Perjury is an extremely serious offence and any allegation of perjury brought to the attention of the prosecution will be thoroughly investigated. Crown Counsel’s authority is required before any proceedings for perjury are initiated. Before a prosecution for perjury can be raised there must be sufficient credible and reliable evidence and that it is in the public interest to proceed.

The estimated total population of Gypsy/Traveller communities for Scotland is 2,120. Estimated figures by local authority areas are shown in the table below.

(a) The estimated household figures in the table are based on a count undertaken by the Scottish Government in July 2009.

(b) The average household size across all council/registered Social Landlord sites was 3.1. This average of 3.1 has been applied as a working assumption to the number of caravans on unauthorised encampments and private sites to estimate the total population of Gypsies/Travellers living on sites in Scotland.

(a) The number of pitches within each local authority-managed sites is shown in the following table.

Notes:

(i) East and Midlothian Councils jointly operate a site.

(ii) The figures in the table are based on a count which was undertaken by the Scottish Government in 2009.

(b) Information on the number of pitches on privately run sites for Gypsy/Travellers is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government takes seriously our responsibility to equalities and inclusion. For example, to help shape the Scotland-wide games legacy plan, A games legacy for Scotland, we consulted widely and held a series of public meetings across the country to which all groups and individuals were invited to contribute. Two of the five underpinning principles of the legacy plan are around ensuring equality and enabling diversity.

We continue to work with partners to look for opportunities to ensure that the voices of all of Scotland’s diverse communities, including the Gypsy/Traveller communities, are heard during the planning through to the delivery stages of the Commonwealth Games and Homecoming 2014.

I have been clear that following the tragic incidents at both Tomintoul and Crieff, current arrangements for handling rest breaks in the Scottish Ambulance Service cannot remain in place as they are not in the interests of the public or of our hardworking and dedicated ambulance staff.

Urgent talks are currently ongoing between management and staff within the Scottish Ambulance Service with a view to preventing any further incidents where rest breaks are seen as affecting response times in emergencies. I am being kept fully informed of progress with these talks and have urged both management and the trades unions involved to resolve this untenable situation as quickly as possible.

I have been clear that following the tragic incidents at both Tomintoul and Crieff, current arrangements for handling rest breaks in the Scottish Ambulance Service cannot remain in place as they are not in the interests of the public or of our hardworking and dedicated ambulance staff.

Urgent talks are currently ongoing between management and staff within the Scottish Ambulance Service with a view to preventing any further incidents where rest breaks are seen as affecting response times in emergencies. I am being kept fully informed of progress with these talks and have urged both management and the trades unions involved to resolve this untenable situation as quickly as possible.

GMB are represented in these ongoing talks.

The table below shows the number of charges reported to Procurators Fiscal under the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865, section 3 where court proceedings were initiated. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service database does not contain information that identifies the ethnic or cultural identity of accused persons.

Charges: Tresspass (Scotland) Act 1865, section 3

The Scottish Government provides core funding to the Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP) including the eLearning and Traveller Education Scotland (eLATES) programme which provides distance learning with “anytime, anywhere” access via the internet.

Within STEP’s remit was the production of guidance for local authorities, schools and support services Inclusive Education Approaches for Scotland’s Travelling Communities within the context of interrupted learning which was published in March 2011. The guidance was disseminated through the Traveller Education Network (TNET) in which 22 Scottish local authorities are members of and is now available as an online resource at:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/publications/i/publication_tcm4651543.asp.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government believes that all children and young people should benefit from an education system that is engaging, relevant, tailored to their needs, and best prepares them for their future lives irrespective of their social, economic or ethnic background. Certainly the education system in Scotland, Curriculum for Excellence, supports this aspiration. The system puts the learner at the centre of the curriculum which will lead to improved quality of learning and teaching and increased achievement and attainment for all children and young people, regardless of where that learning takes place.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, (as amended), provides the legal framework for identifying and addressing the additional support needs of children and young people who face a barrier, or barriers, to learning including Gypsy/Traveller children in Scotland. The Act aims to ensure that all children and young people are provided with the necessary support to help them work towards achieving their full potential. It also promotes collaborative working among all those supporting children and young people and sets out parents’ rights within the system.

HMIe also produced a publication in 2005 which builds on self evaluation guidance given in How good is our school?, entitled Taking a closer look at: Inclusion and Equality – meeting the needs of Gypsies and Travellers. This guide can be used by schools to evaluate the quality of their approaches to inclusion and equality relating to Gypsy/Travellers, and also provide examples of best practice.

The Scottish Executive measures attitudes towards discrimination against Gypsy/Travellers using the Attitudes to Discrimination module of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey. The latest available results are from 2006. The 2010 results will be published on 11 August 2011.

The Scottish Government believes in a Scotland where all Scots should benefit from an education system that is engaging, relevant, tailored to their needs, and best prepares them for their future lives irrespective of their social, economic or ethnic background.

We expect that approach to be followed by learning providers everywhere. A number of adult learning providers also engage directly with these communities at a local level.