Referrals to the Procurator Fiscal - Aberdeen City Council (Dogs on Beach) Byelaws 2001

Aberdeen City Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Aberdeen City Council,

I refer to my previous request (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a... ) to which you replied that there had been no penalties levied and that the terms of the byelaws mean that those contravening the bylaws are referred to the procurator fiscal.

Please provide the following:

1 - the number of persons annually referred to the Procurator Fiscal under the byelaws since the implementation of the bylaws, and
2 - the disposal of those cases (monetary penalty, admonition and similar) .

Also, in your response you mention "Since the
introduction of the Bye law further dog legislation is now available to
the Dog Wardens e.g. the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Control
of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010. This legislation allows the dog wardens to
take more effective and proportionate action which the Byelaw does not
provide."

3 - please provide provide figure for the number of cases which have been pursued by city council employees under these other legislative arrangements in the years since their enactment, by whatever prosecution route, in relation to dogs on Aberdeen beach (generally, and specifically in the area from which dogs are excluded under the bye law).

4 - Please provide a copy of any report or assessment (or any other measure) of the efficacy of legislation in place to protect families and children from dogs being exercised or fouling the area of Aberdeen beach from which dogs are excluded. i.e.. how does the city council know how well legislation (generally not just the byelaw) works in protecting the public since the council was concerned enough to create legislation to tackle a problem in 2001.

Yours faithfully,

Adrian B Summers

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Summers,

 

Information enquiry reference FOI-17-0234.

 

Thank you for your recent request for information, which we received on 9
February 2017.   

 

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is on
or before 9 March 2017.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries in the
meantime.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

Information Compliance Officer

 

 

Information Compliance Team
Communications and Promotion
Office of Chief Executive
Aberdeen City Council
Room 1-24
Town House
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[1][Aberdeen City Council request email]
01224 523827/523602

Tel 03000 200 292

 

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[2]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

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References

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1. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
2. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Summers,

 

Thank you for your information request of 9 February 2017.  Aberdeen City
Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the information
requested.

 

I refer to my previous request
([1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...
) to which you replied that there had been no penalties levied and that
the terms of the byelaws mean that those contravening the bylaws are
referred to the procurator fiscal.

 

Please provide the following:

 

1 - the number of persons annually referred to the Procurator Fiscal under
the byelaws since the implementation of the bylaws, and

In relation to Aberdeen City Council (Dogs on Aberdeen Beach) Byelaws
2001, there have been no persons referred to the Procurator Fiscal

 

2 - the disposal of those cases (monetary penalty, admonition and similar)
.

This is a decision which is made by the Crown Office and Procurator
Fiscals Office (COPFS) ,therefore, Aberdeen City Council would not hold
records for this.  However, as above no cases have been referred.

 

Also, in your response you mention "Since the introduction of the Bye law
further dog legislation is now available to the Dog Wardens e.g. the Dog
Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010. 
This legislation allows the dog wardens to take more effective and
proportionate action which the Byelaw does not provide."

 

3 - please provide provide figure for the number of cases which have been
pursued by city council employees under these other legislative
arrangements in the years since their enactment, by whatever prosecution
route, in relation to dogs on Aberdeen beach (generally,  and specifically
in the area from which dogs are excluded under the bye law).

Officers from Environmental Health have not witnessed any behaviour by
either dogs or dog owners which has required any formal enforcement action
to be taken.

 

4 - Please provide a copy of any report or assessment (or any other
measure) of the efficacy of legislation in place to protect families and
children from dogs being exercised or fouling the area of Aberdeen beach
from which dogs are excluded. i.e.. how does the city council know how
well legislation (generally not just the byelaw) works in protecting the
public since the council was concerned enough to create legislation to
tackle a problem in 2001.

There have been no reports or assessments of this kind undertaken for any
areas within Aberdeen City.  No persons have been referred to the
Procurator Fiscal or subject to enforcement action under any current
legislation which is in force in relation to dogs.

 

We hope this helps with your request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

Information Compliance Officer

 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDLING OF YOUR REQUEST

 

ACC handled your request for information in accordance with the provisions
of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Please refer to the
attached PDF for more information about your rights under FOISA.

 

 

Information Compliance Team
Communications and Promotion
Office of Chief Executive
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[2][Aberdeen City Council request email]
01224 523827/523602

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[3]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...
2. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
3. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/