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Offenders (Release)
Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary for State for Scotland how many and what percentage of serious offenders were released in Scotland without a supervision order, in each year since 1992. [17694]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The information requested is not available. However, it may be useful to highlight the current legislative requirements in relation to supervision of offenders. Sections 12 and 14 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 set out, with effect from 1 October 1993, new provisions in relation to the supervision of prisoners. Section 12 requires that all long-term prisoners--those sentenced to four years or more--will be supervised on release by a relevant local authority officer. Similarly, section 14 enables the courts to order supervision for those short-term prisoners sentenced to between one and four years who may pose a potential risk to the public on
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release. This power is exercised by imposing a supervised release order. Measures are therefore in place to ensure the supervision of offenders as appropriate.
The Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Bill, currently before Parliament, contains provisions to extend the availability of the supervised release order. It would provide for mandatory supervision for up to 25 per cent. of sentence for those convicted of the most serious violent offences.
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of Scottish prisoners are currently serving sentences of less than six months; and what percentage of those are female. [17691]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The subject of this question relates to matters undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Mrs. Ray Michie, dated 3 March 1997:
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons in Scotland aged under 18 years were charged with a criminal offence in 1996.[17693]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Information is not collected centrally on the number of persons charged with a criminal offence. In 1994, the latest year for which information is available, there were 10,601 occasions when persons aged under 18 were proceeded against for a criminal offence at court and a further 25,735 occasions when persons aged under 18 were referred to the reporter to the children's panels on offence grounds.
Mr. Thurnham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of convicted sex offenders in Scotland who would have been registerable if the provisions of the Sex Offenders Bill had been in force at the time of their conviction. [17799]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
No estimate has been made as this is not relevant for the purposes of the Bill.
Dr. Strang:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of food poisoning have been reported in Scotland to date in 1997. [17659]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 27 February 1997]: By the week ending 15 February 1997, there had been 902 notifications of food poisoning to the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service.
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Dr. Strang:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of reported cases of salmonellosis in Scotland in each year since 1979; and what is the latest available figure for 1997. [17660]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 27 February 1997]: The following table shows total numbers of Salmonella infections--human laboratory isolates--reported to the Scottish centre for infection and environmental health over the period requested.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the percentage of Scottish prisoners who are currently serving sentences of less than six months; and the percentage of those that are female.
As at 26 February 1997 13 per cent. (815) of the Scottish prison population were serving sentences of less than six months, 6 per cent. of which (49) were female.
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 1,483 |
| 1980 | 1,577 |
| 1981 | 2,526 |
| 1982 | 2,621 |
| 1983 | 2,288 |
| 1984 | 2,221 |
| 1985 | 1,690 |
| 1986 | 2,015 |
| 1987 | 2,286 |
| 1988 | 2,580 |
| 1989 | 2,578 |
| 1990 | 2,442 |
| 1991 | 2,330 |
| 1992 | 2,992 |
| 1993 | 2,919 |
| 1994 | 2,969 |
| 1995 | 3,106 |
| 1996 | 3,266 |
| 1997 | (10)313 |
(10) To 21 February 1997.
Farmed Salmon
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many salmon farms in Scotland are permitted to use ivermectin to control sea lice. [17829]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 27 February 1997]: I understand from the Scottish Environment Protection agency that discharge consents have been granted to 15 Scottish salmon farms in respect of ivermectin which will be used to control sea lice. Twenty-four applications for discharge consent have been refused by the agency.
Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the letter of the Lord Advocate of 14 February to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, who assessed (a) the current role of Mr. James Thurman and (b) his former role in respect of the Lockerbie case. [17291]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Issues as to Mr. Thurman's current role are for the relevant United States authorities, but Mr. Thurman's role in respect of the Lockerbie case was considered by the then Lord Advocate, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, in September 1995. He advised the hon. Member in October 1995 that proof of the case does not depend on evidence which Mr. Thurman might give.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant, to the letter of the Lord Advocate of 14 February, to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, if he has assessed a draft of the US inspector general's report into laboratory practices and alleged misconduct in explosives-related and other cases. [17292]
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The Lord Advocate has not seen a draft of the US inspector general's report into laboratory practices and alleged misconduct in explosives-related and other cases.
Pensioner Incomes
Sir Andrew Bowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide an updated analysis for each quintile of pensioners' income for single pensioners, pensioner couples and all pensioner units on the same basis as that given on 12 March 1996, Official Report, columns 595-98. [14302]
Mr. Heald:
The information has been placed in the Library.
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Mr. Alan Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) men and (b) women qualified for home responsibilities protection during each of the past five years, by reason for protection; and what is his estimate of the annual cost of making each year of home responsibilities protection equivalent to a year in which full national insurance credits have been awarded.[15797]
Mr. Heald:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
The Government Actuary's Department has estimated that replacing the home responsibilities protection arrangements with full national insurance credits would cost £150 million in the year 2030.
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| Reason/Benefit | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | |||||
| Child benefit | 30 | 36 | 40 | 49 | 57 |
| Income support | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Attendance allowance | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | 31 | 36 | 40 | 49 | 57 |
| Women | |||||
| Child benefit | 2,619 | 2,688 | 2,709 | 2,719 | 2,700 |
| Income support | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Attendance allowance | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- |
| Total | 2,621 | 2,690 | 2,710 | 2,720 | 2,700 |
Source:
1 per cent. sample of national insurance records at February 1996--DSS Home Responsibilities Protection Statistics 1994-95.
Notes:
1. Figures relate to Great Britain and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. It is not possible to determine how many of the years will be used in the final pension calculation until the individual claims retirement pension.
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Claimants (Exempt Work)
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants of invalidity benefit were undertaking therapeutic work during the year 1994-95; how many claimants of incapacity benefit have undertaken exempt work since its introduction in 1995; and what is his estimate of (a) the annual cost and (b) the numbers affected if the therapeutic work rules were reintroduced into incapacity benefit. [16098]
Mr. Burt: The information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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