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We will shortly publish the analysis report of the responses to the consultation paper " Protecting Children: Review of section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and section 42 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009" . The consultation sought views on potential changes to the criminal offence of cruelty to children to ensure it reflects modern understandings of what constitutes child abuse and neglect, including making it explicit that the offence covers emotional harm.

The response to our consultation shows there is a deep interest in this area and the overwhelmingly positive response to our proposals confirms there is interest in further reforms. Respondents also raised a number of potential issues and complexities with such a reform and we consider that further engagement on the detail of legislative reform is required.

This is a complex and sensitive area of the law and we are currently carefully considering responses to help shape our next steps before consulting on draft provisions.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS has a zero tolerance approach towards violence. SPS staff are trained to recognise and respond to the precursors of violence and manage any incidents when they do occur. Violent incidents are always reported to Police Scotland.

CCTV cameras operate within all Scottish prisons to deter violence and assist in any post-incident investigations. Violence Reduction meetings also take place across Scottish prisons on a monthly basis to discuss all notable incidents, drivers, trends and preventative actions. SPS facilitates a number of national search operations to support the recovery of contraband and weapons which can lead to, or can be used in, violence.

Before any person in our care is allocated to a residential area, a Cell Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) must always, firstly, be conducted. The CSRA is used to inform the decision as to whether an individual is suitable to share a cell with another and reduces the risk of harm, including interpersonal violence from the outset.

The CSRA process is dynamic and records are continually updated in response to changes in circumstance which may impact upon the level of risk presented. Where any person is identified as presenting a risk to others, then this is recorded and will inform all subsequent management decisions.

SPS continues to seek understanding of the changing nature of the prison population profile and the subsequent impact on violence, particularly in relation to Serious and Organised Crime Groups (SOCGs). SPS has in place measures to prevent individuals identified as enemies from encountering each other.

Finally, in order to safely manage the increased prison population a Population Management Plan has been developed by SPS and implemented in response.

The Children (Scotland) Bill, formerly referred to as the Family Law Bill, was introduced on 2 September 2019.

The Family Justice Modernisation Strategy was published on 3 September 2019. This will set out work that is ongoing by Scottish Government and others; work that can be done via secondary legislation or by improved guidance; areas covered by the Bill; and areas that are for longer term work.

Procurement of the roadside screening devices for implementation of the Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

However, Scottish Government officials have been in touch with Police Scotland who have advised a quantity of devices capable of testing for cannabis and cocaine have been received by Police Scotland to facilitate training of relevant officers, and more will be delivered in due course to facilitate further training. A larger batch will be delivered and distributed ahead of the 21 October 2019 implementation date. Post implementation, Police Scotland will take delivery of more devices as and when required, to ensure operational effectiveness, while minimising potential for waste, noting there is a service life for such screening devices.

This information is not held centrally.

Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the total number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. First published as Official Statistics in December 2008, POQS was designed to measure the implementation of the 2007 manifesto commitment to increase officer numbers by 1,000. As such, figures include all police officers appointed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and senior police officers appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, excluding those on career breaks.

The latest edition of POQS was published on 6 August 2019, and reports that there were 17,259 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2019, up 87 police officers (+0.5%) in the last year, from 30 June 2018 and up 1,025 police officers (+6.3%) from the position at 31 March 2007.

Deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Police Scotland publish sub-national police officer numbers on a quarterly basis in parallel with the Scottish Government’s Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics. A link to Police Scotland’s latest sub-national officer numbers publication, providing information on the number of police officers deployed nationally, regionally and within the 13 local policing divisions, is given below:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/assets/pdf/138327/212520/police-scotland-officer-numbers-quarter-1-30th-june2019?view=Standar .

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting Police Scotland’s revenue budget during this Parliament to deliver a £100 million boost by 2021. The Scottish Budget 2019-20 shows that the total Scottish Government funding for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in 2019-20 is increasing by £42.3 million, this includes continuing reform funding into 2019-20, meaning the annual policing budget is now over £1.2 billion.

In recognition of the range of challenges Police Scotland are currently facing, particularly in relation to a no-deal EU Exit, the Scottish Government has also assured the Scottish Police Authority that up to £17 million is available in 2019-20 to cover EU exit-related policing costs. In addition to this Police Scotland’s capital budget has been increased by £12 million – a 52% increase to support further improvements to ICT infrastructure which includes the introduction of improved mobile technology for officers which is currently rolling out across the country.

The Scottish Government also ensured that policing is benefitting from being able to reclaim VAT of around £25 million a year, money that was previously paid to the UK Government. The Scottish Government continues to press the UK Government for a refund of the £125 million paid by Police Scotland in VAT between 2013 and 2018.

The Scottish Government continues to engage closely with the SPA and Police Scotland to support them in keeping people safe.

As detailed in the Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June 2019, we aim to have stakeholder groups in place by Autumn 2019. We are in the process of establishing these groups.

The number of officers armed with Taser on a day to day basis is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Any plan to increase the number of officers equipped with Taser would be subject to wide consultation by Police Scotland.

Information on the number of officer deployed in ‘on the beat’ roles is not held centrally.

Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the total number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. First published as Official Statistics in December 2008, POQS was designed to measure the implementation of the 2007 manifesto commitment to increase officer numbers by 1,000. As such, figures include all police officers appointed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and senior police officers appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, excluding those on career breaks.

The latest edition of POQS was published on 6 August 2019, and reports that there were 17,259 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2019, up 87 police officers (+0.5%) in the last year, from 30 June 2018 and up 1,025 police officers (+6.3%) from the position at 31 March 2007. In contrast, police officer numbers in England and Wales fell by around 19,000 (13.3 per cent) from March 2007 to March 2019.

Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication, available online at the following link:

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2 .

Deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Police Scotland publish sub-national police officer numbers on a quarterly basis in parallel with the Scottish Government’s Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics. A link to Police Scotland’s latest sub-national officer numbers publication, providing information on the number of police officers deployed nationally, regionally and within the 13 local policing divisions, is given below:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/assets/pdf/138327/212520/
police-scotland-officer-numbers-quarter-1-30th-june2019?view=Standard .

Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. Since the first edition of the quarterly series (Published December 2008), POQS has held the status of “Official Statistics”, emphasising that figures are:

• Produced independently by professional statisticians and published by a recognised producer of “Official Statistics” as set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
• Are prepared in compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics and are subject to scrutiny by the UK Statistics Authority.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) determine what to prioritise for assessment within the context of their developing vision and mission. OSR consult the Chief Statistician on their Regulatory Work Programme, which is published online:

https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/osr/our-regulatory-work-programme

Currently this includes a programme of work seeking to improve the ‘Use of Policing Statistics in Public Discourse’;

https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/publication/use-of-policing-statistics-in-public-discourse/

The Chief Statistician considers the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics in determining priorities and whether to formally request an assessment.

The statistics in the POQS release are based upon quarterly returns made by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government, and are a by-product of live administrative processes, generated directly from the HR systems. The published police officer figures are sourced from Police Scotland’s personnel records and as such the quality and reliability is good. Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication. A link to the latest officer numbers publication is given below:

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2