Chamber and committees

The following table provides information on the number of homicide victims recorded in each police force area in Scotland in 2009-10, broken down by main method of killing.

Victims of Homicide by Main Method of Killing and Police Force Area, 2009-10

Main Method of Killing	Central	Dumfries and Galloway	Fife	Grampian	Lothian and Borders	Northern	Strathclyde	Tayside	Scotland
Shooting	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	2
Sharp Instrument	1	-	5	3	3	-	21	2	35
Blunt Instrument	-	-	-	-	4	-	4	2	10
Hitting and Kicking	-	-	-	1	-	1	7	1	10
Strangulation/ Asphyxiation	-	-	-	-	1	-	5	1	7
Drowning	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fire	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	2
Poisoning	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	3
Other or Unknown	2	-	-	-	3	1	4	-	10
Total	3	-	5	5	12	3	44	7	79

Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

Offences of public mischief¹ recorded by Grampian Police, 2008-09 and 2009-10

	Grampian
2008-09	95
2009-10	122

Note: 1. The offence of public mischief includes, but is not restricted to, wasting police time.

Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

Mr Neil''s comments were made in his capacity as an MSP and were referring to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) performance of two years ago.

Complaints and concerns about SPSO have already been considered in some detail and key recommendations for improvement have already been enacted:

By government, in measures introduced in the Public Services Reform Act 2010

By the Parliament, in measures introduced in the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners Act 2010

Changes will build on an already improving SPSO performance. In 2009-10, there were 22% more complaints resolved than 2008-09. Over the same period the open caseload reduced by 52%. In 2009-10, there were 123 published investigation reports with over 400 recommendations about more than 300 separate issues in 50 different public sector bodies.

The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a consultation with stakeholders on the future of the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland. We welcome all views on how we can ensure that external scrutiny of police complaints handling is effective and efficient.

When Scottish ministers or a reporter from the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) issue a decision on a planning application or appeal it should not be for more than was originally applied for to the planning authority, as this would generally be considered a material difference to the proposed development. Changes to planning legislation that came into effect in August 2009 make it clear that a development proposal cannot be varied on appeal. It is, however, open for an applicant to submit a fresh planning application seeking a larger number of houses on a site that already has planning permission. In these circumstances if the application or appeal came to Scottish ministers or a reporter from DPEA to determine, consent may be granted that has the effect of increasing the number of houses on a site. Scottish ministers do not hold information concerning how many times this may have happened.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is currently monitoring the impact of the decision in Her Majesty''s Advocate v Cadder.

There were 3,471 cases in which the absence of access to a solicitor prior to interview at a police station had been raised at the date of the decision. An initial estimate indicated that 120 solemn cases were likely to be challenged. Cases are currently being reviewed, with priority being given to solemn cases, and where appropriate further enquiries are being conducted to ascertain if there are other sources of evidence that may provide a sufficiency of evidence. The Crown intends to publish statistics on the impact of the judgment at the conclusion of this review process in early 2011.

This information is not held centrally.

The Knife Dealers Licensing Scheme came into force on 1 June 2010 and we will evaluate the operation of the scheme in due course. It is for local licensing authorities to deal with implementation within their area.

The Scottish budget is good for policing. The police have accepted that it will enable them to maintain police numbers at a level 1,000 above that of March 2007. It is up to police authorities and joint boards how to live within their budgets and how many support staff to employ. We are confident that they will make decisions that maintain frontline services to our communities.

The Regulatory Impact Assessment that accompanied the weapons provision of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 estimated that around 300 retailers would require a licence. No data is available centrally on the number of licences applied for.