Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-31028

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 29 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions there have been in each of the last two years for (a) illegal purchase of fireworks, (b) illegal use of fireworks and (c) use of fireworks as a weapon likely to cause human harm, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.Information in relation to other offences which involved the use of fireworksas a weapon is not currently identifiable within the available statistics.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for FireworksOffences¹, by Police Force Area, 2003-04 to 2004-05

Police Force Area	2003-04	2004-05
Dumfries and Galloway
Sale of fireworks to under 18s	1	-
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare	-	1
Grampian
Illegal use of fireworks	-	1
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare	2	-
Lothian and Borders
Illegal use of fireworks	-	2
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare	1	-
Northern
Sale of fireworks to under 18s	1	-
Strathclyde
Sale of fireworks to under 18s	3	2
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare	14	4
Tayside
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare	4	2
Scotland
Sale of fireworks to under 18s	5	2
Illegal use of fireworks	-	3
Throwing fireworks in thoroughfare	21	7

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S2W-31029

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 29 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many murders were committed by criminals out of prison on licence in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

The numbers of offenders convictedof murder committed whilst on licence is as follows:

Year	Number of Murders Committed by those on Licence
2001	1
2002	None
2003	2
2004	None
2005	2

The offenders in question werereleased subject to the provisions of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act1993. They had all been sentenced to four years or more. Offenders sentenced toterms four years or more are eligible to be released on parole licence at the directionof the Parole Board after serving one half of the sentence and will be releasedon licence at the two thirds stage of sentence.

The Custodial Sentences and Weapons(Scotland) Bill, currently before Parliament, proposes to end the current system ofunconditional early release and replace it with a system based on an individualassessment of risk. There will be no change to the current law covering the treatmentof life sentence prisoners.

Question reference: S2W-31030

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 29 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been since 1996 for (a) the murder of a child or young person under 18, (b) the manslaughter of a child or young person under 18, (c) common assault and battery and (d) cruelty to a person under 16 where the prosecuted person had parental responsibility for the victim or was the partner of the person with parental responsibility, broken down by police force area.

The available information in relation to accused persons inhomicides where the victim was aged under 18 is given in the following table.Information on victim characteristics and on the relationship between victimand accused are not included in the available statistics on persons proceededagainst for assault on or cruelty to children.

Accused persons proceeded against in Scottish courts forhomicides¹ involving a victim aged under 18, 1996-97 to 2005-06

Year	Number
1996-97	12
1997-98	14
1998-99	5
1999-2000	12
2000-01	15
2001-02	12
2002-03	19
2003-04	10
2004-05	8
2005-06	4

Note: 1. Currently (as at 8 November 2006)recorded as homicide.

Question reference: S2W-31031

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 26 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average house price was in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

The following table 1 providesthe count of sales, median and mean price for house sales for each localauthority area for the years 1999 and 2000. The following table 2 shows providesthe same information for the years 2001 and 2002. The following table 3 providesthe same information for the years 2003 and 2004. The following table 4 providesthe same information for 2005. The analysis uses information provided by the LandValue Information Unit (LVIU) at Paisley University. LVIU in turn source their data from Registers of Scotland.The count and median relates to all sales recorded within the Local Authority areain the specified time period. The mean value excludes all sales with a value ofless than £20,000 and over £1 million with the aim of excluding non market salesand non-residential sales.

Table 1	1999			2000
Local Authority	Count	Median	Mean	Count	Median	Mean
Aberdeen City	6,618	£ 53,500	£ 70,083	6,211	£ 55,000	£ 73,826
Aberdeenshire	4,640	£ 60,000	£ 74,620	4,909	£ 60,000	£ 76,230
Angus	2,402	£ 46,875	£ 59,470	2,355	£ 47,000	£ 61,433
Argyll and Bute	1,957	£ 46,000	£ 66,228	1,717	£ 52,000	£ 71,407
Clackmannanshire	995	£ 40,000	£ 55,679	1,038	£ 40,750	£ 58,201
Dumfries and Galloway	2,918	£ 44,500	£ 60,832	3,121	£ 44,000	£ 61,310
Dundee City	3,058	£ 40,550	£ 56,379	3,431	£ 39,000	£ 53,811
East Ayrshire	1,398	£ 36,000	£ 54,520	2,963	£ 35,200	£ 54,213
East Dunbartonshire	2,232	£ 64,500	£ 81,278	2,370	£ 70,000	£ 89,831
East Lothian	2,324	£ 57,500	£ 78,982	2,355	£ 60,000	£ 88,369
East Renfrewshire	2,302	£ 70,503	£ 89,733	2,362	£ 71,450	£ 95,790
Edinburgh, City of	14,834	£ 70,000	£ 91,305	14,606	£ 73,000	£ 98,525
Eilean Siar	253	£ 30,000	£ 43,732	255	£ 35,000	£ 46,912
Falkirk	3,313	£ 42,950	£ 55,025	3,750	£ 41,000	£ 58,099
Fife	7,599	£ 42,000	£ 59,766	8,725	£ 44,500	£ 62,890
Glasgow City	15,268	£ 43,000	£ 59,449	16,824	£ 45,000	£ 63,717
Highland	4,597	£ 45,000	£ 59,814	4,744	£ 45,000	£ 61,349
Inverclyde	1,976	£ 38,000	£ 58,402	2,295	£ 40,000	£ 61,237
Midlothian	1,713	£ 53,000	£ 71,705	1,675	£ 55,000	£ 77,140
Moray	1,544	£ 47,000	£ 58,791	1,542	£ 46,000	£ 58,645
North Ayrshire	1,818	£ 37,500	£ 54,234	3,321	£ 36,750	£ 54,774
North Lanarkshire	7,215	£ 38,100	£ 51,323	7,902	£ 37,781	£ 54,096
Orkney Islands	388	£ 38,350	£ 47,870	406	£ 43,375	£ 52,674
Perth and Kinross	3,431	£ 58,000	£ 74,932	3,416	£ 59,999	£ 79,133
Renfrewshire	4,285	£ 43,000	£ 59,146	4,515	£ 44,500	£ 62,350
Scottish Borders	2,263	£ 43,500	£ 69,935	2,358	£ 44,000	£ 75,408
Shetland Islands	353	£ 32,000	£ 45,794	340	£ 35,000	£ 51,979
South Ayrshire	1,550	£ 51,000	£ 67,119	2,909	£ 50,550	£ 67,603
South Lanarkshire	8,008	£ 43,000	£ 59,174	8,148	£ 44,000	£ 61,614
Stirling	2,232	£ 59,500	£ 79,590	2,287	£ 60,000	£ 89,739
West Dunbartonshire	1,764	£ 38,000	£ 50,529	2,074	£ 40,000	£ 51,143
West Lothian	4,007	£ 46,500	£ 61,877	4,461	£ 50,000	£ 67,245

Table 2	2001			2002
Local Authority	Count	Median	Mean	Count	Median	Mean
Aberdeen City	6,630	£ 56,250	£ 74,787	7,588	£ 58,417	£ 79,064
Aberdeenshire	5,257	£ 60,000	£ 79,249	6,533	£ 65,995	£ 84,015
Angus	2,488	£ 50,000	£ 63,829	2,895	£ 52,000	£ 68,290
Argyll and Bute	2,426	£ 46,500	£ 71,887	2,526	£ 51,198	£ 77,918
Clackmannanshire	1,176	£ 44,625	£ 63,928	1,364	£ 43,000	£ 67,555
Dumfries and Galloway	3,279	£ 47,000	£ 63,145	3,725	£ 48,950	£ 69,032
Dundee City	3,593	£ 42,000	£ 57,783	3,880	£ 45,000	£ 62,494
East Ayrshire	2,902	£ 37,500	£ 58,440	3,130	£ 37,088	£ 60,193
East Dunbartonshire	2,186	£ 71,000	£ 95,122	2,327	£ 80,000	£ 108,220
East Lothian	2,512	£ 65,500	£ 90,948	2,776	£ 74,000	£ 102,582
East Renfrewshire	2,386	£ 79,000	£ 104,176	2,178	£ 88,850	£ 120,335
Edinburgh, City of	15,447	£ 80,000	£ 106,303	15,800	£ 96,787	£ 126,992
Eilean Siar	257	£ 37,000	£ 47,778	446	£ 38,000	£ 48,722
Falkirk	3,778	£ 43,000	£ 59,567	4,532	£ 45,000	£ 66,634
Fife	9,306	£ 45,000	£ 66,294	9,987	£ 48,000	£ 72,904
Glasgow City	17,163	£ 49,000	£ 68,067	17,997	£ 56,000	£ 77,892
Highland	4,825	£ 50,000	£ 65,929	5,163	£ 56,000	£ 73,236
Inverclyde	2,136	£ 41,000	£ 67,495	2,116	£ 44,750	£ 68,452
Midlothian	1,637	£ 59,995	£ 82,293	1,771	£ 65,125	£ 86,667
Moray	1,899	£ 47,000	£ 58,584	2,040	£ 49,500	£ 64,332
North Ayrshire	3,378	£ 37,850	£ 55,432	3,865	£ 40,000	£ 61,944
North Lanarkshire	7,975	£ 40,000	£ 56,852	8,632	£ 42,236	£ 62,970
Orkney Islands	354	£ 41,750	£ 52,355	360	£ 44,000	£ 54,069
Perth and Kinross	3,467	£ 60,000	£ 82,235	3,998	£ 65,000	£ 90,047
Renfrewshire	4,617	£ 42,500	£ 63,530	5,134	£ 45,000	£ 69,261
Scottish Borders	2,628	£ 46,000	£ 77,589	3,025	£ 52,000	£ 89,086
Shetland Islands	313	£ 40,000	£ 52,636	324	£ 45,017	£ 56,944
South Ayrshire	3,040	£ 52,000	£ 71,489	3,224	£ 56,300	£ 78,724
South Lanarkshire	7,731	£ 46,000	£ 65,956	8,767	£ 49,000	£ 73,812
Stirling	2,385	£ 60,000	£ 94,632	2,555	£ 72,000	£ 103,178
West Dunbartonshire	2,132	£ 41,000	£ 54,329	2,317	£ 43,000	£ 61,713
West Lothian	4,587	£ 52,995	£ 69,055	4,952	£ 55,018	£ 76,394

Table 3	2003			2004
Local Authority	Count	Median	Mean	Count	Median	Mean
Aberdeen City	7,657	£ 60,000	£ 86,305	5,767	£ 70,000	£ 95,745
Aberdeenshire	6,221	£ 75,000	£ 95,662	4,624	£ 86,617	£107,206
Angus	2,846	£ 60,000	£ 81,468	2,163	£ 68,000	£ 92,360
Argyll and Bute	2,563	£ 55,100	£ 90,427	2,176	£ 70,000	£109,477
Clackmannanshire	1,589	£ 47,000	£ 72,297	1,177	£ 64,750	£ 89,167
Dumfries and Galloway	3,677	£ 57,000	£ 81,050	3,667	£ 77,950	£101,477
Dundee City	3,921	£ 50,000	£ 68,607	2,999	£ 55,750	£ 77,767
East Ayrshire	3,312	£ 41,000	£ 68,244	2,354	£ 54,500	£ 79,718
East Dunbartonshire	2,721	£ 91,127	£123,005	2,501	£118,500	£145,808
East Lothian	2,774	£ 90,181	£124,355	2,552	£110,000	£144,523
East Renfrewshire	2,123	£ 98,000	£133,908	2,182	£126,025	£159,194
Edinburgh, City of	16,495	£115,000	£143,009	16,349	£135,000	£162,018
Eilean Siar	451	£ 39,650	£ 50,892	300	£ 51,075	£ 63,948
Falkirk	4,774	£ 52,000	£ 74,332	4,853	£ 67,100	£ 89,976
Fife	11,110	£ 56,000	£ 84,231	10,890	£ 69,000	£ 96,151
Glasgow City	18,792	£ 69,625	£ 94,414	17,865	£ 85,500	£109,228
Highland	5,306	£ 65,000	£ 86,989	5,003	£ 83,250	£104,935
Inverclyde	2,148	£ 47,000	£ 79,624	2,108	£ 60,000	£ 97,681
Midlothian	2,032	£ 80,000	£106,156	1,788	£ 92,875	£120,111
Moray	1,967	£ 60,000	£ 77,048	1,588	£ 70,000	£ 86,616
North Ayrshire	3,871	£ 44,000	£ 69,363	3,022	£ 57,500	£ 82,259
North Lanarkshire	8,906	£ 45,000	£ 68,304	9,200	£ 58,500	£ 79,303
Orkney Islands	384	£ 48,000	£ 61,781	384	£ 60,000	£ 74,631
Perth and Kinross	4,264	£ 75,000	£103,817	3,896	£ 90,000	£117,383
Renfrewshire	5,430	£ 53,011	£ 78,255	5,166	£ 65,000	£ 92,142
Scottish Borders	2,926	£ 65,000	£106,259	2,446	£ 82,850	£121,487
Shetland Islands	320	£ 46,000	£ 60,237	371	£ 60,000	£ 71,032
South Ayrshire	3,446	£ 65,000	£ 92,520	2,516	£ 76,000	£103,205
South Lanarkshire	9,518	£ 57,000	£ 82,290	9,552	£ 71,000	£ 97,073
Stirling	2,390	£ 83,000	£118,813	2,425	£ 96,000	£135,697
West Dunbartonshire	2,448	£ 45,000	£ 67,539	2,463	£ 60,000	£ 80,923
West Lothian	5,486	£ 66,000	£ 88,913	5,329	£ 85,000	£103,737

Table 4	2005
Local Authority	Count	Median	Mean
Aberdeen City	7,874	£ 80,000	£114,104
Aberdeenshire	6,151	£100,500	£126,959
Angus	3,103	£ 78,000	£108,296
Argyll and Bute	2,515	£ 85,000	£127,331
Clackmannanshire	1,705	£ 73,500	£101,817
Dumfries and Galloway	3,724	£ 85,000	£116,599
Dundee City	4,302	£ 65,166	£ 91,865
East Ayrshire	3,562	£ 64,995	£ 95,344
East Dunbartonshire	2,683	£130,000	£169,477
East Lothian	2,809	£125,000	£160,809
East Renfrewshire	2,220	£125,000	£173,810
Edinburgh, City of	16,267	£137,200	£174,728
Eilean Siar	378	£ 65,150	£ 78,828
Falkirk	5,301	£ 75,000	£104,904
Fife	11,550	£ 79,000	£108,869
Glasgow City	19,029	£ 92,000	£122,378
Highland	5,814	£ 97,500	£119,713
Inverclyde	2,254	£ 63,585	£106,217
Midlothian	1,766	£ 99,850	£130,361
Moray	2,320	£ 83,000	£103,199
North Ayrshire	4,371	£ 65,000	£ 94,599
North Lanarkshire	10,270	£ 67,000	£ 93,187
Orkney Islands	394	£ 80,100	£ 98,791
Perth and Kinross	4,137	£100,000	£132,614
Renfrewshire	5,466	£ 70,000	£103,612
Scottish Borders	2,829	£ 85,100	£131,415
Shetland Islands	355	£ 58,000	£ 75,362
South Ayrshire	3,492	£ 87,500	£123,242
South Lanarkshire	9,824	£ 79,000	£112,392
Stirling	2,580	£105,000	£148,823
West Dunbartonshire	2,698	£ 70,000	£ 92,803
West Lothian	5,122	£ 90,000	£114,390

Question reference: S2W-30837

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers were found guilty of a speed limit offences and what (a) maximum, (b) minimum and (c) average penalty was imposed for such offences in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

The available information isgiven in the following table. Many speeding offences result in a police conditionaloffers of a fixed penalty. In 2004-05, a total of 193,240 conditional offers wereissued in relation to speeding offences

Speeding Offences¹with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts, by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2004-05

Police Force Area	Total	Number Resulting in a Fine	Value of Fine Imposed (£)
Police Force Area	Total	Number Resulting in a Fine	Maximum	Minimum	Mean
1999-2000
Central	1,006	1,005	600	25	104
Dumfries and Galloway	1,926	1,909	750	30	125
Fife	575	573	700	40	99
Grampian	2,447	2,437	900	30	124
Lothian and Borders	2,020	2,011	1,000	20	135
Northern	1,118	1,112	575	25	149
Strathclyde	5,022	5,002	2,000	20	125
Tayside	1,670	1,665	1,000	20	193
Scotland	15,784	15,714	2,000	20	133
2000-01
Central	893	888	2,000	25	111
Dumfries and Galloway	1,242	1,239	1,000	40	160
Fife	501	499	600	10	107
Grampian	834	832	750	30	124
Lothian and Borders	1,566	1,564	750	20	130
Northern	380	379	500	19	158
Strathclyde	3,082	3,060	2,000	20	132
Tayside	1,275	1,272	1,000	30	172
Scotland	9,773	9,733	2,000	10	138
2001-02
Central	763	760	750	20	116
Dumfries and Galloway	924	919	1,000	40	185
Fife	539	538	900	40	118
Grampian	1,198	1,187	750	10	133
Lothian and Borders	1,633	1,629	750	7	139
Northern	1,002	997	1,000	40	195
Strathclyde	2,412	2,397	1,000	7	143
Tayside	1,868	1,866	775	5	187
Scotland	10,339	10,293	1,000	5	155
2002-03
Central	686	679	500	40	122
Dumfries and Galloway	945	938	1,000	40	186
Fife	645	643	600	30	105
Grampian	1,157	1,151	750	40	137
Lothian and Borders	1,628	1,620	750	25	142
Northern	1,331	1,329	2,250	40	227
Strathclyde	1,978	1,963	1,500	25	164
Tayside	1,793	1,779	1,000	40	198
Scotland	10,163	10,102	2,250	25	167
2003-04
Central	979	974	1,500	40	152
Dumfries and Galloway	1,012	1,010	1,000	50	168
Fife	962	959	1,000	30	101
Grampian	1,399	1,395	1,000	5	146
Lothian and Borders	1,756	1,747	1,000	50	147
Northern	1,681	1,677	1,200	10	217
Strathclyde	3,039	3,013	1,000	10	153
Tayside	2,256	2,238	1,000	30	204
Scotland²	13,085	13,014	1,500	5	166
2004-05
Central	756	748	1,000	40	155
Dumfries and Galloway	1,766	1,758	1,000	15	164
Fife	767	766	750	15	115
Grampian	1,365	1,359	1,200	40	151
Lothian and Borders	2,215	2,210	1,000	30	150
Northern	1,628	1,626	750	10	207
Strathclyde	3,423	3,402	2,000	12	152
Tayside	1,929	1,917	1,000	25	199
Scotland	13,849	13,786	2,000	10	164

Notes:

1. Includes motorway and clearwayoffences.

2. Includes one offence whereforce area is unknown.

Question reference: S2W-30717

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 24 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many murders resulting from domestic violence there have been and how many people (a) were charged with, (b) pleaded guilty to charges of and (c) were convicted for domestic violence offences in each of the last 10 years.

The available information onhomicides recorded by the police where the relationship between the victim and themain accused was partner or ex-partner is given in the following table.

Victims of Homicide¹where the Relationship Between the Victim and Main Accused wasPartner/Ex-Partner, 1996-97 to 2005-06

Year	Number
1996-97	13
1997-98	12
1998-99	17
1999-00	17
2000-01	24
2001-02	12
2002-03	13
2003-04	5
2004-05	14
2005-06	16

Note: 1. Currently (as at 8 November)recorded as homicide.

The available information onthe number of perpetrators of crimes or offences of domestic abuse cleared up bythe police who were referred to the Procurator Fiscal is given in table 13a of thestatistical bulletin Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2005-06published by the Scottish Executive in September 2006, a copy of which is availablein the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40556). Information inrelation to guilty pleas and convictions for offences arising from incidents ofdomestic abuse is not separately identifiable in the available statistics.

Question reference: S2W-30635

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive which maternity units it has identified as being at risk of closure.

Question reference: S2W-30611

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what categories of its electronic records are retained for (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years, (e) five years, (f) 10 years, (g) 25 years, (h) more than 25 years.

Question reference: S2W-30609

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the policies of the Scottish Office on the destruction of paperwork have been modified since the establishment of the Executive and, if so, when and why such changes were made and what the changes were.

Question reference: S2W-30612

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation covers the retention, destruction or erasure of (a) electronic and (b) paper data which are received or created by it or its agencies.

The key requirement on the Executive and its agencies is public records legislation. Scottish ExecutiveAgencies are therefore expected to manage their records in accordance with thePublic Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. Although these acts have no legal forcein Scotland, they have been applied by the Executive and its Agencies inreviewing and disposing of records by agreement with the UK Cabinet Office, inthe absence of modern Scottish public records legislation.Guidance on recordsretention and disposal issued under the authority of this body of legislationtakes into account the requirements of the very large number of pieces oflegislation governing the retention and destruction of all kinds ofinformation.

Chamber and committees