Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Executive collects annual statistics from local authorities on the following aspects of the mandatory licensing scheme:

• number of applications received, refused, granted, revoked or suspended during the year, by types of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO);
• number of applications pending at 31 March, by types of HMO;
• total number of licenses in force at 31 March, by type of HMO and by number of occupants;
• reasons for refusals for licences, and
• licensing fees and fee structure.

The resulting figures have been published in the Scottish Executive's Statistical Bulletin, Housing Trends in Scotland. The relevant issues, which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre, are for quarters ending 31 December 2001 and 31 March 2002 (Bib. number 23303) and quarter ending 31 March 2001 (Bib. number 16396).The Executive also commissioned independent research, A Review of the First Year of Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation in Scotland, by Hector Currie, and officials keep in touch with current issues and developments through attending the meetings of the Scottish HMO Network Group of local authority officers.

The Scottish Executive considers that the provisions of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000 are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The law relating to the detention of persons suffering from personality disorders was recently reviewed as part of the work of the Millan and McLean Committees. Their recommendations informed the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, which received Royal Assent in March and April respectively this year and will come into force in due course. Given this, we see no benefit in a further review at this time. The operation of the new legislation will clearly be very closely monitored.

The available information, which relates to all offences categorised as litter offences under the Scottish Executive Justice Department's classification of crimes and offences, is given in the following table. The data for 2002 are expected to be published in the autumn of 2003.Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts Where the Main Offence was a Litter Offence, by Local Authority, 2000 and 2001

Local Authority	2000	2001
Angus	2	5
Argyll and Bute	1	-
City of Edinburgh	-	1
Dumfries and Galloway	1	-
Dundee City	3	3
East Ayrshire	-	2
East Dunbartonshire	1	-
Falkirk	-	1
Glasgow City	1	4
Highland	-	2
Inverclyde	1	1
North Ayrshire	-	1
North Lanarkshire	2	3
South Ayrshire	-	2
South Lanarkshire	1	2
West Dunbartonshire	1	-
Total	14	27

It is for the local authorities to monitor the success of the specific schemes they propose for Quality of Life funding. However, the Scottish Executive has provided £150,000 to Keep Scotland Beautiful to develop, with all local authorities in Scotland, performance indicators for the standard of cleanliness of streets and pavements.

No further local authorities have adopted formal litter plans since my response to question S1W-30208. The decision on whether to adopt a litter plan is one for the individual local authority.

The Scottish Executive and the Home Office jointly reviewed the Sex Offenders Act in 2000 and published the results in July 2001. That review concluded that there was no viable way of extending the act to offenders convicted before the legislation came into force, beyond the limited retrospection with respect to those serving relevant sentences on 1 September 1997.There are measures, however, to protect the public from sex offenders who have completed their sentences prior to 1997 but who continue to display risky behaviour. Chief constables can, for example, apply for a Sex Offender Order, which triggers notification and can place prohibitions on the individual.A number of changes to strengthen the existing sex offenders' regime are contained in the Sexual Offences Bill currently before the UK Parliament. No further changes to the retrospective element of the legislation are planned.

The available information is given in the following table. The data for 2002 are not expected to be available until the autumn of 2003.Prosecutions and Fines Imposed for Offences Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as Main Offence), Scotland, 1998-2001

	1998	1999	2000	2001
All Offences1
Number of Prosecutions	55	44	24	34
Number with Charge Proved	53	36	20	32
Total Amount of Fines Imposed (£)	18,705	6,740	16,480	12,080
Offences Classified as Litter Offences2
Number of Prosecutions	41	30	14	27
Number with Charge Proved	39	23	11	26
Total Amount of Fines Imposed (£)	1,940	1,190	7,990	3,680

Notes:1. Excludes a small number of cases where the charge information available is not sufficiently detailed to identify the offence as being under the 1990 act.2. Under the Scottish Executive Justice Department classification of crimes and offences.

In 2000 and 2001, 14 and 27 persons respectively were proceeded against in Scottish Courts where the main offence was categorised as a litter offence under the Scottish Executive Justice Department's classification of crimes and offences. The data for 2002 are not expected to be available until the autumn of 2003.

The Executive has had sight of the three independent reports commissioned by Scottish Borders Council in respect of the "Miss X" case. The latest of these is the report written by Ms Anne Black, which was received by the Executive on 29 May 2003. I have asked the Chief Social Work Inspector to examine the documents and report back to me.