Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-29079

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people convicted of handling an offensive weapon in the Lothians region in each of the last five years were aged (a) under 16, (b) 16 to 21, (c) 22 to 30 and (d) over 30 at the time of the offence.

The available information is given in the following table:

Persons with a charge proved in the Lothians Region⁴ for Handling Offensive Weapons^1,3 by Age, 2003-04 to 2007-08

Age²	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Under 16	1	0	0	0	0
16-21	97	98	112	141	101
21-30	78	104	77	131	119
Over 30	85	94	84	98	99
Total	261	296	273	370	319

Notes:

1. Where main offence

2. Age at time of the offence is not available; age is at date of sentence.

3. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

4. Based upon an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-28562

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in September 2009, broken down by sheriff court.

The following table shows the number of charges of (a) assault and (b) assault to injury, where the initial decision taken by the procurator fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure.

The 221 charges relate to a total of 201 persons issued with an offer of a direct measure, out of a total of 3,763 persons offered a direct measure during the same period.

The figures include only those direct measures that were affected by the provisions in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007.

Charges: Assault and Assault to Injury

Office	Direct Measure Issued		Charges Reported
Office	Assault	Assault to Injury	Assault	Assault to Injury
Aberdeen	14	5	147	72
Airdrie	15	1	121	19
Alloa	3	0	30	14
Arbroath	3	4	30	14
Ayr	0	0	41	39
Banff	0	0	7	7
Campbeltown	2	0	18	1
Cupar	0	1	15	9
Dingwall	0	0	37	3
Dornoch	0	0	1	0
Dumbarton	3	0	51	32
Dumfries	2	3	19	31
Dundee	10	1	75	42
Dunfermline	2	7	68	33
Dunoon	2	0	6	0
Duns	1	0	2	8
Edinburgh	6	8	181	193
Elgin	1	2	24	21
Falkirk	19	2	82	16
Forfar	1	0	10	1
Fort William	0	0	10	1
Glasgow	18	1	506	104
Greenock	0	0	19	16
Haddington	0	0	13	26
Hamilton	14	0	160	33
Inverness	13	0	85	10
Jedburgh	0	0	12	20
Kilmarnock	4	1	89	59
Kirkcaldy	3	7	88	34
Kirkcudbright	0	0	7	0
Kirkwall	1	0	9	0
Lanark	1	0	25	5
Lerwick	0	0	8	0
Livingston	10	1	45	41
Lochmaddy	0	0	4	0
Oban	2	0	11	2
Paisley	5	1	81	45
Peebles	0	0	4	6
Perth	1	0	63	15
Peterhead	0	0	34	15
Rothesay	3	0	4	2
Selkirk	1	0	9	6
Stirling	3	0	40	17
Stonehaven	2	1	9	2
Stornoway	0	0	8	0
Stranraer	1	0	5	19
Tain	4	0	25	0
Wick	4	1	10	4
Grand Total	174	47	2,348	1,037

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a procurator fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. Procurator fiscal jurisdictions match sheriff court jurisdictions.

Question reference: S3W-28563

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in October 2009, broken down by sheriff court.

The following table shows the number of charges of (a) assault and (b) assault to injury, where the initial decision taken by the procurator fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure.

The 300 charges relate to a total of 262 persons issued with an offer of a direct measure, out of a total of 3,835 persons offered a direct measure during the same period.

The figures include only those direct measures that were affected by the provisions in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007.

Charges: Assault and Assault to Injury

Office	Direct Measure Issued		Charges Reported
Office	Assault	Assault to Injury	Assault	Assault to Injury
Aberdeen	27	0	155	47
Airdrie	7	1	128	17
Alloa	0	0	23	14
Arbroath	4	1	26	9
Ayr	1	0	73	61
Banff	0	0	3	6
Campbeltown	5	0	15	1
Cupar	1	0	12	8
Dingwall	2	0	17	0
Dornoch	1	0	2	0
Dumbarton	5	0	66	33
Dumfries	0	2	30	31
Dundee	10	3	99	28
Dunfermline	11	3	63	27
Dunoon	0	0	4	1
Duns	0	0	4	7
Edinburgh	14	7	207	124
Elgin	1	0	27	17
Falkirk	18	0	77	16
Forfar	2	0	15	1
Fort William	4	0	6	1
Glasgow	59	8	569	127
Greenock	0	2	13	12
Haddington	0	0	21	19
Hamilton	12	1	168	15
Inverness	8	0	88	1
Jedburgh	2	0	9	18
Kilmarnock	2	0	104	44
Kirkcaldy	24	5	88	48
Kirkcudbright	1	0	1	3
Kirkwall	1	0	6	0
Lanark	0	0	23	7
Lerwick	0	0	14	0
Livingston	5	4	56	40
Lochmaddy	1	0	3	0
Oban	5	0	16	3
Paisley	6	0	86	24
Peebles	0	0	0	4
Perth	2	1	66	16
Peterhead	1	0	30	9
Rothesay	2	1	4	2
Selkirk	0	0	9	4
Stirling	3	0	34	10
Stonehaven	2	0	12	2
Stornoway	8	0	9	0
Stranraer	0	0	7	19
Tain	3	0	27	0
Wick	1	0	9	8
Grand Total	261	39	2,524	884

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a procurator fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. Procurator fiscal jurisdictions match sheriff court jurisdictions.

Question reference: S3W-28857

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital emergency admissions were recorded for (a) diabetic ketoacidosis and (b) hypoglycaemic coma in (i) NHS Lothian and (ii) Scotland-wide in each of the last five years, broken down by (A) age and (B) gender.

Table 1 below shows the number of emergency admissions recorded for diabetic ketoacidosis without coma for the last five years, by age and gender, for NHS Lothian and Scottish residents. Equivalent data on diabetic comas are shown in table 2.

Table 1: Number of Emergency Admissions for Diabetic Ketoacidosis (Without Coma) for NHS Lothian and Scottish Residents, Financial Years Ending 31 March 2005-09^p

		Male					Female
		2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09^p	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09^p
Scotland	All Ages	735	773	941	1,018	895	791	792	914	958	987
	0-24	320	343	407	441	392	364	391	441	467	450
	25-44	227	231	304	329	290	215	237	267	257	292
	45-64	137	157	177	177	166	134	100	118	145	149
	65+	51	42	53	71	47	78	64	88	89	96
Lothian	All Ages	126	121	131	156	116	96	104	111	142	134
	0-24	56	49	47	61	49	38	54	62	79	75
	25-44	37	38	48	51	44	32	27	27	35	34
	45-64	25	29	29	35	19	21	13	18	20	15
	65+	8	5	7	9	4	5	10	4	8	10

Table 2: Number of Emergency Admissions for Diabetic Coma (Including Ketoacidotic Coma, Hypoglycaemic Coma and Other Coma) for NHS Lothian and Scottish Residents, Financial Years Ending 31 March 2005-09^p

		Male					Female
		2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09^p	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09^p
Scotland	All Ages	148	123	118	132	122	149	148	132	113	128
	0-24	30	15	12	20	15	25	14	19	8	11
	25-44	32	20	19	18	20	12	17	14	14	19
	45-64	37	35	39	33	35	16	25	18	27	19
	65+	49	53	48	61	52	96	92	81	64	79
Lothian	All Ages	12	6	5	10	5	9	14	7	5	5
	0-24	1	1	-	1	-	-	1	2	1	-
	25-44	6	3	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	3
	45-64	2	1	-	5	1	1	3	1	1	1
	65+	3	1	4	4	4	7	10	4	3	1

^PProvisional.

Source: SMR01, ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. Data are based on information contained within SMR01 discharge records from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric NHS hospitals in Scotland.

2. The basic unit of analysis for these figures is a continuous stay in hospital. Probability matching methods have been used to link together individual SMR01 discharge episodes for each patient, thereby creating linked patient histories.

3. The main diagnosis of the emergency admission record has been used to identify cases of diabetic ketoacidosis and diabetic coma. Diabetic ketoacidosis has been defined using ICD10 codes E101, E111, E121, E131 and E141. Diabetic coma, including hypoglycaemic coma, has been defined using ICD10 codes E100, E110, E120, E130 and E140. It is not possible to specifically identify hypoglycaemic coma cases using ICD-10 codes.

4. Age is based on the patient''s age on admission to hospital.

5. Data include Scottish residents only.

Question reference: S3W-28856

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has cost to prescribe (a) sibutramine and (b) orlisat in the NHS Lothian area in each of the last five years.

The answer is given in the following table. The gross ingredient costs (GIC) given relate to items prescribed in NHS Lothian and dispensed by community pharmacists or dispensing doctors anywhere in the UK. The costs shown do not include medicines dispensed in hospitals or hospital-based clinics (GIC is the cost of an item before any discounts are applied. It excludes adjustments and broken bulk fees.)

Financial Year	Orlistat	Sibutramine
2004-05	145,720	36,022
2005-06	227,011	47,109
2006-07	345,470	61,644
2007-08	352,683	60,741
2008-09	389,296	55,290

The information in the table has been provided by NHS National Services Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-28317

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 16 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government over the repealing of the furnished holiday lettings rules proposed in the UK Budget.

Question reference: S3W-28319

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 16 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of (a) how many people claimed for and (b) how much was claimed in tax relief for expenditure on furnished holiday letting properties in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-28318

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 16 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has assessed the impact that the proposed repeal of the furnished holiday lettings rules will have on the holiday lettings industry.

Question reference: S3W-28628

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of its Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2008-09 statistical bulletin, what action it will take to tackle the increase in the number of attempted murders involving firearms in the Lothians and Borders police force area from one in 2007-08 to 11 in 2008-09.

The official statistics, published on 27 October by Scotland''s Chief Statistician, show that there was an overall fall in firearms offences of 17% for Scotland. I am confident that Lothian and Borders police are taking appropriate action to tackle the misuse of firearms in their local area.

Funding for police forces is at its highest ever level, £1.115 billion in 2009-10. In June 2009 we passed the milestone of 1,000 additional officers for the first time, well ahead of the pledge to do so by the end of this Parliament.

Earlier this year we launched an award-winning campaign to highlight the dangers of firearms, but more can always be done to protect our communities. We need a robust firearms regime - more straightforward for legitimate users to comply with and more efficient for the police to administer and enforce. Above all there must be a much greater focus on public safety. The Calman Commission recommended devolution of air weapons. I will continue to press Westminster for full devolution of firearms to the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S3W-28630

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the publication of its Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2007-08 statistical bulletin, what firearms were used by those offenders who committed (a) homicide, (b) attempted murder, (c) serious assault, (d) robbery, (e) vandalism, (f) reckless conduct with firearms, (g) minor assault and (h) other crimes and offences in the Lothian and Borders police force area.

The available information is given in the following table:

Crimes and offencesrecorded by Lothian and Borders police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used by crime/offence type and main firearm used, in financial year 2007-08.

Main Firearm Used

Crime/Offence	Shotgun	Rifle	Pistol/ Revolver	Air weapon	Imitation	Unidentified	Other	Total
Homicide	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Attempted Murder	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Serious Assault	0	0	0	5	0	0	6	11
Robbery	0	0	7	0	0	2	1	10
Vandalism	1	1	0	70	0	1	5	78
Reckless Conduct with firearms	1	0	0	23	1	0	4	29
Firearms Act 1968 Offences¹	0	0	1	11	14	1	10	37
Minor Assault	0	0	0	16	10	2	33	61
Other crimes and offences	1	0	0	14	13	7	18	53
Total	3	1	8	140	38	13	78	281

Source: Scottish Government annual collection of Recorded Crimes and Offences involving firearms.

Note: 1. Possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, commit crime and cause fear of violence. Does not include other miscellaneous offences.

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