Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-27363

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland has requested further assistance in the past six months from the Metropolitan Police in relation to its policing and constitutional duties, particularly in relation to serious and organised crime.

Question reference: S6W-27362

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government where the new location of critical policing facilities will be, particularly the Criminal Investigation Department and fingerprinting facilities of the Edinburgh Division, in light of the recently reported closure of Fettes station.

The location of critical policing facilities is an operational decision for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland is currently in discussions with a number of partners around possible co-location options, to ensure it can continue to provide a policing service that continues to meet the needs of communities across Edinburgh, in the event that functions move away from Fettes. Police Scotland will undertake a public consultation in advance of any decisions being reached.

Question reference: S6W-27359

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide police officer relocation figures, in light of the reported closure of five current and 14 potential locations in Edinburgh and the Lothians, and of safety issues identified in buildings that they have been working in from at least the 1970s onwards, including reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The location and deployment of police officers is an operational decision for the Chief Constable. However, under its estate plans for Edinburgh and the Lothians, Police Scotland intends that front-line operational officers will be relocated within the same geographical policing area, meaning there will be no loss to community-based policing.

Police Scotland is currently considering options, and is in discussion with a number of partners around possible locations, to ensure it continues to provide a local policing service that meets the needs of communities across Edinburgh and the Lothians, and has committed to undertake a public consultation in advance of any decisions being reached.

Question reference: S6W-27364

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints to public bodies related to non-crime hate incidents have been received since the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 was passed, broken down by parliamentary region.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of complaints received by Police Scotland or any other public body that relate to Non-Crime Hate Incidents (NCHIs).

On 9 May 2024, Police Scotland published their interim guidance on ‘ Responding to Hate Crime ’ which includes information on the recording and handling of NCHIs. They also have a dedicated complaints system for instances where an individual may feel they have not been provided the level of service expected.

You may wish to contact Police Scotland directly regarding any other questions you have in relation to these procedures.

Question reference: S6W-27369

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of alleged hate crimes reported since the commencement of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 have been successfully prosecuted.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical purposes and the information within it is structured accordingly. Information provided is at date of extract and may therefore be subject to change as data and systems are updated for operational reasons.

From 1 April to 14 May 2024, 123 hate crime charges and 422 charges with one or more hate crime aggravations have been reported to COPFS. The combined total number of charges is 545.

As at 14 May 2024, 343 charges have been marked for court proceedings and a further 60 charges have been marked as “not separately actioned”. Where a charge is marked as “not separately actioned”, no action was taken against the charge, but action (prosecution in court) was taken against the accused and some of the libel in the charge may have been incorporated into a charge that was actioned.

COPFS is not the holder of conviction data but, according to our case management system, 26 charges have so far resolved after court proceedings, a conviction is recorded in 17 of these charges.

Question reference: S6W-27361

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) police officers of all ranks and (b) civilian staff (i) were offered and (ii) accepted the option of compulsory redundancy following the reported announcement of police station closures in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Public Sector Pay Strategy is clear that employers should negotiate extensions to No Compulsory Redundancy Agreements as part of pay negotiations. I can confirm that Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority do not have a compulsory redundancy scheme underway.

There have been Voluntary Redundancy (VR) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) schemes in place for most years since 2013 to provide the Chief Constable with flexibility to develop and balance the workforce in order to respond to changing demand. These schemes only apply to police staff, as police officers cannot be made redundant.

It is important to note that VR/VER schemes are not related to the Police Estates Strategy. The responsibility for the management of the policing budget and estate, including ongoing consultations around police station closures, sits with the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government has more than tripled the policing capital budget since 2017-18, supporting continued investment in police assets.

Question reference: S6W-27360

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers (a) were offered and (b) accepted voluntary redundancy following the reported announcement of station closures in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Police Scotland’s Voluntary Redundancy (VR)and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) schemes are open to police staff only, with police officers not eligible to apply.

It is important to note that VR/VER schemes are not related to the Police Estates Strategy. The responsibility for the management of the policing budget and estate, including ongoing consultations around police station closures, sits with the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government has more than tripled the policing capital budget since 2017-18, supporting continued investment in police assets.

Question reference: S6T-02000

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported figures showing that average rents increased at a higher rate in Scotland than any other region or nation in the UK between September 2022 and March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27006

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of (a) online extortion and (b) threats to disclose an intimate image have been (i) reported to and (ii) investigated by Police Scotland in each year since records began, and whether there are any plans to begin recording incidents of sextortion.

Sextortion is sexual extortion and involves the threat of having sexual information, photos or videos shared with others. It is carried out to extort money or force a victim to do something against their will, control behaviour or obtain further images.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves the perpetrator making demands for money or other valuables, Police Scotland will record and investigate it under Threats and extortion. Table 1 shows the estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online, from 2019-20 to 2022-23. This is based on an annual review of crime records (commenced in 2019-20) which aims to estimate how many cyber-crimes are recorded in Scotland. It should be noted the figures below are based on a sample of police records (rather than all police records), so should be seen as providing a broad estimate of the volume of this type of crime, rather than an exact count.

Whilst not all online threats and extortion will necessarily have a ‘sextortion’ based element, it is very likely a high proportion (and certainly the majority) of the cases shown in Table 1 do. Figures for 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves a motive other than financial gain (for example a demand of a physical sexual nature or some other attempt to exert control over the victim), Police Scotland will record and investigate it under Threatening to disclose an intimate image. Table 2 below shows the number of these crimes recorded since the associated Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act was implemented on 3 July 2017. Again, figures for 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Table 1 - Estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online: 2019-20 to 2022-23

	Estimated volume committed online
Crime type	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Threats and extortion	290	730	1,260	1,830

Source: Recorded Crime Accredited Official Statistics, Police recorded cyber-crime in Scotland

Table 2 – Count of crimes of Threatening to disclose an intimate image: 2017-18 to 2022-23

Crime type	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Threatening to disclose an intimate image	193	255	275	337	382	302

Source: Recorded Crime Accredited Official Statistics, Scotland

Question reference: S6O-03439

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact of the reported reduction in primary school music teacher numbers will be on children and young people.

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