The Scottish Government’s primary sources of data on prostitution offences within the criminal justice system are the annual National Statistics publications on Recorded Crime in Scotland and Criminal Proceedings in Scotland .

Recorded Crime in Scotland is based on a count of these crimes, reported to Police Scotland, and broken down by local authority. The most recent publication covers the 2020-21 financial year.

The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland publication provides statistics on individuals proceeded against in court (specifically their age and gender). Statistics are also available on the result of these proceedings and the subsequent disposal given if the individual was found to be guilty. The most recent publication covers the 2019-20 financial year.

For these statistical collections, prostitution offences fall under the category “Crimes associated with prostitution”, which is included in Sexual crimes. This category includes six specific crime types:

? Brothel keeping;

? Immoral traffic;

? Offences related to prostitution;

? Procuration (excluding homosexual acts);

? Procuration of homosexual acts; and

? Soliciting services of a person engaged in prostitution

Offences related to prostitution is defined in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard as, “A prostitute (whether male or female) who for the purposes of prostitution loiters in a public place; solicits in a public place or in any other place so as to be seen from a public place; or importunes any person who is in a public place.”

The publications described above provide statistics on the Crimes associated with prostitution group but do not routinely include separate figures on the six crime types listed above. However, this information is available on request.

As an example, below we show data from the last available five years for recorded crime (Table 1) and criminal proceedings (Tables 2-4, covering proceedings, convictions and conviction rates, respectively). Note: criminal proceedings data is only available up to 2019-20, whereas recorded crime is up to 2020-21.

Care should be taken when comparing these different data sources. For example, recorded crime statistics count crimes and offences at the time that they came to the attention of Police Scotland while criminal proceedings statistics report on cases which have concluded in court. This means that a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year. In addition, a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, or a set of crimes with more than one victim, in a proceeding, but only the main charge is counted in these court proceedings statistics. There is also the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings.

Table 1. Police recorded crimes associated with prostitution, Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21

This is a matter for each local authority, or the organisation hosting the facility. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of reports made to Police Scotland of third sector or charity organisations experiencing a cyber-attack. Information is held on crimes recorded under Sections 1 to 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Sections 1 and 2 relate to unauthorised access to computers, with the intent to commit or facilitate the commissioning of further offences. Section 3 relates to unauthorised acts which impair the operation of computers, including preventing or hindering access to programs, data etc. This is shown in the following table, from 1999-00 to 2020-21. No specific information is held regarding the characteristics of victims, including whether they are private households, businesses, charity organisations etc.

As highlighted in the 2020-21 recorded crime National Statistics, a procedural change was made to the recording of international crime in 2020-21, whereby cases carried out by a perpetrator who was likely to be outside the UK are now included. This may have led to some additional crimes being recorded in the latest year, though more broadly the increase may in part be due to the significant impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including behavioural changes with more people undertaking activities online.

Table: Number of crimes recorded by police in Scotland under Sections 1 to 3 of Computer Misuse Act 1990, 1999-00 to 2020-21.

The Build to Rent Sector is subject to the same regulatory requirements as other private rented sector accommodation. For example, complying with Landlord Registration and Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing. From 1 December 2017, new tenancy agreements for most Build to Rent properties would be Private Residential Tenancies and tenants will also therefore be afforded the rights and protections flowing from that regulatory framework (as set out in Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016).

Our New Deal for Tenants consultation, which runs until the 15 April, makes clear that all tenants should live in properties where quality and standards are high, and people have clear rights. It also seeks views on our vision for the future regulation of the rental sector - setting out that regulation should seek tenure neutral outcomes for tenants in all sectors, empowers tenants through routes to redress failures and support good standards across the rented sector.

This is a matter for each local authority. The information requested is not held centrally.

Yes.

Official Modern Apprenticeship (MA) statistics are published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) quarterly, including the number of starts.

The following table shows the number of MA starts over the last five years on the Youth Work Framework:

The Scottish Government is very committed to the delivery of two Greenports in Scotland, which will create new, well-paid jobs, deliver a just transition to net zero and support economic transformation based on fairness.

As an Annex to the Bute House Agreement, freeports is listed as an excluded matter to the Agreement and is therefore a policy which is not subject to co-operation between both our parties.

We plan to proceed with plans to deliver two Greenports in Scotland with the UK Government, working on a partnership basis. All details will be set out in a finalised joint applicant prospectus to be published later this month.

The Scottish Government believes it is important to ensure young people build skills in the positive use of social media. In December 2021, UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom published its approach to online media literacy, setting out the need to build media literacy skills, including identifying misinformation on social media platforms.

There are no specific creative sector projects on social media being funded by the Scottish Government at this time but there are a number of projects and initiatives funded from other areas of the Scottish Government that seek to develop skills in the positive use of social media. Those relevant to youth workers and community groups are set out below.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government’s Cyber Resilience Unit provided funding to Civic Digits CIC of £35,550, complementing funding from Creative Scotland, to deliver The Big Data Show to 2,400 children in schools and to a community organisation working with young people from black and minority ethnic communities.

In 2020, the Scottish Youth Parliament, with Scottish Government funding, also developed a digital resource called Mind Yer Time, to help children and young people use screens and social media in a healthy way.