Chamber and committees

The following table details the number of recorded crimes of theft of a pedal cycle for the March year end data for reporting years 2016-17 to 2021-22.

Table: Number of theft of a pedal cycle crimes recorded by the police, Scotland, 2016-17 to 2021-22

No local authority has submitted a request seeking an extension to the deadline of 1 October for establishing short-term let licensing schemes in their area. Officials remain in regular dialogue with local authorities in the lead up to schemes opening.

I have recently written to local authority Housing Conveners and Chief Executives to remind them of their duty to establish short-term let licensing schemes by 1 October 2022, and we continue to work with local authorities on implementation matters as they prepare to open licence schemes in their areas by this date.

The Island Communities Impact Assessment did not require ministerial sign off however, it formed part of the 2020 Short-term Let Consultation Report which was signed off by Kevin Stewart who was the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning.

In terms of recorded offences, the data received from Police Scotland for producing the National Statistics on Recorded Crime, is a simple count of the number of crimes and offences, for each local authority, which the police have recorded and cleared up.

The nature of this data is such that while some crime codes refer to a single act or section of legislation, others include a wider range of legislation. As such we are unable to separately identify crimes and offences recorded under either Section 2 or Section 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. We are able to separately identify crimes recorded under Section 3, which relates to careless and inconsiderate driving. This document has been placed with the Scottish Parliament, bib number 63591. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The document provides figures for 2018-19 to 2021-22, along with data for the years of 2013-14 to 2017-18. Those earlier years were requested through a previous PQ S5W-22619 on 2 May 2019 and in preparing updated information for this PQ, statisticians identified a small coding error in the calculations made in 2019.

The error meant a small number of cases included in the earlier answer were for another part of the Road Traffic Act, beyond Section 3. This had a negligible impact on the implied magnitude of offences recorded under Section 3 (accounting for less than 0.5% difference for each year at the Scotland level). However we would like to use this PQ answer to highlight the amendment and issue the revised figures for 2013-14 to 2017-18.

In terms of (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions: These are also included in the aforementioned document (placed with the Scottish Parliament, bib number 63591) – split into each of Sections 2, 3 and 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Care should be taken when comparing different data sources relating to the criminal justice system. For example recorded crime statistics count crimes and offences at the time that they came to the attention of Police Scotland, while criminal proceedings statistics report on cases which have concluded in court. This means that a crime may be recorded by the police in one year, with charges brought and court proceedings concluded in subsequent years. In addition, a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, or a set of crimes with more than one victim, in a proceeding, but only the main charge is counted in these court proceedings statistics. There is also the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings.

Funding the Scottish Government has allocated to improve energy efficiency of buildings 2020 to 2022

Information is available from the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2020-21 statistical publication.

Table 4(b) in the main tables provides information on the number of convictions for 'Driving under influence'; and the additional dataset titled 'Drink and Careless driving' provides further information on the number of convictions for causing death by careless driving when under influence of drink/drugs.

These can be found under the 'Supporting documents' at this link - Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2019-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government allocates funding to the Managed Service Network (MSN) for Children and Young People with Cancer on an annual basis for both children and teenagers and young adults services. This funding provides support for administrative and strategic roles within the MSN, and some clinical posts within NHS Boards to ensure that all children and young people in Scotland receive the right diagnosis, aligned with the right treatment, delivered by the right team in the right place.

The MSN works in partnership with charities and third sector organisations to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in children and young adults. Examples include working with Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group on the Childhood Cancer Diagnosis Study and spearheading the Headsmart campaign with The Brain Tumour Charity.

The allocation process is managed by the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS). Probationer teachers are allocated to each of the 32 local authorities and to Jordanhill based on their preferences and need identified by the authorities.

As of 31 August 2022 the number and percentage of probationer teachers allocated to each local authority is indicated in the following table.

A total of 35 homes have been completed through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund since November 2021. The following table provides a breakdown by local authority area.