§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will raise the level of amenity grants for the planting of hardwood.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellGrants have not been available from the Forestry Commission for amenity planting as such. This is one of the questions on which consultations are taking place between the Forestry Commission and the Forestry Committee of Great Britain in the light of the Government's Consultative Document of June 1972 on forestry policy; it is still too early to say when it will be possible to reach conclusions in the light of these consultations about future arrangements for grants for tree planting.
The Countryside Commission for Scotland may pay grants on schemes designed 19W to develop or improve the facilities for the enjoyment of the countryside including the enhancement of its natural beauty and amenity; and tree planting may be incidental to these purposes. I have no proposals, however, for increasing the level of these grants which are designed to meet 75 per cent. of the cost.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what he is doing to encourage the planting of single trees, where such planting is of benefit to the landscape.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellI am arrangeing national publicity in Scotland for Tree Planting Year 1973; and I hope that, wherever practicable and appropriate, local authorities will arrange and encourage the planting of trees, both in groups and singly.
1961 1966 1971 Percentage increase in 1971 compared with 1961 Number of persons convicted of: Murder … … 4 22 40 900.0 Attempt to murder … … 2 9 33 1,550.0 Culpable homicide … … 13 29 14 7.7
Mr. Edward Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many crimes of violence were made known to the police in 1971; and what were the comparable figures in 1961 and 1966, respectively;
(2) by what percentage the number of crimes of violence made known to the police in 1971 exceeded or was less than the comparable total for 1961.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe numbers of crimes of violence known to the police in Scotland in 1961, 1966 and 1971 were 1,661, 2,929 and 3,708, respectively.
The figure for 1971 exceeded the corresponding figure for 1961 by 123.2 per cent.
In Scotland crimes of violence comprise murder, attempt to murder, culpable homicide, assault, threat, rape, assault with intent to ravish and indecent assault.