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Emergency Services
Gavin Brown (Conservative) | Question S3W-40352
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hoax calls were made to Lothian and Borders (a) Police and (b) Fire and Rescue Service and at what total cost, in each year since 2007.
Kenny MacAskill (Scottish National Party)
The latest figures available for the number of malicious false alarms to Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service are shown in table 1. The number of hoax calls made to the Lothian and Borders Police are not held centrally. However, the number of recorded crimes by Lothian and Borders Police of making a false call is available and is shown in table 2. Information relating to the cost of hoax calls to the emergency services is a matter for individual services, and is not held centrally.
Table 1. Fire and Rescue Services
| Year | Malicious False Alarms |
| 2007 | 1,001 |
| 2008-09 | 849 |
| 2009-10P | 469 |
Source: Fire Statistics Scotland, 2008-09 Final (2009-10 Provisional)1.
Note: 1. In contrast to previous year’s reports, this latest publication has changed from reporting on a calendar year basis to a financial year basis.
Table 2. Police
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
| False calls to the emergency services and bomb hoaxes | 70 | - | - | - |
| *Hoax calls to the emergency services | - | 26 | 52 | 88 |
| *Hoax bomb calls | - | 16 | 13 | 8 |
| Total | 70 | 42 | 65 | 96 |
Source: Scottish Government police recorded crime statistics.
Notes:
1. The two categories of offence were not separate until 2007-08.
2. This offence includes, but is not restricted to, hoax bomb calls. It is not possible to separate these offences from bomb hoax offences.