Chamber and committees

I have met the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in recent weeks. The rise in national insurance for its staff is a huge concern, and I am looking at having on-going conversations with the service in that regard.

I am happy to sit down and discuss the matter in the first instance with you, Ms Hamilton. I received your letter and I was not aware of the proposed bill that you mentioned in that letter.

No evidence has been provided to suggest that there has been an increase in injecting or in discarding of paraphernalia. I agree with Audrey Nicoll that we must ensure that accurate information is communicated, both in the chamber and to the local community.

As I said, the Glasgow health and social care partnership has confirmed that it has not been alerted to any specific incidents of antisocial behaviour. Additionally, I point out that no concerns about increased injecting in the community have been raised by stakeholders, including by community representatives at the first community engagement forum meeting, which was held on 25 February.

The Scottish Government absolutely recognises the harm that is caused to individuals and communities by rural crime. I wrote to Rachael Hamilton this morning in response to her letter on the issue.

The information that I used in that debate was provided by Police Scotland’s national rural, acquisitive and business prevention team as part of the update that it gave to my officials. Although such updates provide snapshots of rural crime over a period, they are issued to my officials by that team, and the numbers that were quoted are not official police statistics. You may want to get in touch with that team, which can give the statistics to you.

I know that, through regulations, the issue is both devolved and reserved, but the SFRS provides guidance under the National Fire Chiefs Council’s grid scale planning guidance.

The Scottish Government is aware of calls for guidance and further advice on battery energy storage systems, including in relation to fire safety. The Scottish Government’s planning department is in the process of commissioning independent consultants to prepare planning advice on BES systems. That work has progressed with input from Heads of Planning Scotland and the industry. The intention is that the advice will set out information on the relevant regulatory regimes that are applicable in Scotland and on their interface with the planning system, recognising the long-established principle that the planning system does not seek to duplicate other regulatory controls.

I am happy to speak to the member in the first instance.

I know that Scotland has a proud tradition of activism and peaceful protest. I am concerned to hear what Maggie Chapman has stated, and I will write to her on that.

The link between crimes such as equipment theft in rural areas and serious and organised crime is well recognised across the whole UK. Preventing equipment theft is one of the priorities in the current SPARC strategy. The partnership aims to mitigate its effects by sharing intelligence on organised crime groups that operate across the UK and by providing specific information to the rural and farming communities on how best to secure property and prevent it from being stolen.

The work of SPARC also makes a valuable contribution to Scotland’s serious and organised crime strategy. I am pleased to say that, in SPARC’s January update, both the incidents of rural crime and their associated costs to businesses and communities were down, compared with figures for the same point in the previous year.

I know that public injecting around the car park to which Ms Wells referred has been an on-going issue. The Thistle facility is specifically aimed at addressing that issue. The Glasgow health and social care partnership has acknowledged the issue, and it continues to engage with the community to tackle it. A spokesperson stated:

“We are aware of the public injecting near the Thistle facility, which has been an on-going concern. This is precisely why the facility has been established in this location. Orion kits are available through all needle exchange services in Glasgow, and providing clean needles and injecting equipment is one of the harm reduction interventions offered by the Thistle.”

In addition, a community engagement forum has been established to address those local concerns. It had its first meeting on 25 February. As the facility establishes itself, regular engagement with the community and businesses will continue. The focus remains on strengthening partnerships with stakeholders before implementing any new actions.

Rural crime impacts individuals, communities and businesses, and the Scottish Government fully supports efforts to tackle it. The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime, which is chaired by Police Scotland, brings together key justice and rural sector partners to provide a robust multi-agency approach to preventing rural crime and to support actions that are taken at a local level.

In 2025-26, the Scottish Government will increase police funding to £1.62 billion, including £57 million in additional resource funding to strengthen front-line services. That investment will allow Police Scotland to enhance community policing, thereby ensuring that communities receive the best possible service from Police Scotland and its work to prevent criminal activity.