§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to collect information about the number of empty council houses in Scotland.
§ Mr. William RossNo. In assessing local housing needs, local authorities will have regard to the number of empty council houses.
CRIMES MADE KNOWN TO THE POLICE—SCOTLAND 1975 (provisional) 1974 Percentage increase Crimes against the person … … … 8,482 8,081 5.0 Crimes against property with violence … … … 100,880 77,499 30.2 Crimes against property without violence … … … 107,242 92,623 15.8 Other crimes … … … 15,878 14,030 13.2 Total crimes … … … 232,482 192,233 20.9 In 1975 reorganisation of police forces in Scotland was an element of local government reform. The new chief constables introduced standard procedures for recording and reporting throughout their police areas in place of the procedures adopted in some old forces. This has resulted, in particular in the Glasgow area, in increased recording by the police of crimes made known to them. The consequence is a break in comparability