§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases have been brought to his notice involving glue sniffing in Lothian region and in Scotland for each of the last three years to date; how many deaths have occurred over each of the last five years to date; how many cases have been brought before the children's panel, to date; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MacKayInformation is not available centrally on the number of cases reported by police to the procurator-fiscal involving solvent abuse, but the number is likely to be small in relation to the extent of the practice. Only those cases involving a criminal element such as house-breaking, theft, breach of the peace, or wilful and reckless conduct in relation to the sale of solvents to children would come to the notice of the procurator-fiscal.
The number of deaths from solvent abuse over the five years 1979–83 was:
Lothian Total 1979 1 2 1980 0 3 1981 0 9 1982 2 14 1983 2 10 I am advised that to date the total number of referrals to reporters to children's panels under the 1983 Act has been 612, of which 93 were in Lothian. Of these 270 were referred to a children's hearing, of which 12 were in Lothian.