Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-36618

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34588 by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025, when the report on key issues raised at the cross-party summit on violence among young people will be published.

Question reference: S6W-36199

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the implementation of the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Act 2020.

The Minister for Housing and I wrote to the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March to provide an update on the implementation of the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Act 2020 and our planned next steps: Letter from the Minister for Equalities, 11 March 2025.

As the letter outlines, since the start of this year, my officials have been engaging with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Civil Justice Council to understand the legal and technical changes that are required for implementation of the Act.

My officials have also set up a Working Group which includes representation from Health, Social Work, Education, Child Protection, Police Scotland and third sector organisations. Additionally, officials are considering what training and awareness raising materials are required to support the implementation of the Act.

We are aiming to implement the Act by Summer 2026 and are working closely with our partners to achieve this.

Question reference: S6W-36200

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020.

The Scottish Government wrote to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March 2025 to provide an update on commencement and implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020:

Letter from the Minister for Victims and Community Safety

The Act is a wide-ranging piece of legislation, and while some provisions are already in force, we have had to prioritise certain areas of implementation work, such as the regulation of child contact services. We plan to lay secondary legislation this summer to bring child contact services within the regulatory remit of the Care Inspectorate. We will then turn our focus to other key areas, such as the register of child welfare reporters.

We also plan to make further commencement regulations this year. A short set of provisions will be commenced before summer recess and a second set of commencement regulations will be made later in 2025. There will be a lead-in period of around 12 months before the second set of provisions come into force due to the operational and court rules implications.

Question reference: S6W-36548

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which sheriff courts have closed in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-36260

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to court transcripts, what the average time has been between victims requesting a copy of a transcript and them receiving one since the scheme launched.

The average time for applicants to receive a transcript under the pilot scheme has been seven months, however this does not reflect the length of time that all applicants have waited. The timeline varies across applications, influenced by several factors including the success of the pilot receiving a high number of requests, the volume of transcription work for live court proceedings, the length of the transcript requested, and the amount of redaction required.

SCTS are reviewing current processes and procedures with the aim of reducing the time taken to provide transcripts and to ensure the most efficient and effective service delivery.

Question reference: S6W-36259

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to address the reported issues and delays regarding the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to court transcripts.

The pilot, facilitated by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), has received more than 80 applications up until the start of February this year. We are working closely with SCTS to address the issues that have been raised in a minority of these applications, including how we ensure applicants are kept fully informed of progress in producing their transcript and how that process could be quicker.

The extension of the current pilot for a further twelve months will enable lessons to be learnt as part of the wider evaluation of the programme, so it can achieve its aim of helping improve victims’ experience of the justice system. This includes the potential opportunity to develop and test emerging technology that may assist in producing transcripts and a better understanding of the most efficient and effective operation of servicing applications.

As part of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill I am also exploring how greater access to free transcripts can be provided in the future.

Question reference: S6W-36764

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the fishing industry following changes to the minimum landing size for lobster on the west coast of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36261

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent to date on the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to court transcripts.

Question reference: S6W-36208

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many police (a) officers and (b) staff currently have access to a body-worn camera.

As highlighted in the launch of Police Scotland's Body Worn Video (BWV) rollout, around 750 Tayside (D) Division officers, including road policing officers, operational support and custody staff, will be equipped with the new devices over the coming weeks. As the roll out progresses, Police Scotland will issue more than 10,500 Home Office-approved Motorola VB400 cameras to frontline officers from constable to inspector ranks, and to police custody staff, across the country.

Previously to this national rollout, approximately 440-Armed Policing Officers have access to BWV. BWV has been used in A Division since 2010 as part of a legacy Grampian Police deployment and currently have 228 operational devices in use on a pool basis. The national BWV solution will replace this legacy system in line with other divisions.

In total approximately 1440 BWV devices are currently operational with a mixed estate of both pool and personal issue. Training across Tayside is currently ongoing, which will increase officer use of this technology daily.

Question reference: S6W-36207

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on when a police officer should press "record on" when having access to a body-worn camera, and what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has had with Police Scotland regarding this matter.

Police Scotland have advised that their Body Worn Video (BWV) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been developed in collaboration with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and other partners to ensure officers capture end to end footage, including the events leading up to an incident, to provide best evidence in any prosecution case.

Guidance on when officers should press record on their Body Worn Camera is set by Police Scotland to encompass all policing responsibilities whether criminal or not. This is set out in section 5 of the Police Scotland BWV SOP which says:

In the following circumstances, all BWV users present/attending must activate recording on their BWV cameras;

Prior to arriving at the incident.
Prior to utilising blue lights.
Prior to stopping persons or vehicles.
When an armed Police Officer or a specially trained officer (STO) is authorised to deploy, or self deploys to a firearms/TASER incident they will immediately commence recording.
When there is an armed policing operation and following an instruction by the relevant Armed Policing Command.
At the first available opportunity for spontaneous incidents.

All Police Scotland Standard Operating Procedures recognise that policing is a dynamic profession, and the standard response may not be appropriate in every circumstance. In every situation, the decisions and actions should be supported by the National Decision Model and based on the values and ethics of Police Scotland. BWV users may be expected to provide a clear and reasonable rationale for any decision or action which they take.

The BWV Standard Operating Procedure can be accessed publicly:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/oqtjeuqf/body-worn-video-sop-police-scotland-publication-scheme.docx.