§ Mr. William Hannanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will provide a table showing separately for each of the four cities and the rest of Scotland, at any recent convenient date, the number of injured treated in their casualty wards; how many of these were under the influence of alcohol on entry; and, in the public interest, if he will ask the Committee on Licensing Laws to inquire into this matter;
(2) whether the admission records to casualty wards of hospitals, particularly in Glasgow, enable him to state the number of admissions who at entry were 151W under the influence of alcohol; if he will consult the hospital authorities with a view to collating such information; and if he will ask the Licensing Laws Review Body to bear this matter in mind during its deliberations.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe records of patients admitted to hospital through accident and emergency departments do not enable the number who were under the influence of alcohol to be stated. Even if such information were collected, there would be considerable difficulties in interpretation, and I should not feel justified at this stage in asking hospital authorities to collect it. All implications of the licensing law of Scotland are
CRIMINAL STATISTICS—SCOTLAND NUMBER OF MALES AND FEMALES UNDER 21 CONVICTED OR FOUND GUILTY OF DRUNKENNESS; 1951–1970 Drunk and Incapable Drunk and Disorderly Other Drunkenness Offences Total … … Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Total 1951 … … 137 9 28 4 4 — 169 13 182 1952 … … 123 21 40 9 3 — 166 30 196 1953 … … 175 17 30 3 5 — 210 20 230 1954 … … 214 14 39 2 5 1 258 17 275 1955 … … 258 14 44 8 3 — 305 22 327 1956 … … 268 18 74 10 5 — 347 28 375 1957 … … 351 13 83 6 4 — 438 19 457 1958 … … 399 19 61 8 4 — 464 27 491 1959 … … 457 15 75 6 4 1 536 22 558 1960 … … 476 20 72 2 5 — 553 22 575 1961 … … 590 24 62 1 5 — 657 25 682 1962 … … 596 29 40 — 9 — 645 29 674 1963 … … 589 39 37 2 8 — 634 41 675 1964 … … 751 31 40 2 9 — 800 33 833 1965 … … 758 40 28 — 12 2 798 42 840 1966 … … 861 52 86 3 12 3 959 58 1,017 1967 … … 882 55 95 2 12 — 989 57 1,046 1968 … … 885 73 109 4 8 6 1,002 83 1,085 1969 … … 832 51 62 4 9 1 903 56 959 1970* … … 945 96 62 12 19 4 1,026 112 1,138 * The figures for 1970 are provisional.