	26	19	14	8	12	15
Lothian and Borders	34	29	25	30	19	32	49
Northern	16	6	12	8	10	8	6
Strathclyde	91	105	105	87	98	123	152
Tayside	33	31	27	33	28	25	23
Total	218	223	205	188	181	220	263

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

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

3. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15914

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13580 by Cathy Jamieson on 28 January 2005, how many convictions for assault of a police officer there were in each year from 1994 to 2004, broken down by police force area

The available information, which relates to convictions under section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, is given in the table. This section of the 1967 Act provides that any person who “assaults, resists, obstructs, molests or hinders a constable…” shall be guilty of an offence. Offences which specifically involve an assault on a police officer can not generally be identified separately from other section 41(1)(a) offences in the data held centrally. Similarly, other assaults on police officers which may result in other charges such as serious assault or attempted murder can not be identified separately in the available statistics.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for an Offence Under Section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967¹, by Police Force Area, 1994-2003

Police Force Area	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Central	175	183	175	120	92	107	111	144	177	175
Dumfries and Galloway	93	77	65	73	62	56	59	64	59	93
Fife	176	147	145	165	143	101	113	142	140	160
Grampian	298	324	262	274	271	199	163	201	246	309
Lothian and Borders	343	409	387	388	455	381	380	382	417	419
Northern	184	171	150	121	135	124	142	166	152	190
Strathclyde	1,454	1,425	1,606	1,621	1,396	1,112	969	1,066	1,177	1,384
Tayside	146	194	174	231	258	264	209	237	323	305
Scotland	2,869	2,930	2,964	2,993	2,812	2,344	2,146	2,402	2,691	3,035

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15854

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons had a charge proved for (a) crimes against public justice, (b) handling an offensive weapon and (c) drugs in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following tables.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1997-2003

Offence/Police Force Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Crimes Against Public Justice
Central	385	234	322	415	508	443	378
Dumfries and Galloway	156	111	139	142	151	103	115
Fife	414	445	416	312	331	237	262
Grampian	486	435	371	307	364	444	492
Lothian and Borders	656	728	636	652	605	590	546
Northern	112	85	101	93	129	143	180
Strathclyde	2,646	2,216	2,072	1,908	1,946	2,055	2,049
Tayside	491	484	565	1016	1283	983	1073
Total	5,346	4,738	4,622	4,845	5,317	4,998	5,095
Handling an Offensive Weapon
Central	62	53	50	54	70	62	85
Dumfries and Galloway	48	37	47	35	32	44	50
Fife	50	33	43	41	74	55	58
Grampian	87	97	74	63	118	102	111
Lothian and Borders	278	271	211	204	278	325	254
Northern	43	43	34	31	46	46	53
Strathclyde	1,482	1,397	1,499	1,680	1,939	1,821	2,048
Tayside	144	131	122	130	138	134	140
Total	2,194	2,062	2,080	2,238	2,695	2,589	2,799
Drugs
Central	283	244	259	235	342	373	452
Dumfries and Galloway	256	183	172	130	97	133	146
Fife	367	325	296	148	160	207	174
Grampian	889	861	656	455	613	564	743
Lothian and Borders	969	841	796	738	776	567	587
Northern	415	382	311	267	349	384	412
Strathclyde	3,400	3,644	3,442	2,984	2,931	3,052	4,009
Tayside	448	447	507	469	468	521	582
Total	7,027	6,927	6,439	5,426	5,736	5,801	7,105

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15850

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons had a charge proved for the crimes of indecency (a) rape, (b) attempted rape, (c) indecent assault, (d) lewd and indecent behaviour and (e) other offences in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1997-2003

Offence/Police Force Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003³
Rape
Central	-	3	2	1	-	-	3
Dumfries and Galloway	2	-	1	2	1	-	1
Fife	2	11	2	-	6	2	5
Grampian	1	3	6	1	2	2	3
Lothian and Borders	6	6	8	10	9	7	4
Northern	1	2	1	2	3	1	5
Strathclyde	13	11	9	11	16	17	15
Tayside	6	1	-	1	5	-	8
Total	31	37	29	28	42	29	44
Attempted Rape
Central	2	-	-	-	1	1	2
Dumfries and Galloway	-	1	1	-	-	1	-
Fife	4	2	3	3	2	-	1
Grampian	-	1	2	-	-	2	1
Lothian and Borders	3	1	5	2	8	1	3
Northern	1	2	-	1	-	-	-
Strathclyde	8	12	6	7	12	5	10
Tayside	4	6	5	2	3	3	1
Total	22	25	22	15	27²	13	18
Indecent Assault
Central	4	3	3	2	4	1	5
Dumfries and Galloway	3	-	1	1	1	-	2
Fife	8	4	9	6	6	9	8
Grampian	6	10	15	4	4	4	3
Lothian and Borders	15	20	14	9	8	11	19
Northern	5	8	6	7	6	6	4
Strathclyde	29	34	28	31	18	18	36
Tayside	14	7	6	6	4	7	5
Total	84	86	82	66	52²	56	82
Lewd and Indecent Behaviour
Central	24	18	9	14	17	15	12
Dumfries and Galloway	7	7	4	14	14	3	3
Fife	26	31	34	19	23	26	18
Grampian	25	24	13	18	25	21	27
Lothian and Borders	78	61	76	44	52	48	48
Northern	18	15	18	8	18	22	22
Strathclyde	133	135	130	109	110	130	106
Tayside	23	33	32	26	30	26	28
Total	334	324	316	252	289	291	264
Other Crimes of Indecency
Central	10	8	2	9	3	1	9
Dumfries and Galloway	8	7	1	1	3	2	1
Fife	5	5	9	4	4	8	10
Grampian	100	109	30	15	11	13	15
Lothian and Borders	38	33	26	20	19	13	23
Northern	7	4	6	10	10	4	13
Strathclyde	551	674	375	227	152	122	107
Tayside	11	16	12	11	10	13	12
Total	730	856	461	297	212	176	190

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes one case where force is unknown.

3. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15853

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons had a charge proved for (a) fire-raising and (b) vandalism etc., in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Selected Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1997-2003

Offence/Police Force Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
Fire-Raising
Central	9	10	5	4	9	12	18
Dumfries and Galloway	4	6	7	2	6	4	4
Fife	10	10	8	13	14	15	20
Grampian	15	6	13	9	12	10	17
Lothian and Borders	22	19	15	15	16	22	29
Northern	5	14	7	5	8	8	16
Strathclyde	41	41	44	44	46	48	47
Tayside	13	16	9	11	9	16	15
Total	119	122	108	103	120	135	166
Vandalism etc.
Central	385	298	273	284	290	336	372
Dumfries and Galloway	140	118	112	159	105	155	189
Fife	384	347	283	292	322	250	301
Grampian	568	548	511	405	447	415	421
Lothian and Borders	738	628	586	558	560	587	495
Northern	303	320	277	257	276	281	392
Strathclyde	1,884	1,823	1,556	1,458	1,481	1,566	1,702
Tayside	430	441	409	433	416	405	467
Total	4,832	4,523	4,007	3,846	3,897	3,995	4,339

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15856

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons had a charge proved for the motor vehicle offences (a) dangerous and careless driving, (b) drunk driving, (c) speeding, (d) unlawful use of vehicle, (e) vehicle defect offences, and (f) other offences in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following tables.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Motor Vehicle Offences¹, by Police Force Area, 1997-2003

Offence/Police Force Area	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003³
Dangerous and Careless Driving
Central	143	141	123	94	124	138	182
Dumfries and Galloway	282	191	256	172	144	197	207
Fife	358	254	185	161	236	237	210
Grampian	657	674	535	412	445	416	569
Lothian and Borders	633	527	356	323	420	457	507
Northern	448	330	288	223	273	308	405
Strathclyde	1,868	1,471	1,325	1,199	1,293	1,316	1,499
Tayside	343	320	301	232	282	350	448
Total	4,732	3,908	3,369	2,816	3,217	3,419	4,027
Drunk Driving
Central	424	383	371	393	298	640	537
Dumfries and Galloway	214	189	205	166	210	214	234
Fife	488	424	376	360	369	708	583
Grampian	948	895	840	784	811	920	1,012
Lothian and Borders	1,437	1,366	1,188	1,122	1,171	1,495	1,381
Northern	645	544	533	499	568	679	715
Strathclyde	3,710	2,869	2,830	2,784	2,725	3,430	3,017
Tayside	653	617	556	583	640	768	801
Total	8,519	7,287	6,899	6,691	6,792	8,854	8,280
Speeding
Central	638	701	939	838	768	713	859
Dumfries and Galloway	1,798	865	1,810	1,386	893	917	853
Fife	533	393	543	560	490	558	899
Grampian	1,411	1,827	1,800	1,519	1,205	1,090	1,249
Lothian and Borders	2,101	2,142	2,006	1,494	1,663	1,681	1,580
Northern	487	531	915	589	927	1,269	1,648
Strathclyde	3,859	3,943	4,594	3,567	2,353	1,701	2,840
Tayside	1,386	2,134	1,655	1,362	1,678	1,707	2,106
Total	12,213	12,536	14,262	11,315	9,977	9,636	12,034
Unlawful Use of Vehicle
Central	971	916	964	1,218	1,357	1,435	1,425
Dumfries and Galloway	575	478	517	475	474	545	527
Fife	1,488	1,687	1,448	1,539	1,632	1,770	1,897
Grampian	1,889	1,873	1,589	1,782	1,778	1,974	1,950
Lothian and Borders	3,667	3,699	3,097	3,257	3,336	3,416	3,525
Northern	765	588	547	592	505	661	675
Strathclyde	9,154	7,695	6,791	6,353	7,022	7,143	7,229
Tayside	1,830	1,836	1,685	1,706	1,700	1,948	2,229
Total	20,339	18,772	16,638	16,922	17,804	18,892	19,457
Vehicle Defect Offences
Central	235	195	161	131	132	147	95
Dumfries and Galloway	255	164	182	101	56	74	85
Fife	121	87	134	70	45	56	62
Grampian	402	456	276	190	117	190	253
Lothian and Borders	597	442	337	238	248	210	275
Northern	160	130	118	105	92	166	157
Strathclyde	1,154	871	566	575	428	349	429
Tayside	399	314	230	166	134	206	414
Total	3,323	2,659	2,004	1,576	1,252	1,398	1,770
Other offences
Central	321	280	227	437	399	446	320
Dumfries and Galloway	320	310	338	232	191	147	176
Fife	346	248	264	260	241	210	256
Grampian	595	654	700	697	448	355	344
Lothian and Borders	2,016	1,829	1,080	950	884	839	833
Northern	218	130	165	218	202	313	207
Strathclyde	2,915	2,675	2,979	2,352	2,354	2,043	1,673
Tayside	695	606	569	291	271	339	548
Total	7,426	6,732	6,322	5,437	4,990	4,692	4,357

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

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

3. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15913

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) mode length of custodial sentences imposed for assaulting a police officer has been in each year since 1994, broken down by police force area.

The available information, which relates to convictions under section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, is given in the table. This section of the 1967 Act provides that any person who assaults, resists, obstructs, molests or hinders a constable shall be guilty of an offence. Offences which specifically involve an assault on a police officer can not generally be identified separately from other section 41(1)(a) offences in the data held centrally. Similarly, other assaults on police officers which may result in other charges such as serious assault or attempted murder can not be identified separately in the available statistics.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for an Offence Under Section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967¹, by Police Force Area, 1994-2003:

Persons Receiving a Custodial Sentence

Police Force Area	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003²
	Number of Persons:
Central	26	17	23	12	15	18	18	25	24	25
Dumfries and Galloway	10	12	10	17	10	15	14	14	10	13
Fife	25	26	26	26	22	14	23	23	17	31
Grampian	43	33	31	32	32	28	18	28	46	30
Lothian and Borders	41	65	60	58	71	81	74	76	87	77
Northern	38	28	25	25	26	22	32	34	38	31
Strathclyde	294	259	307	274	235	200	207	196	214	252
Tayside	33	30	25	43	56	47	43	49	60	67
Scotland	510	470	507	487	467	425	429	445	496	526
	Mean (days):
Central	97	76	92	129	81	90	103	139	109	98
Dumfries and Galloway	97	106	85	119	155	111	108	113	91	74
Fife	122	122	121	125	124	111	135	137	116	122
Grampian	95	117	101	86	88	126	83	106	106	144
Lothian and Borders	125	132	130	118	119	116	109	109	127	108
Northern	91	127	104	113	103	133	112	143	105	129
Strathclyde	135	124	131	115	117	122	121	121	112	117
Tayside	155	122	101	102	115	131	128	94	84	112
Scotland	126	123	123	113	114	121	117	118	110	116
	Median (days):
Central	91	60	91	106	91	61	91	122	91	91
Dumfries and Galloway	91	91	76	91	107	91	91	91	91	91
Fife	91	91	122	91	107	91	91	122	122	91
Grampian	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91
Lothian and Borders	91	91	117	91	122	91	91	91	122	91
Northern	76	91	91	91	91	122	91	122	91	122
Strathclyde	122	91	122	91	91	91	91	91	91	91
Tayside	122	91	91	91	91	122	122	91	91	91
Scotland	91	91	107	91	91	91	91	91	91	91
	Mode (days):
Central	91	122	91	60	91	60	91	122	91	30
Dumfries and Galloway	91	91	60	91	91	91	60	91	91	91
Fife	91	60	122	91	91	182	182	91	122	91
Grampian	91	91	60	91	91	91	91	91	91	91
Lothian and Borders	91	91	91	91	182	91	91	91	91	91
Northern	30	91	60	91	91	91	91	122	91	122
Strathclyde	182	91	182	91	91	91	91	91	91	91
Tayside	182	60	30	91	91	91	91	91	91	91
Scotland	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91

Notes:

1. Where main offence. Average values shown relate to total penalty imposed for conviction.

2. Includes estimated data.

Question reference: S2W-15984

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriffs there are and, of these, how many have participated in training of any kind within the last (a) 12 months, (b) 24 months, and (c) five years and how many have never participated in training since their appointment.

The responsibility for trainingof the judiciary rests with the independent Judicial Studies Committee, chairedby Lord Wheatley. There are 140 sheriffs in post. Since 1997, all new appointeeshave been required to participate in an induction course of five days duration beforesitting alone. In the last five years, all sheriffs have attended at least one refreshercourse of three days duration. Most sheriffs regularly attend at least one othertraining event each year. In addition, sheriffs attend training events and lecturesrun by outside organisations such as the Scottish Association for the Study of Delinquency.

Question reference: S2W-15721

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 April 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 April 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded offences there have been under section 4 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 for causing or allowing persons under 16 to be used for begging in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

Chamber and committees