Chamber and committees

Our police officers and staff do a challenging job, often in very distressing circumstances, where health and welfare remain a priority for Police Scotland. I welcome the commitment by the Chief Constable to ensuring her workforce receives the right physical and mental wellbeing support, by working to educate and support officers in managing trauma exposure.

Police Scotland has made a £17 million investment over four years to support the health and wellbeing of the workforce and the Chief Constable confirmed the expansion of support measures, including through the Employee Assistance programme and trauma risk management provision.

The Scottish Government will invest record funding of over £1.7 billion in policing in 2026-27, a total budget increase of £81.5 million or 5% compared to the published 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision budget. It is for the Scottish Police Authority, working with the Chief Constable, to determine how best to allocate this budget to meet policing priorities, including the wellbeing of officers and staff.

I recognise the seriousness of the issue of workplace health and safety, and the Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation.

The Scottish Government has not made any assessment of the prevalence or impact of bioaerosols in Scotland’s salmon production sector, or the implication for workers’ health and safety.

Regarding workplace health and safety and Scottish Government discussions with the Health and Safety Executive, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42856 on 21 January 2026. 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.

The production of the Accredited Official Statistics on recorded crime in Scotland was amended to allow the separate identification of assaults against police officers/staff from the reporting year of 2024-25 onwards. These can be further broken down into Serious assault, Common assault (with injury) and Common assault (without injury).

The number of these crimes recorded in 2024-25 is provided below. The next full year will be available in June 2026 as part of the Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26 Accredited Official Statistics.

Police recorded crimes of assaults on police officer/staff, by type, 2024-25, Scotland.

While the rollout of all equipment to officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, Police Scotland have confirmed that the rollout of Body Worn Video (BWV) to the planned first tranche of 10,500 officers will complete in the coming weeks, with the final group of officers expected to receive the technology in May.

The rollout of Body Worn Video is a game changer for Police Scotland’s hard working officers and is expected to increase public confidence in policing and improve safety for police officers and staff.

Ensuring our officers can access this technology is a result of record Scottish Government investment in policing.

Information on the number of full-time equivalent police officers is published on a quarterly basis. These publications can be found on the Scottish Government website.

The latest publication, Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 31 December 2025, contains a table that shows the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland as at the end of each quarter from 31 March 2007 to 31 December 2025.

The next publication, Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 31 March 2026, will be published on 5 May 2026.

We take pollution incidents very seriously. It is important that any investigation into pollution incidents is given sufficient time ensure a comprehensive and accurate understanding of both the causes and the environmental impacts before any findings are issued.

The time required to conclude an investigation of a pollution incident will vary depending on the scale and complexity of the event, the type and volume of pollutants involved, the sensitivity of the receiving environment, the availability and quality of evidence, and any requirement to coordinate with other regulatory or enforcement authorities.

Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that robust child protection measures are in place across Scotland, and continue to be followed at all times. This includes for children with a learning disability, autism or neurodiversity.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) revenue and capital budgets, as allocated at the annual Budget Bill from 2013-14 to 2026-27, are detailed in the following table. It is for the SPA to allocate its annual budget to support SPA Corporate, SPA Forensic Services and Police Scotland, to maintain policing in Scotland.

We are currently working with all health boards to develop an NHS whole system infrastructure plan for Scotland. This will support continued safe and effective use of existing facilities as well as informing future investment priorities based on assessment of need across the whole of Scotland.

The cost incurred to date in relation to the planned National Treatment Centre in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside, the figure for NTCs in the planning stage, has not changed since the response to S6W-41671 was issued on 18 November 2025.

See following table for capital allocations provided by SG in relation to NTC projects including phase 1 & 2 of Golden Jubilee (24-25 year ended):

I recognise the dedication and bravery of our Police Officers, who place themselves in harms way to protect the people and communities they serve, and it is simply not acceptable that our police officers are attacked or abused while going about their daily duty. Courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with those who carry out such appalling behaviour towards police officers and staff.

While provision of training and equipment are matters for the Chief Constable, I am clear that police officers and staff should be provided with the correct tools for the job. I am also aware that our officers receive a wide range of training, including officer safety training and the use of Personal Protective Equipment. Our record £1.7 billion investment in policing in 2026-27 is helping equip officers with modern tools like body worn video, ensuring they have the right resources to keep themselves and our communities safe.