Seòmar agus comataidhean

The information requested is not held centrally. The data the Scottish Government receive from Police Scotland for the publication of Official Statistics on recorded crime is a simple count of the numbers of crimes and offences, for each local authority, which the police have recorded. This can be broken down by quarter or, since April 2019, by month. Given this, information is not held on crimes recorded for specific weekends. Additionally, as the Scottish Government do not receive further information on the circumstances of individual crimes, it is not possible to identify if an assault is directly related to bonfire night activities. It should also be noted that as Bonfire Night does not always occur on a weekend, reviewing weekend based-activities across years is unlikely to give a like-for-like comparison.

It is the responsibility of the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable to allocate resources across policing priorities, and to allocate officers to cases.

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) provide a strong statutory framework to manage the risks posed by registered sex offenders with the greatest resources put towards those who present the highest risk to the public. Under MAPPA, Police, local authorities and other agencies work together to assess and monitor these individuals to reduce the risk they pose to the public. This includes proactive policing and zero tolerance of non-compliance which involves reporting cases to the Procurator Fiscal.

In 2021-22 the Scottish Government invested an additional £75.5 million in policing bringing the total policing budget to more than £1.3 billion, including £15 million one-off funding specifically to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the police budget. Police officer numbers in Scotland have been maintained and are favourable relative to elsewhere in the UK with around 32 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland compared to around 23 in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government is clear that wildlife crime is abhorrent, reprehensible and unacceptable. The persecution of birds of prey has no place in modern Scotland. It is also completely at odds with our work to address the biodiversity crisis, which is supported by so many people and organisations across Scotland.

That’s why we have taken a number of steps over recent years to strengthen the law on wildlife crime - most recently through the introduction of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act which makes a number of important changes to wildlife legislation.

The Act, which was passed by the Parliament in June 2020, increases the penalty for a range of wildlife offences, including the killing of birds of prey. Individuals found guilty of those types of offences can now face up to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Act also gives Police Scotland more time to investigate wildlife crimes.

Furthermore, we commissioned, and committed in our 2021-22 Programme for Government to delivering the recommendations of, the Grouse Moor Management Review Group. This is being done as a matter of urgency and includes the licensing of grouse moors.

During the Scottish Government Debate on ‘Justice and the 16 Days of Action’, I confirmed that after careful consideration we will now move forward with the immediate establishment of a Scottish Government led Governance Group, comprising key stakeholder interests, to enable progress and detailed consideration of the individual and collective recommendations within Lord Justice Clerk’s Review Group report on improving the management of sexual offence cases. That will include the specific issue of a time-limited pilot of single judge trials.

The number of households in each local authority that are experiencing fuel poverty is published annually in the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) local authority tables.

The latest published set of tables for 2017-2019 is available at:

Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analysis 2017-2019 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Local Authority figures are based on a 3-year pooled sample to allow sufficient sample sizes to produce results on each local authority. The figures in the table below show number of fuel poor households, and the fuel poverty rate, based on the last 10 years for North Ayrshire and Inverclyde.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the provision of safe and reliable lifeline ferry services for our island economies. We recognise how frustrating delays and cancellations can be for businesses, individual and communities but it should be remembered that they happen for a variety of reasons, often weather related or for reasons outwith Calmac’s control. Our focus is very much on preventing service disruption where that is possible, so we continue to work with CalMac to maximise available capacity across the network.

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 introduced a number of measures ensuring that there is a sustained focus across Government and the public sector to meet the needs of island communities now and in the future.

Transport Scotland is responsible for improving and maintaining Scotland’s trunk road and motorway network. Local roads are the responsibility of the Local Authorities.

Contracts are written to minimise road closures. Planning minimises disruption to businesses, communities and the travelling public. Peak times are avoided where possible, with works often planned overnight. Safety of road workers, the environment/ecology and local stakeholder feedback is of key importance.

Advance notice is conveyed through press release, local/national radio, social media and road signage. Traffic delays are monitored and variable message signs notify delays to enable alternative routes and minimise congestion.

Network Rail is a wholly owned subsidiary company of the UK Government, and responsibility for determining and monitoring its operation, maintenance and renewal expenditure rests with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Transport Scotland funds Network Rail in accordance with the ORR’s determination, and also provides additional funding for enhancements which we monitor and control closely above the substantial investment in operations, maintenance and renewal. Therefore, under this split arrangement, which is a feature of UK Government rail legislation, the Scottish Government does not hold the full investment information broken down by region within Scotland.

Therefore I would recommend that the member contacts Network Rail or the ORR for the detailed information requested for rail infrastructure investment in the West of Scotland since 2016.

The purpose of the alcohol licensing system is to support the regulation of the sale of alcohol with the objectives of preventing crime and disorder; securing public safety; preventing public nuisance; protecting and improving public health; and protecting children and young people from harm. It is for independent licensing boards to administer the licensing regime at a local level with reference to these five licensing objectives.

Under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, each independent licensing board is required to publish licensing policy statements. Such statements allow for interested parties to understand better how each licensing board will operate in line with these five overarching licensing objectives. The introduction within the 2005 Act of a public health objective ensures licensing boards can take into account the importance of protecting and improving public health when considering and determining licensing matters brought before the Board. How the public health objective is to be achieved within each licensing board area as one of the five licensing objectives is a matter for each independent licensing board, but licensing policy statements should reflect the approach to be taken.

The Scottish Government has also taken forward a range of legislative measures such as, amongst others, placing restrictions on drink promotions, requiring the operation of an age verification policy and giving the police powers to disrupt drinking dens to help reduce alcohol harm.

In terms of the affordability of alcohol, minimum unit pricing (MUP) was introduced on 1 May 2018 at 50 pence per unit of alcohol and is subject to a comprehensive, independent evaluation, led by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Various reports on the impact of MUP are published on the PHS website, with a final report due in November 2023.