Chamber and committees

In tackling underage drinking the government has implemented legislation and encouraged action which is designed to be delivered and to continue being delivered by the relevant agencies to meet the local circumstances. This has included enabling police to undertake test purchasing and encouraging local licensing boards to take tough action against licence holders caught selling to those under age. We are also providing funding for more diversionary activities for our young people and support for communities through the cashback for communities project which has already seen Edinburgh City secure over £220,000 for services. The government will also be publishing our proposals for further action on talking alcohol misuse for consultation in the summer.

Question S3W-11748 asked how many offences of drug driving were recorded in the Lothians region in each year since 1997, broken down by parliamentary constituency, also showing the rates per head of population. As question S3W-11748 did not ask about alcohol related offences but referred specifically to drug driving offences, these were the data provided in the answer. The data held centrally on offences committed while unfit through drink or drugs cannot be separated. However, there are two specific offences which are related to alcohol only, and so the data for these offences was excluded from the answer given, as they were not asked for.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

Offences of Driving a Motor Vehicle with Blood Alcohol Content Above Prescribed Limit Recorded by Lothian and Borders Police, by Local Authority Area, 1997-98 to 2006-07

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
City of Edinburgh	780	731	696	694	685
East Lothian	98	91	88	72	78
Midlothian	142	129	112	109	119
Scottish Borders	121	129	128	139	164
West Lothian	251	274	251	282	306
Total Lothian and Borders	1,392	1,354	1,275	1,296	1,352

 

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
City of Edinburgh	619	530	605	580	471
East Lothian	85	102	92	111	110
Midlothian	145	135	112	88	127
Scottish Borders	158	163	157	142	154
West Lothian	268	245	229	236	240
Total Lothian and Borders	1,275	1,175	1,195	1,157	1,102

 

Offences of Being in Charge of a Motor Vehicle while Blood Alcohol Content above Limit Recorded by Lothian and Borders Police, by Local Authority Area, 1997-98 to 2006-07

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
City of Edinburgh	13	25	40	8	22
East Lothian	5	5	3	4	4
Midlothian	14	8	3	3	7
Scottish Borders	5	0	4	7	5
West Lothian	7	16	18	8	12
Total Lothian and Borders	44	54	68	30	50

 

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
City of Edinburgh	34	41	49	86	149
East Lothian	2	5	8	13	17
Midlothian	9	10	9	14	9
Scottish Borders	14	13	8	22	10
West Lothian	7	22	21	22	37
Total Lothian and Borders	66	91	95	157	222

 

The information on drink driving and drug driving offences cannot be separated because the codes used for offences committed while unfit through drink or drugs reflect the content of the relevant legislation, that is the Road Traffic Act 1988. This act states that it is an offence to drive, attempt to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place when unfit through drink or drugs. Therefore the offences are recorded as Driving a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs, and Being in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.

The data held centrally is based on an aggregate return of crimes recorded by the police at a local authority level, and cannot be broken down to a lower geographical level. The available information is shown in the following table.

Detected Breaches of Byelaws which Prohibit Drinking in Designated Public Places, by Local Authority within Lothian and Borders from 1997-98 to 2006-07

Local Authority	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
East Lothian	2	6	17	5	2	6	14	72
Edinburgh	0	0	1	4	1	0	0	1
Midlothian	12	15	13	17	7	21	84	57
Scottish Borders	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
West Lothian	30	59	154	69	100	166	107	86
Lothian and Borders	44	80	186	95	110	195	205	216

Note: Because the byelaws have been introduced in different areas at different times, year on year comparisons cannot be made.

Information held centrally is for the number of offences committed while unfit through drink or drugs, and cannot be separated. Nor can the data be broken down below local authority level, although the police force may be able to provide more detailed information. The following table shows the number of drink or drug-driving offences (including those involving the refusal to provide a test or sample) recorded by the Lothian and Borders police force.

Number of Relevant Driving Offences¹ Recorded by the Lothian and Borders police Force, Broken Down by Local Authority Area, 1999-2000 to 2006-07

Local Authority	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Edinburgh	274	211	194	228	196	157	221	216
East Lothian	39	30	28	32	36	21	23	25
Midlothian	50	23	41	31	45	26	38	48
Scottish Borders	48	51	23	37	39	40	49	41
West Lothian	102	105	140	113	82	85	108	105
Total Lothian and Borders	513	420	426	441	398	329	439	435

 

Number of Relevant Driving Offences¹ Recorded by the Lothian and Borders Police Force per 10,000 Population, Broken Down by Local Authority Area, 1999-2000 to 2006-07

Local Authority	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Edinburgh	6.13	4.71	4.32	5.09	4.37	3.46	4.83	4.66
East Lothian	4.38	3.34	3.10	3.53	3.95	2.29	2.51	2.69
Midlothian	6.20	2.84	5.06	3.85	5.65	3.27	4.80	6.05
Scottish Borders	4.54	4.80	2.15	3.45	3.60	3.66	4.47	3.72
West Lothian	6.59	6.69	8.80	7.06	5.09	5.22	6.59	6.34
Total Lothian and Borders	5.85	4.76	4.81	4.97	4.48	3.67	4.87	4.77

Notes:

Offences included are:

Driving a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.

In charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.

Failure to co-operate with a preliminary test.

Failure to provide a specimen at a police station.

Offences specifically excluded are:

Driving motor vehicle with blood alcohol content above prescribed limit.

In charge of a motor vehicle while blood alcohol content above limit.

Table 1 shows the number of patients discharged from NHS general acute hospitals with a drug-related diagnosis (in any position) from 2003-04 to 2006-07 in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.

Table 2 shows the number of patients discharged from NHS psychiatric units and mental illness hospitals with a drug-related diagnosis (in any position) from 2003-04 to 2005-06, in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2006-07 and 2007-08 is not yet available.

Table 1: Patients Discharged from General Acute Hospitals¹ with a Diagnosis of Drug Misuse^2,3 in Any Position by Age Group⁴: Lothian NHS Board of Treatment 2003-04 to 2006-07^P

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07P
Under 15 Years	2	5	6	7
15-18 Years	38	38	42	43
19-21 Years	64	56	66	59
Over 21 Years	456	510	560	622

Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Excludes mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units, maternity hospitals and transfers

2. Excludes misuse of tobacco or alcohol.

3. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization''s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10).

4. Age on admission.

Table 2: Patients Discharged from Psychiatric Hospitals¹ with a Diagnosis of Drug Misuse^2,3 in any Position by Age Group⁴: Lothian NHS Board of Treatment 2003-04 to 2005-06^P

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06P
Under 15 Years	-	-	-
15-18 Years	5	8	15
19-21 Years	21	12	12
Over 21 Years	186	211	161

Source: ISD Scotland (SMR04).

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Excludes acute and maternity hospitals.

2. Excludes misuse of tobacco or alcohol.

3. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization''s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10).

4. Age on admission.

- = zero.

The recorded crime data is based on an aggregate return at local authority level. As such, it is not possible to supply information about individual crimes, such as the type of weapon used in an assault, nor can we extract data by parliamentary constituency. However, individual police forces may collect data about weapons used and may also collect data at a more local geographic level.

Funding made available to NHS Lothian by the Scottish Government for alcohol treatment and support services is set out below. No specific alcohol funding was made available prior to 2004-05. Funding for 2007-08 has been made available for brief interventions and treatment and support services.

2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
£336,000	£1,107,000	£1,107,000	£3,401,218

 

It is the practice of successive governments, reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code and the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, that the fact and content of legal advice is not revealed.