§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively, referred to children's hearings in the last 12 months for which figures are available, the grounds for referral were not accepted by 309W the child and his parent and application was made to the sheriff for a finding as to whether the grounds for referral were established ; what percentages of the total referrals these applications represented ; and in how many cases in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively, the sheriff decided that the grounds of referral had not been established.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe figures available for Scotland for 1972 cover the acceptance or establishment of the main offence, where an offence was among the grounds for referral for a child aged 8–15 appearing before a hearing. In 8,226 cases, 839 per cent., of the total number of such referrals to hearings, the main offence was accepted by the child and his parent ; in 629 cases, 6.4 per cent., it was established before the sheriff ; and in 947 cases, 9.7 per cent., it was neither accepted nor established. The last figure includes cases which were not proceeded with by the hearing in addition to cases where the main offence was not established before the sheriff.
Separate figures for Glasgow are not available.
§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many reports were received by reporters under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 in Glasgow and Scotland, respectively, over the last 12-months period for which figures are available ; in how many of these cases the grounds of referral related to alleged offences ; and in how many of these latter cases reference was made to a children's hearing.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe figures for 1972 are as follows :
Scotland Glasgow Reports to reporter 23,144 6,423 Reports in which grounds for referral included alleged offences 20,669 5,801 Reports referred to hearings in which grounds for referral include alleged offences 10,060 2,264 Where two or more reports were made concerning the same child, these were dealt with as a single report in statistical returns from Glasgow but not from other areas. If all reports concerning the same child were counted separately, the figures above, both for Scotland and for Glasgow, for reports made to the reporter 310W and for reports referred to hearings would be increased, possibly by as much as 2,500 and 1,000 respectively.
§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children, as defined for the purposes of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, prosecuted in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively, over the last 12-months period for which figures are available, were charged along with adults.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThis information is not available.
§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details for Scotland and Glasgow, respectively, for the last 12-month period for which figures are available, of the decisions of children's hearings, showing figures for cases where no supervision requirements were made, cases where supervision requirements without residential provision were made and cases where supervision requirements with residential provision were made.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe figures for 1972 for initial decisions by hearings were as follows :
Scotland Glasgow No supervision requirement 4,132 1,049 Non-residential supervision requirement 5,931 1,233 Residential supervision requirement 1,773 433
§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively, in the last 12 months for which figures are available, appeals were made to the sheriff in respect of decisions of children's hearings ; what percentages of total decisions made the appeals represented ; and in how many cases the appeals were allowed in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellSeventeen appeals were made to the sheriff against decisions of children's hearings in Scotland in 1972. This represented 0T per cent. of all decisions. In 10 cases the decision by the hearing was confirmed, in two cases the child was discharged, and five cases were remitted to the hearing for reconsideration. There were eight appeals in Glasgow, representing 311W 0.3 per cent. of all decisions ; in five cases the decision was confirmed, in one case the child was discharged and two cases were remitted to the hearing for reconsideration.