Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-13397

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7188 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 April 2004, what level of funding it has provided to Caledonia Youth in 2004-05.

Question reference: S2W-13398

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding it has allocated to ASH Scotland in each year since 1999 and whether it has any plans to discontinue this funding.

Funding allocations for ASH Scotland in each year since 1999 are as follows:-

Funding Allocation	1999-2000 £	2000-01 £	2001-02 £	2002-03 £	2003-04 £	2004-05 £
16b Core Funding	117,000	120,400	120,400	170,500	179,000	227,500
Tobacco Inequalities Project	71,000	97,500	70,000	41,000	72,000	73,000
ASH Information Service				57,000	56,000	56,000
Admin costs for lottery funded project					11,000	10,000
Capital Funding			6,500	1,000	35,000	17,500
Tobacco Control Alliance Co‑ordinator		15,000
Website Development		40,700
Evaluation Resource Pack			55,000

In addition the Partnership Action on Tobacco and Health was established by the Scottish Executive in 2002 to establish national training standards for smoking cessation services; identify best practice and advise on data collection for services. PATH is currently housed in the offices of ASH Scotland.

ASH (Scotland) is the only voluntary sector agency dealing with tobacco control issues in Scotland. Tobacco control remains a key priority for the Executive and there are no plans to discontinue funding to ASH Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-13049

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering any change in the weighting between council tax bands.

Question reference: S2W-13117

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12713 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 December 2004, what the average fine has been, where a monetary penalty was awarded, for a first offender convicted of (a) non-sexual crimes of violence, (b) serious assault, (c) robbery, (d) crimes of indecency, (e) rape, (f) attempted rape, (g) indecent assault, (h) crimes of dishonesty, (i) housebreaking, (j) shoplifting, (k) fraud, (l) fire-raising, (m) vandalism, (n) handling an offensive weapon, (o) drugs, (p) petty assault, (q) breach of the peace and (r) drink driving in each of the last five years.

The available information is given in the table.

Persons with No Previous Convictions¹ Given a Monetary Penalty - Average Fine Imposed, 1998-2002

Type of Offence²	Number of Persons Fined	Average Fine (£)
Non-sexual Crimes of Violence
1998	99	388
1999	118	446
2000	78	568
2001	76	432
2002³	121	396
Serious Assault
1998	63	408
1999	90	528
2000	63	511
2001	56	507
2002³	97	412
Robbery
1998	16	216
1999	10	194
2000	8	234
2001	7	260
2002³	9	306
Crimes of Indecency
1998	81	268
1999	72	288
2000	55	271
2001	61	335
2002³	45	283
Rape
1998	-	-
1999	-	-
2000	-	-
2001	-	-
2002³	-	-
Attempted Rape
1998	-	-
1999	-	-
2000	-	-
2001	-	-
2002³	-	-
Indecent Assault
1998	11	500
1999	10	560
2000	8	419
2001	9	528
2002³	11	309
Crimes of Dishonesty
1998	2,587	180
1999	2,048	181
2000	1,801	200
2001	1,789	192
2002³	1,559	186
House breaking
1998	142	169
1999	130	177
2000	124	187
2001	105	208
2002³	84	213
Shoplifting
1998	511	85
1999	402	93
2000	393	89
2001	381	102
2002³	325	98
Fraud
1998	573	217
1999	427	224
2000	378	319
2001	390	222
2002³	379	200
Fire-raising
1998	8	365
1999	11	314
2000	11	216
2001	11	185
2002³	8	289
Vandalism
1998	877	108
1999	724	104
2000	754	118
2001	733	128
2002³	723	120
Handling an Offensive Weapon
1998	291	228
1999	293	213
2000	288	229
2001	343	240
2002³	359	252
Drugs
1998	1,236	184
1999	994	171
2000	892	165
2001	933	179
2002³	893	187
Common Assault
1998	2,392	200
1999	2,099	207
2000	1,893	214
2001	2,023	226
2002³	2,090	224
Breach of the Peace
1998	2,459	122
1999	1,922	128
2000	1,857	134
2001	2,074	140
2002³	2,006	144
Drink Driving⁴
1998	6,804	351
1999	6,383	360
2000	6,166	360
2001	6,232	384
2002³	8,113	389

Notes:

1. No convictions in Scotland since the start of 1989 for a crime,common assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated conduct or harassment,firearms offences or social security offences.

2. Where main offence.

3. Figures may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

4. First offenders cannot be separately identified from other offenders for this offence; the figures therefore relate to all persons convicted of this offence.

Question reference: S2W-12153

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending stream “Promoting Social Inclusion” under the level 3 heading “Closing the Opportunity Gap by Providing Routes Out of Poverty, Ensuring Equal Opportunities and Supporting Active Citizenship” in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be used for.

Promoting Social Inclusion is used to fund a range of activities which contribute to the Executive’s cross-cutting Closing the Opportunity Gap approach for tackling poverty and deprivation.

These include:

· pump-priming activities such as the current Fresh Start project, which provides mentoring to encourage lone parents to improve their employability

· the Closing the Opportunity Gap Fund from 2006-07- details to be announced in due course

· a contribution to the Changing Childrens Services Fund- improving services for vulnerable children (£5 million per annum over 2005-08)

· programmes for promoting Financial Inclusion, including:

§ the Credit Union Capacity Fund - to develop credit unions and increase credit union membership, implementing the Credit Union Action Plan (£1.1 million for 2005-06)

§ Money Advice- free, independent and impartial advice for people who find themselves in debt and other financial difficulties (£3.5-4.3-3.6 million over 2005-08)

research, poverty data, and other supporting activities.

Question reference: S2W-12158

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending stream “Promoting Equality” under the level 3 heading “Closing the Opportunity Gap by Providing Routes out of Poverty, Ensuring Equal Opportunities and Supporting Active Citizenship” in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be used for.

Question reference: S2W-12873

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people left the civil service in Scotland in each of the last five years and how many are estimated to leave in each of the next five years.

The headcount of permanent leavers from the Scottish Executive core departments, agencies and associated departments in each of the past five financial years is provided in the following table.

The data provided include members of staff who have left and rejoined during the period under investigation. The data therefore reflect the number of leavers, rather than number of individuals. The data provided relate to all civil servants leaving the Scottish Executive. It is not possible to distinguish the destination of the leavers, which may have been another public body in Scotland. the Scottish Executive does not hold leaver information for some associated departments/agencies* or other public bodies in Scotland.

Financial Year	Leavers (headcount)
1999-2000	733
2000-01	589
2001-02	478
2002-03	464
2003-04	468

Future Leavers

The expected number of age retirements from the Scottish Executive core departments, agencies and associated departments, in each of the next fivefinancial years, is provided in the following table. The figures are derived fromthe age of current employees, given an expected retirement age of 60 yrs.

It is not possible to predict the number of other leavers over the coming five years. However, there is no reason to expect that this will differ significantly from the number of leavers over the last five years.

Financial Year	Expected Retirements (headcount)
2004-05	117
2005-06	95
2006-07	188
2007-08	189
2008-09	198

*Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal, Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Courts Service, Historic Scotland, Registers of Scotland and Communities Scotland staff that have not signed up to Scottish Executive terms and conditions.

Question reference: S2W-12874

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were recruited to the civil service in Scotland in each of the last five years and how many are estimated to be recruited in each of the next five years.

The headcount of permanent new starts to the Scottish Executive core departments, agencies and associated departments in each of the past five financial years is provided in the following table. The data provided includes members of staff who have left and rejoined during the period under investigation. The data therefore reflect the number of new starts, rather than number of individuals. The data provided relates to all civil servants joining the Scottish Executive. It is not possible to distinguish the origin of the new starts, which may have been another public body in Scotland. The Scottish Executive does not hold recruitmentinformation for some associated departments/agencies* or other public bodies inScotland.

Financial Year	New Starts (headcount)
1999-2000	925
2000-01	881
2001-02	922
2002-03	772
2003-04	551

Future recruitment

The Scottish Executive has experienced a period of growth since devolution leading to relatively high levels of recruitment. Given the tight constraints on administration costs recently announced we are clear that this will not continue. It is not possible to predict exact recruitment numbers over the coming five years. However, there is likely to be a continued need for some limited external recruitment to address turnover and to allow the Scottish Executive to recruit for specific specialist and professional skills to meet business needs.

*Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal, Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Courts Service, Historic Scotland, Registers of Scotland and Communities Scotland staff that have not signed up to Scottish Executive terms and conditions.

Question reference: S2W-12713

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 14 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average sentence has been for a first offender convicted of (a) non-sexual crimes of violence, (b) serious assault, (c) robbery, (d) crimes of indecency, (e) rape, (f) attempted rape, (g) indecent assault, (h) crimes of dishonesty, (i) housebreaking, (j) shoplifting, (k) fraud, (l) fire-raising, (m) vandalism, (n) handling an offensive weapon, (o) drugs, (p) petty assault, (q) breach of the peace and (r) drink driving, in each of the last five years.

The available information is given in the table.

Persons with No Previous Convictions¹ with a Charge Proved for Selected Offences, by Type of Sentence, 1998-2002

Type of Offence²	Total Number with a Charge Proved=100%	% Sentenced to:	Average Length of Custodial Sentence Days⁵
Custody	Community Sentence	Monetary	Other
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence
1998	497	30	37	22	11	860
1999	547	29	35	23	13	939
2000	467	31	37	18	14	976
2001	493	28	41	18	12	945
2002³	571	27	40	23	10	865
Serious Assault
1998	281	24	43	27	6	862
1999	324	24	38	29	8	642
2000	270	28	40	26	6	717
2001	296	25	45	23	6	647
2002³	365	24	41	29	5	659
Robbery
1998	97	36	35	16	12	795
1999	98	39	42	11	8	851
2000	88	39	43	8	10	829
2001	80	39	35	11	15	899
2002³	99	36	46	10	7	865
Crimes of Indecency
1998	363	36	30	22	11	1,198
1999	314	39	27	23	11	1,168
2000	254	39	31	21	9	1,145
2001	307	35	36	21	8	1,349
2002³	254	35	39	18	9	1,218
Rape
1998	12	83	8	8	-	2,212
1999	14	93	-	-	7	2,500
2000	8	75	25	-	-	2,861
2001	20	70	20	-	10	2,622
2002³	13	92	8	-	-	2,225
Attempted Rape
1998	12	75	25	-	-	1,786
1999	12	75	17	-	8	866
2000	7	86	14	-	-	1,400
2001	13	85	8	-	8	1,677
2002³	4	50	25	-	25	2,192
Indecent assault
1998	48	15	52	23	10	1,065
1999	43	44	26	26	5	975
2000	36	33	31	19	17	944
2001	30	13	40	37	10	867
2002³	35	29	29	31	11	1,029
Crimes of Dishonesty
1998	4,636	4	16	59	21	439
1999	3,866	5	17	56	22	319
2000	3,153	3	15	61	20	345
2001	3,161	5	16	60	19	253
2002³	2,924	4	17	56	23	254
House Breaking
1998	395	8	31	43	18	226
1999	330	5	32	46	17	137
2000	279	10	23	51	16	228
2001	261	10	29	46	16	186
2002³	257	7	31	38	25	206
Shoplifting
1998	842	1	6	61	32	65
1999	731	2	7	56	35	74
2000	620	1	8	64	27	73
2001	608	2	6	63	28	84
2002³	553	2	7	59	31	81
Fraud
1998	813	5	10	74	11	1,064
1999	650	6	13	70	10	732
2000	565	4	12	72	12	585
2001	562	5	12	72	11	377
2002³	577	3	11	70	16	482
Fire-raising
1998	45	22	38	22	18	599
1999	38	3	34	34	29	731
2000	29	21	24	41	14	426
2001	36	8	44	42	6	253
2002³	42	12	40	21	26	383
Vandalism
1998	1,437	0	5	77	18	103
1999	1,299	0	4	76	20	67
2000	1,197	1	4	79	16	159
2001	1,180	1	5	79	15	52
2002³	1,214	1	6	76	17	98
Handling an Offensive Weapon
1998	555	4	22	52	22	110
1999	564	4	20	51	24	77
2000	587	4	26	48	22	95
2001	698	3	24	49	23	91
2002³	671	3	23	52	22	93
Drugs
1998	1,726	8	13	71	9	700
1999	1,442	8	13	68	10	990
2000	1,227	8	11	72	9	916
2001	1,311	9	10	71	11	911
2002³	1,260	6	12	70	12	1,020
Common Assault
1998	3,937	2	8	63	27	273
1999	3,561	1	10	61	28	328
2000	3,271	2	11	60	27	193
2001	3,470	2	10	62	26	198
2002³	3,596	2	11	61	27	194
Breach of the Peace
1998	3,916	1	3	63	33	73
1999	3,184	1	3	61	35	90
2000	2,884	1	3	65	32	124
2001	3,196	1	4	65	30	111
2002³	3,221	1	3	63	33	237
Drink Driving⁴
1998	7,287	2	4	93	1	121
1999	6,899	2	5	92	1	134
2000	6,691	2	6	91	1	132
2001	6,792	2	6	91	1	116
2002³	8,856	3	6	91	1	114

Notes:

1. No convictions in Scotland since the start of 1989 for a crime, common assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated conduct or harassment, firearms offences or social security offences.

2. Where main offence.

3. Figures may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

4. First offenders cannot be separately identified from other offenders for this offence; the figures therefore relate to all persons convicted of this offence.

5. Excludes life sentences and sentence length not known.

Question reference: S2W-12152

Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 6 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending stream “International Relations” under the level 3 heading “Committees, Commissions and Other Expenditure” in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be used for.

Seòmar agus comataidhean