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The Family Liaison Charter sets out the Crown’s obligations in relation to liaising with and providing information to bereaved relatives.

In relation to every death where a Fatal Accident Inquiry is to be held, a dedicated COPFS Victim Information and Advice (VIA) Officer will update the nearest relative throughout the investigation and inquiry processes, including directing them to organisations that offer support and bereavement counselling. The VIA Officer will also update the family after the Inquiry has concluded about the publication of the Sheriff’s Determination.

At the end of the reporting year 2024-25, there were 246 mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiries where a First Notice had not been lodged with the Sheriff Clerk. Of those 246 cases, 92 were less than one year old (from the date the death was reported to COPFS), 75 were more than one year old and 79 were more than two years old.

At the end of the reporting year 2023-24, there were 250 mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiries where a First Notice had not been lodged with the Sheriff Clerk.

At the end of the reporting year 2022-23, there were 218 mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiries where a First Notice had not been lodged with the Sheriff Clerk.

For the reporting years 2022-23 and 2023-24, we hold no data on the age profiles of those cases.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36103 on 15 April 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Responsibility for the delivery of the transmission network infrastructure including compliance with safety standards, sits with the transmission owner working within a regulatory framework overseen by Ofgem and other relevant regulators such as the Health and Safety Executive.

COPFS does not record this information. There is no formal process that requires to be followed to request that a Fatal Accident Inquiry is held. The views of nearest relatives will be obtained during the death investigation process and taken into account when the final decision is made.

COPFS regularly invites and receives feedback from nearest relatives of their experience of the death investigation and Fatal Accident Inquiry processes. That feedback is carefully considered to identify any improvements that can be made. As an example, feedback obtained by COPFS VIA Officers on the questions commonly asked by relatives was used to assist in the preparation of a Guide to Fatal Accident Inquiries on the COPFS website, providing detailed information for bereaved families about the FAI process.

COPFS has established a Death Investigations Improvement Board to oversee all ongoing pieces of work and new proposals to achieve greater public confidence, to improve the service delivered to bereaved relatives and to reduce the journey time for concluding death investigations, including FAIs. One of the significant workstreams of that Board is the proposed creation of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel, which will enable participants with experience of the death investigation process to help inform improvements to the process by providing independent advice to the Board on a range of issues.

As at 3 April 2025, there are 246 mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiries where no First Notice has been lodged with the Sheriff Clerk. The oldest of those cases was reported to COPFS on 19 August 2018.

Pupil Equity Funding has been a policy of the Scottish Government since 2017-18.

As protected by section 48(5) of the Scotland Act 1998, the Law Officers operate entirely independently of any other person as they undertake their prosecutorial and investigation of deaths functions. The Lord Advocate is accountable to the Scottish Parliament for prosecutions and the investigation of deaths (but may decline to answer questions which might prejudice criminal proceedings or would otherwise be contrary to the public interest under section 27(3) of the Scotland Act).

Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) may be issued by either criminal or civil courts in Scotland. ASBOs do not carry a custodial sentence and a civil court cannot impose a custodial sentence. A criminal court may only impose a custodial sentence where a separate case is brought for a breach of an ASBO which results in a conviction.

Between January 2024 and September 2024, 71 charges prosecuted in Scottish criminal courts receiving a disposal of an ASBO.

Between January 2024 and December 2024, 76 Civil ASBOs were granted in Scottish sheriff courts.

It is not possible to identify how many of these ASBOs have been breached and resulted in imprisonment. The data that the Scottish Government holds does not allow linkage of a specific ASBO, whether civil or criminal, with a criminal charge of breach of ASBO and therefore a conviction resulting in a custodial sentence cannot be identified. Furthermore, any potential breach of a specific ASBO listed above may not yet have occurred, or if it has occurred, its’ associated case may not yet have been disposed in court.