§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each of the last three years,(a) the number of child maintenance cases before the Scottish courts and (b) the number of cases where DNA paternity testing was involved.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information requested is not held centrally. So far as concerns DNA paternity testing, whilst it was always possible for parties to agree this procedure, the provisions of section 70 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 which enable the court to request a party to provide samples for analysis, have been in force only since 1 January 1991. There is no information available as to the extent to which use is being made of the provisions.